Chapter 1
Flo draws open the curtains to let the sunlight through, causing Alice to jolt awake from the carpet floor. Confused, she peers around her surroundings. She sits up in the clothes she wore last night, her mind overcasts on Gloria and the get-together they planned on having for awhile.
“Daamn, girl. I thought you’d never wake,” activist singer-songwriter Flo Kennedy glances down at the hungover housewife.
“When you said, ‘I like to boogie’, you meant it for real.”
“What time is it? Where’s Gloria?” Humiliation washed over Alice like a tidal wave, too embarrassed to even look Flo’s direction. She needed a bath, needed a fresh new set of clothes, and to see Gloria’s vibrant beauty once more.
“She went off to work like the rest of ‘em,” Flo replies.
“Not me. I wanted to make sure you was still with us.”
“I’m not dead,” Alice scoffs, clearly offended. By the looks of her worn, slept body and smeared make-up, she might as well be a corpse. Realizing today was no longer the weekend and she had to be at the station, she picks herself up, having Flo steady her, like she was an elderly at a nursing home. Alice childishly pulls away, realizing the devasting truth she was probably going to get fired and lose her job collecting calls.
“I’m done for,” her voice drops in a soft whisper.
“You white women are so dramatic,” Flo cracks up, catching the crestfallen look on Alice’s face.
“Let’s have you wash up and feed you breakfast…” she examines her wristwatch, “Oh man, skipped the breakfast. The lobby stopped serving about an hour ago…”