Gina’s Dilema

It was the hottest day of the year when all hell broke loose. Gina woke up already wanting to do everything else but go to work. She laid in bed lazily starting at her ceiling. That is when she noticed it. Her ceiling fan was not rotating. She sat up in bed as if someone had stuck a needle in her foot. Gina walked over to her bathroom, her heart beating fast as she flipped the light switch on and off. Nothing! “Hell no!” Gina exclaimed. Her lights were off. The night before a strong thunderstorm came through the Richmond and Henrico area with heavy rain and wind causing downed power lines and power outages throughout the area, but because Gina was fast asleep, she did not hear the storm or notice her power was off until morning. Her phone started to ring, but Gina was already in a pissy mood, so she let it ring. Gina grabbed her flashlight and tried to wash her face when her phone rang again. This time she picked it up on the second ring. It was her boss asking her to come in at once because they were short staffed. Gina calmly told her boss that she was out of power from last night’s storm. But her boss could care less he needed someone to be at the job site. This rubbed Gina the wrong way so bad that she threw on her work clothes without taking a shower and left her house cussing her boss out—well pretended too.

When Gina entered the car, her old 2000 Buick Regal would not start. “I guess you the hell with it too, huh?” she said sarcastically as if the car would answer her. Gina tried to turn the ignition over again but no such luck. ”Fuck!” she screamed, hitting the steering wheel as beads of sweat began to roll down her face. Gina looked towards the sky as if to plead for mercy.

“C’mon, start for me please,” Gina pleaded as she neared the verge of giving up. She turned the ignition one more time and it started—barely. Gina clapped her hands with thankfulness, shut her car door, and tried to reverse. That is when the car cut out and the check engine light came on. Gina screamed so loud that her neighbor looked outside her window to see what was going on. Taking a deep breath Gina called for a Lyft and to her surprise she only had to wait 15 minutes for her ride.

Once she got in her Lyft car, she called her boss to let him know she was on her way. It was still early in the morning, but traffic on I- 95 was always a mess in either direction. It seemed liked everyone was on their way to King’s Dominion Soak City to cool off. As soon as the Lyft driver got onto the interstate, they were met with bumper-to-bumper traffic. They had to force their way in between two cars who pretended not to see them until the Lyft driver honked her horn and spat obscenities towards the other driver. As they drove inch by inch, the nosey drivers and passengers all slowed down to peek at the four car pile up near the Broad St. exit. The Lyft driver tried to figure out another way to get Gina to her job, but to exit the highway meant that they would have to drive on the shoulder for ¼ mile which is illegal in Virginia. Gina again called her boss, but this time when she told him that she was stuck in traffic on I- 95. He went on an unnecessary tirade. The verbal abuse was so bad that Gina wept silently unable to respond because she needed her job. She rolled her window down to get fresh air and instantly regretted it. The damn heat index had gotten to 105 degrees. It was like opening an oven and just standing there in front of it. It was in that exact moment Gina said fuck it. Gina tapped her Lyft driver on her shoulder and asked her to take the next exit. Confused and irritated, the Lyft driver followed Gina’s directions and exited the interstate. Twenty minutes later, Gina found herself purchasing tickets for the Science Museum of Virginia exhibits. She did not bother calling her boss back after she hung up in his face. Gina figured she might as well spend the day doing something she loved versus spending 6 hours frying chicken. The dinosaur exhibit was her favorite one. It reminded her of those Jurassic Park movies. Feeling the air from the low humming a/c unit calmed a very anxious Gina. She even enjoyed the sweet cold taste of chocolate chip ice cream and her favorite soda—a cold Dr. Pepper, while observing how happy everyone was just enjoying life.

By 5p.m., Gina called for another Lyft and went home. The power was still off, but at least there was enough daylight left for Gina to take a shower. Allowing the water to fall over her body, Gina decided that she was not going to go back to frying chicken, although the thought crossed her mind to beg for her job back. Drying her body off and wrapping her towel around her body, Gina lay there on her bed and set her cellphone alarm and allowed her thoughts to wander until she fell asleep.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! was the sound of Gina’s alarm going off. She was in a deep sleep when the alarm went off. She got up and again checked to see if the power came back on. Gina felt relieved that the power was back on. Ding Dong! Ding dong! Gina wondered who could be ringing her door bell this time of night. She carefully walked to the door and peered out the peephole. It was her coworker. She was there to deliver shocking news that the health inspector came to their job, Rocky’s Chicken Shack, and they failed inspection. A customer complained about their food quality and reported them. Gina was informed that the health inspector shut down the chicken shack until further notice. Gina was now jobless, carless, and about to be homeless. There was no way Gina was going to not have money. After she and her coworker ended their conversation, Gina waved goodbye to her coworker as she exited her apartment. She pressed her back against the door and exhaled. Going into her walk-in closet, Gina moved her shoe boxes to the side and found the shoe box she was looking for. She had bought and saved these specific pair of heels for times like these. That night Gina decided to dust off her 6-inch clear and rhinestone studded stilettos and packed two seductive outfits along with hair and makeup. By midnight, Club Rouge welcomed Gina a.k.a Sunshine to the stage.