“She wants to drop the charges?” Barry asks. “How come?”
“She and her husband said they kept getting harassing phone calls for them to drop the charges against Diane D,” the lawyer says, “and people keep bugging them on the street. Do you know any of the people who have been calling their phone number or do you know any of the people who’s been coming up to them on the street?”
“No not that we know of,” Tomas says.
“No we never saw the people,” Mary says.
“Well this lady and her husband can’t deal with the pressure anymore,” the lawyer says.
“Yeah we want to live in peace without being bothered by people,” Deacon says. “So that’s why my wife just decided to drop the charges against Diane D.”
“Wow,” Margarita says. “Well Miss Nadine, we are so sorry for what you’ve been through. If there is anything in the world we can do for you two, please let us know about it.”
“What you can do for Nadine is get Diane D some counseling for anger management,” the lawyer says.
“Counseling for anger management?” Mary asks.
“Yes. Your daughter Diane D seems to have a short fuse and a very violent temper.”
“We all know that,” Margarita says. “We were all just talking about it the other night trying to get Diane some anger management counseling, but right now she is going through marriage counseling.”
“I heard. How is her marriage counseling coming along?”
“It’s coming along okay.”
“That’s good. Where is Diane D by the way?”
“We decided to have Diane wait out in the hallway when we heard that Nadine didn’t want to be in the same room with her.”
“Yes we heard Nadine didn’t want to see Diane,” Barry says.
“I don’t blame Nadine,” the lawyer says. “Get Diane D some anger management counseling right away. She‘s gonna need it before she does this to someone else, look at this woman‘s face.” Mary, Margarita, Barry and Tomas look at Nadine. They approach Nadine.
Margarita and Mary bend to Nadine. “Can we see your face Miss Nadine?” Margarita asks. Nadine slowly takes off her shades and hat as she sniffs. Mary, Margarita, Barry and Tomas are shocked to see Nadine’s two swollen black eyes, a swollen bruised face and a bruise on her forehead. “My God!” Margarita shouts. “Miss Nadine, are you sure you want to drop the charges against Diane, because if I were you, I would not drop the charges against her!”
“I wouldn‘t either!” Mary says.
“This is terrible!”
“It is!” Mary turns to Barry and shouts, “Barry get Diane in here! I want her to see what she’s done!” Barry pulls out his cell phone.
“No Miss!” Nadine shouts. “That’s okay! Diane D doesn’t have to come in here!”
“No it’s not okay Miss!” Mary says. “Diane needs to see this! She needs to see what she’s done!” Mary turns to Barry and shouts, “Get Diane in here!”
Barry dials a number on his cell phone. He puts the cell phone to his ear. He speaks into it and says, “Hey Nicolas! Get Diane in the courtroom! Get her in here now!” Barry takes his cell phone from his ear. He closes the cell phone and puts it back into his pocket as he looks towards the backdoor.
Nadine nervously turns to Mary and Margarita and tells them, “No that’s okay! Diane D doesn’t have to come in here!”
“Yes she does Miss Nadine!” Margarita says. “Diane needs to see this!”
“I don’t want to face Diane D Ma’am! I don’t want to be in the same room with her! Please don’t make me be in the same room with her! I know she‘s your granddaughter, but she’s crazy! She’s capable of going off and going ballistic! She might do it again! I think I’m gonna leave!” Nadine is about to get up.
Mary and Margarita gently sit Nadine back down as Margarita shouts, “She is not going go off on you again Miss!”
“Yeah but seeing her or having to face her is just gonna bring back terrible memories of that day! I don’t want to see her!”
“Ma’am Diane needs to see this so she can realize the damage she’s done to you!” Mary shouts.
“I don’t want to see her!” Nadine shouts. “Maybe I shouldn‘t have complained about her in the first place. Maybe I should have just left well enough alone!”
“You have a right to complain about Diane Miss Nadine, this is your husband!” Margarita shouts. “You felt violated and you have every right to say something about it!”
“Yeah but look where it got me!” Nadine starts to sob. “Look what it did to me!” Nadine turns her head to the side as she continues to sob.
Margarita sadly puts her arms around Nadine‘s shoulders and says, “Ma’am this is why Diane needs to see your face so she can apologize to you!”
Nadine puzzled looks at Margarita and says, “Apologize to me?”
Margarita let’s go of Nadine’s shoulders and says, “That’s right apologize to you.”
“Diane should apologize!” Mary shouts. Mary looks towards the backdoor then turns to Barry and asks, “Is she coming?”
“She should be coming,” Barry says. “I told Nicolas to send her in here.” Mary and Margarita stand back up as they and Barry look towards the backdoor. “Here she is,” Barry says.
Diane D comes through the back door dressed in a white long sleeve shirt, a white cap, white jeans and black sneakers with her long black wavy hair hanging around her shoulders and chest.
“Come over here Diane!” Mary shouts.
Diane D comes down the courtroom aisle with a firm serious look on her face as she puzzled looks at her parents and grandparents.
Nadine tearfully turns her head away from Diane D’s direction as Deacon worriedly looks at her.
Diane D continues to come down the aisle. She turns towards her family.
Diane D approaches Mary. She places her hands on her hips and says, What’s up Mom?”
“I’ll tell you what’s up,” Mary says. “This young lady’s face is what’s up, look what you did to her,” Mary says as she points her finger towards Nadine. Diane D turns her head and looks at Nadine as Nadine faces away from her. Mary shouts to Nadine, “Turn this away Miss Nadine! Diane needs to see what she’s done! Look back this way!” Nadine slowly turns her face towards Mary and Diane D. Diane D and Mary look at Nadine’s face. Diane D sees the damage on Nadine’s face. She puzzled looks at Nadine’s face and stares at her. Nadine looks down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Diane D. Mary turns to Diane D and says “You see what you did to her? You need to apologize to her.” Diane D puzzled looks at Mary. She then looks back at Nadine’s face and stares at it again.
“Apologize to her Diane!” Margarita shouts. Diane D looks at Margarita then back at Nadine. Margarita then shouts, “What are you waiting for Diane?! Apologize to the lady!”
“Apologize to her for what?!” Diane D says. “What did I do to her?!”
“Can’t you see?!” Barry shouts. “You damaged her face!”
“I damaged her face?!”
“Yes you did!”
“How did I damaged her face?!”
“Don’t you remember?! You kicked her in the face!”
“I did?! I didn’t kick her in the face!”
“Yes you did!”
“No I didn’t! I only punched her in the face, that was it!”
“Girl, if you don’t apologize to her, I’m going to go ballistic!” Mary shouts. “Now apologize to this lady, now!”
“If you say so.” Diane D looks at Nadine and says, “I’m sorry Miss. I’m sorry if I kicked you.”
“What do you mean ‘if you kicked her’ Diane?!” Tomas shouts. “You did kick her!”
“If you all say so.” Diane D turns to Nadine and says, “Miss, when you came inside the church and started hollering and complaining to the staff members about me, I got upset. Then when I heard you demanding to speak to my mom and my grandma about me, I completely lost it. We both shouldn’t have agreed to step outside the church then go off on each other. We should have just talked about the issue instead. I’m really sorry if I did that to you.”
“Why do you keep saying the word ‘if’ Diane?!” Margarita shouts. “You did do that to her!”
“I don’t remember kicking her Grandma! But if you all say I did kick her, I guess I did do it and I apologize for what I did!” Diane D turns back to Nadine and says, “Ma’am, I’m sorry for what I did to you.” Nadine looks to the side as she avoids looking at Diane D. Diane D looks at Deacon and says, “And Deacon?” Deacon looks at Diane D as Diane D says, “I’m very sorry for any problems that I caused in your marriage. I’m sorry.” Deacon sadly looks at Diane D as Diane D looks at him. Diane D puzzled looks back at Nadine.
Mary turns to Diane D and says, “We’re going to get you counseling for anger management.”
“What? What do you mean you’re going to get me counseling for anger management?”
“You can‘t seem to keep your cool Diane. You get out of control at times and go on the attack and because of that, we’re going to get you counseling for anger management.”
“Mom, I’m already going to marriage counseling with Michael. He and I are trying to work our marriage out. I even apologized to him about what went on between me and Jonathan.”
“Well now you’re going to have two different counselings to deal with.”
“Two different counselings? Oh Mom how are you going to have me go to two different counselings?”
“I’ll tell you how. You’re going to get plenty of rest so you can have the energy to do all three of those things.”
“All three of those things? What three things Mom? What‘s the third thing?”
“Didn’t we tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“You’re going to be working at the hair salons while you’re on probation.”
“Work at the hair salons? What are you talking about?”
“You’re going to run one of the hair salons again Diane.”
“Run one of the hair salons again? Y’all going to have me run the hair salon?”
“Yes.”
“Oh Mom, I don’t want to run the hair salons.”
“You’re going to run the hair salons while you’re banned from performing.”
“Mom please don‘t make me run the salon.”
“Our minds are already made up Diane. You will be managing the hair salon and while you‘re working there, your paycheck will be used to pay for this young lady‘s medical expenses and her lawyer fees.”
“What! You’re gonna have me pay for her medical expense and her lawyer fees?!”
“Yes.”
“Oh Mom that isn’t fair! She’s the one who came to the church to confront me, I didn’t come to her!”
“If you hadn’t asked her husband to be your date at that school dance, she wouldn’t have came to the church to confront you in the first place now, would she?” Mary angrily looks at Diane D. She then turns away from Diane D and walks away towards Nadine.
Diane D becomes upset as she looks at Mary. She places her hands on her hips and angrily looks at Nadine.
Mary bends back to Nadine and says, “It’s going to be okay Miss Nadine.”
Diane D looks at Mary, then she angrily looks back at Nadine. She then turns, swearing to herself and starts to walk away.
Barry turns to Diane D and shouts, “You just stay right here Diane!” Diane D stops and turns to Barry. “Stay here!” Barry shouts. Diane D remains upset as her hands remain on her hips.
Marilyn, Aunt Celeste and Mickey enter the back door. They come down the aisle as Marilyn asks, “How’s everything going?”
“Is everything alright?” Aunt Celeste asks.
Mary, Margarita, Barry, Tomas and Diane D look towards Marilyn, Aunt Celeste and Mickey as they come down the aisle.
The lawyer shows Mary, Margarita and Tomas the papers.
Thirty minutes later, Diane D is slowly and sadly walking on the sidewalk outside the court building between Lonna and Kelly with her head down and thumbs in her pocket as Lonna and Kelly hold on to her arms talking to her as Kelly says, “Diane are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you what’s wrong Kelly,” Lonna says. “Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are going to make Diane go to counseling for anger management.”
“What? They’re making her go to counseling for anger management? Are you serious?”
“Yeah I‘m serious. They’re going to make her go to anger management because of that woman in there, the one inside the courtroom.”
“The one who caused all of us not to perform at that school dance?”
“Yes her! Because of her, Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are making Diane go to anger management!”
“But she’s already going to marriage counseling. So that means she has to go to anger management counseling on top of marriage counseling?”
“That’s right. Not only does she has two different counselings to go to, Miss Mary and Miss Margarita are going to have her run the hair salons again.”
“Run the hair salons? Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh boy this is getting too much. For how long do you have to run the hair salons Diane?” Diane D refuses to speak as she sadly continues to walk with her head down with her thumbs in her pockets.
“Until her probation is over,” Lonna says. “She has to do all of that while she’s banned from performing.”
“Damn that sucks,” Kelly says.
“It does.”
“We’re sorry for what’s happening with all of this Diane.”
“Yeah we know we can’t take the pain away from you right now, but we can try to make you feel better by getting you some coffee. You want some coffee?” Lonna asks. Diane D still refuses to speak. Lonna looks at Kelly and says, “Let’s get her some coffee Kelly.”
“Okay.”
Lonna looks to the side and stops as she continues to hold onto Diane D. She quickly turns to Kelly and says, “Hold on Kelly.” Lonna turns back to the side and shouts, “Hey Nicolas! Nicolas!”
Nicolas turns to Lonna and says, “What’s up Lonna?”
“Tell your mom and grandma that Kelly and I are taking Diane to the coffee shop across the street!”
“Okay I’ll tell them, then I’ll catch up with y’all!”
“Okay!” Lonna and Kelly turn Diane D to the side and take her towards the street.
The following day, Mickey and Nicolas are moving boxes towards the den inside Margarita and Tomas' mini-mansion. The telephone rings. “I’ll get it,” Nicolas says. Nicolas goes to the telephone. He picks up the receiver. He speaks into the receiver and says, “Hello?”
“Hi this is Teresa,” Teresa says from the other end.
“Oh hi Teresa, this is Nicolas. What‘s up?”
“Nothing much. How is everything?”
“Everything is going fine so far.”
“That’s good. How is Diane doing?”
“She’s okay so far. She and Michael are in counseling right now.”
“Oh they’re in counseling?”
“Yeah.”
“How is their counseling coming along?”
“Well they’re still trying to work on their marriage. They want to work things out.”
“They do?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh that’s good. I sure hope they work things out. So how does Diane feel about not getting to perform at that school dance?”
“She’s still very bitter about it Teresa. She really wanted to perform at that school dance.”
“I know. Did your parents and grandparents send another performer instead?”
“Yeah they sent two singers to do a duet there.”
“They sent two singers there? Who?”
“Helen and Gloria.”
“Helen and Gloria? How were they?”
“I don’t know, I wasn’t there. I guess they were okay.”
“I see. What about Diane being banned from performing for six months or a year, how does she feels about that?”
“Diane is not happy about being banned from performing, performing is her passion.”
“I know. How did it go for her in court yesterday?”
“Well first of all, the woman dropped the charges against her.”
“The woman dropped the charges against Diane? Wow that’s good for Diane, but how come the woman decided to drop the charges?”
“Her husband claim they kept getting harassed by people in the community to drop the charges, so they did.”
“They were harassed by people in the community to drop the charges?”
“That’s what they said.”
“Wow, I feel for them and happy for Diane at the same time.”
“Yeah but my parents and grandparents are sending Diane to get anger management counseling.”
“They’re sending her to get anger management counseling?”
“Yeah, not only that, she now has to run one of my family’s hair salons for a while?”
“She has to run one of your family’s hair salons and go to marriage counseling and anger management?”
“Yep.”
“Wow she has a lot on her plate. How does she feel about doing all of that?”
“She’s real bitter about everything Teresa. My parents and grandparents are really trying to punish her for what she did to that woman.”
“Wow Nicolas. I’m so sorry that this whole thing of her getting into a fight with that woman happened. I’m sorry that the woman got hurt. I wished they would have just talked the issue out.”
“Yeah me too.”
“Dana called me last night and said she will be flying into town from Jamaica soon.”
“Yeah she‘s coming with her family.”
“Oh that’s good. Is it alright if I stop by when Dana arrives there so I can see and visit both her and Diane?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Thanks Nicolas.”
“No problem Teresa. When Diane comes home, I’ll tell her you called.”
“Thank you Nicolas. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay Teresa, bye.” Nicolas hangs up the receiver and walks away.
A few days later, Alex, Crystal and Valerie are walking down the organization hallway. They see Mike, Mitch and around 15 of the Youth boys running from the back of the hallway being very loud and rowdy as they chit-chat and laugh. Mike, Mitch and the rest of the Youth boys go into the meeting room door and go inside the meeting room. The Dianettes come from the back of the hallway carrying trays of food. They go into the meeting room door and go inside the meeting room. Nicolas, Michael and Mickey are coming from the back of the hallway also carrying trays of food. Alex, Crystal and Valerie approach Nicolas, Michael and Mickey. “Hey guys,” Crystal says. “How‘s it going?”
“Everything is so far so good,” Nicolas says.
“We see you all carrying trays of food,” Alex says. “Where’s Diane?”
“She‘s in the back,” Michael say. “She prepared this food.”
“She did?” Crystal says. “How come?”
“My parents and grandparents are having her do some community service,” Nicolas says.
“Community service?” Valerie asks. “Why?”
“Well since being that the assault charges were dropped against her, she still has to do some sort of community service.”
“Oh I see.”
“So how you doing Michael?” Alex asks. “How’s the marriage counseling coming along between you and Diane?”
“The counseling is coming along fine,” Michael says. “We’re still trying to work our marriage out. We gotta take it one day at a time.”
“I see. I’m happy for y’all.”
“Thanks man.”
“We heard that Diane is banned from performing anywhere for a while,” Valerie says. “Is that true?”
“Yeah.”
“And we also heard that she has to go to anger management counseling, is that true too?”
“Yeah that’s tru