Princess for a Day

She listened to Vanessa describe the black guy she met the night before at a bar in Orlando. They danced, drank, and disappeared leaving Cynthia alone in the bar to fend for herself. Cynthia just wanted to make sure the cab ride she had to take was worth it.

'What was his name? Did you go back to his place?' she inquired.

'His name's LaTerryan and he said he has roommates?'

'LaTerryan? Honestly?' She paused to chuckle. 'I'll bet he has a girlfriend.'

'No.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah,' she replied hesitantly.

'No?'

'How should I know? I just met him.'

'Didn't you ask?'

'Well, no.'

Tony Sala, their boss, walked into the room. The girls ceased their conversation.

'Yous girls ready?' he asked with his thick Italian accent. The Mickey Mouse on his shirt jiggled in conjunction with Tony's massive stomach.

'Yeah,' they answered in disinterested unison.

'They're out there. Go make 'em feel happy to be here. Who's readin the names?' Tony handed Vanessa the sheet of paper with fifteen names.

They traded uncertain glances.

Vanessa spoke first, 'I did it last Friday.'

'There were like two kids. Let me see, are there any retarded names?'

Vanessa gave a quick glance, 'Kevin, Brittany, Phil, Jacob, Sarah. They all look legit to me.'

Tony chimed in, 'I don't care who does it. You can take turns for all I care. But right now, you're wastin Mickey's time.' He pointed to Mickey's left ear with his sausage fingers. 'It's Disney time, girls.' His attempt at excitement always came off as sarcasm at best.

'Fine, I'll do it,' Cynthia yanked the page from Vanessa's hand less gently than she wanted and tore the paper slightly. They walked by Tony, who smelled of garlic and Old Spice.

They entered a small auditorium where a dozen families - each with at least one child between the ages of 4-10 - sat in small segregated clusters. The male children sported plastic golden crowns; the females children wore bejeweled silver tiaras.

Vanessa began, 'Welcome one and all to your kingdom, where you will be princes and princesses for a day. My assistant Vanessa will introduce you to your subjects,' she motioned to Cynthia.

'I request that each prince and princess step forward when I call your name to be rightly honored,' Cynthia announced disinterestedly.

'Welcome, Prince Philip.' She waited for the young boy to walk up to the stage to receive his plaque from Vanessa. 'Welcome, Princess Sarah. Welcome, Princess Brittany. Welcome, Prince Kevin.' She looked close at the next name, 'Welcome Princess LaTonya.' She looked up to watch the girl make her way up to the stage.

Vanessa lost her spot on the page, which just so happened to be the small portion of the paper that was ripped. She studied the page, feeling the awkward pause growing in the auditorium.

'Welcome, Princess...' She looked at the word and had no idea. She didn't care enough to try too hard. 'Welcome, Princess Shady Nasty!' she exclaimed with more energy than usual. No one immediately moved.

After the pause, an obviously indignant black woman stood and called out to Cynthia - and to the other 'royalty' and their family - 'Her name's ShaDynasty!'