Wednesday’s internship was here before I knew it.
The holiday rush officially appeared and it seemed everyone was in a hurry to get cases settled and started before people went away for the holiday. As I did typical ‘let’s not waste the intern’s time and put her to free slave labor’ work, I overheard exciting plans such as going to the French Alps, visiting family out of state, and seeing the snow in Big Bear.
I never went anywhere.
It’s not that I didn’t want to go. But if you’re a person who’s excited and never wants to stay home and you have friends who are very comfortable sitting their asses on your sofa, you tend to do a lot of solo excursions.
Maybe this is where I become the weird one with my friends. I was the first to go natural, the first to enter college and actually might graduate from it, and I’m the first to go out just for the sake of going out.
I want to venture somewhere during the Christmas vacation. Sure, I’ll spend time with Daddy and Ashley, but I want to venture far. Maybe during the break, I’ll look at a map and see where it’ll land me. I might surprise myself.
“Hey Keish,” the other intern, Rosa Ortiz, greets me as I’m in the copy room. She’s a Latina who probably spends a lot of time at the hair salon, the gym, and the shoe store. She always looks put together and I’m sure she’s very expensive to maintain. It doesn’t surprise me she drives a Mercedes.
While Rosa is nice to me, I can’t shake the feeling it’s a forceful niceness. Had we not been at the internship, she would probably be talking about me in Spanish and calling me a puta. “Hi Rosa!” I make sure my white voice is on point and bubbly like a 90’s pop starlet.
“What are you up to?” She walks over to me and checks out the copies I’m making. I don’t know why she’s all up in my Kool-Aid when she doesn’t even know the flavor.
“Just making copies for Marc and Steven. They have a meeting tomorrow and I need to set up the conference room.” I feel like I gave her too much information.
“Ah, I see.” She goes back to looking at supplies. “I’m about to take notes for Thomas and Janice. They’re working on a major civil rights case so they need me to get the notes just right. They’re going to present their findings to other lawyers in the firm and make a final decision if they’re going to take the case.” She’s lowkey bragging about her skills. She doesn’t realize I know she’s taking notes alongside the paralegal, who will then present his notes to the other lawyers.
“Oh, cool.” I don’t know what to say to that so I keep it cute and mute.
“So, do you have any plans for the weekend?” She asks.
Going to a gala with Savior and then getting my back blown out by him. “Um, not really. You?”
“I’m thinking about going hiking with some girlfriends up in the hills. It’s so beautiful up there! And then I’m going to do my usual Zumba, tanning, and training for the L.A. marathon!” She’s unusually excited about running 26 miles. Good for her?
“Sounds like a jam-packed weekend.” Like, honestly, I don’t know if she expects me to kiss her ass or give her a cookie?
“The colleges like students who are well-rounded and do lots of activities. It makes you look more interesting.” Oh, okay. So, she was shading me. I thought it was a bit bright in here.
“Keisha!” Marc pops his head in and greets me. He’s a younger black man with a smooth fade and goatee. He’s what fashion magazines would call as classically handsome, and he always seems to leave many women in the firm breathless. What’s awesome is he knows he’s got it going on but he keeps it professional. “Can you make about five more copies? I just got a few last-minute RSVPs.”
“Not a problem!” I promise to him and he winks at me.
Rosa walks over to a desk and begins to sort out the supplies she’s picked up. I honestly don’t think she needs any of the supplies she has chosen and she just wants to be in my business. “Marc is a nice guy. Happily married with two beautiful children. His wife is a doll.”
“I know! He showed me a pic of his family the other day and oh my gosh, I could’ve died!” I have to make sure the Becky white voice is completely bubbly and totally laced with raw sugar.
Rosa glances at me with a smile. It’s clear she’s trying to figure me out but she’s not sure how to proceed. Obviously warning me to stay away from a married man isn’t doing the trick, nor did telling me I need to start becoming more active outside of the internship.
I would tell her how I usually spend my weekends volunteering at a convalescent home, spending time with the elderly patients but knowing her ass, I’ll probably start seeing her there, too.
Everyone keeps talking about how us women should stick together and support one another and if we happen to be minorities, they’ll throw in black and brown pride for good measure, but bitches like Rosa really be fucking it up for the rest of us.
I wonder how long she’ll be here until someone catches her on her knees servicing one of the older lawyers. “Anyway, I gotta go now! Talk to you later!”
~~~~~~
My internship wrapped up just as soon as it started. I barely had time to eat lunch but Marc was gracious enough to save me a plate at his business luncheon and I got to nosh on some expensive food for a change.
Now I’m about to head home, bury my nose into the Federalist papers, and pretend I know what the hell is being said over three pages when it could actually be said in two sentences.
As I walk through the firm, I hear muddled voices shouting at each other. I follow where I hear the noise and I see Savior and his father, Tom, battled in an argument with each other. Savior is gesticulating wildly and his sleeves are rolled up. Tom is leaned back in his leather chair and nursing a tumbler full of dark liquid.
I stop and stare for a moment, studying how each man has taken his position. It’s not a faux-trial mockup, nor is it them being passionate about the football game. Something serious happened between the pair and I’m curious as to why Savior acts like he wants to kill his father.
“They always get into it,” Marc comes up from behind, “it’s nothing new. You get used to it, really.”
I remember Savior’s eyes when he briefly talked about being embarrassed by a parent. I had no idea he referred to his father. “What’s this one about?”
Marc shrugs. “The weather? Parking? A potential case? Who really knows? They’ll fight it out for a few days and then it’ll be back to normal like nothing ever happened. They’re complicated. There’s a lot of love between them but there’s also a lot of resentment. One day, you’ll know the full story.” He turns to me. “A few of us are going out for Happy Hour. Do you want to join?”
I finally peel my eyes away from Savior. He looks like he’s about to cry but pride is stopping him. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
~~~~~
“Why is a sista from Inglewood here at this law firm?” Marc begins over beer and wings.
I chuckle as I munch on an onion ring. “We all gotta leave the ‘hood one way or another. Everyone keeps talking about leaving the hood but no one ever does.”
“I feel you. I grew up in Baldwin Hills. It’s not a bad place and I still have a lot of great memories there. My mom and pops still live there. But man, growing up…I couldn’t wait to get out of there!” Marc exclaims.
“Whatever, dude,” another attorney, Paul Rios, comments. He’s a Latino man in his forties and specializes in immigration law. He’s between being portly and muscular and can honestly go either way. “Imagine growing up as one of the few Mexicans in Compton back in the 80’s. Yeah, there’s a dime a dozen Mexicans there now but back then? If I didn’t prove my loyalty, I would’ve been a goner.”
“It’s not how you start,” Marc holds up a beer and clinks it with Paul, “but how you finish.”
“Word.” Paul agrees.
“So do you have any advice for me?” I cautiously ask. “I could really use some.”
“Mmm…” A Filipina lawyer, Primalyn “Lyn” Medina, chimes in. She’s a petite woman in her forties and always wears her hair in a perfect French roll and red lippie. She specializes in employment law. “…watch your back from some of these ruthless bitches.”
My eyes widen at Lyn’s blatant honesty. I didn’t expect it from her. “Oh wow.”
“Girlfriend, I’ve seen some shit,” she nods, “the higher up you go, the worse it gets. They’ll sell you out for a cheeseburger. Real talk.”
My beer became harder to swallow. Is a legal career something I really want?
“You just have to fight it out. The best survive,” Lyn chews on a mozzarella stick, “and the others never cared that much.”
“Don’t forget to tell her the real truth, Lyn,” another lawyer, Yun Hee Ha, gives her opinion. She’s an older Korean woman with shiny black hair and a soft face. She often uses that to her advantage because I’ve heard she’s a real pit bull behind the scenes battling it out about discrimination.
She’s also a bit of a fashion plate, matching her accessories based on how shiny her wheelchair wheels are. “Some will fuck their way to the top. They are the worst ones.”
“Damn straight,” Lyn shakes her head before something catches her attention, “kinda like that one right there.”
I glance over to what Lyn is talking about and my heart bottoms out. Rosa showed up to Happy Hour – with Savior.