Daphne

(27) The special guest

A few days earlier this week the Coach spoke to Roberta, insisting to know what she and the other girls in her Phys. Ed. were doing on weekends that got them all bruised and sore. Roberta promised to respond later, then spoke to the other girls, Terri, and Leo, and all agreed (Leo the most reluctantly) to invite Coach Bradford to Leo's. Terri called the Coach on Thursday (yesterday) morning.

"Hi, do I have the pleasure of speaking with Coach Bradford?"

"Yes. What can I do for you? Who is this?"

"Great! I'm Terri, and it's more what I can do for you. I work with a few of your girls. You asked to know what they on the weekends... Do you mind if I call you Emily?"

The Coach was surprised. "OK."

Terri continued, "I'm calling to inform you that you've been invited to come over to our place and see things for yourself."

"What place is that?"

"I'll pick you up at your place at 5:30 on Friday. Plan to be out until after midnight, but you might want to keep your whole weekend open. Don't worry about dinner – we've got a buffet."

"Where are we going..."

"To our place, like I said! Dress is Dinner Party Formal, or at least very smart casual, but it should be comfortable."
Terri inexplicably already knew the Coach's home address. This was creepy.

"Remember: 5:30. Sharp. Ciao."

<click>

* * *

While en-route from the Coach's home Terri talked about Leo's, the exhibitions, and her role there. Emily remained convinced that the girls were being exploited, but was happy that at least someone was actually looking after them.

"Do you admire your girls?" Terri asked.

"Absolutely!"

"You think they're smart, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Good, because they are! But you say they're all being 'exploited,' but if the demeaning was the one-way street you paint it to be, they wouldn't come back, would they?"

"They're victims. Brainwashed or something."

"You just said they're smart and admirable, and now you say that they're not only not smart enough to recognize that they're being demeaned, but that they're stupid enough to come back and be exploited over and over. All of them! You're contradicting yourself!"

Terri stopped at a stop light. "Look, I've got my Master's." She turned face her passenger. "And I took a lot of the same courses that you did – we checked."

Terri had Emily's full attention. "We?" Deja vu, creepy.

"Seriously, when you get out of the Ivory Towers of Academia, a lot of what you learned in Women's Studies starts to become pretty one-dimensional."

Emily's anger simmered just below the surface.

"I know what you're thinking," Terri continued. "Believe me, I've been there. You've got a world-view that was crammed into your head, and you're emotionally invested in it, and I come along and dismiss it. Well, be prepared to be challenged all weekend..."

The light turned green.

"In the case of your girls, the ones who 'work' at Leo's, there's exploitation... and then there's exploitation..."

The Coach held her tongue. "What do you mean?"

"OK, try this on for size: you know about the BDSM sub-culture in the gay scene?"