A/N: hello again, everybody. Here I am with another chapter of Mamiwata! Here is hoping everyone reading this has enjoyed Chapter 1 thus far. After this introductory setup, following closely to how the film, Mahagany, progressed, I will then add more story as things begin to take off, which will signal this story getting going, as well. Of course, I own none of the characters to Mahogany nor Seinfeld, yet I appreciated the film and this classic TV series, as well. Well, without further ado, enjoy this chapter, which gets things going following the introductory first chapter which I began this story with. Enjoy!
The assignment in the fashion design night class, as taught at the Learning Exchange, was to draw a simple cocktail dress.
Many of the students, male as well as female and otherwise, were complying with the instructor's assignments. The students drew up simple dresses, accordingly, in basic black, others in navy blue and gray. Very much, they had adhered to the request as set up by the instructor.
Every student, that is…except one.
Elaine Benes was seated up front, right near the door, so, that way, she could get in right away, before class began, and as out as quickly as soon as class ended—if she chooses to do so.
Whereas all the other students went along with the assignment, Elaine had something else in mind.
She had drawn up a long gown with a fringe design, with flaring, open, elbow-length sleeves. While the gown was rainbow-hued, laid out in red, orange, green, yellow, blue and purple coloring, the sleeves were golden. Elaine was focused, all right, as much as any of the students in the class. However, her focus was not on merely a plain-and-simple cocktail dress. Instead, it was on this special designer gown she was drawing up to her delight…
…and her instructor's chagrin.
"Ms. Benes, the assignment was to draw a simple cocktail dress," she said, walking away from Elaine as she was about to dismiss the class—but not before Elaine shot her an eye-cutting look.
"Now, class, that is all for this evening," the teacher said. "Next week's assignment will be to draw a basic swimsuit."
The teacher then swooped towards Elaine to whisper into her ear, "and that means, no rhinestones, ostrich feathers, or diamonds, either!"
As the class dismissed, Elaine shot a disdainful look towards her instructor and whispered a whatever towards her as she gathered her belongings, her sketchbook, and left the classroom.
As true an artist as she aspired to be, Elaine took her inspiration from her surroundings around her, combining them with her fertile imagination. On her way back home, taking the bus this one evening, she had noticed a pair of young adults putting up some coloring coming up a hot pink, black, brown, baby blue and white. After exchanging a smile with the youth through her window seat, she then suddenly pulled out her sketch pad and started working on her gown…this time, filling in the sleeves with those very same colors. With each color she filled in, her smile grew wider and wider.
After she got off the bus and began walking towards her home, she walked past a bearded, seemingly homeless man who was standing on the street corner. After Elaine walked a few feet away from him, this man started walking towards her. As Elaine saw him following her, she sped up her steps a bit, getting ahead of the man who had followed her until she was out of his full sight.
As the man got in full view of her after turning the corner, Elaine answered him in kind.
"Say, man, whatcha want?" she said, in a rather teasing, pseudo-flirtatious sort of way, "do you want some booty, do you want a piece of my ass here, weirdo? Huh, huh? What, do you want some of me? Got some money? Huh, huh? Can you even afford me? Huh, huh? No, you can't! Too bad for you! Ha!"
On that note, Elaine walked away, leaving the man slack jawed and standing in his wake. Even walking around alone late at night, this was a woman who clearly knew how to handle herself out and about.
"Well, ain't that a bitch?" the man said to himself, dejected. "Goddamn ho! I tell you, if it weren't for bad luck, I would not have none at all!" From there, the man picked up his damaged pride and went on about his way in the opposite direction in the same way he came.
As Elaine reached her apartment building, there was a gathering outside on her street. A man with a bullhorn was holding court, late at night, making commentary on the situation at hand.
The neighborhood had grown into disrepair, as gentrification was coming forward, as new developers were knocking down some of, and turning other, of the buildings into new kinds of housing which would displace many of the long-time residents in favor of those high earners who would be able to better afford the new units the builders were very intent on building.
"As you can see, once again, gentrification has come into this neighborhood," the man said. "It is such a racket, that it is an easy way to make money. All you have to do is buy up a building, fix it up on the cheap, jack up the prices, and, because people are so in need for any kind of housing, they'll buy it all up."
People were laughing at what this man said. Because he was a comedian.
"All they have to do, to keep property values in check, is to put up bars on the windows, so that people cannot jump out of the windows and die, therefore, keeping the property values from plummeting further come resale time!"
Not only a comedian, but a comedian who knew the secret to great comedy was to be able to call it proper with an acute sense of reality. Which this man looked to have.
This man, during the middle of his late-night neighborhood comedy, saw Elaine walk past him. He called her out immediately.
"And look at this fine fixture walking past me right now," the comedian said. "I bet she's got a lot to say on this issue." The comedian then said, "say, lady, what do have you make of all of this?"
Elaine ignored the man and kept walking. The man, who was standing atop his minivan, then jumped down to ask a follow-up question.
"What would you do if you found out that your place had been bulldozed?" the comedian asked.
Elaine answered back in kind.
"Probably trying to deal with my situation rather than hear some fool blaring at me through a damn bullhorn at 11 o'clock at night," she snapped back. Though she was able to match wits very well, it was very late, and she was not having this, adding, wearily, "look, I am tired, cold and I am going upstairs and going to bed."
"Well, what if you were to come home one evening and find you and poor old Mrs. Johnson evicted because your landlord wanted to take your apartment and turn it into a condo?" the comic said.
"Trying to find a way to find some shelter for me and Mrs. Johnson rather than listening to some creepy, Wanna-Be stand-up comic cheerleader who won't leave me alone!" Elaine said.
Just as Elaine was reaching the top, of her stairwell, which led into her home, an upstairs resident, opening their bottle of beer, spilled some down in Elaine's direction, saying, "hey, pipe down there with all that yakking and all that noise!"
As the beer fell all over Elaine, the comedian and the rest of his audience got a big laugh out of this scene. "Look to the left, look to the right, here comes the towel, and she is out of sight!", this comedian said.
The laughter continued as Elaine walked inside of her apartment building, doing all she could to avoid flipping off this comedian and his court.
However annoying Elaine found this comedian, there was no doubting his brilliance. One way or another, he was clearly on to something.
The comedian's name: Jerry Seinfeld.