Chapter 3

Bette closed her eyes briefly as the wind traveled through her hair. She was stuck in mid-morning traffic with the top down on her red Audi Cabriolet sports car. The radio was turned slightly down, but loud enough that she could still hear her musical selection for her morning travel.

“Actions speak louder then words,” Bette mumbled as she tapped the steering wheel with her thumbs to the beat of the bass.

Her thoughts flashed back to earlier that morning when Tina sprung the expectation on her that she was required to go to her family’s gathering.

“When do I ever ask you for anything Bette?” Tina was clearly waiting for an answer.

“It’s before a show.”

“Bette this is important to them and to me! They refused a party for their 25th, which was a milestone, and now that they’re having this one it’s important I be there.”

“I never told you not to go.”

“They’re asking you to come meet them,” Tina said in anger. “At least my family is trying to embrace us as a couple instead of acting like a pompous ass like Melvin!”

“Who refuses a party for a milestone anniversary anyway?” Bette challenged ignoring the blatant attack on her father.

“They were tied down with college tuition and other sacrifices they made for me and my brother and sister.”

“So because they refused a party for the actual milestone anniversary 5 years ago, I have to rush off a week before a show to celebrate with them?” Bette challenged.

“You have a fancy cell phone that you spend hundreds of dollars a month on for this very reason!”

“I pay for my cell phone so that I can travel to your parents’ party?” Bette asked sarcastically.

“So that you can have a life outside the Gallery Bette,” Tina said annoyed. “The damn thing goes off at all hours of the night when we’re together regardless of whether you have a show coming up or not. What difference does it make if you give direction from West Hollywood or North Carolina?”

The car behind Bette honked bringing her back into reality. She looked behind her annoyed at the impatient driver, but once again began her journey to The Planet to meet the group for coffee.

“Actions speak louder then words,” Bette mumbled once again.

She pulled the car into the parking lot and shut the engine off. She threw the plane tickets into her purse and made her way inside, locking her car, but not bothering with putting the top up.

Bette quickly made her way to a table near the back where Alice, Shane, and Dana were sitting debating the accuracy of gaydar.

“I don’t think you can solely rely on just gaydar,” Dana argued.

“It’s because you don’t have it,” Alice laughed.

“I’ve got to weigh in on Dana’s side on this one Al,” Shane said smiling at the pleased look that crossed Dana’s face.

Bette sat down and grabbed a small piece of fruit from Alice’s plate to tide her over until she ordered something for herself.

“What are your thoughts Bette?”

“On?”

“Gaydar and the accuracy of it,” Alice smiled.

“I have no opinion on gaydar,” Bette rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion.

“What’s wrong with you?” Alice asked picking up on Bette’s foul mood.

Bette took the airline tickets out of the pocket of her purse and laid them on the table as the sole explanation of her current mood.

“Actions speak louder then words,” Bette mumbled to herself.

“What’s that?” Alice asked leaning closer to Bette to hear her mumbled words.

“It’s my new mantra for the decade. Actions speak louder then words. It means that merely saying ‘I love you’ to Tina isn’t good enough when she asks for support in our relationship,” Bette regurgitated the exact words that Tina used on her earlier in the morning. “The words mean nothing without the actions to support them.”

“Oh,” Alice smiled at her dear friend. “I understand the saying, I just couldn’t hear you mumbling it.”

“Remind me to keep saying it throughout the day,” Bette said smiling.

“What’s going on?” Shane asked intrigued with the reason behind Bette’s current solemn mood.

“Apparently a trip to Ashville, North Carolina.”

“Oh,” Alice raised her eyebrows and smiled. She grabbed the tickets and thumbed through them to see the departure and arrival information on Bette and Tina’s trip. “What’s the sudden urgency to travel to Hicksville before a show?”

“I wouldn’t call Tina’s hometown Hicksville in front of her,” Bette said warning Alice. “We’re going there for Tina’s parents’ anniversary party.”

“Oh and ‘actions speak louder then words’ is your mantra because Tina drilled it into your head after you said the show was more important?” Alice asked smiling.

“Something like that.”

“Wow Hicksville won’t even know what hit them!” Alice said trying to stifle her laugh. “Will anyone there have an appreciation for Chanel or just you?”

“You’re on thin ice Al.”

“You can always change the classic Porter style to daisy dukes while keeping with the stereotypical view of lesbians loving flannel. You just need to make the flannel sexy like Daisy did on the show.”

“What anniversary is this for them?” Dana asked in an effort to ignore Alice’s jokes on what was once her favorite television show.

“Their 30th,” Bette answered.

“I must have hit a nerve picking on Dane’s favorite TV show,” Alice said leaning close to Shane as if she were sharing a secret about Dana that nobody knew.

“Everyone knows I love the Dukes of Hazzard Al!”

“I wouldn’t go around announcing it loudly like that,” Alice countered.

Shane started to laugh as Dana shot Alice a dirty look.

“Who has a party for their 30th anniversary?” Dana seemed shocked. “Even Sharon and Erwin wouldn’t do that.”

“Oh please,” Alice scoffed. “Your parents would throw a party for any reason as long as either fresh fruit, cucumber sandwiches, or donations were involved.”

“They wouldn’t use their anniversary as a fundraising event Al!” Dana snapped back.

“Can we please focus on Bette for a moment?” Alice asked to bring the conversation back around to the topic she wanted to know more about.

“Fine, Bette, when do you leave?” Dana asked.

“We leave Thursday after work and come home late on Sunday.”

“You’re going on a trip?” Kit asked from behind Bette as she stood there annoyed with her younger sister.

“It appears so.”

“You can manage to go on a trip, but not return my phone call because it’s within your precious two week window before your show?” Kit was angry.

“Do you honestly think it’s my choice to go on a trip before a show?” Bette shot back annoyed with her older sister.

“When do you ever do something you don’t want to?”

“When the love of my life beats the following into my head,” Bette said in anger. “Actions speak louder then words.”

“That saying is going to get annoying real quick,” Alice pointed out.

“What was it that you wanted Kit?” Bette asked hoping to avoid a sisterly argument in public.

“I needed a ride this week to make at least one of the AA meetings being held.”

“I can take you,” Shane offered seeing the look of despair wash over Bette’s face at yet another task being added to the list of things she needed to get done.

“Thanks Shane,” Kit smiled. “I’ll check the schedules and call you to see what works.”

Kit walked away with a man that Bette recognized as the drummer in her band. Bette had caught word from Tina a few days ago that Kit was back in the studio making another album. Tina suggested that Bette call Kit and offer her support as a follow up to that piece of news. Bette shrugged her shoulders and continued to peruse the glossy catalog in her hands for the upcoming show.

“She’s working on an album ya know,” Alice sounded a lot like Tina did when she said the same thing.

“I heard something to that effect,” Bette said leaning back in her chair.

“You really don’t want to go to Tina’s family thing do you?” Alice asked empathetically.

“No, I don’t.”

“Do you really think Hicksville will be that bad?” Alice asked now concerned for her friend. “I mean, aside from people not wearing Chanel, having fancy cell phones that no longer come as a ‘phone in a bag’, and maybe half the county of Hicksville not having running water, it can’t be that bad right?”

“Before a show, yes I actually do think this trip will be horrific at best.”

“That’s a pretty strong adjective for a trip to meet your girlfriend’s parents.”

“Let’s examine the facts shall we?” Bette rhetorically asked. “Fact number one, it is within two weeks of a show.”

“That’s not a reflection on them though,” Alice pointed out. “The fact that you’re hell on wheels before a show is under your control. It won’t be that bad if you can keep on top of things through phone calls.”

“When a show is this important it takes precedent.”

“You hired competent people did you not?” Alice challenged.

“Supposedly.”

“You need to allow them to do their jobs Bette,” Dana suggested hesitantly.

“You’re a control freak Bette,” Alice continued without hesitation. “That’s what Dana is really saying.”

“Don’t speak for me Al!” Dana said shocked at Alice’s bluntness.

“Isn’t that what you’re saying?” Alice challenged Dana. When Dana didn’t respond she continued to address Bette’s first point of contention regarding the trip. “You won’t be able to see things with your own eyes Bette, but it is manageable to handle the emergencies from North Carolina unless Tina said she didn’t want you to work at all.”

“No,” Bette winced. “She said she understood I’d have to handle calls and recap daily on how things are going.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Shane said sipping her double shot.

“I think her exact words were something about my phone going off at all hours of the night before a show and it making no difference what state I answer it from,” Bette said taking a sip of the coffee just placed before her. “She followed that up with my new mantra.”

“She’s right,” Alice admitted.

Bette sighing was her only response as she stared into space in front of her.

“What else ya got?”

“Well,” Bette said slowly gathering her thoughts. “There’s the issue of acceptance.”

“They accept you,” Alice said surprised that concern made the list.

“You know this how?”

“They know you’re a lesbian and dating their daughter, yet they still went out of their way to invite you to their celebration.”

“It’s one thing to know about Tina and I,” Bette said. “It’s another thing to see it staring you back in the face and accept it.”

“What’s there not to accept?” Alice challenged. “Their daughter is the happiest she’s ever been, she’s an adult that is living states away and making her own decisions, and she’s found the love of her life.”

“Think like a conservative parent for a moment Alice and not a West Hollywood bisexual,” Bette said annoyed. “There are other things to consider.”

“Such as?” Shane asked kindly.

“I’m a lesbian,” Bette said simply.

“They know this and still invited you,” Alice countered.

“What if they think I can’t take care of Tina?”

“You own your own business and invest well.”

“What if they think I don’t treat her well?”

“Actions speak louder then words,” Alice threw Bette’s mantra at her with a smile. “You’ll be there and can show them how much you love their daughter by treating her with kindness and respect.”

“We can’t ever get married,” Bette said challenging the group to prove her wrong. “They are a Southern, conservative family.”

“You don’t think there are lesbians in the South?” Alice asked.

“I didn’t say that Alice,” Bette said annoyed. “But this isn’t just hypothetical for them anymore, this is their daughter. She’s not going to have the traditional life that they once desired for her.”

“Bette how do you know they’re conservative?” Shane asked. “Do you really know that much about them?”

“I’m assuming based on stories I’ve heard,” Bette said.

“You know what they say about assuming Bette,” Dana said seriously.

Bette’s cocked her eyebrow in question at Dana and waited for her to explain.

“It makes an ass out of you and me. Get it?” Dana grinned, proud of herself.

“You belong in Hicksville Dana,” Alice said mocking Dana. “Bette, what’s so good about a traditional life anyway?” Alice asked with a disgusted look on her face.

“They brought her up to be married.”

“You save on taxes since they penalize people that get married,” Alice said smiling at Bette and covering Bette’s hand with her own.

“They wanted her to have kids.”

“Insemination,” Alice countered.

“They wanted her to have the picture perfect family that they reflect.”

“And you can’t give her your own version of that?”

“Alice,” Bette stared at her in shock. “I am a biracial lesbian, from California, who owns their own art gallery. I’m a liberal, I tend toward the Democratic Party and not the hypocritical and stone-aged Republican one they align themselves with.”

“You’re beautiful,” Alice countered. “You love their daughter, you provide for her financially, you’re a Yale graduate for fuck sakes! If you were a man, they’d be having wet dreams about Tina dating you.”

“But I’m not a man.”

“So it comes down to the penis once again?” Alice said annoyed with Bette’s archaic views.

Bette looked at her watch not feeling any sense of comfort from her friends regarding her upcoming trip.

“I’ve got to get back to the Gallery,” Bette said standing up and gathering her things.

Alice grabbed Bette’s hand to prevent her from walking away from the table too quickly.

“Bette we really are trying to help,” Alice said sincerely.

“I know you are in your own twisted way Alice,” Bette shot a smile in Alice’s direction.

Alice swung Bette’s hand as she held it in her own and then turned it so she could look at Bette’s palm.

“I’m not sure how to tell you this Porter,” Alice said seriously causing Bette to look down at her own hand worried. “See this right here?”

Bette looked closer at the line that Alice pointed at on her palm and shook her head.

“You know what that is don’t you?”

“No,” Bette said frowning at her hand.

“Well see how this branches off like this?” Alice traced the line with her index finger but didn’t wait for Bette to answer her rhetorical question. “It means you’re going to die of boredom in Hicksville.”

Shane and Dana began to laugh only when Bette cracked a smile at Alice’s attempt at humor. She turned around shaking her head and began walking away from the table to the front of The Planet.

“Bette,” Alice called out after her. “Actions speak louder then words.”

“Yes, I remember that.”

Bette walked out of The Planet and sat down in her car. She started the engine and turned the radio slightly up for the short drive back to the Gallery. She grabbed her cell phone from her pocket when she felt a vibration alerting her to an incoming call.

“Hello, Bette Porter.”

“Hey Babe,” Tina greeted her happily.

“Hey.”

“Where are you at?”

“On my way back to work,” Bette said turned onto the main street and speeding toward the Gallery to get there quickly.

“I wanted to let you know I talked to Mom, everyone is really excited to finally meet you.”

“Good,” Bette said with a lack of enthusiasm.

“I need you to e-mail me the flight information if you can when you get back,” Tina requested. “She wanted me to call her back with it as soon as I can.”

“Why is this?”

“They’re going to pick us up at the airport.”

“Tina,” Bette pulled into her parking spot at the Gallery and put her car in park. She took a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves regarding the pending trip. “We really shouldn’t bother anyone with having to pick us up. I think we should rent a car.”

“They’re offering to pick us up, I think we should take it.”

“We can’t rent a car?” Bette pushed.

“They might get offended that we’re that formal to rent a car when they want to pick us up.”

Bette rubbed her temples to ward off the full on headache that was threatening to make an appearance.

“Do you want them to pick us up?”

“I think it would be nice,” Tina said hoping Bette would understand.

“I’ll have Jordana e-mail you the information as soon as I walk in and hand her the tickets.”

“Thanks Babe,” Tina said smiling. “I love you.”

“I love you too Tina.”

“Listen,” Tina said quickly. “I need to go into briefings over this lawsuit, but I’ll call you as soon as I can. I’ll have Leslie call my mom with the information.”

“Did you just want me to have Jordana copy them on the message? If you give me their e-mail address I’ll have her throw it on there.”

“Oh,” Tina cringed as she held the phone slightly tighter in her hand. “They don’t have e-mail Babe.”

“What?”

“They don’t have e-mail,” Tina reconfirmed what Bette thought she heard. “They’re not into computers. Dad says it takes away from personal interaction and he prefers the phone.”

Bette sat in silence as the headache she tried to fight off began to throb.

“I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you at home Bette.”

Tina hung up leaving a stunned Bette holding her phone in her hand.

“Actions speak louder then words,” Bette mumbled. “Fucking hell it would have been easier if she really were raised by wolves and just asked me to change my name to Elizabeth Kennard.”