Boss Lady

  “What about the opportunities to sell my Flyy Girl Ltd. merchandise?”

  “Oh, girl, you’ll have plenty of time to do that. The Flyy Girl name will never stop being popular. You came ready-made with a brand name.”

  Robin had some good points. All I did was listen.

  Tracy then looked at me, with the last of a turkey hoagie in my mouth.

  She asked me, “Vanessa, what do you think?”

  I was caught off guard by it. I nodded my head and pointed to Robin.

  I mumbled “She’s right” through my food.

  Tracy nodded back to me. She said, “Okay, let’s get back to work then. We need to narrow this talent down.”

  I was still munching on my food, so I stayed put a little longer.

  “Those hoagies hit the spot, don’t they?” someone asked me.

  I looked to my right and spotted Shamor with his camera gear. He was smiling at me.

  I smiled back and nodded to him. “I grew up on cheesesteaks and hoagies,” I told him. “I’m from here.”

  He said, “I know. I was wondering if you could take me around to show me some places.”

  I paused for a minute. Was he asking me out? I thought he was hollering at Madison.

  I said, “Yeah, we could all hang out together, if we get out of here early enough. I know I was worn out from yesterday.”

  I wanted to see how he would respond to a group situation.

  He hesitated before he said, “Tell me about it. But ah . . .”

  His look said it all. The boy was feeling me. He was trapped in his words while watching me eat. And I was so hungry that I didn’t even care. I was just going to have to be a food mouth. I wasn’t there to impress anybody. I was there to get a job done. But no wonder he was so eager to talk to me the night before. Maybe he was feeling me more than he was feeling my friend. Or he could have been running game on both of us. I didn’t really know him, so what was I to think.

  He said, “Well, we’ll talk later. It’s time to get back to work.”

  He smiled at me again and returned to his camera station.

  I tried to hurry up with my food to get back to work myself. And as soon as I looked around the room from eating, I caught Maddy staring at me. I wondered immediately how long she had been watching me and if she had caught my brief conversation with Shamor. I figured that she had. But it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t there to meet guys. She could have him.

  * * *

  After a while I knew exactly what we were looking for in each Flyy Girl character. Not that I didn’t have my own ideas already, but through the casting call, I was learning how to see through Tracy and Robin’s eyes.

  Of course, the lead role of TRACY had to really work the film, but the lead of VICTOR needed to be even stronger. VICTOR had to outmatch TRACY’s wit immediately. It was similar to the superhero and the villain in an action movie. VICTOR had to be a scene snatcher for us to believe that TRACY would fall head over heels for him. We all had to fall for him for it to work.

  We had a guy from Washington, D.C., named Mark Fletcher, who really did it for me. He had smooth, dark brown skin, with dark, curly hair, and had an amazing presence about him. He knew that he was special even when he stood still. And when he performed for us, he presented an abundance of swagger, just what the role needed. There were plenty of other guys who worked magic as VICTOR as well, but Mark Fletcher was definitely my leading pick.

  For the roles of MERCEDES and RAHEEMA, we were looking for girls who could play solid opposites, but also have some similarities in appearance and attitude. They were both Catholic school sisters from the same household, who felt oppressed by a tough-as-nails father, and a soft-as-a-feather mother. They just responded to their emotions differently. And to tell the truth, there were so many people we saw who could fit in either one of those roles, that I figured they would be better cast to professionals who could help sell the film for us. So I agreed totally with Robin on that one. It wasn’t as if someone could ask for a potful of money for the co-starring roles. However, there was a good amount of beef on the bone in both parts that could really move a person’s career forward. You would definitely have important screen time. So it was worth a shot for us to go after a few known names and faces for those roles.

  For the parents—PATTI, DAVE, BETH, and KEITH—the opportunities were wide open. We could cast known names and faces, or a mix of the two. Tracy definitely had some Hollywood folks in mind for the parents. Nevertheless, we selected a few talents who fit the model that Tracy was looking for. They had to look thirty-five, have believable chemistry, and basically fit their prospective families. And even though Tracy was forced to kill their backstories for the screenplay, the Flyy Girl book gave all of the information that a person would need on how to portray the parents.

  For the girlfriend roles of JANTEL and CARMEN, Tracy thought of using a real high-school track star, either locally or nationally, and a nationally known video girl.

  “Some of these rap video girls are getting extremely popular nowadays. And they all want to act,” she commented. “So we just grab one of them from BET to play CARMEN. They just have to look young enough and deliver their lines.”

  For the boyfriends—BRUCE, TIMMY, CASH, and CARL—the opportunities were endless. BRUCE was clean-cut and straightforward. TIMMY was criminalistic and violent. CASH was a charismatic hustler. And CARL was a college jock.

  Then you had KIWANA and her COLLEGE GIRLS, all of VICTOR’S CREW, and a hundred smaller roles that needed to be filled, mostly by Philadelphians.

  “This’ll shape up to be a grand-scale movie with all of the extras you have in this thing,” Robin stated.

  Tracy smiled. She said, “But that was the eighties. It seemed like we had a larger teenaged population back then, didn’t it? Nowadays, a lot of kids stay in the house more, doing whatever. But we were out and about during the eighties. I want to represent that extroverted personality of the original hip-hop generation in this film. I mean, that’s what being flyy was all about in the eighties, being seen out at the parties.”

  Robin grinned and said, “You got that right. Kangol hats, fat shoelaces, and graffiti.”

  There were plenty of ways for everyday people to be seen in this Flyy Girl movie, that was for sure. We even looked at little boys from ages six to ten to play JASON as the kid brother. Could you imagine watching a gang of cute, brown boys who were all learning to memorize lines? It was just too much. Then I looked over at Alexandria, who had fallen for the grown-up Jason, and I knew that she was in big trouble. She was standing there watching plenty of gorgeous little boys, one of which would be selected to star as JASON in the film, while she got to talk to, and possibly date, the real thing.

  I shook my head, grinned it off, and wondered about it. I didn’t sweat my cousin Jason at all, but I could see now how a girl could fall for him. I never said that he was bad-looking. He was just . . . ill, my cousin.

  * * *

  That second day at Freedom Theater wasn’t as bad as the first. We got out of there by seven o’clock instead of nine.

  On our limo ride back to our hotel rooms at the Marriott, Robin asked Tracy, “So, who do you have on your short list to direct this film? You know, Chuck Stone from those ‘Whassup?’ Budweiser commercials is from the Philadelphia area. He’s getting serious looks from Hollywood right now, and he’s still inexpensive. And I hear the video director Benny Boom is starting to look at scripts now, too. He’s from the Philadelphia area as well.”

  Tracy said, “We don’t necessarily have to have a director from Philadelphia. I mean, they’re still going to be getting most of the information from me. I wrote the script and I’ll be a part of the whole process. We just need good camerawork.”

  It was already understood that Tracy would be a co-producer on the film. She was used to producing now, and was already setting things in motion. So Robin began to smile real wide as other ideas ran through her mind. I had a feeling I knew what she wa
s going to ask Tracy next, but I waited for it to come out of her mouth before I jumped the gun on it.

  She said, “Knowing you and your reputation, I wouldn’t be surprised if you tried to direct this movie yourself. No one is going to know what you’re trying to get across more than you do. And you’re right, you’re the total visionary on this film.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Jasmine butted in. “I can see you directing this, Tracy.”

  Tracy gave my girl a look to shut her big mouth. Jasmine read it and did just that.

  Tracy said, “As much as I hate to say it, Robin, I wouldn’t want to turn this film into a chick flick by me getting too involved with it. I mean, you know how people get. Too much of my involvement may have ruined my last two films. And I still view Flyy Girl as more of an eighties story than just a girl’s story. It’s a representation of all of us, guys and girls.”

  Robin said, “But you still have to figure that we, black women and girls in particular, never get a chance to tell our own stories. I mean, what are we looking at—The Color Purple, Waiting to Exhale, and What’s Love Got to Do with It. They were all based on books, written by black women but directed by men. Even Oprah Winfrey used a male director when she produced Toni Morrison’s Beloved. I still felt she should have used Julie Dash from Daughters of the Dust, but what do I know about a black woman’s perspective? I’m only a black woman. And none of those films dealt with the young, urban girls of our era.”

  Robin was in her early thirties, like Tracy. They were both first generation hip-hoppers.

  Robin said, “We need a Flyy Girl movie right now more than anything. This is perfect timing. And it would be great for a woman to direct it. That’s all I’m saying. I mean, look at all of those black male movies we’ve had over the years: Boyz n the Hood, Juice, Menace II Society, South Central, New Jack City, Friday and Next Friday, Straight Out of Brooklyn, The Inkwell, The Wood . . .”

  I cut Robin off and said, “We had Love and Basketball.”

  She looked at me and said, “Thank you, Vanessa. And what is that, one movie out of twenty?”

  “It had a woman director, too,” Maddy added. “What about if you got her to direct Flyy Girl?”

  Tracy said, “But she was very close to that story.”

  “Just like you’re very close to yours,” Robin commented.

  Tracy shook her head and said, “I’m not even gonna talk about it anymore.”

  For a minute, everyone sat silently. Then we all started laughing. There was no way in the world Tracy was not going to talk about her movie. It was a ridiculous comment to make. But we all understood why she had said it. It was a lot to think about.

  Robin asked, “Well, what does Mr. Omar Tyree have to say about your script?”

  Tracy said, “He hasn’t seen it yet.”

  “Are you planning on showing it to him?”

  “Eventually. But I didn’t want too many different opinions about the screenplay on my first draft. I just wanted to write it as I saw it first. He doesn’t have any screenwriting credits anyway, and I do.”

  “What do you think he’ll say about it?” Robin questioned.

  “I mean, he’s trying to write more guy stuff right now for himself,” Tracy answered. “It’s just hard to get girl projects done. Sister Souljah’s book, The Coldest Winter Ever, has been talked about as a vehicle for Jada Pinkett Smith for years, and that hasn’t gotten done either.”

  “Well, this project is gonna get done,” Robin insisted. “But I hear that he’s hard to deal with anyway.”

  “Who, Omar?” Tracy asked her for clarity.

  “Yeah. I mean, he didn’t want to write your sequel book, For the Love of Money, right? And then you guys ended up winning an NAACP Image Award for it.”

  Tracy said, “You know what, a lot of people talk about me the same way, and have never met me. ‘I heard Tracy this,’ and ‘I heard Tracy that.’ The bottom line is that he gets his work done, just like I do. So I gotta respect that. ’Cause a lot of people will hate on you for no good reason. But as long as you keep doing what you do, you’ll keep meeting new people who want to work with you. And that’s all I can say about it. He’s doing his thing right now and I’m doing mine.”

  Well said. I agreed with Tracy. I had met Omar Tyree myself, and he was a straightforward, no-nonsense guy. He came to do what we came to do, and he went on about his business. I never saw him as a public entertainer or anything. He was a writer, and that’s what he continued to do.

  * * *

  When we made it back to the Marriott Hotel, I had my eyes glued on Alexandria. I knew my cousin Jason was trying to get at her. And it was early enough for him to get a lot more time out of her than he had the night before.

  “So, what do you guys want to do tonight?” I asked the group. We were walking through the hotel lobby on our way to the elevators.

  Out of nowhere, Shamor popped up with a few of the camera crew members from New York. I had forgotten all about him.

  “Hey, where’s everybody off to tonight? What’s poppin’ in the city?” he asked us. “I’m ready to shower, get dressed, and go out.”

  I glanced at Maddy for a second to see how she would respond to him. I hadn’t had any words with her about Shamor yet, but I was sure that she was thinking things.

  Sasha spoke up first.

  “We want to go to the movies and hang out on Delaware Avenue near the water.”

  Shamor was still eager. He said, “That sounds like a plan.”

  “At the United Artists?” I asked Sasha. She was familiar with the Philadelphia area. It was a thirty-minute drive up I-95 North from where her family stayed in Delaware.

  She said, “Yeah.” Then she asked, “Do you think Tracy will let us borrow the limo?”

  They were all ready for an answer.

  I said, “I don’t know about that. I have to ask her. The limo driver may be done with us for the night. We don’t have him on standby all night.”

  “Dag,” Jasmine pouted. “We wanted to get him to drive us down South Street.”

  “What, and be stuck in traffic for an hour?” I stated.

  “It doesn’t take that long to make it through,” Sasha argued.

  I said, “Just about.”

  Shamor spoke up and said, “Well, we can all walk then. That’s more fun to me, anyway. I want to see this city out in the open.”

  I glanced at Maddy again, and she looked back at me. I just didn’t feel comfortable between them. But maybe I was overreacting to things. They weren’t a couple or anything. They were only talking out in the hallway, just like Alexandria and my cousin. However, I knew what my cousin’s intentions were, and I didn’t know Shamor’s intentions with either one of us.

  I also didn’t want to single Alexandria out, but I noticed that she had nothing to say about anything. So I was tempted to ask for her opinions on things just to see what she would say about her own plans.

  However, Tracy walked by us all in the lobby with a few words for me before I could address my girl.

  “Hey, Vanessa, I want to talk to you in my room again before you run off tonight,” she told me. She, Robin, and a few of the older casting crew members had caught up to us at the elevators. They carried boxes of camera equipment, lighting materials, tapes, and bios from the day.

  I said, “Okay.” I figured I would catch back up with my girls afterward, and we would decide to do whatever.

  So I grabbed two boxes to help carry to Tracy’s room.

  “I’ll be back,” I told my crew.

  They all watched me get onto the elevator with Tracy while they continued to decide on their plans for the night.

  I rode the elevator up with my cousin, and as soon as we stepped off to go to her room, she asked me, “So what do you think about me directing?”

  I hadn’t thought much more about it after the discussion inside the limo. I figured everything would work itself out in time.

  I said, “I don’t know. What
makes a good director?”

  “You have to have a particular vision and execution for the film,” Tracy answered.

  She made it sound too simplistic for me to believe her.

  I asked her, “Is that all you need to have?”

  “Well, you need to know what you’re doing, first of all. But you generally work your way through it, knowing what you want out of each and every character, and each and every scene.”

  It sounded as if Tracy was trying to convince herself. She was trying to talk herself into directing by making the process sound extra simple.

  I said, “They have co-directors right, like the Hughes Brothers? You could do something like that, just to make sure that you’re doing it right. Because I would hate to see you not have it done the right way because you’re trying to do too much on your own. I mean, I hear Robin’s point, but I also heard your point. And I think the more important part is getting the film done right, and not so much about whether a man or a woman is directing it.”

  Tracy looked at me and grinned. She said, “You don’t think I can do it.”

  I didn’t want to say that, but I was skeptical of whether she was ready for directing.

  She said, “Remember, Vanessa, I’m not going to be starring in this movie. So I finally get a chance to watch the development of the whole process.”

  I didn’t know what to say. How could I tell my cousin not to direct her movie without it sounding like I doubted her?

  I said, “I just don’t want to see you make a big mistake with this movie based on what Robin is saying.” I told her, “Sometimes it’s better to be the hero who lets the other heroes do their parts, like X-Men or something.”

  Tracy said, “I see. Well, just to keep a balanced perspective, I was wondering if you’d like to tag along with me for when I meet up with the real-life people who my story is based on. You already know what I’m looking for.”

  I didn’t see a problem with it. It would be fun meeting the real characters from Flyy Girl. So I nodded to her and said, “Okay. I can do that. So, when do you want us to start?”

  I needed to make room in my schedule for hanging out with my girls, and for meeting up with my mom and sisters.