The door to the office suddenly opened and Barbara jumped, swiveling around in the rolling chair. Dora stood in the doorway, looking pale and tired.
"Sorry," she said softly and started to turn away.
"Come in. I was just going over the accounts and then got distracted." Barbara pointed at the computer and Dora's eyes followed her gesture to the enlarged image on the screen.
"I found that in one of the folders," Barbara said.
Dora stepped into the room and bent down to get a closer look. She nodded. "That's at Lanesha's."
"Oh, wow." Barbara pointed at the girl with glasses. "So that's Erica?"
Dora nodded again. Barbara had only seen Erica's older sister twice. Lanesha moved to Georgia some years ago––Savannah, specifically, where the Jones family uprooted from in the fifties, moving west to California in search of better opportunities. The young woman in the picture was a long way from the Lanesha Barbara knew: an older woman in her fifties, obese with arthritic knees, needing a cane to walk.
"Kanani." Dora pointed at the girl singing. "And that's Sweetness and Baby Sweetness," she said of the two young men. "I remember that day. We were listening to that song “Whoomp” by Tag Team. Kanani, that girl was crazy over that song."
Barbara stared at Dora, wondering at the sudden change of her accent. Her mother's face lit up in a way Barbara hadn't seen since before Dora fainted and lost her memory. "You've probably never heard of them," Dora trailed off wistfully.
Barbara shrugged. "They don't sound familiar."
"Oh." The light in Dora's eyes died out.
"I can pull them up," Barbara offered.
The excitement was back. "Yeah?"
"Absolutely," Barbara opened YouTube. "What was the song?"
“‘Whoomp’ by Tag Team.”
As soon as the dance beat kicked in, Barbara recognized the song. She moved her head in time with the beat. "Oh, yeah. I've heard this. It's… I think it gets played a lot in Zumba and hip hop classes." She glanced at her mother and then stared, mesmerized. Dora moved her shoulders in a fast-paced popping motion from side to side, working herself into a squat and back up before moving into a cross-step with a little kick.
"I didn't know you could dance."
Dora gave her a look, but her body kept going, keeping time with the music. It was so bizarre to see her mother performing hip hop moves effortlessly. Barbara had only ever known Dora to be a somewhat reluctant dancer, shy of footwork. Mostly, she preferred to halfheartedly move her upper body from side to side and call it dancing. Erica was the one who could dance, really dance. As soon as Barbara had that thought, Erica poked their head through the gap of the door. Their eyes widened when they saw Dora, and they stepped into the tiny office space, joining their wife, matching her footwork. The two looked like practiced professionals. Barbara watched them, her mouth hanging open. When the song ended, Erica laughed.
"Let's go into the living room. There's more space," they said.
For once, Dora appeared enthusiastic about something.
"I'll get the kids and Cuppa," Barbara offered.
Erica shook their head. "I took them to your dad's, and Cuppa went to meet a friend for dinner."
"Oh." Barbara wanted to ask why Sara and Jesse were back at Dad's, but Erica already had their phone out, pulling up more music from Spotify, connecting it to the speakers in the living room.
"Lil’ Kim!" Dora yelled out to Erica. “Girl, put on ‘Crush On You.’”
"No, wait." Erica held out their hand like a stop sign, laughing. "I just realized there's all this good music you don't remember. You've got to take a listen to Public Enemy."
"Okay, okay. Whoop it up."
The first part of “Harder Than You Think” blared through the speakers, and Dora waited, listening, head nodding to the lyrics. When the beat came in hard and pulsing with the horn ensemble, Dora broke into swift, crisp moves, keeping perfect time. Erica watched, stunned for some seconds before jumping in and joining Dora. The two of them moved too quickly for Barbara to follow. Dora stopped after a bit and let out a full hearty laugh. "Yo, this song be banging." She waved Barbara over. "Come on, girl, get in here."
Barbara stepped up to her mother. "I can't even begin to do what you guys are doing," she said with a small shake of her head.
"That's okay. I'm gonna show you. Do you know the butterfly?"
Barbara shook her head no.
"You've gotta take a stance like this."
Erica paused the music as Dora opened her feet, hips-width apart. Barbara copied her mom.
"Now, bring your knees in and out."
Barbara tried to copy, but she felt clumsy and stiff.
"Come up on your toes a little," Erica added.
"Yeah, yeah, you're gettin’ it," Dora chimed in, keeping up the movement with Barbara.
"Use your pelvis to push your legs out, and get the arms in there. You want to scoop," Erica said.
Barbara felt a small burn in her legs, repeating the movement over and over. Her arms seemed like they were doing their own thing, not really in sync. Erica started the music again. It was a little easier to keep time with a beat. Both Erica and Serene joined Barbara.
“These simple lines be good for your health
To keep them crime rhymes on the shelf
Live love life like you just don't care”
Dora moved her hips back and forth, butt jiggling as Erica came up behind and matched her movements, placing their palm on the small of Dora's back. Dora jumped as if she'd been burned and spun around, eyes wide, doing that hair-behind-the-ear tucking thing. She stepped back, chest heaving, skin glistening with perspiration. Sweat dripped down the sides of Erica's face and beaded on their forehead. They reached out a hand to Dora as if to calm a cornered animal, but Dora's hand flew to her mouth, clamping tightly.
“Throw your hands in the
