7-14-97, 3:06 PM

Kourtnee and I had been back at Shimmers, Inc. for about 15 minutes. Paula told me to come walk with her to the employee lounge. I told Kourtnee where I was going. She was on the phone and she nodded her head. I walked to the elevator with Paula. Felton walked up to Paula and began talking. Paula told me to go ahead and that she would meet me in the employee lounge in a few minutes. I went to the first floor by myself.

When I reached the lobby, Brugeon was sitting at the security desk. I stopped and talked to him. He talked about his karate class that he had later on. He was a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He was working on a black belt in Jujitsu. He went on and on about his karate classes. I could tell that he enjoyed karate. He said that he had competed in state-held competitions and I could come see him if I wanted to. Brug (as he is called) said that Kourtnee’s brother Jordan competed also. Brug said that he and Jordan were best friends. I smiled. I had met Jordan briefly at the family’s 4th of July Celebration.

Brug continued to talk about karate. After awhile, Paula walked by the security desk. She stared at me before she said, “Aren’t you supposed to be in the employee lounge?” I didn’t say anything. Brug was acting like he was working. Paula smiled at Brug and told me to come on.

We made it to the employee lounge. It was 3:18 PM. There were quite a few people in the lounge. There were people everywhere. There were a couple of guys playing pool. I wanted to get on the table, but I was scared to say anything. Paula sat down to watch TV. I walked over to the pool table and watched the guys play pool. One of the guys was very cute. He looked like he was 20 or 21. He had black hair and gray eyes. He had a nice build. The other guy was about 40 something. He had black hair that had a gray patch at the top of his forehead. He acted happy so I assumed that he was winning. The older guy said hello to me when I walked over to the table. The younger guy said hello and then smiled at me. I smiled back. The older guy said, “So, you came to watch the youngster get whipped?” I smiled. The game continued. The older guy won. The younger guy walked off mad. The older guy said, “Who’s next to take a whippin’?” I asked if I could play. He said I could and asked me if I was gonna cry if I lost. I said, “No sir, I’m not gonna cry. But you can’t cry if I win.” The people who were around the pool table started laughing. The older guy said, “Alrighty, little lady, you go first.” He racked the balls. The younger guy he had just beaten said, “I got 20 on baby girl.” Someone else said, “I got 10 on her.” The older guy said, “I guess you better show us something.” I took my pool cue in hand and ran the table. When I finished, everyone was screaming and howling. The older guy looked at me and said, “You not right. Let’s go again. I’m going first this time.” He did. He made four balls. I took over the table. I sank all of my shots. Everybody started acting up. I heard Paula’s voice say, “Are you over here showing out?” I turned around and she was standing behind me. She grabbed my shoulder. The older guy said, “Let’s go again. You break.” I broke. We played four more games. He won only one game.

We were about to play another game. All of a sudden, the room got quiet. Kourtnee was standing in the doorway. She smiled and said, “Don’t get quiet on account of me. Keep doing what you were doing.” She walked over to the pool table. I hid behind Paula. Kourtnee said, “LaDawnya, get over here. Are you in here hustling these guys?” I didn’t say anything as I walked over to her. The older guy spoke up, “Yea. She is in here beating me like crazy. Where did she learn to play pool?” Kourtnee said, “Greg please. Normally it’s you who is beating everyone.” Greg smiled at Kourtnee. “Yea, well, I gotta go back to work,” Greg said as he put his pool cue up. The younger guy he had beaten earlier said, “Old school got beat by baby girl. This is one for the records.” He laughed.

Everyone began to leave the lounge. I don’t know whether it was because their break was over or because the president of the company was there. After everyone left, Kourtnee stared at both Paula and I. Kourtnee had her hands on her hips.

Paula: I didn’t do anything. It was your pool hustling child.

Kourtnee: LaDawnya, what have I told you about playing pool?

LaDawnya: I didn’t do anything. He said I could play. I wasn’t cheating.

Kourtnee: LaDawnya, girl you are gonna get into trouble one of these days.

Paula: Greg did say that she could play.

Kourtnee: You are in trouble, too. You were supposed to be watching her. Both of you all are down here in the middle of the whole thing. Good grief.

Paula: We were on break.

Kourtnee: You all are five minutes over break. LaDawnya, we have a meeting in 15 minutes.

Paula: See girl, you are always getting me in trouble. Everyone all over the plant is going to know about this. You beat Greg. Nobody has ever beaten Greg. Nobody.