Jennie Bee is in a road safety photo shoot with Dana Polk

A corner of the junior college parking lot is marked off with safety cones to keep cars out. There's some sort of event going on there with cameras, lights, and recording crew, with a few curious onlookers rather than a real audience. That's probably Jennie Beth's place to shine. Road safety photo op. But where is she? Maybe one of the staff can point you the right direction.

You're about to speak up, when a blonde in a fancy red jogging suit notices you. Leisure suit, maybe that's what they call it. She does a nice job filling it out, curves top and bottom, but not soft. More like a Baywatch lifeguard. Sunglasses, ball cap, and a ponytail threaded through the back of the cap.

She gives you a look. She tilts her head and puts a hand on her hip. There's something familiar about her.

"Sergeant D..., Sergeant Krieger, is that you?"

It's your turn for a double take. An IDIOT light glows brightly on your mental dashboard. JONES. Road safety crew member Jennie Beth JONES and her bossy big sister... JOLENE.

"Specialist Jones?"

Both of you are wearing your old army boots today. Joely Jones was never exactly a bitch, nor precisely a prick, but sometimes she could be an asshole. You figured the feeling was mutual. Maybe you were mistaken.

"Hey, I didn't know you were local, Krieger. I got out last year on a package. You still in?"

"Didn't re-up. Just got out." You paste on a smile. The Army gave you practice doing that often enough to pass for convincing.

"You ought to get on the list for the opportunity group," Jonesie says. "Training, job placement. It's right here on campus. Oh and I go by JJ now."

"JJ, right," you say. Joely-babe would have known you as SGT N KRIEGER. "I go by Deenie." To my friends. And my mom.

"Nice to see a familiar face," JJ Jolene Resting Diva Face Jones tells you. "Who says you can't go home again?" She grabs your hand for a handshake.

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure."

Except that JJ probably doesn't have her mom trying to dress her up like a fashion doll. As much as it was a trip house-sitting for Mary and Brian, at least crashing at your mom's co-worker's double-wide up the county road meant that Mom was not on your case right now.

Jolene fishes in her warm-ups and hands you a card. "Post-military opportunity group. Promise you'll come."

You've never seen Joely hit on another girl, so it's probably just as she's saying. Of course you never knew her well enough to know you were from the same hometown, so she could have been going to raging lesbian orgies while you were out hunting dick with your gay-ass garage boys. Sometimes you caught what you were after. Sometimes you scored a girl instead. Or sometimes you and a garage boy were each other's mercy fuck if you both struck out. Sergeant Dickless, that was you. You still get a smile inside. JJ Jones, well, you had no idea.

"Sure," you tell her. You look at the opportunity group card. Twice a month in person, a telephone number, an email list, a social media group invitation, a web site with info and resource lists. You might keep that promise. Mom would like that. "Anything for grease monkeys?"

"Engine mechanics? Deenie, girl, you are so there."

Deenie, girl. You wonder if Mom would call Jolene cheerful or overfamiliar. But you wouldn't want JJ as your big sister. Maybe send her off to be the busybody meddler in someone else's social life.

"Thanks JJ."

"Oh hey I gotta go, my little sister needs a pep talk," Jolene says. "She's getting a road safety award, and she's the poster girl, right next to Master Patrolman, um, Patrolwoman Dana Polk from the highway patrol. Can I say star struck? Officer Polk taught my motorcycle safety class, and she was a big deal then. Now she's on billboards!"

"I actually came to see the photo shoot, JJ."

"Oh, you're a fan, too? Well, come and meet my little sister then, she's the co-star, moving on up."

Jolene leads you back to a corner of the space where there are some folding chairs and mirrors set up behind a couple of white cargo vans.

Where the first person you see is the star of today's show, a face you saw on a highway billboard coming in, Master Patrolman (PatrolMAN, said the billboard) Dana Polk, a solid lady motorcycle patrol officer, a decorated twenty-five-year veteran of the service. Just like on the billboard, she's got her aviator glasses on a face that's gonna be on a medal named after her someday. She must be pushing fifty, but she looks like she's all in on being the public face of the highway patrol.

You have to admire a woman like that, but you're not up for twenty-five years as a motorcycle officer in the highway patrol to get your face on a billboard.

Dana Polk's looking good for her time in grade, looks like she works out, has some muscle and heft to her and a lot of physical presence. Not tall, but tall enough, a confident posture, a broad, filled-out bosom, and a wide seat. She speaks with a deep-ish voice, pretty sweet in regular speaking. She's talking to someone with a clipboard and an audio headset who's going through the routine.

"Let's take you up front, get some pictures of you on your patrol cycle," the photo op director says, sparing a look for Jennie Beth Jones, who is sitting in a chair wearing full road safety kit complete with a STOP / SLOW sign resting to one side, letting a makeup artist fuss over her, but looking like she's barely holding her game face together. The makeup artist adds just a little powder and just a little hair mist, because most of the hair will be under Jennie Bee's helmet but maybe there'll be a picture or two without.

Jolene walks up to her sister, gives her a pep talk with vigorous arm waving and a raised voice, and gives her a pat on the shoulder. Jolene turns round, heading out, and sees you standing there.

"Oh wait, Jennie Bee, this is Sergeant Krieger, Deenie Krieger, she was in charge of the motor pool at my old post," Jolene says. "Deenie, this is my little sis Jennie Beth. She's getting famous in pictures."

Jolene isn't looking at Jennie Bee, so she doesn't catch her sister rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, Deenie's a good soldier, she's going to join my opportunity group, we'll get her fixed right up. Gotta go, sis, give 'em your biggest smile."

"Bye JJ!" you say as she dashes off.

You, Jennie Beth, and the make-up artist all have a quiet moment, just blinking at each other. You shrug. Jennie Bee sighs.

"We're almost done," the make-up artist says. "Chin up, look toward my hand, there. Good."

"The things I do for Jolene," Jennie says. "At least for this photo shoot, I don't have to take off any clothes."

"This shoot is for a good cause too," the artist says. She laughs. "They booked me special. Government rate." You can practically see dollar signs behind her eyes. From that look, you imagine she already knows what she's going to spend it on.

The makeup artist has DARLA embroidered in script letters on her working vest. She's got auburn-tinted hair with a little flip curl in front, some kind of fancy glitter job on her smooth short fingernails, and just enough make-up to look like she put on her work face. Darla is cute like Jennie Bee, though she's wearing a gold ring on her wedding finger and looks like a Straight Girl pushing thirty. A pregnant Straight Girl.

But who knows with Darla, or even with Jennie Bee, who out-models your Duluth Trading Company pin-up girls. She's in work boots and full bright safety gear, her helmet to one side, and you can't take your eyes off her. You remember how she moved when she was doing the flag for the road construction crew.

You don't have much gaydar, and you never know, a lotta blue collar gals swing both ways. You've had some sweet times with a couple of Army career gals in their thirties, a medical corpswoman and a supply sergeant. The medical corpswoman was a bisexual free spirit like yourself, a little more femmed-up in her style. "Twice the chance of a date on a Saturday night," you'd told each other, laughing. The supply sergeant was butch enough to run off most eager fellows, but she was steadily deep-dicked by her husband, a senior non-com who had set her up for a lesbian initiation right after basic training. "I didn't think was a girls' girl, but damn if Sarge didn't make me his project to make me one," she'd said with a shrug. "It worked. He made me his butch dyke wingman. Me and him scored a lot of soldier girl snatch. I made sergeant. But he was gonna retire on his twenty, and goddamn if he didn't just up and propose. I told Mama everything. She asked me a lot of questions, then told me I had her full blessing and she'd fight anyone who got in my way. I said yes. He gave me a belly full of kid, twice. Cute little stinkers. And I'm a big-ass dyke with a house-husband, eating more soldier girl snatch than ever. With Mama's blessing." You'd banged her husband once. He wasn't bad. Good cook, too, knew how to take care of the house and kids, his wife was too busy for any of that.

"Penny?" Darla asks you.

"Oh no, I'm Deenie. Nadine."

Darla laughs. "I meant penny for your thoughts, you looked like you were staring at poor Jennie Bee, working on an evil master plan."

Someone is a mind reader here, and it isn't you.

"Haha, no, just thinking about life on base, after running into Jennie's sister. I was the motor pool sergeant, and Joely, ah, JJ here, I only saw her when she'd need a vehicle. Usually in a big hurry."

Jennie Bee laughs. "That sounds like my sister all right. Pulling strings a mile a minute. She got some special discharge package so she doesn't have to work yet, and she's been hanging out with the volunteer fire department over to the county. She get you to sign up for anything yet? Watch out, she got me to pose practically naked for the firefighter's benefit calendar. It shoulda been her, she's got the looks and the shape."

Your eyes meet. There's another quiet moment, just the two of you. Darla has her back turned, putting away her make-up kit.

"I have to admit. Jennie Bee, you have it all over your sister in being real. She knows it too. That's why you're the poster girl today."

"You're just saying that."

The hurt look on Jennie Bee's face makes you want to cry. But you're a big girl and the army gave you a lot of practice in not crying.

"I'm just telling the truth. Your sister isn't getting a safety award. It's you."

Jennie Bee straightens up and gets out of the folding chair.

"Will you stick by me, Deenie, so I don't forget that?"

"I'll be right along with you, unless you need me to go fetch a drink or something."

"Just stay close, okay?"

You want to tuck her under your wing except she's probably got more core strength than you and where do you get off being anyone's mom?

Oh yeah, the motor pool boys. THEY called you Mom, even though they were mostly older than you.

An assistant comes back to let Jennie Beth know it's her turn for photos. Jennie Beth puts on her helmet, picks up her safety flag, and takes you by the hand. "Stick close, Deenie."

Jennie Beth follows the assistant out from behind the white vans, holding you by the hand. You follow, feeling little prickles of excitement as she leads you on.

Wait a minute, did Jennie Beth Jones just pick YOU up?

It'll all make more sense after picture time. Maybe there was going to be an award ceremony too, you're not sure.

Maybe it's Jennie Beth's sister Jolene who is a veteran like Deenie, for the "Create Allies" event. See a chapter with Mary Forbes and Jennie Beth Jones for a description of Jolene.

Dice Rolls (One Page Oracle):
Is Deenie's "Create Allies" a business group with Brenda Box? (even: d6, d6) = 2, 3: No.
Is Deenie's "Create Allies" a post-military re-integration group with Jolene Jones? (even: d6, d6) = 4, 2: Yes. Extra complication if you're chasing Jolene's younger sister Jennie Beth. Maybe Jolene helped put together the event and knows Dana Polk?

You have 3 XP

You have +1 Hard, +1 Hot, +2 Cool. -1 Control.

Describe how the photo op ends up with you and Jennie Beth Jones alone together, as you'd been hoping.

Some possibilities from the One Page Oracle for where you go / what you do / what happens (Generic Generator).

• 7H 10D Create (Social), Specialized (Technical) - Hanging out after work with Jennie Bee's crew? Spending time with Dana Polk about road safety?
• 6D 2S Harm (Technical), Small (Mystical) - Lost her keys, wallet, phone, credit card, so she can't get home / pay her way / etc.
• QS 8D Assist (Mystical), Complex (Technical) - You help her figure out and fix a problem, or help her by providing insight about why that makes the complex issue simpler to resolve.