DOZE

As one refused another, the other refuses the next, until there are none left to turn away.

                                                                                           

"Nebretta, you gettin' the chips?"

"I'm comin' with them," the nasally voice from the kitchen called out. 

"Hurry up. The show's startin'," the other woman said as she reclined in the chair. 

Nebretta made her way from the kitchen, the crinkling bags of chips in her hands all but drowning out the monitor. 

"Where's my beer?" Nebretta asked as she placed herself in the second seat with a mighty expulsion of air from the cushion. 

"Right there," the first woman replied, motioning her hand toward the bottle on the tv tray. "Gimme one of those bags."

The two women were silent as they opened the bags and each put a hand within to bring back a couple of chips, and the crunching ensued. 

"They supposed to have an interview with Alerian Traden, aren't they?" 

"That's what the commercial said earlier today," Nebretta answered. "He's going to talk about how happy he is being single."

She laughed to herself. 

"How happy you think he is, Okelia?" 

"I know I'd do everything to make him happy so he'd make me happy," Okelia said, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Turn it up some." 

"You got the remote." 

With that revelation, the volume was increased. 

". . . . is Hollywood Here!" the smiling blonde woman on the screen proclaimed happily. 

"We'll be telling you all about what's going viral in movies, music and online, and what everyone has to say," the smiling fellow sitting beside the woman declared. 

"And we'll have an exclusive interview with the celebrity sensation Alerian Traden." 

The man turned to the woman. 

"He is hot, isn't he?"

"He sure is," she replied. "Number one in the nation." 

"Number one in the world," the guy corrected, still smiling. 

"Then hurry up and get to interviewing him," Okelia said to the screen, eating another mouthful of chips. 

"But before we get to Alerian Traden," the woman quipped, "we're going to be talking to Carroll James and the circumstances concerning his latest effort, the reality series called Doze." 

"What's that?" Okelia asked.

"what?" 

"Doze." 

"Oh," Nebretta said, "I've seen that. It's a show about people sleeping." 

"Sleeping?" Okelia asked. 

"Yea." 

"What else do they do?" 

"Nothing." 

"Are they gettin' it on before they go to sleep?" 

"No," Nebretta said. "All you see is a closeup of their face and watch them while they sleep. I watched it one time. It was silly." 

Okelia looked at Nubretta with a puzzled expression. 

"That's all they do is sleep?" 

"Yea," Nubretta responded. "Here," she said, motioning to the image, "that's the guy that does it." 

The two women looked at the screen to see a rather simple looking fellow in glasses with straight blonde hair cut in an odd manner, his face drawn up in a painful expression, seeming to be overwrought about something. 

"Not very handsome, is he?" Okelia said, taking a drink from her beer. 

"Where'd that co-host fella go?" Nubretta quipped. 

"Don't know," Okelia answered. "Hope he's not backstage with Alerian."
"You had high hopes for this series, Carroll, so what went wrong?" the woman interviewer asked. 

"Phadrae, obviously people just refuse to acknowledge the emphasis that some of us place on sleeping. There are more of us out there than people want to believe." 

"You invested a lot in this show," Phadrae asked, feigning concern. 

Carroll James made an even more painful countenance than before. 

"The show is good. The show, . . . "

"Doze," she said, interrupting him. He gave her a startled look. 

"Yes, Doze," he repeated, then continued. "Doze got very high viewer response when it first premiered, . . ."

Phadrae again inserted, "were people just curious on that first airing?"

Carroll looked at her with a nearing wild-eyed expression. 

"There were those who did not want Doze to succeed," he stammered. Her interruptions seemed to have him shaking. 

"Why was that?" 

"There are people who just have hate over the idea of some of us finding importance in the recognition of this stage in existence. They refuse to recognize there are people who feel the need to focus on when we sleep. We consider it a vital part of our daily routine." 

Okelia held the beer bottle to her mouth and hesitated. 

"Nebretta." 

"Hmm?" Nebretta said, picking crumbs from her bathrobe. 

"Why is anybody supposed to be interested in that man's sleeping?" 

Nebretta took a sip from her bottle, then after swallowing, she spoke. 

"That was his point. We were supposed to relate to seeing him sleep with our own sleeping." 

Okelia looked at her with wide eyes. 

"If I'm asleep, how am I supposed to relate to his sleeping?" 

"I don't know," Nubretta said, holding a few chips to her mouth, then hesitating so she could respond. 

"If people had just tuned in, instead of being influenced by online terrorists who sought to damage the capabilities of the show, they would have definitely enjoyed Doze." 

"Online terrorists?" Phadrae asked. 

"Phadrae," Carroll began, "I wish there had been a show that dealt with this topic like this when I was growing up. It definitely would have made my life much easier! How can people say they couldn't relate to the subject matter if they didn't even watch it to find out?" 

"Did the program show something about him having insomnia?" Okelia asked. 

"No," Nubretta answered. "Just showed a closeup of him sleeping. Nothing else." 

Phadrae spoke on the screen, "I think people would have watched it if they . . . ." 

"Why would anyone watch that?" Okelia asked. 

"I looked at it to see what it was about," Nubretta said. "Doze could have been about female deer for all I knew."

"Nubretta," Okelia said, looking to the monitor. "Nubretta, look!" 

Without turning away from the screen, Nubretta placed the bottle on the tv tray and likewise remained transfixed on the monitor. 

Carroll James had hold of PHadrae's shirt around her collar bone. 

"Carroll, let go of my clothes!" Phadrae was ordering. 

"Just answer me," Carroll spoke loudly, "have you seen Doze?" 

"Let me go!"

"Have you watched it?" 

"Stop! You're . . . you're hurting me!" 

"It is people like you who caused Doze to get low ratings and lose its audience," Carroll growled. "It was your blind hatred for something you deemed different that made you turn against any potential Doze may have had. It's your fault!" 

Carroll James had a twisted fist of fabric that was pulling across Phadrae's neck, hindering her movement and making it difficult for her to sit up or maintain her balance. 

"You haven't even seen Doze, so how can you ask me anything about it?" he yelled. He was now up from his seat, which made it even more difficult for Phadrae to get her footing. 

"Stop!" 

Then Nubretta and Okelia both sat forward in the recliners, practically perched on the edge. 

"Okelia, look!" 

Phadrae screamed as she seemed to fall behind the desk in front of her. But now Carroll was looking at the new entry to the scene. The stunning figure seemed intent to help up Phadrae, but hesitating for a single split-second, turned his attention to Carroll. 

"Girl, it's Alerian Traden!" Nubretta yelled. The two women laughed. 

Alerian lunged to Carroll with the intention of driving him away from Phadrae, but Carroll's fist was entangled in her blouse, so as he went back, Phadrae did the same. Alerian strived to catch Phadrae and see what he could do to free her. He did a jab at Carroll's arm to make him let the blouse go, but with his focus not being on Carroll, Alerian didn't see him pick up the ink pen. 

The two women on the recliners flew into screaming hysterics. The screen cut off instead of continuing the tragic array which had been going out live. 

"He stabbed him!" Okelia screamed. 

"With what?" 

"I think it was a nail file!" 

"Where'd he get a nail file?" Nubretta yelled. 

"He stabbed him!" Okelia shouted again. 

"Oh, my Lord," Nubretta said, leaning back in the chair. 

"Hurry," Okelia said. "Hand me your phone so I can see if it's being reported. What they are saying now." 

Nubretta's hand was shaking as she passed the phone to Okelia.

"Was that real?" Nubretta said from behind her hands covering her face. She was beginning to sob. 

"I don't know," Okelia replied. "I hope not." 

"Oh, Lord," Nubretta said. "He was trying to help her. He was trying to help that woman." 

"Sometimes I guess it just dont' do any good trying to help people," Okelia said, staring at the phone. 

"He was wanting to help her because that Doze man was attacking her," Nubretta stated as an explanation. 

"See if there's some news on somewhere about what happened," Okelia said. She looked at the phone some more, then she continued. "Maybe it was that woman's fault for trying to talk to that man about his stupid show. Maybe it was Alerian's fault for trying to help her." 

Okelia paused a moment. 

"And that guy seemed to think it was everybody else's fault who didn't watch his show." 

"I don't want to watch a show about sleeping," Nubretta said as she moved through various stations. She found one that interrupted regular broadcasting to discuss what had happened. 

"They've taken him to the hospital. He stabbed Alerian with an ink pen." 

Okelia scrolled through online articles. 

"He's lost a lot of blood. They've run him on in to emergency." 

Nubretta sat for a moment, then hit the remote to turn off the screen. Okelia looked up at her. 

"What are you doing?" 

Nubretta stood up and dropped the remote on the tv tray. She looked at Okelia. 

"I'm going to sleep."