Finding My Yellow Brick Road

Chapter Seven - Emerald City and The Wiz

WE TRAVEL THROUGH the Emerald City, gasping and pointing at all the amazing things. It's a huge city, but not overwhelming. There's hundreds of people milling about, without a care in the world, and the castle is on the other side of the city. It takes a while, but once we reach it, we see that there's a guard dressed in a glittering green suit by the door.

"Whoo-hoo!" The Tinman exclaims. "We have arrived at Emerald City!"

"Well ain't this somethin'!" The Scarecrow says, walking up to the buff guard.

"End of the line, dawg," the guard growls. "Can't push yo' way to the front. Go on and get yo'self to the end of the line." He doesn't even look at us. Unbelievable.

"There is no one else here!" I snap, frustrated by yet another obstacle in our way.

"You sayin' you too good to get in line?" The guard says roughly.

"When there is no goddamn line, hell yeah!" I insist, pointing around.

"What? You somethin' special? Some kinda VIP or somethin'?"

"As a matter of fact," I start, but the guard cuts me off.

"Ain't no cuttin' the line anyway. Now step to the end of the line!" The guard barks.

"Now you listen here, brotha'," I start, but Dorothy grabs my arm and shakes her head, signaling that I should leave it alone. I groan but follow her lead, and we all take a couple of steps backwards.

"Hello, may I help you?" The guard asks in a much softer tone, a polite smile on his face, finally looking at us.

My eye twitches. I can't believe this crap. "You need to–"

Dorothy shakes her head again at me, and I throw my hands up, exasperated.

"We need to get inside, please," my cousin says, stepping forward.

"Names?" The guard says expectantly.

"I'm Dorothy, and this is Tinman, Scarecrow, Lion, and Gabrielle." She points at each of us individually. The boys wave politely, but I bare my teeth at the rude guard, crossing my arms.

The guard glances at his clipboard. "Sorry, not on the list, move along."

"Oh, so you a goddamn bouncer now? News flash, dawg, this ain't a club!" I growl.

"But we have to get inside!" My cousin says, raising her voice a little bit.

"And when did that become my problem? Either yo' name's on the list or it's not, now adios amigo." The guard responds, raising his voice as well.

"'Scuse me, my brotha', that's a young lady you talkin' to!" The Lion yells, stepping to the guard.

"And what you gon' do about it?" The guard puffs up his chest, turning towards the Lion.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew that that was a young lady," the Lion says in a much quieter voice, "peace out!" He returns to us, chin quivering.

"Oh, I'll tell you what I'ma do about it!" I say, nudging the Scarecrow and the Lion out of my way. "I'ma beat yo' ass, that's what the hell I'ma do about it!" I step to him, getting ready for a fight, but the Tinman picks me up by my waist and puts himself in between me and the guard.

"Look, mama, you don't wanna do this right now," he mutters in my ear, rubbing my arm soothingly.

"Oh, no?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He shakes his head.

"And why not? This man is sittin' here, disrespectin' all of us!" I whisper-yell.