The Puerto Rican woman greeted me when I walked in.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Baby. What you need?"
I told her what I needed and she told the
ashy, no-tooth African American man what to charge me.
(He seemed like he was temporary, for the holiday.)
He started to ring me up and she took the flowers in the back
So another Puerto Rican woman could arrange them.
Somewhere in this transition a dispute arose,
About what I was to get for the money,
Whether I needed to pay taxes on top,
And whether I should get a box of chocolates with it.
(I did not want chocolates with it.)
Before I knew it both women and the black man were hollering,
And a little dog started barking at the commotion.
After about a minute of hollering that ended with,
"Just give him the arrangement for thirty!"
Things quieted down in the back room as the women got to work on the arrangement.
"That's what happens when you get those damn cats together,"
the black man whispered to me (and then began talking
about a Facebook video he'd seen where a dog broke up a cat fight).
The original woman came out with the arrangement,
Told me she'd just cut the flowers so I only needed to put them water,
And said, "There you go, Baby. Happy Valentine's Day."
I thanked her and went out, but before the door could close,
The fighting erupted once again.
That's a lot of fighting for a few flowers.
But it's beautiful in the end.
Happy Valentine's Day, Baby.
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