As soon as I arrive home, I return Finesse to her stall. Judging from the racket above me, Juanita is still busy cleaning the loft. I head up to check on her progress.
When I get to the top, I’m surprised to see there’s already a bed and a few necessities. I can only imagine how she got it all up here. The place still doesn’t quite seem like a livable space.
Juanita turns off the vacuum as soon as she sees me.
Tambara: Are you sure you’re going to be okay up here?
Juanita: This is perfect. I used to sleep up here from time to time when the previous owners were here. Of course, I still have a few things to move, but this space will serve me just fine.
Making a home up here still feels like a stretch, but I’m not about to make it a thing.
Tambara: If you say so.
My stomach is growling, and I can almost smell the stink from the equestrian center all over my riding clothes. I’m ready to get to the house.
Tambara: I was just about to head inside to warm up some food. Are you hungry?
Juanita: I’m fine for now. I’ll warm something up at the fire pit when I’m ready to eat.
Once again, I won’t insist. If she wants to continue living like a homeless person, that’s her prerogative.
Tambara: Okay, well, I’ll be inside if you need me. See you later.
I walk to the ladder and climb down.
Back in the house, I strip off my riding clothes and spend way too much time under the hot water of the shower. Feeling like a new person, I change into clean clothes before going straight to the kitchen for food.
It’s nice finally having someone here on the ranch with me, but it still feels lonely sitting at my large table by myself. Who knows when Juanita will feel comfortable enough to join me?
Speaking of Juanita, she comes inside briefly to check and empty the trash can in my kitchen. I know she’s just doing her job, but it makes me feel a tinge of regret for allowing her to stay here. I realize she’s just trying to earn her keep, but I hired help, not a slave, and I don’t need her making the place feel like a plantation.
I realize I’ll have to set some boundaries with Juanita, but I decide to save that for another day. Right now, I want to relax. I sit on the couch in the living room as Maj walks over, purring for some attention. I know she’s felt neglected over these last few days, so I take my time showering her with some love until she eventually gets bored and scampers away.
Now that I have help on the ranch, my thoughts go back to the possibility of generating income. With simoleons on my mind, I go to my computer to check my investment account. It’s still making money, but not at a very high rate. I increase my investment, hoping to see more dividends soon.
I remain in the house for as long as I can until curiosity takes over. After everything I can think of to do in the house is complete, I go out to check on Juanita, under the guise of caring for Finesse. She’s in Finesse’s stall, shoveling up the manure. I’m more than happy to see her taking care of it, because it’s something I’m definitely not interested in doing. I focus all my attention on my horse.
Tambara: You did a good job today, but we have to improve by the next competition if we want another gold medal.
Finesse nods as if she understands.
It’s getting late, and Juanita seems to have finished her work for the day. Maybe giving her dedicated work hours will solve the problem of her overextending herself. I look for her in the loft and the other stalls, but find her sitting at the picnic table at the front of the house with a bowl. I walk over to sit with her.
Tambara: So is that your firepit concoction?
She looks down at her empty bowl.
Juanita: Yeah, it’s what we ranch hands call campfire goulash. It’s pretty good. You should let me fix some for you one day.
Even the name sounds unappealing.
Tambara: I think I’m good.
Tambara: So, now that you’re here, what do you recommend we tackle first?
Juanita: Definitely your garden. Once we’re growing fresh fruit, we can think about producing nectar in the cellar. Tomorrow, I’ll start planting and setting up your grub and beetle huts, as well as your beehives.
Tambara: Huts and beehives? I have that?
Juanita: Yeah, that’s what those are for.
She points out the wooden structures just over the fence in the garden. I’ve seen them, but never wondered what they were.
Juanita: Once you’re producing veggies, nectar, and honey, you can sell them at the farmer’s market or set up a direct sales account with the local supermarket.
Tambara: What about the beetles? What are those for?
Juanita: They can serve as a sustainable source of power and, in a pinch, Sims sometimes eat them.
My nose involuntarily turns up.
Tambara: Why would a Sim eat them?
Juanita: People do desperate things in desperate times. They’re actually pretty good with the right seasoning.
I’ll never be that desperate, but it sounds like Juanita has been.
Tambara: It’ll be a wintry day in hell before I stoop that low.
Rather than looking offended, Juanita’s eyes light up in fascination.
Juanita: So, this is all very new to you. What made you decide to buy this ranch?
Tambara: I bought it because I could. I needed a place big enough for Finesse, and our house in San Sequoia wouldn’t cut it.
Juanita: San Sequoia? I hear that place is expensive.
Tambara: I guess it depends on who you ask. We owned our house and the house next door. But I sold them to purchase this ranch.
Juanita’s eyes grow big.
Juanita: Wow! Two houses and now a ranch? I can’t imagine. What do your parents do for a living?
I shrug my shoulders indifferently, no longer in the mood to be a source of Juanita’s awe and surprise.
Tambara: My mom is a cook, and my dad is a SimTuber. It is what it is. Anyway, I’m going inside. My bed is calling me.
Juanita: I’d better turn in too if I plan to be up early to get started on the garden.
Tambara: Okay, see you tomorrow.
I rise from the bench and hurry inside, feeling Juanita’s eyes on me the entire time, like I’m some sort of spectacle at the fair.
Juanita reenters the barn and climbs up to her loft. She looks around, happy that she finally has the place set up to her liking. In some ways, it’s much better than where she was staying before.
She turns the radio to the ranch station, not quite ready for bed. Something else is on her mind. She shuffles to the small desk in the corner and pulls out her journal. Juanita pauses, thinking about the mystery of Tambara Banks. She can only dream of what it might be like to be her… to be so rich, young, Black, and beautiful. She silently imagines wearing Tambara’s clothes and looking out at the world through those gorgeous gray eyes. Sure, the previous owners had money too, but they were old, and they certainly weren’t Black.
She pulls out a pen and begins writing.
“Dear Diary, Tambara is even more fabulous than when I first met her. I dreaded the day she’d find me in her loft, and today was that day. I just knew I’d end up in jail, but thank the Watcher, she changed her mind…”
Juanita pauses, licks the tip of her pen, and gathers her thoughts.
“…And now I get to be around her every day. I know she’d never go for anyone like me. I sleep in her loft, for Watcher’s sake. But at least I can daydream about the day she sees me as more than just her ranch hand.”
Juanita smiles just thinking about Tami. She closes her journal, changes into her pajamas, and turns on the space heater next to her bed. It’s been a long day, and it doesn’t take long for her to drift off to sleep—dreaming about Tami falling in love with her.
(Generation 5 Chapter Summaries)
