“Of course ya hurt her, Bee! Don’t be ridiculous,” Bolo Tie said, poking Bee’s butt with the end of her cane. Bee batted the cane away and Bolo rolled her eyes, but I could tell there was fondness underlying the whole scene.

Bee turned back to me. “Sorry, girlie, this damn thing has a mind of its own!”

“Somebody’s gotta have a mind around here,” Bolo added, straightening her already straight tie.

“It’s fine. No harm done,” I uttered, a little stunned by these two characters.

Bolo gave me a once-over and said, “You don’t look like a skata. What are ya? A fan?”

“Oh, I’m not—I mean, I’m not a skater. But I’m a new fan. Does that count?”

“Yeah, sure, honey—that counts,” Bee cried out. She was shouting way louder than she needed to, even with the music blasting over the sound system.

“Uh… great,” I responded.

“I’m Bee. I use-ta be a rolla girl. My rolla name was Ginga Vitas.” She jabbed her thumb back at Bolo Tie. “That’s Yolanda, aka That Damn Broad. She use-ta be the enemy.” She made an exaggerated grimace.

“Oh yeah, yeah, keep it up, y’old ninny.” Yolanda poked her again with her cane. “What she means is”—and here she straightened her back as much as she could and spoke with obvious pride—“I was the masta of ceremonies. The keepa of the game. The head zebra!”

My face must have registered my confusion, because Yolanda’s eyes rolled freely again and she added, “I was a referee! I put this one here in the box more than a few times, that’s f’sure.”

Bee cackled while a small smile cracked Yolanda’s mostly rigid face.

“Wow—when was that?”

“Oh, just last year, hon,” Bee offered, then nudged Yolanda while looking at me, as though I wouldn’t notice she’d just nudged Yolanda.

“Right. You two must be in some shape, then.” I smiled. Just a little.

“Oh, we are. We are,” Bee exclaimed.

She giggled. Yolanda shook her head. I smiled a little more.

“So you’re a new fan, are ya? How ya likin’ it, sweetheart?” Bee asked.

I couldn’t quite pick out her accent. Something East Coast, I thought. “I love it. I wanna do it.”

Bee’s eyes lit up. “Yeah ya do!” she called out. “Aw, hon, you gotta do it if you wanna do it. There ain’t nothin’ like it. You’ll fall head over wheels!” Another cackle.

“Do ya know anyone on the teams?” Yolanda asked, her voice indicating that she was certain I didn’t. “ ’Cause if ya don’t, we know lotsa people—we’re famous around here, ya know.” She was a little pompous, but I kind of liked it on her.