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There was more drama in and out of the ballroom this week as the spotlight fell on three of our major players: Blanca, Elektra and Damon.
Last time everyone was wondering how Miss Elektra was able to afford such expensive clothing, furs and jewelry on her salary as a hostess at Indochine. Now we know — she’s a dominatrix after hours and gurl has finally found her calling, raking in more money in just a few days of humiliating men than she’s made in her entire life. Mother is back and she’s not about to let her former children at the House of Abundance humiliate her any further, parlaying her new career and wealth into a home of her own with a new House of her own, the House of Wintour. Unfortunately, Elektra has terrible timing when announcing her new house (which ‘shockingly’ includes a white girl), crashing a category in progress at the ball which results in Pray Tell tossing their asses out of the place. But the House of Wintour does return, properly, and slays the competition (while also snatching two of Blanca’s boys — former children of Elektra — in the process). The Mother of the Year competition will be a heated on this year.
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Damon and Ricky are finally reunited after Ricky returns from the Al B. Sure! tour, but Damon encounters another of the tour’s dancers at the ball who claims to have slept with Ricky. Ricky denies anything happened, but Damon isn’t sure he can trust Ricky since he told Damon there we no other gay boys on the tour (and Lil Papi didn’t help matters when wondering aloud that since they were dancers, aren’t they all gay?). To compound the issue, Damon was upset because Ricky pressured him into not using a condom during their reunion, and when Blanca found out she was not happy since that is a House rule. Armed with all of this information and a trust level at zero, Damon and Ricky went to get tested for HIV. Thankfully, neither of them have the virus … at least that’s what we assume because Ricky said he was negative but Damon never really revealed his results. Instead, he ended up breaking up with Ricky. But if the rumors are true, this isn’t that last we’ll see of him since Lil Papi heard Ricky is now with the House of Wintour.
The main thrust of this week’s story was Blanca finding her voice. After quitting her job last week and assuring her former boss that she’s have her own nail salon, that’s exactly what she did this week, finding a storefront for lease from Ms. Frederica Norman, a wealthy divorcee who got a lot of real estate as part of her settlement. Blanca fears getting ‘clocked’ by her potential landlord, and Angel gives her a much needed makeover so she’ll pass. Blanca shared a very touching but sad story of how she never tries clothes on in the store for fear of being discovered. It’s an issue that trans people are still dealing with today in the form of ‘bathroom bills’. But with the makeover, Blanca passes muster with Ms. Norman and gets the space. On a handshake, something Pray Tell knows will come back to bite her in the ass. And it does when Ms. Norman’s son reveals to her that Blanca is ‘a dude’ and she tell him to throw her out of the building.
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But Blanca has found assistance, learning that since there is no contract she can claim squatter’s rights and stay in the building for at least the two months that she’s already paid for, in cash. Ms. Norman isn’t shy about making vague threats about having some of her Italian friends come and break Blanca’s kneecaps, but Blanca stood her ground and has vowed to fight Ms. Norman and her army of attorneys. Ms. Norman may be upset that Blanca ‘lied’ to her — and really all she did was not annouce that she’s transgender — but on the other hand, she may also admire Blanca’s chutzpah and if the salon is a success, will gladly reap the benefits.
If that wasn’t enough for her, though, Blanca also has to deal with her House falling apart. She lost two boys to Elektra, and now Ricky is out after the breakup so now it’s just her, Damon, Angel and Lil Papi. Before Ricky left, Blanca wanted to make sure the boys understood the dangers of unprotected sex, especially in their case of being poor, black and gay. Angel nudged her to tell everyone her truth at dinner and she finally revealed her latest diagnosis of AIDS. The boys were stunned — and perhaps that news is what really pushed Damon to let Ricky go so he could focus on himself for a while — but Lil Papi took it the hardest, breaking down into tears and telling Blanca that no one else would take him in but her, she took care of him and now he will do everything he can to take care of her. The first sign of a sniffle and he’ll go steal some cold medicine for her.
Getting that burden off her shoulders seems to have really unified the House, minus Ricky, and has finally given Blanca the push to confront her fears of taking the AZT Judy gave her, as well as the ‘survivor’s guilt’ she feels after attending so many funerals. Now that she’s set herself free and has her sights set on making something of her new salon, Blanca has found a reason to take care of herself, to do right for herself, and to do right for her children.
What did you think of this episode? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
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