A Black Appreciation Series || Book 1
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So'leil Bryant
A brighter than the Sun woman. An educated woman. A woman who loves deeply. A religious woman. A caring woman.
Until she catches her long time boyfriend in bed, buck naked. With her acquaint...
"Everyone's story started from somewhere and something happened that shaped you into who you are. Take a peek into So's before as part of her childhood unfolds right before our very eyes." - z.a.m.
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"So'leil, baby. What do you want to be when you grow up?"
So'leil's mother, Leila, asked her daughter as she sat in between her legs with a yellow bubble stretching in her mouth, parting her hair with the end of the tan rat-tail comb that was in her hand.
So'leil didn't wince, unlike her younger sister, So'la, who did so every time because she was extremely tender-headed.
It was a familiar routine that they've been in for years now. Her two sisters and her brother already went, so now it was her turn. After finishing, they were now busy playing in the backyard, in their treehouse with Leilan while their dad supervised them. She was absolutely jealous.
As So'leil pondered this, she let out a silent hum. She was only eight years old at this time and she had on a pair of jean shorts with a yellow Winnie the Pooh t-shirt, her feet bare and touching the rug that she sat on. If you didn't catch on, that's her favourite colour.
"Momma, I don't know yet. I just know that I want to do something with hair. I love my hair, your hair and So'la and So'íla's hair. Even daddy's and Leilan's hair. I want to make sure that others love it, too." She said, still thinking about it.
Starting to bite off her finger nail, her mom popped her on her hand with the end of the comb as she noticed what she was trying to do.
"Ouch! What was that for?" She questioned, as she pouted. So'leil hated getting popped on her hand.
"You already know what it was for, lil' girl. Don't test me..." her mom scolded her, "but keep up with your dreams. Don't let them die on you and if it's what God wills, it will happen, chile. Never forget that."
In the background, the television was playing a muted Whitney Houston song as it was the day before Sunday. That's why she was getting her hair done, for it to last her the entire week or two of primary school.
The scent of Blue Magic! Indian Hemp lingered in the air and that was one of the only products that Mama Bryant trusted in any of her four black children's kinks and curls. It's never failed any of them yet and she'd stick behind that brand. Other than that, she would only put natural hair care products in their hair regimen like Aloes, flaxseed gel and rose water mists in their hair for moisture.
It was nostalgic.
Her own mom, So'leil's grandmother Mamou Loretta, only used those things in her hair and she's passing it on to them. It helped her own kinks to thrive so she hoped that the same would be for her children and as of right now, it was happening.
The style that So'leil got in her hair was the classic two, two-strand twists joined by yellow and white bubbles with the ends clipped together with yellow and white alternating hairbows. The parting shapes were geometrical hexagons halved so that there were ten twists in all, but it appeared to be five.
It wasn't that long of a process as Leila was accustomed to doing styles like that. She has been doing it for years after all.
When her mother was finished, So'leil rushed to the mirror and checked out her hairstyle. As it was back in the days when every black girl had that same hairdo, she loved it. Twisting this way and that, she loved the way her hair moved with her. Sometimes, the hairbows even smacked her in the face but she giggled when they did.
"Momma, can I have singles with coloured beads next? I saw that style in A'Quira's mom's hair salon and I think it's cute..."
"Sure thing, baby. Whatever you want." Mama Bryant said as she watched one of her beautiful middle children admiring her hair with child-like innocence. She smiled and hoped that So'leil would never forget just how special she is and how important her hair is.
Done watching So'leil admire her hair in the mirror, she called her back in front of her and she silently said a prayer over her daughter's head with her hands lightly clasping the twists. Leila did this every time she did any of her babies' hair but she never told them, they just thought that she was adjusting their hair for a final time.
It was a mother's silent way of sending divine love into her children. She prayed for them, always.
It was a prayer of growth, blessings, health and protection. She did it for her husband, too, but she never let him know what she said in her prayers.
That was between her and God, alone.
And as they say, a family that prays together, stays together.
Well, in this case, a mother that prays for her children stays in contact with them. That's what her mother, Loretta James, ingrained in her siblings and herself.
Then, she was finished and she relayed that to her. So'leil got up and ran outside to play with her siblings, giggling as she went. Her twists bounced up and down with a light click-clacking sound that came from her hairbows.
This little girl is something else but I'ma stick beside her, Mama Bryant shook her head at that thought.
She was named Sun for a reason. I hope she shines brighter than the Sun. She has to.
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That's the Prologue right here.
Let me know what you think.
1. Who all remember that hairstyle?
2. Who all got to experience that style? I sure did and you couldn't tell me shit lol. They were painful to sleep in though.
3. What about the hair products? Who uses those things right now still?
4. When it was your turn and you couldn't play outside with the rest of them. Pain. That happened to y'all?
