The Good Enough Friend (YA)

Chapter Nine - August 4, 2019 [✔]

Maintaining Black hair required time, patience, and money. I was sent to the salon instead of my parents styling it. They didn't have time or patience—just money.

Busy Bee was located in Heglo, in the heart of the city. For as long as I could remember, this was the hair salon my family frequented.

Toya, my regular beautician, opened the salon door for me. Loud bells shook overhead. Gospel music poured out of the speakers. African art popped off of the too bright orange walls.

Black people of all ages sat in the waiting area—walk-ins. Older women were in assorted colored scrubs. A lighthouse emblem stitched into them.  They worked at Beacon Clinic. Mom was an Internal Medicine doctor there before she opened her private practice.

People spoke over the music, and I caught pieces of their conversations.

"I ain't seen you in a minute!"

"Hey girlll!"

"You back with Nasir janky ass????"

"Pesca what? I thought you were vegetarian?"

Toya led me to her chair. Two spots away from the door. In front of the big mirror. Her clean station welcomed me.

"When da last time I seen you?" The smooth cape was placed around my neck.

I enthroned myself in the chair and she increased its height with the squeaky foot pedal, "End of June,"

"School start yet?" she scratched the top of my head with her acrylics and dandruff floated to the floor. I tilted my head and closed my eyes. A soft towel was tied at my hairline.

"Three weeks from tomorrow is the first day."

She tugged my left braid and began unbraiding it. My tightly coiled hair floated in the air. I considered wearing my afro as it was but I couldn't manage the day-to-day care. I applauded those who could.

"What grade chu in?"

"Going into my junior year."

She undid the other braid and we went to the washing station.

"Can you use the Ringorum shampoo? The one with Tinctoria doesn't agree with my scalp,"

"I gotchu," water rushed out of the faucet.

Ringorum had a smooth scent. I preferred sharp scents but it would have to do.

She paid extra attention to the front where most of my dandruff clustered. Tinctoria did a number on my scalp. Toya was always booked for a reason. She took her time and made sure the job was well done. After she finished washing my hair, she towel dried it and led me back to her chair.

"What style you gettin'?"

It was obvious I rotated between the same styles year round. It wasn't the most creative approach but I liked the predictability.

"Two braided puffs to the back." I wiped droplets off of my forehead. My previously flaky scalp was clean and moisturized.

"You sho? How bout somethin' new? Some color?"

Nalorn had videos of people dyeing their hair when they were slightly inconvenienced. What was more inconvenient than an unwanted crush?

Purple!

The day I found Jodie, I was staring at a Black woman with a big purple afro. I thought about asking her what products she used but I tripped over a rock—Jodie.

"I've never dyed it before."

Can you even pull it off? What clothes go with purple hair?

"Neva mind, here, look at da salon's UpTo for inspo," she handed me her phone. A small crack was at the bottom left corner.

"This one!" I pointed to a post of a woman with bantu knots.

I lifted my tote bag with supplies from home and set it on her cart. She parted my hair and I leaned into her adept fingers.

A few hours later, I inspected my hair through the mirror. The sections were even. My knots resembled a nautilus spiral.

"I love it!" I wiggled my legs in the chair, "How much?"

You're so pretty.

"Mmm, I took it down, washed it, styled it, but you brought your own products, I'll say $75." she took the cape thingy off of my shoulders.

[Vitality Bolts Bank] $100 SENT TO TOYA FITCH

I wanted to give her extra money to get her screen fixed. If she cut her finger(s) then she wouldn't be able to do my hair to the best of her ability. That would be a travesty.

"Can you confirm it was sent?"

"Girl, stop tipping me this ain't a restaurant," her laugh echoed.

I made a map of Salsingo, the fictional city where the story takes place. Color coded based off affluence, green is upper middle class, yellow is middle middle class, and red is lower middle class based off of America's current wealth gap.