Louise and The Men of Transit

Change

"Sweet jacket!" Marvyn looked up and down Louise appreciatively as Louise walked into the salon.

"I bought it to match my hair. You like it, Marvyn?"

"I do. But hey, what's that pinned to it, sweetheart?" Marvyn asked Louise, staring at the white label on her jacket, their wide smile flattening out.

"My nametag," Louise said proudly lifting her chest.

Marvyn lifted their depthless black-plum eyes to Louise's tawny brown ones and shook their head.

"Yes!" Louise affirmed. "Yes. Oh Marvyn, turning blonde was the best thing. I'm becoming a new person. Bolder. An equal part of the team. I was in a meeting with CEO Barg and Chair Van yesterday!" Louise gasped in awe, raising the flat of her hand to her chest, spreading her short fingers out, and pressing them hard over her heart.

Marvyn gazed upon her face. They said shortly, "Louise, you've been coming here for years. That is not your name."

"It is now," Louise said, turning her back to Marvyn and hefting herself up into the salon chair. She added, "But you may call me Louise." Louise collapsed into giggles. "It's so amazing, Marvyn. Jim is reading my report. And Andy took me to a meeting so I could hear him give his report. I'll be going now to the informational meetings with Chair Van, I mean, Van and Barg. That's what the rest of the CCTV team call them. Barg and Van," Louise sighed, her happy body melding into the thin supportive back of the salon chair. Her eyes shone, spreading light into her face, making her skin glow and her lips stretch into the widest curve.

Marvyn contemplated Louise's reflection then moved their eyes to her blonde coif. They threaded their fingers through her hair. They remarked: "You don't have roots yet. No need to colour this week. But you put a little too much gel in your blonde, Louise. You can use less and keep the control. No fear," they assured Louise as they glanced up into her reflection. "We'll go over it again. I'm going to make sure you're the best blonde you can be. But no calling you anything but your name, Louise. Okay?"

"Okay, Marvyn," Louise chirped. Marvyn led Louise to the back sinks, shampooed and conditioned her hair, and led her back to their salon chair. They flung a voluminous black nylon apron over Louise's front, encompassing the chair arms, and velcroed it closed around her neck. They removed the tiny white towel from her hair and laid a fresh one across the back of her neck. They clipped up the top layers of Louise's hair and selected their cutting instruments and began to concentrate.

Louise began to chatter.

"The driver was so nice and helpful."

Marvyn blinked as they bent lower to focus on their controlled cutting of Louise's dyed blonde strands at the nape of her neck. They let Louise's words burble over their head.

"— he called out my stop for me. I'd gotten it wrong," Louise laughed. "You know me, Marvyn. I need to learn things twice and thrice to remember them. But he set me straight, made sure I knew where I was going. It was so exciting to see The TTC Way put into action. He saved us all, you know."

Marvyn paused their scissors and raised their head. The teeth of their comb kept hold of Louise's hair. They hesitated. They had to ask, "Saved you?"

"Yes, yes," Louise nodded vigorously, pulling her hair right out of Marvyn's comb. Marvyn put their hands on either side of Louise's head and gently, firmly put it back into position but didn't resume cutting. "He saved us. A person jumped in front of us. It was so scary. And my ribs," Louise moved her arm under cover of the slinky apron to rub her hand gently across her ribs. "They're still kind of sore. But he was so fast, Marvyn. You should have seen him. Professional, nice, courteous. Made sure he didn't hit the pedestrian, and he checked we were all safe. Then he got us to our destination."