The door to 402 creaks open, the sound of the keychain of keys jingling following as Sal puts them in his pocket. The plastic bag in his hand bumps against his thigh repeatedly as he rushes Travis to the bathroom quickly, eager to get started by the way he hums quietly. Travis is sitting down on the lidded toilet, watching as the toner is taken out of the bag and then out of the box, the multiple bottles scattering onto the counter. Travis thinks back to before, the memory still burned into his mind.
Travis watches as his father angrily stomps up the stairs, crying and shaking as he sees a box gripped in Kenneth's hands. "Dad..? What are you doing?" he dares to ask, taking small steps back so he is against the wall.
Kenneth doesn't answer him, grabbing his shoulder harshly and letting his nails dig into Travis's skin, making him cry out in pain as he already feels the bruises start to form and the skin start to break. He is dragged to the bathroom, unable to keep his feet under him, and he is shoved to the floor, a quiet sob escaping his mouth as he hasn't had to deal with this pain in a while. "Get up." His father commands, and Travis hesitates to sit up before he is kicked almost instantly.
Travis falls straight back to the floor, groaning this time and holding his stomach. "I told you to get up, Travis." Kenneth shouts, a slight tone of mockery lacing it and making angry tears fall from Travis's eyes.
The smaller boy stands up this time, wincing and looking away from his father with a tear-stained face. A hand roughly grabs his chin, forcing him to look at his father as he yells at him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you. Boys don't cry, don't be a sissy." he says, Travis nodding quickly and forcing his hand to wipe at his eyes, holding eye contact fearfully the entire time.
"And it's sir to you. Get on the stool, and stay still." Kenneth instructs, taking his hand off of Travis's chin to put back on his shoulder.
Travis does as he is told, shaking involuntarily as he stares at himself in the mirror, his eyes trailing to his father. Kenneth takes out the dye in the box, once ready to start meeting Travis's dark brown eyes. He takes hold of Travis's hair, the color matching his wide eyes as he yelps. "Dad!" he shouts, his head tilting into his fathers hand to ease the sudden shock and yanking.
"Stay still, Travis." Kenneth warns, and Travis hesitantly complies as Kenneth pulls at his hair, harshly putting the mixture of dye into his scalp, barely putting the hair into sections.
Travis tries not to squirm, tears forming in his eyes but unable to let them fall as he feels his father's stare, some of the dye going on his forehead and neck. Once the dye is all applied, Kenneth pulls Travis off of the stool, with barely enough time to grasp the counter before he is kicked in the shin. "You can shower later. Go to your room and pray. I don't want to see your face anymore today."
Travis scrambles to the door, rushing out of the bathroom and out of his dads sight, only then letting the tears fall when he gets to the room and has the door shut.
Travis blinks back to his senses when Sal stops short in front of him, one hand with black nail polish pressed into his shoulder. Travis flinches back, smacking Sal's hands away from him as he looks away, taking slow and uneven breaths to calm himself. "You okay?" Sal asks, confused on the suddenness of the situation, unnerved by the change from excitement to distress.
Travis breathes through gritted teeth before nodding, looking up at Sal and reminding himself that it is okay now. "Yeah. sorry, you can continue." he tells him politely, giving him a smile to show he is fine.
Sal slowly grabs the bottles, hesitantly putting the toner and developer together even when he looks like he wants to say more, to talk about what is going on in more detail. Travis ignores the longing look, watching Sal as he grabs the applicator brush to the solution. "Can you wet your hair a little? Not completely wet or completely dry." Sal squeaks, meekly as he mixes the solution quickly and puts it on the applicator.
Travis goes to the sink, taking a glance in the mirror and wetting his hands, softly combing them through his hair so it's damp. He looks at Sal through the reflection, seeing the worried expression in his eyes as he walks back and sits back down. "I'm okay, no need to worry." he says, watching the applicator.
Sal doesn't answer, getting ready and parting Travis's hair in sections, reluctant when Travis flinches before continuing. He puts the toner solution in softly with the brush, not bothering to put on gloves. Travis sees the difference, the gentleness in the bluenettes hands soothing his nerves. Before he realizes it, he hears Sal pipe up, looking up at him. "Just leave it in for around 45 minutes, then rinse it and wash it." he says, helping the blonde up from the toilet.
Travis agrees, giving a smile and watching Sal's black eyes and blank stare, some of the dark black veins peeking out by his temple and bottom of his chin. "Okay, do you have the time?" he asks, looking at his reflection and surprised to see the bright yellow nowhere to be seen as of now, and some of his dark brown roots peeking out from his scalp.
Sal grabs his phone, showing Travis the time on his phone, the bright numbers popping up. 1:49 PM. "I will leave after we are done with your hair, it should be around the time I should go then." he informs, Travis nodding along.
"Okay."
Word count: 1010 words