Chapter 7
786 Words
Chapter 7We got into Anne’s car and drove off campus, and my apprehension grew as we pulled into the parking lot. It was a tiny barber shop next to a pho place, and it looked a little scary. The two people waiting inside were both middle-aged Asian men. As we walked in, I asked Anne, “Are you sure about this?”
Anne replied, “Relax. He does my hair, and it always turns out well. Don’t let the place fool you.”
I wasn’t really reassured, but Anne’s hair always looks so good that I decided to just go with it. We sat down for a few minutes while Don finished up on a middle-aged woman, and then I was next. One of the two men left with the woman, and the other was apparently waiting for the other barber.
I sat down in the chair, and Don said, “So you Anne’s friend. She told me you need good haircut, so I give you good haircut.”
He looked at Anne and asked, “What we do today?”
Anne replied, “She needs a cut that frames her face instead of hiding it. A lot shorter, but not too short.”
Don looked me over, nodded and said, “Right. Hair too long. Too heavy. I know how fix.”
I was apparently not to be consulted.
He turned the chair away from the mirror and got started. I couldn’t see what he was doing, especially without my glasses, which was probably a good thing. I could feel enough to know he was working quickly and efficiently, and I could see a blurry pile of wispy blonde hair piling up on the floor. After a good half hour of pulling and snipping and combing, he turned the chair around. I closed my eyes and put my glasses back on as he did, and my heart started racing.
When I opened my eyes, I was stunned again, for the second time that day. The little wisps that I so hated turned into big, soft looping curls, surrounding my face in a blonde cloud. Anne was right again - my hair framed my face and worked with it, rather than getting in the way.
I hoped this wasn’t some sort of high maintenance hairstyle - I really wasn’t up for an extra half an hour every morning, using curlers or putting some sort of goo in my hair. I asked Don, “What do I have to do to make my hair look like this tomorrow? I don’t want to fuss over it or use hairspray or anything.”
Don replied, “You blow dry and brush. That all you need do. Your hair want curl like that - it just need right cut. Come back when it get long.”
I very happily gave Don his fifteen bucks. I would have tipped him five more for such an amazing haircut, but he insisted that the student price was fifteen, no tip.
Anne took me to lunch next door at the pho place. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually made with various kinds of beef. I’d never had it before, and it was delicious. After we finished, I said, “Thank you so much, sweetie, for lunch and for everything.”
Anne replied, “Happy Birthday and you’re welcome. But we’re not done yet, although we are done for today. The last thing we need to do is fix those glasses.”
I got my first pair of glasses in the second grade, and immediately hated them. The other kids called me four-eyes and made me feel like a freak. I’d mellowed since then, and found plenty of other body image issues to fuss about, but I was still a little sensitive. The glasses that came with me to college were big, blocky and ugly, and over two years old, but they brought the world into focus and let me function, so I lived with them.
On any other day, I would have felt picked on. That day, after what Anne had done for me, I knew she only meant well.
I said, “Well, I can’t get by without them, and I really don’t want to wear contacts, even if I could afford them.”
I could tell by the look on Anne’s face that she was in problem solving mode. She thought for a minute and said, “You’re still on your parents’ insurance, right?”
“Yeah - that’s the only reason Mom keeps her office admin job. The pay is fairly sad, but the insurance is great.”
“Well, my parents’ insurance allows an eye exam and a new pair of glasses every year. The ones you have now look well past that. You should be able to get a new pair and just pay for frames.”
“I suppose. But I can’t afford fancy designer frames. That’s why I have these.”
“We’ll figure something out. There’s a place just off campus that has a huge selection. There ought to be something nice that’s fairly cheap.”
I was skeptical, but Anne had been right twice so far. I gave her the benefit of the doubt again and said, “Okay.”
- Writer
