“Lawd, there must be some ugly women out there ‘cause God gave you all they looks, Sistuh,” he grinned at Renee, revealing brownish yellow stains on his teeth, no doubt from years of heavy smoking in his younger days.
Renee tried to conceal her dislike for him and politely said thank you and picked up a magazine to skim through. Mr. Woods turned his attention to the plump woman wearing the Redskins jacket and struck up a conversation with her. Not having anything else to do but wait for Cha-Cha, Renee eavesdropped on their conversation while pretending to read the magazine. She rarely participated in conversations going on at the beauty shop. She preferred to sit quietly and remain as invisible as possible. You could learn a lot about people just by listening to them talk.
“I see you still a fan,” Mr. Woods said, pointing to the woman’s Redskins jacket.
“Yeah, we Redskins fans don’t give up. It’s not over for ‘em yet. We’re only a month into the season.”
Nadine led her customer over to a hair dryer next to the waiting area and set the timer for thirty minutes. Nadine had a pleasant face, tinted the flavor of rich cocoa and got along with everybody. She asked the Redskins’ fan to go sit in her chair while she made a quick telephone call. As soon as the Redskins’ fan left, Mr. Woods made his move on the lady in black leather.
“Who you waitin’ for, Sistuh?” he asked her and licked his dry, chapped lips.
“Takara. Looks like she’s finishing up her customer. Shouldn’t be much longer, thank God! I am beat. Worked the nightshift last night. I thought about sleeping in but I had to get my hair done.”
Both Takara and Whittni summoned their clients. The woman wearing the leather jacket jumped up when Takara called her.
“Mr. Woods, I’m ready for you,” said Whittni.
“Mr. Woods? Who the hell’s that?” He snarled at the formal name, “Baby, how many times I got to tell you to call me Al.”
He smiled at Whittni and bounced towards her chair in what he probably considered a cool, hip-hop strut. “I ain’t that old, girl. I could show you a thing or two,” he winked then squeezed himself into her chair.
Renee then sat alone. She checked the clock again. Twenty-five minutes had passed but it seemed like she had been waiting forever. At 2:30, Cha-Cha strutted through the door, head held high, and lips rigid with attitude. Only 5’4” in bare feet, the platform boots lifted her to a statuesque 5’7.” Renee was too angry to say anything to her and pretended to be absorbed in the magazine. Cha-Cha walked in like Queen Sheba, hips curvy in a pair of butt-hugging FrankieB Jeans. A leopard print nylon top peeked through her leather jacket to reveal other God-given assets. Cha-Cha sported a short, tapered Halle Berry cut that showed off high cheekbones on a golden tan complexion, arched eyebrows, dark eyes, and perfectly formed lips painted glossy berry by MAC™. She nodded a greeting at Renee but did not apologize or explain why she was so late.
“Hey girl,” she greeted the teenager at the desk in a sultry, drawling voice, “Any calls?”
“Just the usual. Mrs. Gordan wants a touch-up, color, and trim. Janice got her hair wet and needs another press-n-curl. And your cousin, Tamika wants you to squeeze her in tomorrow before 5. She said to tell you she finally got a date.”
Cha-Cha rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “That girl’s always trying to get her hair done for free. Like I don’t have bills to pay,” she said, pointing to herself as she held a defiant stance.
Renee suppressed the urge to say out loud; You don’t act like you have bills to pay. You’re thirty minutes late for my appointment. But her anger subsided since she knew Cha-Cha would transform her into a glamorous femme-fatale and Bill wouldn’t know what hit him tonight.
“Oh yeah and a Jillian Brock left a number for you to call her,” said the young assistant as she handed Cha-Cha a slip of paper, “This lady’s desperate. Says she hasn’t been to you in ten months because she could never get an appointment. She’s been going to somebody her girlfriend recommended and they messed her hair all up. She’ll pay anything and can come any time if you’ll fix the disaster this other hairdresser ‘inflicted on her head’. Her words exactly.”
“Oh, well,” said Cha-Cha in a nonchalant voice, “That’s what you get when you go to unprofessionals. Clients have to make a commitment and keep trying to get me. I don’t have time to call her right now. Thanks for taking the messages, Sherrelle.”
Cha-Cha appeared to be in no rush putting her things away. She sauntered over to the supply closet and retrieved her hair relaxing crème, colors, sprays, and setting lotions. She arranged the curling irons, pressing combs, and handheld dryer at her station. She yawned then continued chit-chatting with the young receptionist. “Sherrelle, tell your triflin’ mama she don’t have to call nobody,” said Cha-Cha with a sly smile.
The young girl with the bobbed hairdo, cropped just below her ears, spoke up to explain, “Mama’s been sort of busy lately. She just got a new job.” Sherrelle closed the appointment book then glanced up at the wall clock. “She should be here soon to pick me up. You said I could get off at 3 today, right Miss Cha-Cha? That’s what I told Mama.”
“Sure, baby. That’s fine. Just make sure you get all the towels out the dryer and folded and straighten up that back room before you leave,” said Cha-Cha. “Um hum, I can’t wait to hear what my girl Veda’s been up to these days.”
Suddenly, Renee realized that Sherrelle was Veda Simms’s fifteen-year-old daughter. Veda was a former patient that she had treated several months ago. Like Cha-Cha, Renee was also interested in finding out how her former patient was faring after a trying ordeal of getting caught embezzling funds from her old job to give her ex-boyfriend a loan and later being falsely arrested for murdering him. She had eventually been released when the police apprehended the real killer, but it had been an awful time for Veda. The only good that came out of it was Veda’s reconnection with her once estranged teenage daughter. Veda had first come into treatment six months ago as an outpatient referral from Washington Hospital Center’s psychiatric ward when she had swallowed half a bottle of sleeping pills. After only a few sessions with her, Renee discovered that Veda’s tough exterior disguised an insecure, lonely woman on the inside. On the surface her problem appeared to be a five-year love obsession for a man who did not love her and never would. Like most patients, Veda came in with one problem but the bigger problem emerged as they peeled back the layers and worked through her issues. Veda’s biggest problem had been low self-esteem, which stemmed from a childhood marred by a distant relationship with her mother, and the sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of someone she had once trusted.
At that moment the door chime rang and Veda herself sailed through the door! Renee didn’t want to be recognized. She didn’t want to catch Veda off guard and possibly dredge up painful memories that were still too recent to have healed completely. She picked up a fashion magazine and hid behind its pages, pretending to read it. From this vantage point, Renee could still hear everything and catch glimpses of what was going on. It was obvious to Renee that Veda was wearing a wig because instead of her naturally-thick nut-brown hair that had only reached below her ears a few months ago, today Veda sported a jet black silky mane that reached the middle of her back, even when pulled up into a ponytail. Renee thought her sky-blue sweat suit complimented her cocoa-tinted skin tone. Renee was also relieved to see that the brief stint in jail had not altered Veda’s usual easygoing manner.
Veda’s narrow field of vision focused only on her daughter seated behind the reception desk. Veda smiled and glanced at her wrist watch, “’bout ready to go, Baby?”
Close to forty years old, Veda had no delusions about her waning youth, and unlike her girlfriend, Cha-Cha, she was past trying to look ‘cute.’ Veda was not the type of woman who spent much time on her hair, makeup, or her wardrobe. While Cha-Cha was one of her best friends, Veda couldn’t under
stand why people spent half their day in a beauty parlor—first, waiting for Cha-Cha to show up and then, waiting as Cha-Cha took her sweet time to do their hair. Manicure and pedicures were rare treats for her—not regular rituals, which is why her cuticle-chewed nails were often brittle and unpolished. But she didn’t care. Veda thought of herself as more the ‘wash and go’ type.
Before Sherrelle could answer, Cha-Cha walked up to the desk and put her arms around Veda in a warm hug. “Hey girl, how you been doing?”
“Better than I was this time a few months ago,” said Veda, and winked at her daughter who then disappeared into the back room to fold the towels and straighten up the supply/laundry room so they could leave. Sherrelle called out to Veda from the laundry room, “I’ll be finished my work soon, Mama. I won’t be too long.”
Cha-Cha wasn’t going to let Veda out of her sight so quickly without grilling her with questions first. Cha-Cha leaned across the reception desk and planted her elbows so that her chin rested atop clasped hands as she gazed inquisitively at Veda. “So, tell me Girl. What you been up to these days?” asked Cha-Cha.
Renee strained her ears to listen in on Veda and Cha-Cha’s conversation. This was more interesting to her than anything in that fashion magazine she was pretending to read.
Veda clutched the strap of her shoulder bag and muttered with a half smile, “I found another job. I’m a secretary now for United Delivery Service or UDS as it’s called. Been there for about three weeks now.”
At hearing the name UDS, Alonzo jerked up his head from the shampoo bowl where Whittni had been massaging his scalp. “I thought you looked familiar, Sweet Thing,” he said, pointing up at Veda. Renee noticed that Veda gave him a half second disinterested glance then turned back to Cha-Cha.
Alonzo wasn’t ready to give up. “You know I’m one of the top drivers for UDS,” he said to Veda. “What did you say your name was again?”
“I didn’t,” Veda quipped and continued to ignore him.
Whittni gently pushed his shoulders back to stop him from interjecting himself into Cha-Cha and Veda’s conversation. “Please be still Mr. Woods so I can give this head a good scrubbing,” she said.
“Yes, Ma’am.” Alonzo beamed up at Whittni and obediently sank his head back down over the rim of the bowl.
After rolling her eyes one more time at Alonzo, Cha-Cha lowered her voice as she spoke, “Girl, that’s great about the new job. It’s good your old boss didn’t give you no hassle about … well, you know.”
“Yeah. I was pretty lucky,” Veda nodded. “Brenda told me about the opening at UDS right after I got released. I guess you know Jerome works there? He told her that apparently their secretary got fired for some reason. I didn’t hesitate to put my application in as soon as Brenda told me that.”
“I hear ya, Girl. It’s not like you haven’t worked around creeps before. Speakin’ of creeps how’s things going with Jerome these days? Brenda say anything about that?”
“Don’t ask me. That’s their business. Cha-Cha, you’re worse than a bunch of old church ladies. Trying to get into everybody’s business so you can go back and talk about ‘em.”
“I’m just asking. I don’t want her calling me cryin’ at two in the morning ‘cause she don’t know where her husband’s at. You know it’s only a matter of time before he screws up.”
Veda shrugged and folded her arms. “To tell you the truth, I don’t see much of Jerome. He’s a driver and I’m in the office all day. Lord knows I’m just thankful to have this job. I’m not trying to cause trouble and I don’t have time to get into people’s business. Mr. Davis, my old boss, said he wouldn’t press charges if I kept up my payments on the installment plan he worked out for me. So you see, I’m off the hook as long as I can keep this job and pay back the money I owe the firm.”
“Humph. Just make sure you stay outta trouble this time,” said Cha-Cha.
“Don’t worry. And, as soon as I pay the firm back, I plan to take the LSATs so I can get into law school. That’s always been a dream of mine. But in the meantime, I’m going to take an online class in criminology.”
“Criminology? You should ace that course, Veda. In fact, you could probably teach it,” laughed Cha-Cha. Veda gave her girlfriend an evil look.
“Girl, you know I’m just playing,” said Cha-Cha, waving her hand at Veda. Veda shrugged and started laughing with Cha-Cha at her own expense.
Renee sat quietly in the far corner of the waiting area, with her face buried in the magazine that she was not actually reading. She felt a tinge of guilt for eavesdropping in on Veda and Cha-Cha’s casual banter, but it gave her personal satisfaction to hear her former patient’s progress and to see how Veda had gotten past her emotional insecurities. Renee was also a little envious. It must be nice to have girlfriends to joke around with when things were going good and to confide in when things were not so great. If only she herself could advance towards self-discovery and learn from her mistakes the way Veda apparently had. Renee was proud of her former patient. She’d come a long way.
Cha-Cha reached out and examined Veda’s real hair under the wig and saw that she was clearly in need of a touch-up and trim in Cha-Cha’s opinion. “If you want me to hook up your hairdo for the club tonight I can fix you up if you don’t mind waiting a little bit.”
Veda raised her eyebrows in a look of disbelief. “Cha-Cha you must be crazy if you think I’m giving you my whole paycheck and waiting around here all day for you with your slow self.”
Veda stuffed her loose hair back in place, “Besides, my little bottle of Dark & Lovely at home’ll work just fine. I’m just here to pick up my daughter. Speaking of which, … Sherrelle?” she called out, “you ‘bout finished with your work, baby? We gotta go.”
“Suit yourself, Veda. My customers know I make them look good. They don’t mind waiting for me.”
“Humph, that’s what you think. News flash Cha-Cha—people have better things to do than sit around here all damn day.”
Veda continued with a chuckle. “Anyway Cha, I’m not trying to look too good on the job these days. I’ve already been warned by one of the girls in shipping and receiving not to come in to work looking too cute.”
“What?” said Cha-Cha, “What’s that supposed to mean? Why can’t you come to work looking fabulous? I know I couldn’t deal with that.”
Veda glanced over at Alonzo at the shampoo bowl before whispering to Cha-Cha. “One of the girls who works at UDS said ‘looking too cute’ is exactly what got the last secretary fired. Apparently, this girl came to work everyday like she thought she was starring in an MTV rap video. They say our boss is some kind of nutcase and feels threatened by attractive women. I don’t know if any of this is true but my coworker said Boss Lady doesn’t want any female coming to the office looking better than she does. The only problem is, that’s gonna be hard to prevent,” said Veda with an amused look on her face.
Cha-Cha laughed and waved her hand at Veda. “Oh, I get it. Your new lady boss is a mud duck.” At that, Veda couldn’t help laughing too. “Well maybe not that bad. A little thick around the middle and too much facial hair above her lip. It’s nothing that a personal trainer and a good waxing job couldn’t fix.”
Veda’s smile faded as she turned serious, “Cha-Cha, you know how some people like to gossip. Who knows why the last secretary got fired. All I know is, I’m glad I got a chance to take her spot. I don’t intend to mess up. Lord knows I need this job.”
“I know that’s right,” Cha-Cha mused, wearing a slight smirk. “Who knows. She could’ve stolen money from the company account and gotten herself fired.” Veda’s face turned stone cold. Cha-Cha stopped grinning when she saw the serious look on Veda’s face. Cha-Cha cleared her throat. “Like I said, Veda. Stay outta trouble, Girl.”
“Don’t worry about me, Cha. I learn from my mistakes.”
Just then Sherrelle walked up and grabbed her purse from behind the desk. “I’m ready to go now Mama. Is it okay, Miss Cha-Cha? I’m finished everything.”
“Sure baby.” Cha-Cha smiled at Sherrelle and opened her arms wide. “Where’s my hug good-bye, young lady?” Sherrelle hugged her briefly then started towards the door. Cha-Cha nodded her approval to Veda. “You got yourself a good girl right there Veda. Looks like you did something right. So Sherrelle, what’re your plans after you finish high school?”
Sherrelle stopped and looked back, smiling with excitement. “I’m going to cosmetology school next year to get my license. And, one day I’m going to have my own shop.”
“Well, well. This little diva’s got ambition, Veda,” said Cha-Cha, “Just like her Mama. Ya’ll be careful out there.” Cha-Cha sighed, “Enough socializing for me. Guess I better get back to work.”
“Get back to work?” Veda said, mockingly, “Girl, looks to me like you haven’t even started yet.” Before Cha-Cha could react, Veda leaned in and gave Cha-Cha a hug good-bye. “Good seeing you, Cha. Take it easy.”
Cha-Cha nodded and returned the hug. “You too, girl.” She gave Veda and Sherrelle a wave as they went out the door. After Veda and Sherrelle had gone, Renee put down the magazine that she had been using as a shield and gave Cha-Cha direct eye contact while visibly checking her watch. Cha-Cha glanced at the client sign-in sheet on the desk and saw Renee’s name written next to hers as stylist. “Come on back, Honey,” Cha-Cha motioned for Renee to come sit in her chair. She kept up her non-stop talking to the other stylists as she worked. It did not escape Renee’s notice that Cha-Cha still had not apologized for making her wait so long.
“Nadine, can we please listen to something a little less nerve-racking?” asked Cha-Cha as she began applying the creamy mixture to Renee’s hair, “all that yelling and screaming is giving me a daggone headache.”
“Girl, that’s my new Ludicrous CD and this jam right here is tight. Besides, when it’s your week to pick the music, you can play Barry Manilow for all I care,” said Nadine, tartly.
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