“Joke?”
“Sierra said she’d pay for me because I told them Mom couldn’t afford it. She was already paying for everyone else. She didn’t. I was just invited to laugh at because I thought they wanted to be my friend. Then they made fun of my glasses and my backpack.”
Okay, I’ll be the first to admit I was an asshole in high school, but I wasn’t cruel. Not like this. “Is your mama coming to get you?”
“She’s at work. Zep. She’s going to be so sad. I know how much she wants me to have friends. I’ve never had any friends. Not real ones. How do I tell her what happened?”
The way she looks up at me with those big blue eyes filled with tears has me devastated for her while also wanting to enact revenge. “I’m your friend, Bernie.”
I rub her back, and she smiles. A real smile this time. “I can buy us ice cream. Mom gave me money for a tip, and I don’t think she’d mind. She likes you.”
Well, if that doesn’t warm my cold heart. And it’s cute she thinks I’d ever let her pay for ice cream. Or anything.
“Before we do that, why don’t we see if we can fix this?” I wink at her and pull out my phone.
Standing, I look inside the salon at the cruel girls Bernie’s age. Only one looks visibly upset about what they’ve done to Bernie. In fact, she sits there with her arms crossed and glares at the laughing blonde I assume is the head of the group. That must be Sierra.
Being a girl must be hard. If a guy did that to one of my friends, I’d have kicked his ass and gone to get pizza with him. But it’s different with girls. There’s this whole clique and hierarchy thing to deal with.
“Zeppelin? Isn’t it a bit early for you to be up? Is everything okay?”
I roll my eyes. I guess most of the women in my life know me well. “Hey, Mama. I need a favor…”
Istand with my arms crossed and lean against the wall of the salon. My head feels a bit dizzy from all the chemicals in this place. No wonder drug makers wear masks when they make shit. Woof.
And there was no way I was letting Bernie leave without getting the full treatment at the salon. Mama called it the Princess Package, and it sure as hell is.
“What do you think, sweetheart?” Mama asks.
She spent the entire appointment chatting away happily to Mama as she worked, and I think Mama’s just as happy. Almost like she has a grandchild. One she never expected to have.
“Wow!” Bernie exclaims as she puts her glasses on. “I’m beautiful!”
I smile and shake my head. “You were always beautiful, kiddo.” And then I see the pink streaks in her hair. “The color washes out, right? I don’t want Misty having my head.”
Then again, I like when Misty has my head. Preferably in her mouth. But that’s a whole different head.
No, if I let her daughter dye her hair pink, she’d have more than just the head above my shoulders. She’d detach my balls from my body and wear them as earrings.
Mama gives me a knowing smile before nodding. “After a few washes. It’s just a temporary dye.”
Pink in her hair and pink on her toes and fingernails. And with the tiara worked into her fancy updo, she really does look like a princess.
Even with Mama’s discount, I gape at the cost as I pull my wallet from my pocket and hand over the cash to pay her. Three hundred and fifty bucks seems like a hell of a lot for all this, but when I look over to Bernie turning her head with a beaming smile on her face, it’s all worth it. And then some.
“Bernie?” calls a snotty voice. The blonde chick. “You’re still here? You guys know she doesn’t have money to pay for this, right? And I’m not putting it on my mom’s card.”
I’ve never wanted to hit a child more in my life than I do right now. Someone needs to teach this brat discipline and manners.
“Don’t worry about her,” Mama says. “She’s got it covered. She got the Princess Package.”
“Guess your mama doesn’t love you enough for that,” I say, holding back my smirk at the shocked look that comes from it.
It doesn’t last long. It quickly turns into a scowl. She really does have guts. Rotten guts, but guts.
“It’s really a shame,” Mama says.
The girl scoffs and glances at Bernie. “Pink’s a stupid color, anyway.”
