“Did they do a better job than me?”
“No, she did not. Hers was hacked off at the scalp. There was nothing I could do to stop the poor child from looking awkward for a while,” says Sabrina. “For you, however, I have hope.”
“That’s a relief.”
“You have beautiful hair but it’s too heavy. How would you feel about some long layers?” she asks.
“Long enough to still be able to tie back?”
“Yes.”
I nod. “Let’s do it.”
“Come accompany me to the sink then.”
My hair is being washed when Bernadette announces out of nowhere, “Harvey and I married four months after meeting at a dance.”
“He was your first husband, wasn’t he?” asks Sabrina.
Rose doesn’t look up from the cell in their hand. “Second.”
“Well who was first?”
“That was Leon,” answers Carmen.
Bernadette nods. “Lord, he was a handsome man. Worked in his daddy’s real estate office and drove a Cadillac. He was so proud of that car, washed it every day come rain or shine.”
“They got married after knowing each other only six weeks,” says Hiro, rinsing shampoo out of my hair.
I smile. “That’s so romantic. Guess you just knew he was the one.”
“What I knew was that we were going to have a baby,” Bernadette corrects me with much judgement. “Back in my day, people did what was right.”
“Isn’t it funny how social expectations and our ideas of right and wrong change over time?” I ask no one in particular. Forget being a soft target for the town gossips and general judginess.
Sabrina flashes me a smile.
“Oh, come on.” Carmen grins. “Six weeks, Bernie. You were getting up to something the local preachers wouldn’t have been happy about.”
“How was I to know the withdrawal method didn’t work?” Bernadette frowns. “Getting wedwasandisthe right thing to do, however.”
Rose’s answering snort is loud as can be. “Providing a safe, loving, and supportive home is the right thing to do.”
“You said it,” adds Carmen.
Sabrina unrolls one of Bernadette’s curlers to check on her hair. “I distinctly remember my granny saying you and Leonwere miserable together. She said you were as unhappy as a pair of mismatched socks.”
“Are mismatched socks unhappy?” asks Rose, grabbing another cookie from the box.
Hiro shrugs and finishes up washing my hair by wrapping a towel around my head.
“Gloria always did love to gossip,” says Bernadette. “I swear it’s why she opened this place. Everyone who walked through that door heard all about whatever was on your grandma’s mind.”
“Tell us the truth about your first marriage, Bernie,” says Sabrina.
“Fine.” The older woman sighs. “I didn’t exactly cry myself to sleep when he started carrying on with his secretary. Do you know he choked to death on a lobster roll while they were on a weekend away in the city? Of course, he told me he was working. When I think of all the times I asked him to take me to Seattle and he’d say he was busy.”
“Shame on him,” says Carmen.
