Page 16 of Halo: Tales Of A Hitman

“Have you ever told her how you feel?”

Siren stopped and laughed, “Hell nooooo! I am not that bold. We are cool, she hangs at Infinity Wheels.” She put up the glasses I gave her.

“What’s Infinity Wheels?”

“My slow self-forgot that you aren’t from here. It’s a skating rink that stays lit on Friday nights.”

“I didn’t know people still skate anymore.”

“Oh, hell yeah and it’s so fun. In fact, you should come with me this Friday. You can bring your best friend too.”

Me and Hendrix used to skate in high school, but I did not know if he’d want to go now.

“I’m down! And I’ll ask my best friend.”

“Yayy! After we finish the kitchen, we can pick up some food. Uh, if you want to leave because I kept you long enough, I understand.”

Really, I did not want to leave. I liked Siren and enjoyed hanging out with her. “I have no plans, unless you want to do your own thing.”

It was cute how we both did not want our hangout to end. It’s tough making friends with other girls and we did not know what the other was thinking. We ended up laughing then went to get something to eat after we finished the kitchen.

I stayed at her place until seven in the evening. We exchanged numbers and followed each other on social media. Siren and I clicked well, and I hoped she would become my new permanent friend.

**

“There she is!” Wren was the first to run to me when I walked inside the shop.

Giselle and Marley ran to me next and hugged me tight. Braids Masters was my sister, Regan, braid shop. Regan was twenty-eight and she moved to Michigan from Arizona when she was nineteen as well.

Her passion for hair was intense, and she was so good at braiding. It did not matter the style, the texture of your hair or how long and short you wanted them. Regan could master it. She started doing hair in another salon for two years until she opened her own in 2012.

I was so proud of my big sister, and she inspired me to get my cosmetology license in Arizona as well. I was just as good as a braider than her. Regan had been teaching me how to build my brand on social media and transitioning to Michigan and getting an audience here.

Today was my first day in the shop as an official braider. I haven’t been here in three years. When I came to visit it was only for a week and the salon was getting renovated. Standing here now I was impressed at how Regan had the place.

There was a long wall booth against the left side of the wall by the door. On the right side of the salon were hair chairs in front of stations. They were spaced out and the braiders had their sections customized with their names above them.

One the left side was the double seated shampoo stations and hair dryers. There were three vending machines. One with junk food in it, the second with drinks and the third one was a Gourmet Coffee machine. The floors were dark brown hardwood, with brown and gold trim walls.

Wren, Giselle, and Marley were my sister’s best friends and they did hair too. Wren specialized in sister locks and twists. The other two did all kinds of braids like Regan and me. Another thing that made this salon unique is they did not accept kids. Kids were not allowed in the salon at all.

“Look at you all grown up!” Giselle said to me after we hugged.

“It’s good to see y’all too!” I happily told them.

Giselle and Wren had a person in their chair, so they went back to work. Marley showed me around the salon then in the back employee area. It was even nicer back there with two couches, three love seats and a big TV.

There were two bathrooms, a full kitchen and four chair dining room set. There were also lockers for personal belongings that were opened by built in combinations.

“Here is your work area, Regan even got your name above it.” Marley showed me the last of the salon, my space.

I smiled big at it because I was not only next to my sister. But it felt official and I started decorating it immediately.

“Now, we do accept walk-ins, but we let the customer know that a braider must have no appointments that day. Aside from us, we have Tina, Wendey, Lena, and Kimber who are the other braiders. If you take a client, then you give them the tablet.” Marley showed me how we each had a personal work tablet.

“They must put in their name, phone number and pay their deposit on the spot. Deposits are paid in card or cash, and it is always half of the service.”

I listened to everything she told me about the type of cards we took and cash. Marley left no stone unturned and it was easy for me to understand. A walk-in customer came in, and they went to Marley for service.