teniant
Mary was collecting her things to head home when Brenda came up to her desk. She breathed and smiled,” Phew, long day, huh?”
“You can say that again”, Mary returned a smile.
“You know”, continued Brenda,” I don’t know how you do it”
“Do what?” Mary was a bit confused.
“We work in an office building with little to no AC”, Brenda explained,” And your hair is so long and curly and heavy. How can you stand it?”
Mary was not quite getting what her colleague was saying so she just replied,” I just know how to keep cool, even in an office building such as this one. Have a good one, Brenda”
Brenda tried to stall Mary but her coworker wasted no time in getting home. Mary was a woman who tended not to dilly-dally and the conversation she just had with Brenda bored her and she hated to be bored. But that wouldn’t be the time she would congregate with her about hair.
When Mary returned home, she did her nightly routine and settled down to watch television before bed. The show that was on the channel was a tv serial. Mary watched as the heroine found her boyfriend cheating. Words were exchanged and the breakup was brutal. This heroine ran and ran, as far as her feet could carry her. When her feet halted their step, she was standing in front of a barbershop and she knew what to do. In she went and barber cut all of her hair off. When he was done, the heroine was almost bald.
Mary liked the episode and loved the new hairstyle on the heroine. The scene brought back Brenda’s words to her mind. But Mary wasn’t going to just cut off all her hair because of a tv show or her coworker’s words. That would be stupid.
The next day, Mary went to work with all of her hair intact. Brenda didn’t bring up their previous conversation while thy worked but when the day came to an end, she decided to say something. Like before, she cornered Mary at her desk and said,” You know, you would look great with short hair”
“Maybe”, Mary replied curtly,” But I like my hair just the way it is”
“Doesn’t it become a hassle to take care of though?” persisted Brenda.
“I manage”, Mary replied,” Have a good one, Brenda”
Brenda sighed,” You to”
Another day, another series of comments and queries at the end of the workday. Mary couldn’t seem to catch a break and entertained the idea of shaving Brenda’s head just to spite her but Mary wasn’t a cruel girl, she bring herself to do that to anyone. So she endured the little comments and declined the offers to accompany Brenda to any sort of hairdressers.
On Friday, a supposedly slow day, Brenda came into the breakroom when Mary was eating her lunch. She produced her phone from her pocket and sat down next to Mary at the lunch table. Mary felt a bit uncomfortable but didn’t say anything, her colleague took her silence as an okay to call her spouse.
“Alright, if this won’t convince you”, Brenda said as the phone rang,” I don’t know what will”
“Hello”, the other end of the face-time said. The other end was a slim woman in a crop top and yoga pants, she looked like a model and Mary couldn’t understand why she married a chatterbox like Brenda.
“Hey, babe”, Brenda cooed,” I’m here with Mary”
“Oh, hi Mary”, Brenda’s boo smiled through the camera,” How are you?”
“I’m good”, Mary replied reluctantly,” I-”
“Baby”, Brenda interrupted,” Can you tell Mary here why having short hair is the way to go”
“Oh, babe”, her boo lulled,” I just cut my hair short last weekend, at your behest, remember?”
“I know and you look hot with short hair”
“Ah, babe”, her love blushed,” Well, I’m afraid I’m no help here. If Mary doesn’t want to cut her hair, then I can’t change her mind”
Brenda sighed and shrugged, wishing her love goodbye. She looked at Mary, not wanting to accept defeat but there was nothing better to do. Her lips didn’t say the words, however, she just stood up and walked out of the room.
Mary had won, Brenda stopped her Q and As and Mary could go home in peace. Brenda’s words seemed to have faded away and Mary went on with her life. About a month after Brenda’s latest attempt, Mary had an urge. She didn’t know why she felt the urge but the urge grew and grew: the urge to cut her cut her own hair.
She dare not tell Brenda about her urge, Mary didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of hearing the words; if she was going to do it, it had to be private. At the end of the next day, Mary quickly slipped out of the office without a soul knowing. Her feet briskly walked about town, trying to find a secluded shop to do the deed.
The ideal shop was a barbershop about fifteen miles away from the office. Mary looked at it, wild-eyed, this was it. She quickly opened the door and walked inside, the barber inside was an older man with greying hair in his pompadour. He was surprised to see Mary but instantly became professional. He dusted the chair and invited her to sit. Mary did and the barber wrapped her up in a striped cape.
“What would you like done?” he smiled.
“I want to go short”, Mary replied,” Something with clippers”
“I have a few ideas”, the barber gave a short laugh.
The barber started by using a comb to remove the bulk of black curls that fluttered down gracefully. With that done, he buzzed the sides with no comb. Mary felt the shortening hair with her fingers and she did love the feeling. When the buzzing of the clippers went silent, Mary had barely an inch of hair on the sides of her head. Using the comb and scissors, the barber trimmed the top and using a razor, he cleaned up her neckline and edges.
“You like it, miss?” he asked.
Mary would admit she loved the short hairstyle but she wanted to go shorter.
“Can you go shorter on top?”
The barber gave Mary a look but shrugged,” How much shorter?”
“Buzz it down, please”
Again, the barber shrugged and activated the clippers again. Its blades started to eat away the remaining hair til her top was as short as her sides. When he was done, the barber asked,” Short enough?”
“Shave my head, please”, Mary blurted.
For the third time, the barber shrugged and obliged. He started painting Mary’s scalp white with shaving cream. With the razor, he cleared away any microscopic stubble that clung to her head. At last, Mary had very, very short hair.
