Well-rounded young lady

Sometimes, I feel bad for my sister Emily. Our family lives in a very small town in a remote area of America. There is only one school in this town and Emily is the only senior in its high school. She has a big role to fill as an example for the younger students, especially the young girls, to follow.

My grandmother is very proud of Emily but that pride soon turned into control and expectations. She would tell Emily that because she was becoming more mature, she would have more and more responsibilities to uphold. To maintain these social expectations, grandma took the liberty of replacing Emily’s old clothes with “proper” clothes. Everything was old-fashioned, the style my grandmother liked to see Emily wear.

Every time Emily wanted to go into town or even outside, grandma would stop her at the door and inspect the girl’s apparel to make sure Emily was properly dressed as per her instructions. My sister had to wear a long sleeve shirt and skirt that went past her knees. Her socks were long and shoes resembled a doll’s.

In the morning, my grandma would wake Emily up bright and early. She made the girl shower and after that, all parts of Emily’s body would be covered up. Her long, dirty blonde hair was manipulated up into a hairstyle that was common two-hundred years ago. It was a tidy and all of Emily’s hair was piled on top of her head. Back at the door’s scene, grandma would wrap a scarf around Emily’s head to ensure total modesty for her granddaughter.

One day, Emily and I were waiting for grandma to pick us up from school. Emily was not wearing her headscarf and would get a scolding later but she didn’t care.

”You’re lucky that you’re the baby of the family”,she said to me, pacing back and forth on the school’s grounds,”And you’re a boy. Gran doesn’t micromanage you”

Before I could say something, grandma’s car pulled around the roundabout. She was not pleased to see that Emily was slightly underdressed. She scolded Emily while applying the cloth to her kin’s head.

”You’re a young lady, you know better”,she reprimanded the girl,”I assure you, I won’t be this lenient the next time you disobey me”

Emily said nothing as we all got into the car and drove off. On that day, grandma told us we were going to run errands. What Emily and I weren’t expecting was grandma’s car pulling into a parking lot of a beauty parlor.

”Everyone out”,grandma ordered,”Especially you, young lady”

Confused and a bit frightened, Emily and I followed grandma to the door of the establishment and inside. It smelled heavily like vanilla and strawberries. There was no receptionist, just one lady in a smock and black skirt that fell past her knees. She looked ancient and her hair was silvery grey and cut into a blunt bob.

“Why, hello there”,the lady addressed us kids with a smile,”What can I do ya for today”

”This is my granddaughter Emily”,gran replied as she undid the headscarf and removed it from Emily’s head,”And she needs a haircut”

”Oh why, I can do that in no time”,the hairdresser gestured towards the the chair,”Just come on back to the chair and we’ll get you rollin’”

With a little prod from grandma, Emily reluctantly made her way to the chair. Silently, I watched my sister took a seat in the barber chair. Grandma didn’t like her putting her arms on the armrests and made her put her hands in her lap. The barber lady gave my grandma’s actions a quick glance and resumed her protocol. She flipped a white cape over Emily’s body and secured the sheet with clips. Her eyes twinkled as she started to undo the updo my grandmother had regulated for Emily and brushed the hair out.

”It’s great to have another young lady in the chair, especially nowadays”,the hairdresser beamed,”Now pray tell, young lady, what are we doing today?”

”Something short and manageable”,my grandmother again spoke for Emily.

”But gran”,Emily protested,”My hair is manageable”

”With that senior project due”,my grandma shook her head,”No, I don’t think so”

Looking at the barber woman, my grandma said,”I want her to have a bubble perm”

I could say and neither could Emily as the hairdresser nodded and got to her work. She separated Emily’s hair into small sections and cut each of those sections fairly short. Emily’s hair became a sort of pixie cut. My sister’s was jerked around slightly as the hairdresser rolled all sections into hair rollers and secured them tightly to the girl’s head. After the curling solution had set in, the hairdresser turned the chair around, lifted up the board below the mirror and reclined the chair. Emily’s curlers were taken out and the basin below the mirror rinsed out all the excess elixir. Back into position, Emily hair was dried and when the towel came off of her head, she covered her mouth as to not scream aloud.

”How are we feeling?”the hairdresser asked sweetly.

”I am not big fans of the curls covering up her ears and neck”,grandma said,”Could tidy her up with the clippers”

“Sure thing”,the woman nodded as she got out of a drawer some clippers. Emily watched as her already short hair was buzzed around her ears and above the neckline.

”There we are”,the woman smiled, killing the clippers. She took the clips from the cape and flipped the hair that had fell on it to the floor. After that, she took a comb to tease the curls. When she was satisfied, the woman turned to my grandmother,”Do you like it”

”Yes”,my grandma answered,”it looks very good. How much do I owe you?”

”Well, seeing that she is a senior, it’s on the house”,the hairdresser replied.

”Oh my”,my grandma awed,”You did a good job on her. Thank you”

Me, my grandma, and Emily exited the shop and drove home. Emily fiddled with her short curls which got her a pinched by grandma who told her,”Stop touching them. I want them to last. And I’ve decided, we’re going back every two weeks to get your hair repermed and trimmed”

Emily couldn’t say anything but,”Yes, ma’am”

When bedtime came, grandma put Emily’s hair into a hairnet and this became our house’s nightly routine. In a few months, Emily graduated from high school. She got a scholarship to a university far away and so boarded a train to the university. I didn’t see her for six years. In that time, my grandma had passed away. About last year, I was contacted by Emily. She had hoped to hear my voice again. Her intent for calling was to come for a visit.

I went to the train station to pick her up. As I stood on the platform, I saw a lady in a trench coat and wearing sunglasses: her head was shaved bald. The second she looked at me she smiled and ran to me. It was Emily. She had graduated from university and was a lawyer now. I was really excited for her and wished that grandma got to see her as a lawyer. When I expressed this to her, her smile began to fade. When I asked, she said nothing and we went back home in silence.

We walked inside and Emily sat the dinner table. I got us some drinks and sat with her. She was looking about the room, trying to have rose-colored glasses on but she couldn’t. I asked her what it was like in university and she said,”Better than here”

I didn’t want to reply but she asked how grandma passed. I told her and she began to rub her bald head,”Remember when she made me get those stupid perms”

”Yeah”,I cracked a smile to lighten the mood,”You sure did hate those”

”And now I’m bald”,Emily said,”No more perms for me”

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