Big Love(23)

The door dinged as the four women walked inside. Sammy was finishing back-combing a woman’s hair into a high beehive. He added a blast of hair spray to keep it all in place. When he saw Miracle, he clasped his hands to both cheeks and squealed with pleasure. “Honey, where have you been?” he asked. “It’s been ages!”

He ran over to Miracle and grabbed her in a big hug, nosily planting smooches on both cheeks. Then he held her at arm’s length and tsk-tsked. “Girlfriend, you look like something the cat dragged in and puked up and then the dog ate,” he said.

“I know, I know. I’m a big ol’ mess. Can you help me and my friends here?”

He transferred his gaze to the other three women. Nell shook under his direct scrutiny.

“Oh, baby, I know I’m absolutely fabulous, but you’re the first client to actually quiver in my presence.” Then he noticed her bald spot. “And my first client to have a half-shaved head and stitches.”

Sammy walked a tight circle around Nell, looking at every inch of her head. He squinted one eye and tapped his chin with his index finger while muttering, “Oh my. Oh my.” He studied her from various angles, putting his fingers together as if framing her in a picture. Finally, he stopped, took a deep breath and proclaimed, “I think I can fix it.”

Nell breathed a long sigh of relief. “Really?”

Sammy smiled. “Yes indeedy, girlfriend. With that gorgeous face, I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

Zing beamed and clapped her hands in joy. Nell’s hair could be fixed! She felt so much better.

Sammy noticed Zing for the first time. “Oh, my lord, you have the most gorgeous ginger hair.” He touched her hair, rubbing a long lock between his fingers. “However, it could use a trim and a hot oil treatment.”

Next, he looked at Carol and raised one eyebrow. “Definitely, a whole new look for you. This grim reaper thing you have going on is much too severe. You have cheek bones to die for, and you need a cut that accentuates them.”

He turned to Miracle and studied her. “Oh, darling, are you still pining for Rita the Meter Maid?”

“I’m over it, thanks to my new friend, Zing.” Miracle looped her arm through Zing’s. “She’s an angel.”

“I’ll say she is,” Sammy said. “And what a cute name. Zing! I like it.” He ran his fingers through Miracle’s frizzy hair. “Your hair is sad, girlfriend. You definitely need the works. You showed up right on time, too.”

“Does that mean you can squeeze us in?” Miracle asked.

“Of course, darling. For you, anything. Let me finish Barb’s hair and I’ll be right with you,” he said before sashaying away.

Zing surveyed the room. Her eyes settled on a short, handsome butch woman who was seated across the room. Her hair was cropped and gelled into ten-inch spikes and made her seem much taller than she was. Zing was impressed. She slipped into a chair next to the butch, invading her personal bubble for a close-up look at her hair.

The butch looked at Zing out of the corner of her eye. “Whassup?”

“You have the pokiest hair. I love it,” Zing said. “You’re like a bull with horns. No, wait! You’re like a unicorn. Except instead of only one horn, you have a whole bunch of horns. I guess that would make you a multi-corn. Why do they call it a unicorn anyway? Why don’t they call it a unihorn? Can I touch your hair?”

“Baby, you can touch anything on me you want,” the butch said.

Zing tentatively patted the butch’s spikes then quickly drew her hand back. “Ouch.”

The butch leered at Zing’s body, saying out the side of her mouth, “We should get together and I can show you more things than my hair.”

“Okay, that sounds nice,” Zing said. “Maybe we could go have ice cream. It’s my favorite. Do you like ice cream?”

“Sure, babe. I love it.”

“Great,” Zing said, enthusiastically. She looked back across the room at Miracle and said loudly, “Hey, guess what? She likes ice cream, too! Small world, huh?”

“Here, give me your hand,” the butch said.

Zing obliged, still admiring the butch’s hair and thinking about ice cream. The butch pulled a pen from her pocket and wrote her phone number on the back of Zing’s hand. Zing looked down at the number.

“Call me anytime, babe,” the butch said. “I’ll show you some other pokey—”

Nell was up and out of her chair and across the room in a flash. She yanked Zing away before the butch could even finish her sentence. Nell pulled Zing back across the room, saying under her breath, “Stay away from that type, Zing.”