Black Hairiot || Book One

Chapter One - Doing My Hair

"How you care for your trees (your hair), that's how it will grow." - z.a.m.

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So'leil Bryant thought that she'd be late to her own graduation ceremony. She knew this thought process would happen. Her graduation ceremony was planned for a Tuesday afternoon in mid-June.

Luckily, she decided to do her hair the night before. Which was on Monday night, tonight to be exact.

She decided on a low, slicked back ponytail with her thick, black natural hair. She didn't want to add on any extensions, as she felt weighed down by them.

The whole thing was a process, and she couldn't sleep because she was so excited that she was graduating the next day, that her eyes wouldn't close for nothing.

In her bedroom, in front of her vanity's mirror, she was seated. She had her hard bristle brush, her Red One red gel, the Got2B hairspray, and some other necessary hair items. She was going to tame the beast for tomorrow evening.

Her hair was washed the day before, on Sunday, using her Mielle shampoo and conditioner set. She dried it off with a t-shirt to reduce the extra fizz and parted it into sections to create three-strand granny bumps to keep her hair protected, locking in its natural moisture. She tied it down with her silk leopard coloured head-tie.

Now, she removed the head-wrap and stared at her reflection. As she wasn't the type to harp on how she looked, she didn't even take notice of her features. She went straight into loosing out the temporary plaits she had made the night before. Her watch was on her wrist, so she checked the time. It was 8:45pm.

She knew it would take an hour at least to finish her hair, so she started from the back. As she was doing so, she pretended that she was doing a YouTube tutorial, like no one was watching. She didn't have to pretend on that part because no one was watching.

Using the big-teeth comb she brandished from the vanity's edge, she gripped her hair in her hand and started to gently comb out, from the ends, the waves that formed in her hair. It was so soft and smooth from the care she put into it, the comb slid clean through every time. She set that comb aside.

The instrument she used next was a spray bottle filled with her favourite hair moisturizer, Anacai's Rose Water And Chamomile Mist. It was a small black business she supported, and the products loved her hair, as it was fully natural.

She sprayed some onto the roots of her hair and used the brush to pull it back. It laid flat, in a temporary hold, so she quickly opened and removed a small amount of Red One and applied it, smoothening it with a brush, where she sprayed the mist. She spritzed on some Got2B spray and now in a more permanent hold, she used a hair tie to separate the part she just did.

It was almost a ritual for her.

In the background, early 2000s R&B music played softly as she hummed the tune, her tongue poking out her mouth as she concentrated on the task. This scene took her back to when her mom did her hair.

She repeated what she did to the first row, until the majority of her hair was completed and joined in a hair tie. It was time for the front to be completed, so she did a side part to try to hide her big forehead. By the time she was close to finished, it was nearing 10 o'clock at night.

The process wasn't one to be rushed, so she didn't.

She did the classic swoop and used her edge brush to do her left-over baby hairs, with a bit of Red One and the Got2B spray. Edge control did not work for her hair, it would be springing up quicker than a clicker pen after it's lost its cap.