Oliver's Arrow

Chapter 9

Surprisingly there's not much to do. Boss  reviewed the project and presented it to the client. Boss allowed us to leave work early so Oliver and I left.

 My braids are due to be remade and I am getting tired of having to carry it around. There's a salon is go to make my hair, its not very popular so the customers are not overflowing. The owner is a very good fried of mine. She's a Nigerian from Ebonyi State, I met her at the beach, one of those times when I felt unsure of my life and where it was headed. She was the kind of person that I vibed with so we hit off right away even though she's five years older than me. At the time I met her she had just started her salon business and I was looking for a place to start making my hair and the places I found were not to my satisfaction. The first time I entered her salon, it reminded me of the salon I used to use back in Nigeria where you watched movies while you made your hair. It was the only salon I allowed my self to step foot in even if my mother disagreed because their prices were a bit high.

 I hadn't even loosened my hair but she said she would help me with it and now I rarely loosen my braids before going to the salon which is why I'm going to make my hair now but I still had to call her to let her know that I was coming. She also loves dogs and allows me to bring Oliver with me to the salon even though he just stays in the inside a room in the salon.

Oliver gets to the car before me while I try to get my phone and car keys from my bag. As I back out of the parking lot trying to look for her number. I see it and click her number and put it on speaker. I may not be the best driver but from what I've learned from my father, whenever you want to make a call and you're driving, always put it on speaker, that way you'll be able to concentrate better. She picks up on the fifth ring.

"Hey Adaobi" 

"You coming to make your hair?" she also has an Irish accent with a dip of Igbo at least that's how I hear it.

"You free?" I hear her sigh from the other side. Sometimes I get tired of me too.

"Did you loosen your braids already?"

"No. I know I know but you love me" I try not to laugh so she won't give up on me.

"You're so annoying. You're lucky I haven't unsubscribed from Netflix. The movies are waiting "

"Thank you darrrrling. I'm just going to change and I'll head your way"

"Yeah yeah, just make sure you bring Ollie" she sometimes almost love shim as much as I do. I shake my head and try to avoid some child on inline skates. She cuts the call. We get home and I rush upstairs, I quickly change from my work clothes into more comfortable clothes. Oliver trails me everywhere until I tell him to sit in the living room. I pick some cash and my purse, everything else I need is in the salon.  lock the door behind and we head to the salon. There's a little hold up but I finally see her medium-sized-purple-painted salon in the corner. It looks like someone just finished making their hair. I lock my car and slide open the glass.

"Yay, she's here"

"Say with less sarcasm" she laughs, her slightly deep belly laugh bouncing off the salon mirrors and pulls me into a compulsory hug. She knows I'm not a hugger . She's been one of my closest friends so she makes herself allowed to hug me. I squirm away from her so I can see face clearly, her face looks a bit pale and her eyes look bloodshot. 

"Are you ok Dobi, like actually okay. You don't look too well" I'm not ready to loose anyone.

"I'm fine Ellie, just haven't been sleeping well" she shrugs and pulls out a chair. I know she wants to get off the topic so I leave it, she'll talk when she's ready. I settle on the chair and watch Oliver go to the inner room, he knows his kingdom already, as I watch him, he turns his head to me and one eye closes and opens rapidly. He keeps walking and I I turn to the mirror until I realize that....