By the Skin (completed)

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I'm doing this."

"Don't do this."

"I'm in good hands, Miss Vanjie."  Mayo raises her eyebrow at me, thinking that Miss Vanjie is a valid nickname for Evangeline.

It's been a week since Mayo came out to me. And, since we're at her father's salon now, I'm trying hard not to mention it. I honestly don't know if he knows, but I know gay culture, and gay culture means not mentioning it to anyone without the permission of the beholder. This chick wanted a funky hairstyle, so she's dying it blue. She picked me up because I wanted to watch. Plus, no one is going to be there since it is closed to regular customers for the day.

"Your hair has been through so much, girl. You straighten it every day." I murmur to myself as Mayo's dad prepares her hair dye. "You're wild."

"I think she gets it from me." Mr. Ostelli says, in his heavy Italian accent. "Fragolina," He turns to his daughter feels her smooth and straight hair. "Mi sono scordato di dirle il mio nome."

"My dad's first name is Alfredo, in case you didn't know. Feel free to call him that."

I'm kind of jealous that she's bilingual. I'm also quite jealous that my best friend's name is Mayo and her father's name is Alfredo. Alfredo and Mayo. Dear God, I love her family.

The process takes a really long time. This has got to be taking an hour and a half. I really appreciate the fact that Alfredo just does this for his daughter. She tells me she doesn't have to pay and he just really enjoys being with her. It's so wholesome tears almost exited my eyes when she told me. Even though this entire appointment is long and boring, the procedure is interesting to me. I like watching Mayo almost fall asleep as well. In her defense, I was also about to fall asleep. While Alfredo works on the latter's hair, I tug on my sweatshirt and occasionally check my phone. I think Mayo told him that I have the same condition as her but I am "Insecure About It", so before we started he set up a manual fan to cool me down. Even though it's December, there's no air conditioning in his hair salon, so I appreciate it.

Her hair is complete in the time I predicted. Now, Mayo has to sit under the hair dryer for, like, twenty minutes. She's napping. Alfredo, after cleaning up and disinfecting his supplies, places a can of mango juice by her side. He also grabs one for me and for himself. We crack it open and gulp and post-drink exhale at the same time. We're best friends now. Alfredo and I sit at the porch of his small neighborhood salon, observing scenes in front of us and drinking juice. A farmer's market is going on today. I think he bought the juice from there.

"Thank you for welcoming Mayo. It's been pretty rough for her since she transferred schools."

"It was no problem." I turn to Mayo's father and smile. "She's a sweet girl."

"Okay, ah, between you and me..." He leans in closer to me and I do the same. "...you're her girlfriend, right?"

I almost crush the can as I feel my muscles tense. "N-No!" Calming myself down, I take another swig of this delicious beverage. "Mayo's not my girlfriend."

He laughs a good, hearty, Italian dad laugh.  "I'm sorry."

"No, no, don't worry about it." I laugh with him. "When did Mayo come out to you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"When she came out to me? Well..." He rubs the back of his neck. "After my wife passed away."

I can feel my eyes soften into a gentle pity. He takes out a pack of cigarettes which I recognize as the candy ones Mayo has in her car. He offers one to me, and I take one. It's just powdery and mildly sweet candy. I kind of like it.

"Mayo wasn't close with my wife. They kept a lot of secrets from each other and they fought a lot. She also kept a lot of secrets from me, but not as much as my Donatella." His fists clenched. "And when she got in her accident..."

He trailed off.

"The night she found out, Mayo decided to tell me everything that she kept from her mother. Because she didn't want to lose me. She doesn't want to keep secrets from anyone." Alfredo snickers. "Must explain why she's such a spontaneous and outgoing person now." I peek in through the doorway and see Mayo's peaceful face as she rests under the heat of the hair-dryer.

Something clicks in me. My eyes widen as I turn to her father.

"Can you cut my hair?"

He raises his eyebrow and smiles before running into his salon and pulling out a spray bottle, a cape, shears, and a comb.

"Do you want me to wake up Mayo so she can see?"

"No. She likes surprises." Alfredo laughs at my question. "Is your mom okay with this?"

"She usually cuts my hair, and she wanted to this week, but she couldn't find the time." I pull my hair out from under the cape when he wraps it around my body. "My mother will be jumping for joy when she finds out that a professional is doing it."

"Okay." Alfredo combs my hair. "Miss Vanjie."

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"Holy cow!"

Her eyes shoot wide open before Alfredo guides her to the washing station. I look at myself in the mirror. The haircut is a little bit below the chin, and it's quite bouncy. My hair was flat and straight when it was long, so this is nice for the change.

I kind of look like Che Guevara.

"You kind of look like Che Guevara." Mayo comments, looking up to the ceiling while her hair is shampooing. "It's really, really nice."

"Plus, it will be more airy for your neck." Alfredo adds. His hair is in a fun little quiff. I bet a lot of air passes through it. He starts rinsing Mayo's hair. "Non sistemati i capelli."

"What'd he say?" I bounce my hair with my hands. Short hair is so much fun.

"He said I can't straighten my hair anymore."

"I thought you could with dyed hair?"

"The color would show more nicely if she kept it curly." Mayo's father turns off the faucet and dries her hair with a towel.

Both me and Mayo break out laughing.

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in case you would like to see some reference images for evangeline and mayo's hair (respectively):