{"id":369,"date":"2017-10-17T18:28:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T18:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/?p=369"},"modified":"2017-10-17T18:39:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T18:39:58","slug":"story-of-the-month-tint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noellesickels.com\/wp\/?p=369","title":{"rendered":"Story of the Month: Tint"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Myra frowned into the salon mirror.\u00a0 If Suzi could fix Myra\u2019s hair, partially grown in from a style Suzi had advised against, maybe Myra could begin to feel better about everything.<\/p>\n

If you look good, you\u2019ll feel good, she used to tell Jake whenever he was about to leave the house with his shirt half-tucked or his cowlick sprung.\u00a0 Not that he paid attention.\u00a0 Jake had been a beautiful child who grew into a handsome man without a spot of effort.\u00a0 And now see where\u2019s he\u2019s landed himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Myra,\u201d Suzi said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are we doing today?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou tell me.\u00a0 It was a mistake not listening to you last time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi stared meditatively at Myra in the mirror.<\/p>\n

\u201cA clean-up trim and a tint,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cA tint?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHighlights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myra nodded dubious agreement.\u00a0 Suzi began clipping at the nape.\u00a0 On another day, Myra would have slipped into relaxed absent-mindedness.\u00a0 But today, the pleasure of passivity eluded her, replaced by a strange sense of loneliness.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a mother, aren\u2019t you, Suzi?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 My son\u2019s 11.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMine\u2019s 24.\u00a0 Let me tell you, it never gets easier.\u00a0 They get bigger, their problems get bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid something happen to your son?\u201d\u00a0 Suzi sounded genuinely concerned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a manner of speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019s all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically he\u2019s fine.\u00a0 You could say that physically, he\u2019s too<\/i> fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myra was not one to gossip with hairdressers, parading her life within earshot of the strangers in nearby chairs.\u00a0 But the chairs on either side were empty, and the hairdresser across the aisle was using a loud blow dryer.\u00a0 And Suzi\u2019s face was so kind, so attentive.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe announced last night—on the phone, not <\/i>in person—that he\u2019s been dating someone and it\u2019s getting serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSerious?\u00a0 As in marriage?\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi held the scissors suspended idly above Myra\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t mention marriage per se.\u00a0 My husband was on the extension, and he claims Jake didn\u2019t even use the word serious<\/i>.\u00a0 But I can read between the lines.\u00a0 He always tells us things in pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quizzical look was gone from Suzi\u2019s face.\u00a0 She seemed, in fact, lost in private thought.\u00a0 But now that Myra had begun, she didn\u2019t want to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t even met the girl,\u201d she complained.\u00a0 \u201cGirl, hah!\u00a0 The woman\u2019s twice his age!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwice?\u201d Suzi said incredulously.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s 40.\u00a0 Only five years younger than me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the first thing he told you about her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi\u2019s face showed dismay, a hint of anger.\u00a0 How sympathetic she is, Myra thought.\u00a0 Jake had called Myra unfair, and her husband said she was creating a tempest in a teapot, but here was someone who instinctively recognized the problem, the way any mother with a son would.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, first there was the usual mush about being in love with a wonderful woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi was slowly combing Myra\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want to meet her?\u201d\u00a0 she asked quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d Myra replied curtly, though the question had thrown her.<\/p>\n

Turning away, Suzi lifted the lid of a glass jar filled with pink liquid, put the comb into it, and replaced the lid.\u00a0 Her movements were careful and precise, as if the task required great delicacy.\u00a0 How could a person be so absorbed in putting a comb into a jar when someone right next to her was obviously spinning in misery?<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think, Suzi, that it would be more likely I could talk him out of it if I refused to meet her?\u00a0 Or should I meet her and be especially nice, then later gently point out the obstacles to him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich are\u2026?\u201d Suzi folded her arms over her chest, ready to concentrate on Myra\u2019s answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she\u2019s 60, he\u2019ll still be a young man.\u00a0 And what about children?\u00a0 I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to want children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe she\u2019s already got children.\u00a0 If she\u2019s 40, she could have been married before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God, I never thought of that.\u201d\u00a0 Myra shook her head ruefully.\u00a0 \u201cBringing up someone else\u2019s children\u2026\u00a0 That never works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever say never,\u201d Suzi warned lightly.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what my mother used to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut not to have a child of your own…grandchildren…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at it from the other side, Myra.\u00a0 Your son\u2019s girlfriend must think he\u2019s pretty special if she\u2019d let him become a father to her kid.\u00a0 You should be proud he\u2019s that kind of man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not what I ever…\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi didn\u2019t encourage Myra to complete her thought.\u00a0 Her hands were moving quickly and surely around Myra\u2019s head, evaluating her work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to go mix the tint,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In Suzi\u2019s absence, Myra stared out the plate glass window.\u00a0 A pedestrian passed with his dog, three cars rolled by.\u00a0 A woman and a little girl crossed the street.\u00a0 How many of those apparently untroubled people were embroiled in dramas?\u00a0 If any of them glanced into the salon at her, what would they think?\u00a0 She, too, must look untroubled.\u00a0 They might suppose she was preparing for some happy event, a special gathering or outing.<\/p>\n

Suzi returned with a sharp-smelling paste in a bowl.\u00a0 She divided Myra\u2019s hair into small sections with pieces of aluminum foil and brushed the paste on section by section.\u00a0 Under the rhythm of Suzi\u2019s capable touch, Myra grew drowsy.<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t you meet Jake once when he came to pick me up here?\u201d Myra asked after Suzi had been working a while in silence.\u00a0 \u201cThat time I was getting a perm and he had to wait?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I remember that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, of course you\u2019d remember.\u00a0 Women have been noticing Jake since he was 14.\u00a0 Bank tellers, shop girls, librarians…\u00a0 Some of them actually flirted<\/i> with him, a mere child!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would he do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing.\u00a0 Even now, he\u2019s not vain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSolid, would you say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, solid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen maybe you ought to bank on that.\u00a0 He\u2019s not a kid any more, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and me, Suzi\u2014we\u2019re<\/i> not kids any more,\u201d Myra answered, rallying.\u00a0 \u201cHe still needs straightening out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzi shrugged and went to attend another customer while Myra\u2019s dye set.<\/p>\n

The other side.\u00a0 Myra hadn\u2019t considered that before, that Jake\u2019s woman would have opinions, too, including an opinion of her.\u00a0 Suddenly, she felt shy.<\/p>\n

When Myra\u2019s hair was done, Suzi gave her a hand mirror to inspect the back of her head.\u00a0 Suzi had been right about the tint.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I might not like it, but I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myra went to the appointment desk and paid.\u00a0 She returned to Suzi\u2019s station and handed her a five dollar tip.\u00a0 Suzi thanked her with a smile.\u00a0 It struck Myra that there was something slightly crooked about Suzi\u2019s mouth, as if she\u2019d just come from the dentist and the novocaine hadn\u2019t worn off yet.\u00a0 In the next instant, however, Suzi\u2019s smile appeared perfectly normal.\u00a0 It\u2019s me, not her, Myra thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee you, Myra,\u201d Suzi said as she headed for the shampoo sink.<\/p>\n

Checking a nearby mirror, Myra fluffed out the sides of her hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn six weeks, maybe,\u201d she called.\u00a0 Inwardly, she cursed how slowly her hair grew, how long it could take to overcome a mistake.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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