the hairdresser finished washing my hair.
covered my shoulders.
brushed the back of my neck.
she does that sometimes.
gave me a towel and said.
“watch who you trust with your hair.”
before i even asked what she meant she clawed my ears off as she
always did and babbled about a woman:
“who had a daughter with beautiful maple sugar autumn hair; she forced the child to eat only
cinnamon with bread, cinnamon on lime, cinnamon and pure cinnamon for stronger redder hair,
for longer and more autumn hair, it was so beautiful, the mother tended it with such passion: she
caressed it, kissed the roots, demanded of the girl cinnamon for its growth, wouldnʼt let a soul or a drop of rain ruin it but god what a gorgeous cinnamon thread, i would dream of the little girl coming through the door just for me to touch and brush it forever; i smelled cinnamon and she did too, would take it in, through mouth and nose: first her teeth fell out and then her lashes, her veins took over her arms and what i assumed were legs, goodbye to her marshmallow cheeks and her voice became a shell, oh, thank god the hair was okay — exquisite threads touched what used to be the toes, and after the first cinnamon year she was all dust, suddenly no more visits, then on the second cinnamon year the mother called and made an appointment for the next tuesday, so a mess of skin and bones walked in the next tuesday, a repulsive smell, my throat burned as i saw the long neck and the freckles iʼd touched, she reeked of salt and something else was missing, i wondered if sheʼve always had such short legs and shoulders, and then the mother. set a ball of red silky hair on my trembling hands and said i want extensions for tomorrow. i have an important event.”
she finished the story with a giggle.
“but anyway…”
she calmly said.
looked at me in the eyes
and slowly brushed her hands on top of my blonde head.
“you know…”
she said while
i felt the sharpness of a nail
dig in,
“egg yolk can help with the color of the roots,”
she whispered.
in the bathroom of my house
i took my scrapbook scissors
and cut all my hair off.
