Suicide Watch

Chapter 14

Temi POV

Isa and I arrive at the local black hair salon near campus, just in time for my appointment. The door makes a jingle sound as we walk in, alerting the hairstylists of our presence.

The salon has a black interior, with bright lights and framed photos of several black celebrities with different hairstyles. The strong familiar scent of shea-butter, coconut oil, and various other hair products waft through the air.

"Temi, so nice to see you. It's been a while," Sharon says as she appears into view. She is dressed in a long dark red dress, with sandals on her feet. A heavy pearl necklace hangs around her neck, matching the pearl earrings dangling from her ears.

Sharon is the person I come to whenever I visit the salon. She is in her late forties, and her dark skin seems to glimmer as a wide smile spreads across her face. Without realizing it, I find myself mirroring the smile.

"Sharon, I'm glad to see you. How have you been?"

"Good, good. Who is this?"

Sharon quickly brushes away my question, tuning in instead to Isa beside me.

I have completely forgotten about Isa standing next to me, and only remember her now that Sharon's eyes scan her with interest.

"This is my friend Isa," I lie, and cringe internally at the description of Isa as my 'friend.' "She's just gonna hang with me while I get my hair done."

Sharon nods, still inspecting Isa. Isa offers her a small smile, but I can make out the slight confusion present in her eyes. I bite my lip slightly to hold back the smile threatening to spread across my face. My plan is already in motion, and I can't ruin it when it has only barely begun.

"Are you going to stay throughout? Honey, this is going to take a while," Sharon says with concern in her voice as she looks between Isa and I.

"Oh, she doesn't mind," I quickly answer before Isa gets the chance to. I don't want her to have the opportunity to ask any questions.

I had only informed her of my appointment at the hair salon. I kept the details to myself. The details are something that she will soon come to find out.

"Well, alright then," Sharon says, finally averting her gaze from Isa to fix it on me. "Do you want your hair washed first or would you prefer to get straight to braiding?"

"A hair wash first, please," I answer, and follow Sharon as she directs me further into the salon. The longer this takes, the better.

Isa follows silently behind me, but I can almost feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. I'm sure that at this point she is curious as to why I suddenly wanted to come here- but it doesn't matter.

I purposely avoid her gaze as Sharon seats me at the sink before directing Isa to take a seat a little distance away.

The salon is thankfully pretty empty today, which is probably why I could even get an appointment on such short notice.

I quickly sneak a glance at Isa, who is now sitting with her hands clasped together, still studying the interior of the salon. Her hair is packed up in a bun away from her face and she's dressed in sweatpants and a plain shirt, with a single chain hanging from her neck. She never looks like she puts any effort into her outfits, but she doesn't need to. With a face like that, anything she wears looks exquisite.

Isa turns back to look at me. I am not fast enough, and there's a moment where her brown eyes hold mine. There is a curiosity in them. I glance away.

"You ready?" Sharon asks.

I nod my head slightly before I feel warm water hit my scalp.

I close my eyes and lean my head back, enjoying the feeling of Sharon's fingers as she works through my curls. Getting my hair washed by someone other than myself is always something that I enjoy. I find it therapeutic.