Free Mya

Daniel returns (Part 14)

Daniel Returns, for no Good Reason

By Carmen

Allie asked if I wanted to put my side of things, but I don't have much to say about the time Daniel was away. Except that whilst the cat's away ...

He left a list with Alison. A great long list of dos and don'ts. What she did or didn't eat. Like he was asking her to look after his flat and his house-plants rather than his daughter and wife. Or rather, his child and his child-bride. What to do with the money. That they must not eat meat, or even meat-like things like chicken.

But maybe that symbolises it all. Like one of his possessions. Like a blow-up doll.

I think I did her a favour. I think I helped take her mind off things. Certainly, I hope I improved her sense of style.

She did not seem very keen on trying to get hold of a fur coat. I expect Alison had got to her. Bloody bleeding heart liberals, they should shoot the lot of them. Ha ha. Alison, I was joking...

I never succeeded with the mass of curly hair that Daniel was so fetishistic about. She seemed determined to keep it the length he liked it.

Dyed, yes, eventually. Allie insisted I test beforehand to make sure the dye wouldn't harm Mya's hair or scalp. I had to keep her quiet. Allie's such a worrier. She's also a Luddite. She makes such a fuss about "chemicals", meaning only the chemicals she doesn't personally use. That ruddy henna she uses from time to time. That's chemical, too. Plants are chemicals. Even Amber and, God help me, Daniel, agree with me about that.

Mya started panicking in her native language if I suggested cutting her mane of hair. However, I made progress in other areas.

Alison was a little sarcastic about the time Mya went blonde.

"The dye will wash out in a few weeks," I said. "Her hair isn't bleached. It isn't like when you were young. Dyes have changed a lot since then. Improved."

She ignored my reference to her age.

"Not all of them are that good."

"Only because fanatics like you want perfectly good chemicals taken off the market, with your nonsense about pollution and sustainability. I mean, sustainability is, like, nonsense. Nothing lasts, enjoy the moment. Even you concede that if none of your gloomsday scenarios come to pass, the sun is going to burn out one day. Bask in it whilst it's still there."

"Or we could just use fake tan instead."

When will she stop mentioning the fake tan?

Allie continued. "All the women you get involved with end up looking like clones. Not even human ones. Clones of Barbie dolls. All blonde hair and fake tan and thin eyebrows and waxed legs and red nail varnish. You keep plucking them."

Firstly, threading is not plucking! Secondly, as I pointed out, Daniel had clearly had a fetish about Mya having hairy legs and hairy armpits.

Alison retorted that if Mya had had shaved armpits and depilated legs when I first met her, I would have claimed Daniel must hate women with body hair. According to Allie, I would have alleged that he clearly wanted her to have a smooth body so she would look more like a child.

"Look at the way you went on about those stupid hair slides, saying they made her look like a thirteen year old. Maybe, just maybe, Daniel bought them because Mya thought they were pretty. And you forgot Suzie's comment: 'So would a twenty-seven-year-old, as a post-modern ironic gesture'. Suzie was wearing very similar ones that very day.