Reality

Chapter 11

I sit in the chair, stiff as a board. Nausea boiling in my stomach. I swallow hard pushing down the feeling to puke. For the first time in almost 6 years, my hair is getting cut. A shiver runs down my spine, my hand grips the cloth of my pants. Ulma cradles a pair of scissors in her hand, the way her eyes lit up when I walked in makes me sick. The bounce of her ruby red curls made her head look two times its size. I wonder if she got too excited it would roll off her neck and ricochet off the walls like a ball. Her lips matched the red of her hair, moving in slow motion she mocked how upset Pestilence was.

"How about I do it." Miriam tried to take the scissors but she snatched them out of reach, the smallest of the three, her stumpy figure rounds the rolling tray and points the end at the green eyed blondie. The monstrous woman bares her teeth, "I don't think so! I called it first." All I can think about is my hair. After a regrettable haircut in fifth grade I refused to ever cut it again. Yet here I am, waiting for the beheading.

Pestilence hushed them as she set down a stack of clean towels. "We don't have much time." The two women glared at each other before Ulma stalks me like a predator dragging the tray behind her. Suddenly under her gaze I feel my nerves tighten, "Why?" Was all I could say. Ulma's cold fingers grabbed a handful of my hair. I tensed pushing up from the chair but she yanked me back down. "Calm down, I'm brushing it." Starting with the ends she carved out each knot and forced her way through them. The tenderness in my scalp flares up with each stroke. I wince and she grabs my head with a loud smack of her gum, "I thought you were tough." Her voice rang sarcastically.

Another brushstroke came to a jarring stop, the pull of my scalp made me yelp. "That hurts!" I swivel around to glare at her but her wide shit-brown eyes beat me to it. "Can we not do this today?" Pestilence caved, I've never seen her so gloomy. "What's wrong?" I asked, finally free of knots Ulma brushes through my hair without giving me whiplash. She doesn't answer my question, simply winking at me with a forced reassuring smile. I wanted to ask again but behind me Ulma grabs a wad of my hair and I hear the terrifying snip. Her hand shoots out at the side of my vision, wielding her brunette trophy. "Girl you have a ton of hair."

All at once she's slicing away at my ends, pushing my head down to see, and sucking her teeth every time I pull away. A flash back of 4th grade hits me like a slap in the face. The regret boils at my skin, I try to stuff it down into the vault I had it locked away in but I can hear the teasing from all the other girls. Even back then, Mount had tried his best to make me feel better but I will never get over the fact that I chose to ruin my thick head of hair. My head swirls with the memories of hiding under hoods, a week straight I stayed out of school burying myself under the layers of my bed. Mom would bring me dinner and sit with me and tell me horror stories of her own past, even for her there were memories she could never forget no matter how hard she tried.

My shoulders slouch as I look down to my lap, an ache in my stomach. Why is it so hard to forget? If I could erase every hurtful memory and never have to relive it every night in my dreams, I'd scrape the inside of my skull till there was nothing left. "Hey, we're not cutting it all off." Miriam said softly, it's the first time she's ever sounded sincere. "Consider it a ten inch trim." I look at her face, the smile making her look constipated. I swat the thought away and remind myself that not everyone's as cruel as Ulma. I smile back and glance at Pestilence who's reading something off the tablet sighing tiredly. "What wrong with her?"

Miriam shrugs with her whole body, "Boy problems." I nod but Ulma grabs my head with one small hand and yells, "Move one more time, I'll shave you bald missy." I straighten up. Pestilence doesn't seem like the kind of person to have boy problems. If anything, I never considered people here had lives outside of this place. It's such a normal predicament in life, boy problems. I could almost laugh. Rumors used to float around school about Mount and I being a thing. I roll my eyes, the last person I want to think about is Mount. I can't believe we used to be friends, I would have never done that.