A Familiar Ring

CHAPTER 11: Hometown Hero

AUTHOR'S NOTE: this chapter has been completely updated now.

Two Weeks Later...

"Ooooooohweeeeeee! You lookin' like the baddest bitch in Macon!" Phoenix loudly exclaimed as she turned Cadence's chair around to face the mirror.

"Wow!" Cadence gasped and placed her hand over her mouth as she stared at herself, "It looks... I look... so good!"

"You said you wanted to be a new woman. New hair, new you! Besides, blondes have all the fun."

After taking an extra day or two to settle herself and get re-acclimated to living in Macon, Cadence called Phoenix to reconnect with her. Phoenix couldn't have been more happy to hear from her 'lost little sister', as she referred to Cadence. Without saying too much, Cadence caught her up on what was going on in her life and Phoenix's answer to her problems was a makeover. Cadence had been in Phoenix's shop for hours getting her jet black, thick, natural curly hair colored. They weren't even done styling it yet but her color transformation was enough to wow everyone in the room.

"How you wanna style it?" Phoenix asked.

"I'm not sure. Anything but straight."

Phoenix stared at Cadence's mane pensively then clapped her hands together quickly as the perfect idea came to mind. She turned Cadence away from the mirror so that she could have a big reveal when she was finished. They continued to have salon-safe talk as Phoenix expertly curled Cadence's strands. Phoenix loved her salon and her clients but they were nosey as hell. She really wanted to be having a conversation about her brother. Briscoe let it slip that Prosper came down to stay with her for a few days which wouldn't have been so surprising except that Prosper hadn't called her once. That was very unlike him. Prosper saw, or at the very least called, his family every single time he was in Macon. She knew that there was something neither Briscoe or Cadence was telling her and she wanted to know what that was.

"What you doing tonight?" Phoenix asked as she worked through the last section of Cadence's hair.

"Girl, nothin'. I'll probably be Netflix and chillin' by myself."

"Looking this good? I think the fuck not!"

The two broke out into laughter.

"No, but for real. Let's go out tonight shawty!" Phoenix blurted excitedly.

"Where we gon' go? I don't wanna go drink moonshine out in Ms. Rozelle's juke joint shack."

"Girl!" Phoenix could barely contain her laughter, "Ms. Rozelle passed a few years back!"

"And I bet it still be niggas goin' over there. I'm cool on that shawty."

"Nah, girl you crazy as hell. Let's go out to the real club."

"Club?!" Cadence snapped her neck around to look at Phoenix, "Since when Macon get a real club?"

"Girl, we been on. Mystique be poppin' too."

"Mmhmm!" two patrons in the salon hummed in unison.

"I guess... I'm down to go see what this Mystique hype is about," Cadence said reluctantly.

"Yassssss! We gon' be the baddest bitches up in that thang!"

Phoenix finished Cadence's hair revealing lush, bouncy beach waves that nearly reached the middle of her back. It was a little straighter than she would've liked but she knew it would shrink up a bit when she put it in a protective style overnight. The honey blonde ombré color accentuated her skin tone beautifully making her an even more striking beauty. Her almond shaped brown eyes somehow seemed brighter and more piercing at the same time.