Boswell, LaVenia (5 page)

            Jenny giggled at the terrible frowned up face he was making.  “Just go easy on the carbs, dad.”

            “Sure hon.”  Looking at her again he asked, “Want your ole dad to make you a cup of java and a slice of toast before you head out?”

            “Nah, but thanks, Dad.”  Jenny saw he was studying her.  “What?” she asked.

            He stated with a frown, “It just struck me.  It’s Saturday, early, and you’re up?  Anything wrong, Jen?”

            There goes those worry lines on his forehead.  “Nope, I know Thomas’ll be here about
noon
and I want to spend some extra time with him.  But, today I have a number of errands to run, so I have to get them done early.”

            Martin smiled and relaxed.  “I’ll sure be glad when he and Celeste tie the knot.  I want me some grandkids.”  He hurriedly glanced at Jenny.  “But you, my little lady, take all the time in the world before you give me little ones.  It’s just that Thomas is not going to be twenty-seven much longer, and well, he’s a good dad to Celeste’s Tammy.  We just don’t get to have grandparent’s privileges with her yet.  That’s why I want him to hurry up and pop the question before she hunts someone willing to commit.”

            “Dad . . . Thomas is committed to her, you know that!”  Jenny was shocked at her father.

            “Oh, I know he is, but she might think he’s got cold feet is what I’m meaning.  They’ve been living together for two years.  That’s a good enough time to get to know a person.  That’s all I’m saying.”  He shook his paper and returned to his perusing.

            Jenny let the subject drop.  She personally saw no need in marriage to begin with, it was simply a legality in most societies.  Didn’t mean a thing.  That’s why there were almost as many divorces as marriages.  The word marriage almost made her gag, having decided when she was thirteen and her aunt got divorced that it was simply a contrivance of some religious cults since way back when.  To each their own, was her motto, but leave her alone about it.

            A smile came to her face as she remembered when she was thirteen and decided she didn’t believe in marriage.  She’d aggravated Jason to no end with her opinion.  Told him if she ever had kids (which she didn’t plan on anyway) they would be bastards.  He went completely bonkers on her with his dignified self, spouting she needed to rethink that thought big time!

            The only real reasons he could give her for the institution of marriage all centered around his god and morals and how family is the foundation of every good society.  She’d argued that morals had nothing to do with it and she was never marrying.  He’d gone Super Jason on her yet again and she’d laughed so hard at his horrified face that she’d almost wet herself laughing.  She had snorted like a pig though for several minutes.  Still smiling at the memory she headed out.

            After dropping her bag of clothing off Jennifer did a bit of Thrift store shopping.  She purchased several partial yards of silk fabric and a bag of threads someone had donated.  Then bought a few more used books, one had never had the spine cracked.  Found a beautiful scarf that was a steal at two dollars since she’d seen the same scarf at Dillard’s for ninety-five a little over a week ago.

            Arriving at the hair salon, a little place in Oceanway, close to her home, she built up her courage sitting in the car staring at the salon door.  Walking in she nervously sat and thumbed through picture catalogs of various cuts and styles.  What she wanted was an
Alice
bob, like in the Twilight series movies and books.

            She kept running her fingers through her long hair.  It’d taken her seven years for it to grow this long, what with trimming split ends twice a year and all.  A noise drew her attention to the other side of the waiting room where a couple of young women with really short hair were looking at longhaired wigs.  There behind them displayed on the wall was the one she instantly knew she had to buy.  An
Alice
wig.

            Walking out with her new short, spiky hair bob she was grinning from ear to ear.

            Heading over to
Salina
’s after giving her a call she began to relax, finally. 

           
Salina
and her family were sitting down to breakfast.  A table filled with scrambled eggs with cheese and onions, grits, cream gravy, hash browns, sausages, peppered bacon, and a stack of buttered pan-fried toast were scattered over the long kitchen table.  They’d fixed her a plate too, despite her protests.

            “Wow, how do you all stay so trim when you eat like this?” Jenny asked stunned.

           
Salina
’s mom answered while her husband, two sons,
Salina
and her sister all passed plates of food around the table, “It’s a weekend thing Jenny.  Saturday and Sunday we have our big family meals.  We’re all so busy during the week, what with work and school, we seem to pass each other more than not.”

            Jenny nodded, she knew
Salina
’s mom and dad both worked.  Her dad had a swing shift job at Anchor Glass.  He drove a forklift that was dangerous what with loading crates of glass bottles high, high in the air in tall stacks.  It was easy to die with a pile of glass shards falling down on top of the man working the forklift and anyone close by if the load tilted or shifted wrongly.  There were rumors of it happening, way back when.  But, it paid decent and
Salina
’s dad had worked there for over twenty-five years.

           
Salina
’s mom was a server at Red Lobster Restaurant.  The oldest brother, Tyrone, who only Jenny called Ty, was twenty-two and currently laid off at the railroad where he’d worked since graduation.  A younger brother was still in Middle School.  The older sister was in her mid-twenties, divorced and back at home.

            As Jenny sat and began to eat some eggs and grits they all expressed shock at her new hair style.

            “Hey girl!  What did ya do to that pretty hair you had?”
Salina
’s eldest brother asked, blunt and tackless as ever.

            Acting like she was trying to pout Jenny asked as she fiddled with a curl near her ear, “Ohhh, Ty, you don’t like it?  I thought you guys loved perky, pixie type females?”

            Tyrone gave her a half-embarrassed smile.  “Depends on the woman.  It’s cute enough, on you, anyway.  Just loved the long hair, that’s all.  What made you cut it off, it doesn’t grow that long over night?”

            Not wanting to reveal her mindset she simply replied, “I needed a change.  It being my senior year, I wanted a new look.”

           
Salina
’s mom said she adored her new hair.

            Jenny whispered to
Salina
’s mom, “It’s a wig, I just wanted something different.” 

            That seemed to surprise her even more, then she nodded, “Oh, girl, I know that feeling.  Glad you didn’t do the deed though, you would have regretted it in another month, I know.  I did that once when I was a young woman.”

            “What happened?” Jenny asked as she and
Salina
leaned closer and listened with interested eyes.  The others where in another conversation about basketball and upcoming parties.  The elder sis was on her cell talking with a new guy while purposely ignoring everyone.

           
Salina
’s mom smiled.  “I broke up with this fella who I thought was a pure heart throb.  Found out he’d been seeing four other women while engaged to me.  Even had two children I didn’t know about.  Needless to say I was terribly furious, hurt, devastated and embarrassed.  My hairstyle back then was these long weaves and cost a fortune.  I went to the lady who did mine and told her to unweave and start cutting.  I had a short Afro in mind but she said that was too old style and gave me a relaxed sleek, short hairstyle instead.”  She looked at the girls seeing their pity and understanding.  “A month later I cried for hours over the two foot long hair I used to have.”

           
Salina
snorted, “Men!  They tend to drive us women crazy.”

            Jennifer’s cell started vibrating again, it was her mom.  “Hi mom.”  After a while of listening to her mom reminding her that Thomas was supposed to be there about
noon
Jenny said, “I know Mom.  Didn’t dad tell you I said I’d be back before he arrived?”  Her dad was out weed eating the lawn her mom explained.  “I’ll get home before he get’s there.  I’m over at
Salina
’s having breakfast.  Yeah, I’m tell ‘em all hi for you.  I love you too Mom.  Bye.”

            As the guys left the table each scraped their dishes into a large bowl reserved for their dogs and cat to share.  Jenny jumped up and began loading the dishwasher as
Salina
and her mom finished putting the food away and cleaned the counters and table off.

            Tyrone came back in to pick on Jenny and his sis, something he greatly enjoyed doing since Jenny was about ten years old.  They endured his constant good-natured teasing for a while before a carload of his friends dropped in to get him to shoot some hoops at the community center.  It being Basketball season every guy they all knew were hoop obsessed.  To everyone’s shock and surprise he suggested a game of poker instead.

            Jenny’s eyes lit up, wishing she had time to hang with the guys and play some poker too.  She knew she and
Salina
would wipe the table clean and she could sure use some extra spending money after buying the wig.  Looking at her watch, seeing it was
nine thirty
still, she agreed to sit for a few hands when the guys finally, though reluctantly invited her and
Salina
to join in, with Tyrone doing the insisting.

            They sat at the long table they’d just cleared of breakfast, taking up one end so they could all reach the pot. 
Salina
sat across from Jen so they could read each other’s expressions better.  The girls sort’a team-tagged the guys.  Not cheating, Jenny wouldn’t dream of playing that way, just feminine intuition helping the girls assist each other with little jabs and jokes, knocking the guy’s confidence with their card hands.  The ladies prided themselves in knowing how to bluff and when to fold.

            By eleven-thirty the guys were frowning and grumbling and the girls were giggling with joy.  Their chips were piled high and the fella’s were all low.

           
Salina
’s Mom laughed loudly at the group of irritated males as she started putting on a pot of stew for their later lunch.      “Haven’t you boys learned anything after all these years?” she asked.

            Tyrone gave her a grin.  “Got’ta keep my baby sis on her toes.  And this fairy creature she’s now friends with needed to get her aggression out, what with cutting off all her hair.  I’d sure hate to be the dude who got her that angry.”

           
Salina
and Jenny shared a look that didn’t pass his notice. 
“So, I was right.  It was a guy.  Who is he Jen, so I can go kick his butt for you!”

            Jenny jumped up, kissed his temple as she hugged his neck from behind his chair before heading out the door.  “Ty, you’re a sweetie pie.  Love ya for that thought.”

            Waving bye as she left, she turned and caught him looking back at her, grinning his handsome flirtatious grin that made his list of girlfriends a long list.  He’d always wanted to add her to that list, swearing with a sly smile he’d forsake all others.  She knew it’d be hard for him, only one gal?  Nada.  She never took the bait.  He was a fine man and they did sort’a click, but she didn’t want to have
Salina
on her case if they didn’t work out.