Hannah's Dream by Diane Hammond

Author:Diane Hammond [Hammond, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061982644
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-11-22T01:48:54+00:00

“How’re you doing, girl?” Corinna cried, holding open the door to the Beauty Spot for Neva Wilson. “Come on in. Is it raining? When did that start?” She folded Neva into a quick one-armed hug against her substantial bosom.

“A couple of hours ago.”

“Really? My head must be in the clouds today.” Corinna hung Neva’s jacket on a peg. It was a cheap, ugly thing. A pretty girl like her should have something better. Corinna settled her in her chair and gently fastened one of her salon drapes around the girl’s shoulders. “I hope you know you can come chew the fat over here anytime, without having to go and get your hair involved,” she said.

Neva shook her head, pulling her hair out from under the smock and letting it spill down her back. “Come on. Who else am I going to trust with my finest asset?”

She was being flippant, but Corinna couldn’t help thinking she was also right; the girl had thick, glossy, dark red hair most African American girls would cut off their right arm for. Corinna was all for black people feeling good about what they had, but the truth was, the Lord shortchanged them in the hair department, and that was all there was to it. Corinna could relax, moisturize, condition, weave, braid, and style until the cows came home, but neither she nor any other beautician on earth, no matter how gifted, could come close to giving a black girl what Neva Wilson got for free, and that was all there was to it.

“So what are we doing, sugar?” she asked Neva.

“Just trim it, please—I’ve been doing it myself, and you can see what a bad idea that is.”

Corinna clucked and brushed. “You sure you don’t want a nice bob, maybe something a little different?”

“Cornrows would be nice,” Neva said. “With lots of beads.”

“You got four hours? Because that’s what it’s going to take with all this hair you’ve got.”

Neva sighed. “I guess I’ll have to do that on a day off—I told Sam I’d be back in an hour.”

“Let’s just clean you up for now. We can save the fancy stuff for next time.” Corinna got to work. “So how’s my Hannah today? Baby in a good mood?”

“She’s in a great mood. We cut twenty-four honeydew melons in half, filled them with frozen raspberries, put them back together and hid them in the branches of trees all over the zoo. Sam took her for a walk an hour ago, and they still hadn’t gotten back when I left to come here. I could see them way over by the house. Hannah had her trunk in the hedge.” Neva laughed. “It was just like an Easter egg hunt, only in November.”

Corinna smiled broadly. “Shug does like to get playful. You’ve done wonderful things for her, girl. She’s got that old sparkle back in her eye, like we haven’t seen for a long time. A mighty long time.” Corinna snipped, thoughtful. “You think she ever waits for

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