Beauty and the Barber by Emmanuel Sullivan

Author:Emmanuel Sullivan [Sullivan, Emmanuel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: United States, Contemporary Fiction, Literary, Literary Fiction, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages), African American, Short Stories, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B014I93Q3G
Published: 2015-08-26T04:00:00+00:00

Nine

Butterfly sleepwalked through work the next few days, feeling as numb and defeated as she did when she learned of her uncle Sammie’s passing. The Kelwyn she knew was a sham, a plush tailored suit with nothing inside. The revelation of his lies felt like the death of somebody she was looking forward to getting to know.She woke up Sunday morning, dragged herself out of bed and over to the shop. They were closed, but there were things to get done. Trash to empty, machines to adjust, a dirty floor waiting to be mopped. In spite of the workload, she looked forward to savoring the silence of an empty shop. With all the troubling thoughts fighting for space in her head, it would be nice to spend a few hours somewhere she could relax. A glance at her cell phone reminded her of the need to get away. There were three messages. One from Mabel, her upstairs tenant, politely asking if she could get the toilet unclogged as quickly as possible. Another came from a dour-sounding Kelwyn asking if she’d call him back. The third was from Mabel, now growing a little less polite and asking why she hadn’t responded to her first message. She took a deep breath and tucked her cell phone away, wishing she could tuck all of her problems away so easily. The drama was piling up. And she couldn’t wait to get into the shop away from it all for a few hours.

But she got twenty feet from the shop’s back door before realizing it wasn’t going to be that easy. The sound of gospel music floated from the lobby. Huh?

She stepped inside, walking slowly and cautiously. More noise blasted from the hallway. Loud talking, laughing, singing. In the lobby, things were more crowded, louder and more chaotic.

“Um… hello, ladies,” she said, phony smile in place. “There seems to be some confusion here.”

“That’s alright, baby,” a heavy-set lady answered. “What exactly you confused about?”

“Actually, I don’t think the confusion is mine,” she said. Her phony smile was melting away, along with her patience. “This is Sammie’s Barbershop.”

“God rest his soul!” shouted a woman in the back.

Butterfly waited for the chorus of ‘amen’ and ‘preach it’ to die down before she spoke. “This is not the waiting room for the church.”

“Oh, yes it is!” another yelled. “It’s picking up where Zachariah’s left off.”

“Zachariah’s?” Butterfly asked. “I don’t understand?”

“Maybe you would if you carried your pretty behind to church from time to time, Can I get a witness?” More hooping and hollering. Then another lady spoke. “Child, Zachariah’s was the diner we all used to meet at after Sunday service. And when he went out of business – related to drugs, what I heard – we needed someplace else to gather.”

“Why here?” Butterfly demanded. “And why so loud?”

An uncomfortable silence washed over the place. “Girl, I know you ain’t disrespecting your elders!” One lady screamed. “Need to put her behind across my knee, spank the straight outta’ that hair!”

Butterfly struggled to keep from erupting.

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