Birds of a Feather by Carolyn Greene

Author:Carolyn Greene
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780824906610
Publisher: Guideposts
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

MARY SWITCHED OFF THE BLOW-DRYER to check the curl on the perm rod in her sister's hair. “Hold still. I’m almost finished.”

Mary should have waited until tomorrow night to do this. A Friday night perm would still have given Abby a day to work with her hair some before being seen at church on Sunday. But when Abby had eased her resistance to the makeover, Mary knew she’d better strike now, before her sister had time to change her mind.

The animals had left the kitchen an hour ago to avoid the chemical smell and the noise of the dryer, and Mary suspected Abby would have liked to do the same. But she wasn't about to let her get away just yet. Once Abby saw how much better her hair looked with the help of a do-it-yourself kit, Mary was certain she would want to continue the process.

“Are you sure you’re not giving it too much curl? I already have enough birds to take care of without worrying about wrens nesting in my hair.”

“Okay, I think we’re almost ready to put the neutralizer on. Hold this a sec while I check the instructions.” She left Abby by the sink, holding the bottle of neutralizing solution while she wheeled over to the kitchen table where she’d left the box earlier.

“I don't want it too curly. Maybe I should go ahead and start now.” Abby uncapped the bottle.

“No, it's not about how long you leave the solution in, it's about how fast your hair takes the perm.” Mary came back with the box on her lap. “See, the strands are supposed to separate like it's shown in this picture. After we neutralize it we’ll rinse you, then take the rods out before your hair has a chance to conform to the bend of the roller too much.”

In order to get a better reach, Mary positioned her wheelchair so that the left side was to the front of the sink. Then she had Abby balance herself front-side-down across the arms of the chair with her head over the stainless steel basin. Taking care to squirt the neutralizer evenly over the rollers, Mary did as much as she could reach, then directed Abby on the rest.

“What if my hair took the perm too fast?” Abby asked.

“You worry too much.” Mary pointed out a roller they’d both missed, and Abby aimed the nozzle to cover that area. “But even if it did grab the perm too fast, you’d just wash it sooner than the two days that's called for in the instructions, and the hair will relax a little.”

Abby turned her head and peered at her as if she wasn't sure things would go as simply as Mary promised.

Mary leaned farther toward the sink and nudged Abby's head under the faucet to begin rinsing. To take her little sister's mind off the disastrous hair images that were surely flitting through her mind, Mary changed the subject to something she was sure Abby would be interested in talking about.

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