No Small Matter by Felice Frankel

Author:Felice Frankel [Frankel, Felice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General, Science, Technology & Engineering, Nanotechnology & MEMS
ISBN: 9780674035669
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2009-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

“Let me get this straight,” Vickie said. “You want to cut all my hair off.”

“I want to enhance your sense of enclosure,” Vito said. “It’s a part of the bridal mystique--you appear in the world and yet at the same time are covered behind your veil, enclosed and private. Too much hair sticking out from beneath the veil suggests to the world that you are somehow a bit more available than the veil suggests.”

Vito the hairdresser, a forties-something slim quick man in T-shirt, jeans and Reeboks, himself crowned with an artful tussle of curly blond locks, had Vickie hostage in his “hair mobile”--a small cubicle at the opposite end of the trailer from the bath--the cubicle draped in black to accentuate the sense of impending artistry--in the middle of which cubicle she sat, herself draped likewise in black, her head illumined in a pool of light cast from a single overhead spotlight, such that her head seemed to float by itself in mid-air.

“It’s a powerful statement,” Vito said. “I can understand your reluctance. As we get older, we’re more inclined to try to create a platform for ourselves where we can feel safe and secure...it’s as though once we’ve made it past thirty, our thirst for risk-taking vanishes. But yes, to answer your question, I think with your foxy face and voluptuous figure, going short would be nothing short of spectacular.”

“You’re very strange,” Vickie said. “And your assistant, Scotia, is really off the dial.”

“Scotia has a lot of inner power,” Vito said. “She thrives on truth.”

“And what do you thrive on?” Vickie said. “Taking scalps?”

“I’m enthusiastic about hair,” Vito said. “Each time I create a new look, I can’t help but get excited--I suppose I am a bit overbearing in my desire to have everybody see what I see.”

“I’m at wits end,” Vickie said. “A few minutes ago, I thought I’d lost it. I was going to walk out of this trailer and never look back.”

“A common reaction,” Vito said. “You’re a beautiful woman who knows her limits. Apparently, Scotia and I have pushed too hard and gone out of bounds.”

“No,” Vickie said. “I’m really appreciative of all this attention you’re lavishing on me. I guess the problem is, I’m losing control and I don’t like the feeling. I’m supposed to know where I’m going with this marriage--but I don’t. I’ve never felt more weak and vulnerable in my life.”

“That’s a great place to be,” Vito said. “It’s real. You’re stopping to listen to your pain. You’re taking stock.”

“The news of my tumor brought everything to a screeching halt,” Vickie said. “I guess before I got the news, I spent my time in a state of hope for what the future would bring. It was like I was always waiting for things that weren’t coming. Yesterday, I found out what was coming--an ugly death. Suddenly I had no future and nothing further to wait for. That’s probably why I’m getting married on such short notice. I’m starting to realize

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