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The way he’d said, “beauty school” sounded incredibly condescending because there was absolutely nothing wrong with “beauty school.”
“No, at cosmetology school, I didn’t experience that, but I can recall something like that in undergrad or maybe grad school, can’t remember which,” I said as I pulled up my petty pants.
Up to that point, I’d never told him that I held advanced degrees because he didn’t ask, and I was not the type to talk about my accomplishments.
“Undergrad…grad? Is that what they call it at beauty school?”
“No, that’s what they call it at Saint Louis University and Washington University.”
He tilted his head like he was seeing me for the first time.
“What are you talking about?”
I went to my phone and pulled up pictures from both of my graduations to prove to him that I indeed held a BA from Saint Louis University and an MBA from Washington University.
He looked at my pictures for several minutes before he spoke again.
“Why are you only doing hair?”
“Only?” I snapped.
“Come on, Cam, you know what I mean. You could be making way more money if you put your degrees to work.”
“I’m doing just fine, Percy.”
“See, that’s wrong with us as a people. Black people are the only ones that make it somewhere but work hard at keeping it real. That’s a mentality we need to break as a society.”
“I’m not sure what you are talking about or where that last statement fits into our conversation.”
“I’m saying that once you graduated from undergrad, you should’ve moved on from the menial work as a hairdresser and found something with some substance.”
“And that’s a wrap for me,” I said, looking around to collect my things. I walked to the door. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”
Not feeling the need to explain myself to the lighting and sound guy, I went back to my hotel room to relax.
I was very aware of what type of money I could make and didn’t want some man coming into my life trying to change me. My work fulfilled me. I used my degrees every day and was completely satisfied with my career trajectory.
Eventually, I grew tired of his rantings about me upgrading my life instead of wasting it away in a salon. When the tour was over, I blocked his phone number and hadn’t spoken to him since. It was at that point that I decided that I wasn’t letting another man near me until I knew for sure that he wasn’t full of shit.
After having a conversation about dating at the shop, I’d let Tweet and Nuri convince me to try out a dating app. I put my profile on the app and met Rickey Marlon…I was done trying.
“I just want to experience something real; you know? I want to be with someone that’s down for me and me down for them. I don’t want to share him with any other woman. I don’t want to have to look through his phone to see who he’s been communicating with. I want someone who will cheer me on and not stifle my growth or be intimidated by me being a bawse.”
“When you find him, see if he has a brother, cousin, friend, hell, I’d even take his daddy if the years have been good to him,” Macy laughed.
Morris
“Moe, please. This is the first time in a long time that all ten of us will be able to be there. I don’t want you to miss it.”
“I’m not making any promises, Rah. You know I can only be around them for so long before crap gets stupid. I don’t need unnecessary drama in my life.”
“Baby bro, your girls have never really been around their cousins. You know Los’ girls, Katy and Carly, are around the same age as Skye and Fee. They would love each other. Please don’t give me a definitive no. Please think about it some more,” Sarah, my oldest sister, pleaded.
“There’s nothing more…”
“Moe, please. If not for Mom, then do it for me. It really does mean a lot to me.”
“I knew you were going to pull the big sister sympathy card at some point,” I said while rubbing my left temple.
