AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Something that won’t look stupid when you’re old and saggy.”
“I’m planning to always keep it tight,” Tuesday insists. “Like Queen Meemaw and not like OG Meemaw.”
“Stay away from faces,” Alexis tells me from the front passenger spot. “I had a neighbor with the face of his wife on his back. I bet she looked hot when he first got it. By the time he was walking around shirtless at seventy, her melted face made people nauseous.”
“I’m getting your father’s face tattooed above my hooch,” Tuesday tells Roxie.
“Right back at you.”
“Wait, are you getting your own father’s face above your hooch, which would be horrifying?” Tuesday asks. “Or are you gettingmyfather’s face tatted above your hooch, which is only slight less barf-inducing?”
“The second one. But a younger version of Emmett.” When Tuesday gasps, Roxie only shrugs. “Don’t judge my life choices.”
Edith clears her throat. “Oana, why don’t we table this conversation until we’re alone later?”
“Okay,” I say and tense at the sight of a familiar family in the next car as we idle at a light. “Should I change my name or get a nickname?”
“Do you not like your name?” Tuesday asks. “Because I think quirky names are better than stripper or old lady names.”
When the other women frown at her, Tuesday pretends not to notice and asks me, “What kind of nicknames? Like Oanie? Or Annie? Or something wild like Champagne?”
“I thought you said no stripper names,” Edith demands.
“I wanted to throw that option out, just in case a stripper name is her end goal.”
Catching my gaze in the rearview, Edith asks, “Do you want to know what I think?”
“Of course.”
“I think you should own your name. Changing it won’t change you. It’s the name of the little girl who felt trapped in her life. It’s the name of the teenager dying to go wild. It’s the name of the woman who won my brother’s heart. It’s your name, so keep it and don’t feel ashamed.”
“That was beautiful,” Tuesday says and leans forward to pat her cousin’s head. “Is that why you won’t let us call you Edie?”
“I don’t like nicknames. Neither do you, Tu-Tu.”
Tuesday grunts and leans back in the seat. “Frick that fricking-frickety-frick.”
Roxie looks at me and grins. “She’s going to be someone’s mother one day.”
Leaning across me to get closer to Roxie, Tuesday mutters, “I’m alreadyyourmother.”
“I was almost completely raised by the time you shuffled your slutty butt into my life.”
“I’ve already taught you so much. Like, using your period to get out of work. And crying your way into free stuff.”
Roxie shrugs. “I haven’t successfully used either skill.”
“Can I use that period one to get out of work?” I ask Tuesday.
Tuesday stops leaning across me and smiles. “Sure. Just refuse to get off your couch. Whenever anyone speaks to you, whine something about bloating and leakage.”
“And we’re here,” Edith announces as I imagine Ike’s reaction to me whining on the couch during my next period.
Jackie’s Hair Salon is located in a Rockwell shopping strip. I feel nervous being out in the open, so I stick close to Edith who seems most capable of beating up any potential attackers.
Ike’s sister is no nonsense as we enter. After checking us in, she remains at my side when I sit in the stylist’s chair.
“I’m nervous,” I tell Edith as soon as I spot the scissors.
