Free Big Love by Saxon Bennett, Layce Gardner Page A

course, darling. For you, anything. Let me finish Barb’s hair and I’ll be right with you,” he said before sashaying away.
    Zing surveyed the room. Her eyes settled on a short, handsome butch woman who was seated across the room. Her hair was cropped and gelled into ten-inch spikes and made her seem much taller than she was. Zing was impressed. She slipped into a chair next to the butch, invading her personal bubble for a close-up look at her hair.
    The butch looked at Zing out of the corner of her eye. “Whassup?”
    “You have the pokiest hair. I love it,” Zing said. “You’re like a bull with horns. No, wait! You’re like a unicorn. Except instead of only one horn, you have a whole bunch of horns. I guess that would make you a multi-corn. Why do they call it a unicorn anyway? Why don’t they call it a uni horn ? Can I touch your hair?”
    “Baby, you can touch anything on me you want,” the butch said.
    Zing tentatively patted the butch’s spikes then quickly drew her hand back. “Ouch.”
    The butch leered at Zing’s body, saying out the side of her mouth, “We should get together and I can show you more things than my hair.”
    “Okay, that sounds nice,” Zing said. “Maybe we could go have ice cream. It’s my favorite. Do you like ice cream?”
    “Sure, babe. I love it.”
    “Great,” Zing said, enthusiastically. She looked back across the room at Miracle and said loudly, “Hey, guess what? She likes ice cream, too! Small world, huh?”
    “Here, give me your hand,” the butch said.
    Zing obliged, still admiring the butch’s hair and thinking about ice cream. The butch pulled a pen from her pocket and wrote her phone number on the back of Zing’s hand. Zing looked down at the number.
    “Call me anytime, babe,” the butch said. “I’ll show you some other pokey—”
    Nell was up and out of her chair and across the room in a flash. She yanked Zing away before the butch could even finish her sentence. Nell pulled Zing back across the room, saying under her breath, “Stay away from that type, Zing.”
    “What type?” Zing asked.
    “The type that picks up lonely women in beauty shops.”
    “Day or night!” the butch called out. She made the ‘call me’ signal to Zing.
    Nell sat down in an empty chair, pulling Zing into the chair beside her. Nell handed Zing a magazine, saying, “Here. You can read this while we wait our turn.”
    Zing glanced at the cover of the magazine and gasped. “I didn’t know cats were aliens.” She scanned the article then said, “It all makes sense now doesn’t it? So, what do you think. . . ?Are the aliens wearing cat suits or do the aliens look like cats to begin with?”
    Nell laughed. “You’re so funny.”
    “Thank you,” Zing said.
    Carol leaned over to Miracle and whispered, “Your friend over there is a little nutso.”
    “She’s not nutso,” Miracle said back. “She’s new to earth. She’s a guardian angel and after a while, she’ll get used to how things work down here on earth.”
    Carol shook her head. “You’re both friggin’ nuts.”
    “All right, ladies,” Sammy announced, hand on hip. “I am at your disposal. Who’s first?”
    “Nell,” Zing said. “Fix her first.”
    “Nell it is,” Sammy said. “Come on, girl. Are you ready for a whole new you?”
    Nell stood, saying, “I’m ready. I just hope Dove likes the new me.”
    Zing frowned. At the mention of Dove’s name, she felt a sudden pang in her chest. She didn’t know what that feeling was, but she knew she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
     
    ***
     
    By the time Sammy was done, Zing had a trim and texture to give her hair lift; Miracle had a bob; and Carol’s hair looked like it had been cut with a dull hedge clipper, which, oddly enough, suited her personality . Sammy had managed to keep Nell’s hair thick, with a jag here, a snip there, and combed over in such a way that it hid the stitches.
    They all stood back and admired their new hair in