Free Midsummer's Eve by Kitty Margo Page A

known. We’ ve been best frien ds for 15 years since we…she was a he then… met in Cosmetology School.
    Teri is now a very much in demand hairdresser in Charlotte , doing things with a head of hair that most hairstylist s can only dream of. While I, on the other hand, knew after only two months of work ing in a hair salon that I wasn’ t cut out for a career of catering to the wants and demands of the public , and moved on.
    The old queen who had employed me in his salon had an elderly clientele and charged $8.00 a pop for a roller set and style. $8.00 mind you! And he took half of that for booth rent and supplies. This meant that if I listened to the demands of 10 finicky chattering little old ladies, arranged every last spit curl to their satisfaction, and applied an e ntire can of Aqua Net to each of their heads, at the end of the day I would walk away with the whopping sum of $40.00. Needless to say, after Uncle Sam took his cut, gas to and from work, and the occasional What-A-Burger, I was far removed from living in the lap of luxury.
    While Teri moved to Charlotte and immediately got a job in one of the swankier salons, I enrolled at the community college for my Phlebotomy License. So I have my Cosmetology License and Phlebotomy License and end up scrubbing toilets for a living. Go figure!
    So those are my three best friends. One only dates black men, one says there is nothing a man can do for her that her silver bullet can’t do, and one used to be a man.
    “So, Eve, Eve, Eve…” Teri began.
    Watch out! Here it comes!
    Stabbing a slice of onion and for once failing to complain about it being mixed in with her greens, she daintily laid it to the side of her plate. “ Please tell me that you are going to move on and not wait until Chia gets bored with that idiot you seem so fond of and h e comes slithering back to you?”
    Told you the girl was brutal. I chose to ignore the question , since she seemed to be baiting me. Evidently, she had missed a few hormone injections.
    Tammy was busily trying to avoid any confrontation and picking what she referred to as chunks of red mush --tomatoes to you and me-- out of her salad. The group had a palate that was impossible to please and I had ceased trying years ago, leaving them to pick out the offending vegetables at will.
    Teri couldn't tolerate onions, because they gave her heartburn and made her breath smell vile. Tammy cringed and swore that tomatoes gave her heart palpitations. And Mallory commenced to gag ging if you placed anything that resembled a cucumber in front of her. The salad contained a combination of all three. It was either that or put a head of lettuce on the table.
    Finished with her salad, Tammy set the bowl aside, scooped out a healthy portion of potpie and asked the words she had been dying to ask, “ You thaw Chia, Mallory . How doth the look?” At times it sounded like Tammy had lost her lisp and was speaking straight out of the Bible.
    Mallory stopped with her fork in mid air, positively loving the fact that she was privy to something the other two were still mercilessly in the dark about and bestowed upon me a most pitiful gaze. She shook her head and hesitated, unsuccessfully trying to convince us that for the first time in her life she had no comment, wh en I knew her lips were positive ly twitching to inform Tammy and Teri of Chia’ s exquisite beauty.
    “ Don’ t be silly.” I insisted, even though my heart sank to the floor at the thought of hearing s he looks like a frigging super model yet again. “Be honest. ” I couldn’t believe I was giving her permission to utter the awful truth.
    “ She looks like a frigging super model!” T hen Mallory cocked an eye at Tammy and urged her to please consider leaving some potpie for the rest of us.
    “Bite me,” was Tammy 's reply.
    Teri seemed wholly confused by Mallory 's description. “Now don ’ t take this the wrong way, Eve. But how in the hell did Adam get someone who even