Page 41 of Dionysus
The lady tapped her foot on the floor, waiting for Sage to say something. “What, Ma? I know you see this client in the chair.”
“Girl, don’t give me no lip. You didn’t come to Bible study last night. You know, sister Moore is in the hospital, and who else do I have to help the youth?”
I tried peeking into the mirror to catch the drama. I could tell Sage was annoyed and I didn’t blame her. “I had a client and it took me a little longer than expected.”
Her mother snarled at her. “The Lord blessed you with this business. He has been faithful to you, and you cannot be faithful to him? I didn’t raise you like that.”
She paused what she was doing to my hair as she focused on her mother. “Ma, I know. I’m grateful for what he has done for me. Another church focuses on the youth. You should let them go there. I heard the pastor is young, maybe you—”
“I heard about it. I’m not letting some young streetboycome in and take my congregation. I need you at church tonight, no exceptions.”
She turned and walked right out of the salon. Sage glanced at me and forced a smile on her face. “Are you ok?” I asked.
She leaned forward. “With God on my side, I’m always good. My mother is holy and sanctified. I can handle her. Sometimes our parents forget we have our own lives to live, and when things go awry, they want to live through us. Everyone doesn’t have the perfect family, so you have to learn to deal with what you're dealt.” She winked.
I guess I could understand because the hand I was dealt was shitty, but somehow, I had come across a family that is by far better than my parents. Another thirty minutes went by before one of Chevy’s friends came into the salon. I was still learning their names, but I think it was Preach. He walked over toward us. “I was told you are the owner, yes?”He said this before looking down at me and giving me a nod of the head.
She stopped doing my hair again. At this point, I was getting frustrated because this was the second time. She turned to Preach. “Yes, I am. Funny, you came in. I was just talking about you.”
“Look at God,” he replied. “I wanted to know if I have your blessing to leave a few of these flyers in your salon. I’m trying to get the youth on board, let them know they can have a little street in their lives and still be saved.”
She smiled. “You can.”
I saw how they watched each other. “Thank you. You know God’s going to bless you. You should come check us out. I got a little three-piece choir, a drummer, I need an organ player, but God is telling me to be patient.”
Preach backed peddled and left the flyers at the receptionist’s desk before he left. This place was small as hell, and everybodyknew everybody. I have no idea what kind of world Dio got me into, but something was telling me I was sure to find out. He and I had so much to talk about, and a balcony session wasn’t enough, whether I enjoyed it or not.
I glanced in the mirror, shocked at how I looked. This was a different lane I was taking. It was my birthday, and a nigga was feeling good. Since being around my brother, I had been trying my hardest to keep shit steady and keep my promise to God by making some changes in my life.
“Happy. What the fuck?” Zeus said in surprise.
I looked at him and smiled. “What?”
“I never thought I would see some shit like this. What did that coma do to you?”
I ran my hand over my head. I hadn’t felt waves in my hair ever, but deciding to cut my locs off made me feel good. “It helped me open my eyes. I’m still the same nigga just with a different perspective.”
“I like it. Clean as fuck. Face cleaned up. Ok, I see you. Well, happy birthday nigga!”
I laughed. “Thanks.”
“I had made some plans for today so—”
“I’ve got other plans. If that’s cool with you.”
Zeus knew what it was. I had patiently waited for this day, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me. I watched every night as Samara went in and out of the house, and I knew she wasn’t just going to paint the city orange. Whoever the nigga was she was seeing, his time was up.
Zeus handed me a box, “Happy birthday, baby bro,” he said again.
I took the box and opened it. The first thing I saw was a picture frame, and it was of me, Zeus, my mom, and dad. I glanced up at him. “I want you to remember when shit was good, not all the fucked-up times. Only you can change your story.” He said to me.
I placed the picture next to my bed and dug back in the box. It was a set of keys. “You got me a car?”
“I figured that when you get accepted to whatever college you decide, you would have a way home. I don’t want you to ever be scared to come home when you need to. Besides, how do you want to date a shorty with no ride? Every girl doesn’t want to be on a bike.” He laughed.
I could see fear in Zeus’s eyes. He didn’t want me to leave, and I understood, that’s why I applied for TSU. I just held off telling him of my decision until I had completed everything and gotten an acceptance letter.
I finished getting dressed. I tossed on some distressed denim jeans, a clean white tee, my gold watch, my chain with my initials, a designer belt and shoes, and was sure to spray myself with the best cologne. I came downstairs to big ass orange metallic balloons spelling my name with stacks of money being the weight.
