Page 68 of Glass Wings
“Great, why don’t you come back tomorrow around eleven? We will pair you with a senior barber and give you a test run,” Paisley said. For the first time, Allienna felt like maybe she could figure out what she was doing. A huge rush of relief hit her, her shoulders relaxing, and tears began to pool in her eyes.
“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Allienna said as she turned to leave, not sure what she was supposed to do until then.
She continued to walk and decided that she needed a place to rest. Her body was tired from the flight, and pain from hunger stabbed into her abdomen, reminding her that a baby needed nourishment. She wasn’t immortal now; she needed to take bettercare of herself, and her aching body would not let her forget about it.
Allienna passed an older brick building with a large unlit electric sign that looked as if it might have been bought secondhand, announcing that she was at the Saint Mission. There was a line of people wrapping themselves around the building. Allienna recognized the look in all of their eyes.
Hunger.
“Excuse me,” she went up to a thin woman who looked to be in her sixties, sporting two braided pigtails and a colorful yet worn vest. “What is this line for?”
“For food.” The old woman smiled, yet her eyes remained sad. “And shelter if you don’t have any place to sleep for the night like me.”
Allienna thanked her and, following the pain in her belly, walked around the side of the building to stand in the line. After waiting an hour and watching colorful scenes play out with some patrons in the line, she reached the front. A young woman with a name tag readingvolunteermade eye contact with her and cocked her head, likely noticing the clothes that she wore.
“We are out of beds for the night but are happy to provide you with a meal just inside,” she said, ushering Allienna inside to a meek food hall where bowls of rice and chili were served from plastic folded up tables holding an array of electric crock pots.
Once the ache in her stomach subsided, Allienna left the building and walked down a path that highlighted the river. The sun had begun to set, and a small bridge nearby was illuminated, painting a scene of serenity before her.
Finding a patch of grass covered by a few trees, Allienna sat down, letting her body sink into the earth. Her exhaustion had reached its peak, and with a heavy heart and a whisper of love towards the life that grew inside her, she closed her eyes and slept.
The sunrise brought warmth to her face the next morning, and she was surprised to see two other humans sleeping around her on cardboard boxes and blankets. It seemed like she had picked a goodspot. Allienna stood, her back stiff and her stomach heavier, dusting any earth and grass off of her. She was cold and sweaty at the same time. She needed to clean up.
Walking back to the mission, the volunteers let her into the building to shower and eat breakfast; the smell of sausage and eggs alone almost gave Allienna cause to weep. There was even a pile of donated clothes that a gray-haired man helped her sort through until they found a black button-down shirt, a pair of black maternity pants, and worn-out running shoes that made her stand out a lot less in public. She left the parka and the snow boots with the rest of the donations, just in case she could return the favor somehow.
Allienna left the mission feeling like a new person.
“We can do this,” she said to her belly and, with a new determination and direction in her step, sauntered down the street, making her way back towards the barbershop.
Once she stood in front of the storefront, the floor-to-ceiling windows looking into a dark, uninhabited retail space made her heart sink. Was she early, or did something happen?
“A woman after my own heart,” Allienna jumped at the voice and saw Paisley walking up to the entrance, pulling out a jingling set of keys. “You're early, I like that. And you lost the parka. I’d say we are starting great.”
Paisley turned to wink and Allienna, and she could feel her cheeks heat up. Unable to come up with anything to say, she giggled, suddenly realizing she was nervous.
Allienna followed Paisley inside. The low thump of both pairs of sneakers seemed like thunder against the black and white mixed tile in the otherwise silent storefront. Paisley left her alone in the middle of the room as she scuttled over to the back and went behind a black curtain. The lights turned on, and the energizing zing of the electric guitar was pushed through the speakers in the ceiling before Paisley reappeared just a moment later.
“Right, well, let’s show you around,” she said, gesturing for Allienna to join her in a tour around the space. Twenty minutes later, a man with short, black spiked hair walked through the door, beamingat the sight of Paisley, his single gold hoop earring glistening in the light of the window.
“Zade, I’ve got a recruit here following you around today,” Paisley told the man, tilting her head toward Allienna.
“Oh, great, some new blood to recruit into our cult,” he said. “Do you work with short hair often?”
Allienna wasn’t mentally prepared with her story and instinctually told the truth, shaking her head no.
“That’s okay. These cosmetology schools only teach on mannequins these days with cheap costume wigs, I understand. We can break your virginity here in just a few minutes.” Zade walked to the back area behind the curtain and returned with a rolling cart of supplies. Moments later, the front door opened, and a customer came in.
“You must be the eleven o’clock, here to deflower my new girl here!” Zade winked at her. The male customer didn’t notice the comment, pulling out the headphones from his ears and checking in with Paisley behind the desk.
The customer sat down in the first chair on the left-hand side, as directed by Zade.
“If you could just even my situation out,” he instructed Zade and Allienna, not knowing who to address. “I used to have a buzz cut, and it’s been a solid year since I’ve been in so it’s just a mop.” He put his headphones back in, deaf to the world around him, and Zade handed Allienna a black cape to drape over him to keep the hair from sticking to his clothes as it fell.
“Alright, this one should be easy; carts are all set up for you, so I’ll just let you do your thing and see how it goes,” Zade said, popping into the empty chair behind her and lounging out.
Allienna’s heart thumped. She had no idea what she was doing. She looked at the tools on the tray before her, picking up an electric razor and turning it on and back off a few times as it sent tingles throughout her whole body.
“That kind of power can be addicting,” Paisley joked over her shoulder, watching Allienna play.
