Page 39 of The Tattered Gloves
I didn’t get the opportunity to ask him where he’d been, not that he would have told me if I’d asked. He was busy speaking with Diana, the kind old lady who worked mornings in the store. I couldn’t hear what their conversation was about, but in the end, Diana rested her hand on Sam’s shoulder before walking away.
The whole ordeal left me slightly unsettled for the rest of the evening. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d missed something important. But, unfortunately, I’d blown my chance to be friends with Sam.
Now, all I could do was hopefully make amends and give him the best information I could for his report.
That was why I needed Addy’s help.
After a long day of school and work, I ventured into her salon, somewhere I usually avoided. The day of the dance was one of my first visits into the garage turned beauty parlor. I knew the hours she kept; she’d made certain of it, going over her schedule with me when I first arrived. It was why I steered clear of the house during the afternoon hours.
So, why was I so scared of the place now?
Pushing the door to the garage open, I was hit with the lingering scent of flowery shampoo and hairspray. It wasn’t a pungent smell, just not one you’d expect when stepping into a garage.
But this wasn’t any ordinary garage.
In typical Addy fashion, she hadn’t just set up a small corner with a salon chair and called it a day. No, she’d outfitted the entire space, making it feel like you’d just walked into some fancy place in Manhattan or Beverly Hills.
Looking around at the secondhand leather furniture and faux fur rug, I amended my previous thought.
Okay, maybe not that fancy. But it was definitely impressive, and she’d done it all by herself. It was no wonder she was the most popular beautician in the town, including the shop on Main.
Speaking of my overachieving aunt, I found her sweeping up a day’s worth of hair near her chair, softly humming to herself. I instantly recognized the song, as it was one we’d heard on the radio on the way to school that morning.
It made me smile.
“I don’t see you in here much, so it must be important,” she said without bothering to look up.
“What?”
“Whatever you’re going to ask me must be important. Otherwise, you would have just waited until I came in for dinner.”
“Oh, right,” I said, walking up to the counter where she displayed several types of products. I idly fiddled with a bottle of shampoo while I gathered my thoughts. “I have this project at school,” I started.
“Ah, yes, Landers’s project.”
“How—”
“It’s a small town, remember?” she reminded me. “And I cut about half of the town’s hair. The people who sit in this chair love to talk, especially about their kids.”
I nodded. “Right.”
“So, what do you need?” she asked, not letting me off the hook so easily.
“Help,” I answered with a sigh. “I need to know more about us, about our family.”
She finished sweeping and put the broom away. Then, she walked up next to me. Leaning against the counter, she folded her arms across her chest. Today, she was dressed down in a simple pair of green leggings and a floral top. It would probably be considered a little crazy for most people, but on her, it worked.
“You might not like everything you hear,” she warned.
I nodded. “I know.”
“It might hurt a little,” she pressed.
I didn’t respond as I focused on a long red string that had come loose from my left glove. Part of me didn’t want to know anything more about the past, about my mother or the life she’d had before me. I knew there were reasons she was the way she was. I mean, didn’t every villain have a backstory?
But I wasn’t sure I wanted to know my mom’s story.
Would I feel differently about her? Would it humanize her and make me somehow dismiss everything she’d done?
Everything she hadn’t done…
It was easy to sit here, in my safe new world and forget the past, to pretend like nothing had existed before Addy picked me up at that deserted little bus station.
But the past had happened.
And, if I ever wanted to make it up to Sam, I needed to take this step.
“I want to know,” I finally answered.
Maybe, just maybe, I’d learn something about myself along the way.
