I’ll call you. (NOVELETTE looks at her.) Later?

SANDRA gives a quick wave and exits the salon. MILLY enters the chair and begins flipping through a magazine. NOVELETTE starts to touch her hair. As her fingers are going through the hair the hair sends her a message. NOVELETTE knows exactly what’s going on. NOVELETTE closes her eyes her fingers entwined deeply in the woman’s hair. She inhales and laughs softly to herself as she addresses the audience.

NOVELETTE:

Pay attention. Watch this. She’s cheating on her husband. He’s lousy in bed. Viagra didn’t help him. And not only is she cheating. She’s cheating with her best friend’s husband. Dirty little hussy!

MILLY:

(looks up startled) Excuse me?

NOVELETTE:

(quickly) I said I hope you’re not too fussy.

MILLY:

Well could you hurry up I got things to see and people to do. I mean people to see.

NOVELETTE:

I’m sure you do. Well Claudette will finish you off. (She yells for CLAUDETTE.) Claudette!

CLAUDETTE:

I’m coming! Auntie Letty, you think I can get next week Friday off?

NOVELETTE:

Sure you can, Friday, Saturday, whatever. Take as much time as you think you need. Claudette, as a matter of fact don’t even come back! Now finish Milly off and give her a b twelve Kerasilk rinse deep conditioning. Understand? Good girl.

MILLY exits the stage with a sullen looking CLAUDETTE. NOVELETTE walks to the edge of the stage and addresses the audience.

NOVELETTE:

I’m telling you the hair sends me a message. Some of the things it tells me makes me want to laugh, makes me want to cry. And some of the things it tells me I don’t even want to know. Because some of us are hurting. Hurting real bad. And you know as women we cry, cry a lot. Cry on the inside too proud to cry on the outside. And some of the things, which the hair tells me, makes me, want to cry. But I don’t I keep it up here. (touches her head) Right here in my head. Right here in my hair. The things I hear is right here in my hair! Anyways I’ll talk to you!

NOVELETTE walks back to her chair and indicates for DIANE to enter it. NOVELETTE begins pulling the rollers out of DIANE’s hair and starts to style it as the other women chatter grows. TRINA yells from across the room to NOVELETTE.

TRINA:

Novelette, isn’t it true that Revlon paid her four million dollars to dye her hair blonde and now she’s their spokes-model.

REIGN:

A Black woman with blonde hair that’s not right. Why does a sista think she needs to do that?

MARCIA:

Four million dollars hello!

REIGN:

So she couldn’t keep her black hair and still be in their ad?

DIANA:

Well, I think she looks absolutely fabulous! Not everybody has the colouring to wear blonde.

NOVELETTE:

Well not every fashion fits everybody and—

MARCIA:

Well for four million dollars I would dye my hair blonde.