Jayne in a clique
Another scene from the world of Jayne, as found under the label 'fiction'.
Flatbush Avenue has lots of stores. Flatbush is a neighborhood of working-class families. Jayne feels safe there. It's better than Harlem. It's less political. Jayne visits Jana at the hair shop. Jana works there three days a week.
Jayne met Jana at the Associated, just across the street from the hair shop. Jana had walked all around the store three times looking for canola oil, passing Jayne at every lap. Camped out in front of the Milo, Jayne was intently studying the chocolate-milk-like drink mix.
"That's all you're getting?" Jana fired at Jayne when they ended up in line together?
"Yeah, I guess why?"
"Well, then you go ahead of me, sweetie."
"Oh, okay, I guess. Thanks."
Jayne stood in line, feeling awkward, wondering what good-manners demanded her in the current social situation.
"I really like your hair."
Jana burst into a laugh. "Well, I hope so, sweetie. That's my job and my advertising. So, it better be good, no?"
Jayne smiled and chortled inside, jerking her upper-body up for a fraction of a second. "Well, it is. Where's your shop. Maybe I should come by sometime. I never know what do with my hair." Jayne shuffles her feet two half steps forward in line.
"Oh, my, that would be something. I guess we could try a few things."
Jayne hands the cashier a handful of nickels, dimes, and quarters, slides out of the way so her new acquaintance can check out.
"How long have you been working there?"
"There? I've been at that location for just six months, but I've been doing hair ever since my girlfriends would get dressed up for nights out in high school."
"I'm sure it's nicer have a shop to work out of."
"Oh my, yes. So much easier."
"You probably have a bunch of different supplies."
"Uh-huh. A bunch."
Jana swipes a card through the reader, signs the digital display, and turns to Jayne, "You live around here?"
"Yeah, just down the street, here, Lenox Road, past Bedford."
The two women walk through the slow moving automatic doors and on to the sidewalk and busy Flatbush Avenue.
"Well my shops just over there," Jana gestures to the opposite side of the street. "You're gonna come in for a second, right?"
Jayne doesn't say anything immediately, confused about how to respond verbally, her wide eyes express enough interest for Jana.
"You've been asking me a bunny-load of questions. Come on in and meet some of the other girls. It's the end of the day. Tuesdays are always early."
***
That was two months ago. In the beginning, Jayne and Jana had gone out to dinner a number of times. Jayne would look out for Jana whenever she walked by the hair shop, about three weeks before Jana's schedule became intuitive. The hair shop was nice usually. Jayne stayed away whenever there were more than two customers inside. She didn't like getting in the way. Even when she stopped by, she would start sweeping up hair. She thought was an equal exchange, some cleaning for some company. The girls would guffaw and shriek, howl and grunt, squeal and ice. They lived in a world of emotions, emotions tied together with every hair they set. It felt good, real, grounded--tied down.
"Jana, I saw you with Alfred. I know you like him." Alice was always calling it like she saw it. "You just make sure that you keep things neat and clean."
Neat and clean was a important principle. Jayne still wasn't sure what it meant for Jana, Alice and the others. She knew it had something to do with social propriety, something about taking others expectations and feelings into account, which was already a foreign language for Jayne.
"I thought Alfred was going with Sima. Wasn't that just last week?" Dione blurted out, in her customary always-struggling-to-keep-up way.
Alice responded for Jana, "Now Dione, that was just friend-stuff. Sima knows who she's supposed to be with."
Dione looked confused, her eyes, her nose all wrinkled toward the center of her face. "What? Huh? Who she's supposed to be with?"
"Neat and clean, Dee-dee. Neat and clean," was Alice's only response, not even glancing in Dione's direction.
Not to go into it deeply, but what Jayne learned over a few months spent visiting Jana in the hair shop, the girls would talk to each other about who got to go with what guy. Jana was perplexed at such a communal effort with regards to personal relationship. "Actually, it seems to work really well and makes a lot of sense, the way it has worked out over time and years have passed. They all stay friends and they all have great relationships," Jayne explained to me a few years after we met. I appreciated the story, but I wasn't sure exactly what it had to to with the two of us. Was I part of some plan she and her friends had made? What friends? I mean which ones? I'm glad we spent time with friends when we first got together. It kind of all fell apart during the second half. Maybe what she was saying was that she wished she could go back to the hair shop and be a part of that family. I don't know.
Flatbush Avenue has lots of stores. Flatbush is a neighborhood of working-class families. Jayne feels safe there. It's better than Harlem. It's less political. Jayne visits Jana at the hair shop. Jana works there three days a week.
Jayne met Jana at the Associated, just across the street from the hair shop. Jana had walked all around the store three times looking for canola oil, passing Jayne at every lap. Camped out in front of the Milo, Jayne was intently studying the chocolate-milk-like drink mix.
"That's all you're getting?" Jana fired at Jayne when they ended up in line together?
"Yeah, I guess why?"
"Well, then you go ahead of me, sweetie."
"Oh, okay, I guess. Thanks."
Jayne stood in line, feeling awkward, wondering what good-manners demanded her in the current social situation.
"I really like your hair."
Jana burst into a laugh. "Well, I hope so, sweetie. That's my job and my advertising. So, it better be good, no?"
Jayne smiled and chortled inside, jerking her upper-body up for a fraction of a second. "Well, it is. Where's your shop. Maybe I should come by sometime. I never know what do with my hair." Jayne shuffles her feet two half steps forward in line.
"Oh, my, that would be something. I guess we could try a few things."
Jayne hands the cashier a handful of nickels, dimes, and quarters, slides out of the way so her new acquaintance can check out.
"How long have you been working there?"
"There? I've been at that location for just six months, but I've been doing hair ever since my girlfriends would get dressed up for nights out in high school."
"I'm sure it's nicer have a shop to work out of."
"Oh my, yes. So much easier."
"You probably have a bunch of different supplies."
"Uh-huh. A bunch."
Jana swipes a card through the reader, signs the digital display, and turns to Jayne, "You live around here?"
"Yeah, just down the street, here, Lenox Road, past Bedford."
The two women walk through the slow moving automatic doors and on to the sidewalk and busy Flatbush Avenue.
"Well my shops just over there," Jana gestures to the opposite side of the street. "You're gonna come in for a second, right?"
Jayne doesn't say anything immediately, confused about how to respond verbally, her wide eyes express enough interest for Jana.
"You've been asking me a bunny-load of questions. Come on in and meet some of the other girls. It's the end of the day. Tuesdays are always early."
***
That was two months ago. In the beginning, Jayne and Jana had gone out to dinner a number of times. Jayne would look out for Jana whenever she walked by the hair shop, about three weeks before Jana's schedule became intuitive. The hair shop was nice usually. Jayne stayed away whenever there were more than two customers inside. She didn't like getting in the way. Even when she stopped by, she would start sweeping up hair. She thought was an equal exchange, some cleaning for some company. The girls would guffaw and shriek, howl and grunt, squeal and ice. They lived in a world of emotions, emotions tied together with every hair they set. It felt good, real, grounded--tied down.
"Jana, I saw you with Alfred. I know you like him." Alice was always calling it like she saw it. "You just make sure that you keep things neat and clean."
Neat and clean was a important principle. Jayne still wasn't sure what it meant for Jana, Alice and the others. She knew it had something to do with social propriety, something about taking others expectations and feelings into account, which was already a foreign language for Jayne.
"I thought Alfred was going with Sima. Wasn't that just last week?" Dione blurted out, in her customary always-struggling-to-keep-up way.
Alice responded for Jana, "Now Dione, that was just friend-stuff. Sima knows who she's supposed to be with."
Dione looked confused, her eyes, her nose all wrinkled toward the center of her face. "What? Huh? Who she's supposed to be with?"
"Neat and clean, Dee-dee. Neat and clean," was Alice's only response, not even glancing in Dione's direction.
Not to go into it deeply, but what Jayne learned over a few months spent visiting Jana in the hair shop, the girls would talk to each other about who got to go with what guy. Jana was perplexed at such a communal effort with regards to personal relationship. "Actually, it seems to work really well and makes a lot of sense, the way it has worked out over time and years have passed. They all stay friends and they all have great relationships," Jayne explained to me a few years after we met. I appreciated the story, but I wasn't sure exactly what it had to to with the two of us. Was I part of some plan she and her friends had made? What friends? I mean which ones? I'm glad we spent time with friends when we first got together. It kind of all fell apart during the second half. Maybe what she was saying was that she wished she could go back to the hair shop and be a part of that family. I don't know.
Comments