It's a Curl Thing

by Jacquelin Thomas

  I didn’t get to say everything I wanted to say to her. There wasn’t enough time, so I guess I’ll do it here:

  Mrs. G:

  I hope that you aren’t in any pain anymore now that you’re gone. I’m still kinda hot about your leaving, but I didn’t want you living in all that pain. You are very brave, and I hope that I will have that kind of courage when it’s my time to meet death.

  I wasn’t feeling you when we first met because I considered you just another Jew with an attitude, but I had it twisted. I was the one with the attitude. You showed me that. You taught me that I have to look beyond the skin to see the heart. Thank you for that.

  I’ll never forget you.

  Chapter 22

  When I stroll into the salon the Tuesday after the Fourth of July, Miss Marilee hands me a white envelope.

  “What’s this?” I ask. “Miss Marilee, are you giving me my walking papers?”

  She laughs. “Samuel Goldberg sent this over by messenger. He also dropped off these.”

  I take the canister of toffee-ettes from her with a smile. “That Mrs. G. I know she had him do this.”

  “Aren’t you going to read your letter?” China asks.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m ready.”

  Miss Marilee gives me an understanding nod.

  I hold the envelope out to her. “Would you do it, please?”

  “Are you sure, Rhyann?”

  “I want you to read it.”

  Miss Marilee opens the letter and reads. Her eyes keep widening until she glances up at me. “Rhyann, I think you should read this yourself.”

  I’m puzzled by her reaction. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  The entire hair salon has suddenly grown quiet.

  I take the letter from Miss Marilee.

  My Dear Rhyann:

  Life is all about seasons. And for this short season of my life, I want you to know that you have been a sprig of hope for the future. Despite very humble beginnings, you continue to strive for excellence in your studies, and I admire your work ethic. You’ve designed a course for your life and set realistic goals—all of which should be rewarded.

  At my request, my husband has set up a fund that will pay for your education, including books, at the college or university of your choice. I don’t want you to have to worry about financing your education any longer. I fear it may distract or discourage you from your studies. However, should you choose not to attend college in the future, please understand that no monies will be forthcoming. Have your aunt get in touch with my boo, and he will take care of everything on his end.

  You were a gift to me, and this is our gift to you—our sprig of hope for the future.

  Ann

  My knees buckle, and if Miss Marilee hadn’t been standing here to catch me, I probably would’ve hit the floor. “Omigosh! OMIGOSH!” I scream. “Oh, Miss Marilee, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell like that, but I’m going to college.” I get more excited the more I talk. “I’m going to be able to go to college and not sell my brother’s firstborn child because I’m not having any.”

  Everyone in the salon starts clapping.

  Miss Marilee hugs me. “God is good.”

  “Yes, He is,” I murmur softly, tears streaming down my face. I’m losing so many diva points right now, but I don’t care.

  I look up at the ceiling and whisper, “Thank you, God, and thank you, Mrs. G.”

  I ride with Divine and Alyssa to her stepmother’s house in Baldwin Hills. We’re going to see the baby and present our gifts. This is like the fourth or fifth present Divine’s taken her baby sister. She still hasn’t admitted it yet that she’s crazy about that little girl.

  “Sierra’s getting so big,” Alyssa comments while we’re in the back of the Lincoln Town Car.

  Divine doesn’t say anything because she’s too busy texting someone on her cell phone.

  Alyssa grins. “Must be T. J.”

  “Like you haven’t been on the phone most of the morning with Stephen,” Divine responds, not looking up. “T. J. says he misses me.”

  “Awww…,” I say.

  “When was the last time you talked to Traven?” she asks me.

  “Last night,” I respond. “But we’re not on the phone all day and half the night like you and T. J.”

  “That’s because your boo has a job. T. J. is working now, but he can talk to me while he’s at work.”

  “Don’t get that boy fired,” I tell Divine. “That would be ugly, you know. Especially when you have to pay for everything.”

  Divine considers my words, then nods. “Girl, you’re right. T. J. needs that J-O-B.”

  Our driver pulls into the circular driveway of Ava’s home and rolls the car to a stop. We all pile out.

  “Are you sure Ava doesn’t mind all of us being here?” I ask.

  “It’s a fine time to ask now,” Divine responds. “You’re already here, but no, she told me that you guys could come.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Hardison,” I say when she opens the front door. “Congratulations on the baby.”

  Ava moves to the side to let us enter. “You’re welcome, Rhyann. It’s nice to see you again.”

  “Are you okay?” Divine asks, surveying her from head to toe.

  Even I can see how pale she looks, and the dark circles under her eyes make her look ages older. Girlfriend could definitely use some concealer right about now.

  She nods. “Just tired. The baby sleeps all day long and is up at night.”

  “My brother’s baby was like that when he was first born,” Alyssa offers. “My parents said that you have to turn them around. Keep Sierra up during the day, or you sleep when she sleeps.”

  Nodding, Ava responds, “I think I read that somewhere. I have so much to do—laundry, making bottles—it’s a challenge just to get in a good shower. I had no idea how exhausting this could be.”

  “Ava, what do you need us to do while we’re here?” Divine asks. “You can go get in bed and we can help out with whatever you need.”

  Ava’s clearly surprised by Divine’s proposal. I think we all are, to be honest.

  “Divine, you’re so sweet, but you don’t have to do anything.”

  “Yeah, I do,” she counters. “I don’t mean no harm, but, Ava, you look like you’re about to pass out. Let us help you. I can feed Sierra when she wakes up. You have milk in bottles, right?”

  Ava grins. “I pumped some not too long ago.”

  Divine frowns. “That sounds gross.”

  I give her a playful pinch on the arm. “Stop…”

  Mimi pulls out a pen and a small notebook. “Do you need anything from the store? Alyssa and I can take care of that.”

  While Ava gives her a list of items, Divine leans toward me and whispers, “I knew Mimi was going to find a way to get out of doing any cleaning or laundry.”

  “She doesn’t clean up at home. You know she’s not gonna do it anywhere else,” I respond in a low voice.

  “Forget both of you,” Mimi states. “I know you’re talking about me.”

  Alyssa chuckles. “Y’all are too funny.”

  Divine takes care of the baby while Ava is in her room taking a much needed nap. I move about the room, picking up magazines and dusting. After Sierra is changed and fed, Divine and I finish the laundry. We both balk at cleaning the bathrooms, so we leave that for Alyssa, since Divine says that she’s the Bathroom Queen.

  After Alyssa and Mimi return, Divine goes to check on Ava.

  “How are things going with you?” Alyssa asks me.

  “I’m getting better. I get the healing on the other side part—really I do, but I just miss her, you know. I still look for Mrs. G every Tuesday at four.”

  “It’s gonna take some time, Rhyann,” Alyssa assures me. “But that’s so sweet what she did for you.”

  I smile. “It really is. I’m so excited now about college.”

  Divine comes out of Ava’s bedroom and announces, “I’m going to stay her
e for the rest of the week to help with the baby. I’ve already called my mom, so I won’t be going back with y’all. Alyssa, you can stay here, or Mom said you can come back to the house.”

  “I’ll stay here with you,” she says. “Is Ava okay?”

  Divine nods. “She’s tired, and she feels really alone with Jerome away.” Her gaze travels to my face. “Don’t even say it,” she warns. “This is just a day-by-day kind of thing.”

  Traven and I drive to Santa Monica, where we are planning to hook up with Mimi, Kyle, Alyssa, and Divine. Since the outing is more of a couples thing, Alyssa and Divine are bringing two friends from school. Daniel and Chris already know the deal with Alyssa and Divine, so they are not trying to hit on them.

  “Your friends are pretty cool,” Traven tells me. “I like that you all really care about each other.”

  “Yeah, we’re all really close.”

  “How are you doing?” he asks me.

  “I’m getting better, I guess. I really miss Mrs. G. Sometimes I still look for her to come into the salon.”

  “That’s so great about the college fund. She really liked you, Rhyann. And she knew how much you wanted to go to college. I mean, anyone who’ll actually try to make money stuffing envelopes or selling crappy stuff over the internet…”

  “You would bring that up,” I say.

  “I’m just saying. You know what you want, and you go after it—I think that’s pretty cool.”

  I smile at his compliment.

  “Rhyann, have you thought about which college you want to attend?” Divine asks.

  “I’d like to go to Spelman,” I answer, reaching for Traven’s hand. “Atlanta isn’t that far from North Carolina.”

  “Cool,” Divine says, pleased. “That’s where Alyssa and I want to go.”

  “What about you, Mimi?” Alyssa inquires.

  “Well, I guess if all of you are going to Spelman, then I should go there, too.”

  “You don’t have to,” Alyssa says. “You can go anywhere you want to go. It’s college.”

  “But I would rather be with my girls. You may not know this, but I don’t get along with a lot of people—girls especially. They’re always so jealous of me.”

  I laugh. “Then you really don’t want to go to Spelman. It’s an all-girls school.”

  “I know that, but if you all can do—so can I,” Mimi states. “That settles it. We’re going to Spelman.”

  I really enjoy hanging out with my friends. We don’t always agree, but when it matters most, I know that Divine, Mimi, and Alyssa have my back. Auntie Mo says that’s what it means to really be a friend.

  Readers Club Guide for

  it’s a Curl thing

  by Jacquelin Thomas

  SUMMARY

  Rhyann Hamilton has big plans: to make top grades, get a scholarship to her dream college, and have a great time at her sophomore prom. But after a hair disaster leaves her owing money to a local hair salon, she finds herself in a new role, tending to pampered customers as an assistant at the salon. There she meets a new friend who challenges her to think differently about the world and her own place in it. With the help of her friends Mimi and Divine, Rhyann learns that when she reaches out to others, opens up, and trusts in God, her world expands in ways she’d never imagined.

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  What is your first impression of Rhyann? How does she differ from her friends Mimi and Divine? What do you think are her character strengths and weaknesses? How does she change over the course of the story?

  Right from the beginning of It’s a Curl Thing, Rhyann is focused on how her hair looks—and horrified when her sister bungles her cut and color. Why do you think hairstyle and appearance are so important, not just to Rhyann and her friends, but also to Mrs. Goldberg? Can you relate?

  Why do you think Rhyann resists trusting Traven? Do you think she’s heard too much about his past, or does she tend to distrust all men? Is she right to be hesitant about him, or has she let her prejudgments cloud her view of him? Why do you think her true feelings only come out in her poems?

  How does Rhyann blind herself to her own anti-Semitism? How does she let her aunt’s experience feed into it? How does her anger create a false impression of Mrs. Goldberg? What do you think really wakes up Rhyann to her own prejudice?

  After her confrontation with Mrs. Goldberg, Rhyann realizes that in order to get respect you have to earn it. Do you agree that respect is something that must be earned? How does Rhyann step up and earn respect at the salon?

  Rhyann and Divine are both surprised to learn that there were black victims of the Holocaust. Was this new information for you as well? Why do you think certain aspects of history might not be taught in school?

  Unlike Divine and Mimi, Rhyann doesn’t come from a privileged background. How does this affect her opinions about clothes, parties, money, and even boys? Why do you think she is such close friends with Mimi and Divine, despite their differences?

  It’s important to Rhyann to wait until marriage before having sex. Do you think her aunt is right in worrying that Rhyann will slip up? Rhyann worries that Mimi is being manipulated by Kyle. Do you foresee trouble for her?

  Mimi accuses Rhyann of being negative, to which Rhyann replies that she’s only being realistic. In what respect do you think Rhyann is down-to-earth, and in what areas is she just closed off and scared? How do you think Mrs. Goldberg’s final wishes and letter will affect Rhyann’s outlook in the future?

  From the beginning of It’s a Curl Thing, Rhyann has experienced many difficulties and sorrows. What tragedies and struggles has she had to live through? What is her tone in discussing her mother’s death and the neighborhood in which she lives? Why do you think Mrs. Goldberg’s death affects her so deeply? How does it help her to face her grief over losing her mother and aunt?

  ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

  Rhyann, Divine, and Mimi are all able to learn more about the experiences of victims of the Holocaust by reaching out via the internet and going to museums, such as the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. You can also research to learn more. Read some of the books dealing with the Holocaust mentioned in It’s a Curl Thing, such as Valaida, by Candace Allen, or If You Save One Life, by Eva Brown.

  Plan a trip to the hair salon with your book club. While you’re there, share your own hair disaster stories.

  For more about the author, check out her websites at www.jacquelinthomas.com and www.simplydivinebooks.com.