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“Papa Papa please. You told me you’d say more next time. Don’t now count as next time?” Little lady wines.
Mama made an absolute mess of her hair and I couldn’t let this stand. I just wanted a nice visit and now I’m washing and twisting little lady’s hair in hopes I don’t need to shave her bald. “What did she do to you baby?”
she pouts,” your dodging the question papa!”
“Jeez, you don’t need to screech like a banshee. I’m just saying, did Mama wash your hair with mud or what?” I said, dipping her hair up and down in the water bucket trying to cleanse it of its sins.
When I comb through it without breaking the handle. I ushered her over to the kitchen. I popped all my joints. Pull out a brown block from my pockets and place it on the table. “Now, if there’s anything you will need to know from me it’s how to make this. By all means disregard anything else I ever tell you. But for all that is good and righteous, learn how to take care of your hair.”
“ what about Mama?”
“ she don’t know what she doing. Wildly different texture than us.” I go snooping around the pantry to find some aloe oil, Jojoba oil. And glycerin. “ could you boil some water for me, sweetie?”
She looked up from inspecting the mysterious block and poured some water in the kettle.” yes papa, but I’m not gonna disregard everything else you say because I still wanna hear a damn story.”
I cover her mouth with my tail from across the kitchen. “Na ah you’re too young for that language.”
She pushes it away, spitting like she got hair in her mouth from the action. She laughs as I come walking forward, “ Na ah papa, that’s gross.”
“That’s what you get for speaking French. Now here you go.” I said, handing her a knife. Now before you say anything, she’s a smart girl, smarter than me at that age. She won’t stab herself in the leg or nothing and it ain’t her first time holding a knife neither. “ cut really thin slices off the soap I placed it down.”
“Soap?!”
“ It’s called African Black soap. I didn’t cover it in enough dirt it changed color if that’s what you’re thinking ma’am.”
with that reassurance, she started cutting into the cup. I put down earlier. I took the water off the fire and watch it. She shaved the bar of soap.
She was a little goofball, but focused when I asked her to do something. Reminds me a little bit of little me. When I saw she had enough, I tapped your shoulder. “Now poor little water in, enough to submerge the shavings and wait for it to dissolve.”
She sits arms crossed. “Why can’t you tell me the story yet?”
“ Ah, see now you’re asking the right questions squirt.” I would take the chance to ruffle her hair, but I’m not risking more tangles after the mess I found in the first place.” the truth is I don’t want your brother to miss out.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine, well what are we making anyway Papa?”
“A little home remedy that will make this situation never happen again. With any luck, you won’t have to wash your hair for another month or two unless you seek out mud.”
Once the soap dissolved, I got spoonfuls of the oils I found in the pantry. “ a cup of this, 2 cups of that, oh just pour this till it looks right. now you mix it.” I said adding the oils with half baked measurements called ‘till it looks right’. she mixed it together for me and I clapped waving jazz hands around our concoction, “ Tada. say hello to shampoo.”
She looks at me like I grew a third horn so I explain. “ I learned from people many a wiser than me. What they taught me was how to take care of myself. From survival to grooming, and this was a big part of it. Now if you wanna keep that hair on your head, memorize this concoction and I’ll leave the bar for you as a gift.” She looked at me with understanding.
“Why doesn’t Mama know this?” She pondered.
“She didn’t need to. She has a different texture hair and this is something way out her ballpark, but you can teach her if you like.”
She smiled at me As she sat back down dipping her hair in the water for me to scrub in our brown shampoo. “ thanks Papa.”
“ anytime little lady.”