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Trina held the scissors with a trembling hand. This was impulsive and she knew it. This was going to be a mistake . She pulled at her long dark hair, the length going down to the middle of her back. This was a mistake.
No. What Marvin did was a mistake. Or was it? He was trying to be what he wasn’t. He had been pretending for years. A decade. At least. And he had broken her heart many times over before he shattered the shape of her silhouette. Or maybe she would do that with the scissors in her hand.
The woman didn’t dare look in the mirror. If she was going to do this, she might as well be quick about it. With a hasty motion, she clutched a section of her long hair and cut through it mercilessly.
Maybe kitchen scissors weren’t the best option, but Trina didn’t want to think about it. Because Trina was done. She was done with Marvin and she wanted to leave her tragic failing of a marriage behind. Her parody of a happy family.
Marvin with his expectation of Trina’s appearance. A sweet little house dress and long hair. Or, later, a polyester shirt and some simple trousers if she were trying to look more like a “modern woman.” Trina used to wear a headband her mother gave her to pull it back, but after a few years, she found she couldn’t even find it anymore. And then, Trina realized, looking back, that the longer she was married to Marvin, the longer her hair grew, the more she hid behind it. The more she swept it across her face and used it to shield her face from the sides.
The dark brown hair now fell onto the bathroom floor and there was something freeing in seeing it there. She was growing up. She was waking up. No more martial nightmare. No more being Marvin’s wife.
With a series of quick swipes and swift actions, a collection of dark hairs littered the floor at Trina’s feet. It piled up like a pool around Trina’s being. And when she turned to look at the choppy job she had done, her face framed in the most awkward way with uneven bangs and varying lengths all just beyond her shoulders, she couldn’t help but just stare.
This was the smallest victory she could achieve, but it was hers. She would, of course, have to have someone else touch it up. Jason would ask her what happened. But right now, with a simple breath, Trina realized there was some silver lining to Marvin changing her cameo appearance. The outline of her being. She, for once, could look at herself in the mirror and see her face. Tears were welling in her eyes, but a smile was on her face.
Small action. Small victory. Small freedom.