World Class Bitches

The shearing and the laughter continue for what feels like forever. Valeria keeps cutting with the same casual enthusiasm she might bring to trimming a hedge, occasionally holding up another severed curl for the others to admire before letting it fall into my lap. The room is filled with jokes, commentary, and entirely too much amusement at my expense.

Finally, with an exaggerated groan, Valeria straightens up and tosses the scissors onto a nearby table. "This is hard work," she announces dramatically, flexing her fingers and shaking out her wrist. "I'm over this." The declaration earns another round of laughter from the others

I sit frozen in the chair, surrounded by piles of my own hair and wishing she had reached that conclusion much sooner. For a second, I feel a surge of hope. "Maybe it's not too bad!" I say, "Maybe my hair dresser can clean it up... a cute pixie cut?"

Then Xiu Lian approaches carrying a pair of clippers. My heart drops. "No." The single word comes out, weak and pathetic. "No, no, no." Xiu Lian places a hand on my shoulder.

The electric clippers pop to life by my left ear. I turn my head and the guard-less shears loom massive in my sight. "Thought we were going to leave you some hair, didn't you?" Xiu Lian sneers through a wicked smile. "No such luck whore, it's all coming off!"

Valeria lifts a severed curl between two fingers and laughs. "Oh, this is priceless. Look at her. The great Jezebel James. Men used to trip over themselves trying to impress you. Now they are going to see you coming and assume you've escaped from a medical study." The room explodes with laughter.

"That's not funny," I snap.

"No, darling," Marina says. "It's hysterical." She leans forward and studies my reflection. "My God. Look at those eyes. She's actually terrified."

"Wouldn't you be?" Reina asks. "Half her personality just hit the floor." There is more laughter.

I grip the arms of the chair. "You don't know a damn thing about me."

"Oh, we know plenty," Callista says. "We know you've spent your entire life walking into rooms knowing people would stare. We know you've gotten very comfortable being the prettiest woman in sight. We know you've built an entire identity around it." Her grin widens. "And now you're finding out what happens when that's taken away."

"Please hold still." Then Xiu Lian drives the clippers directly up the center of my scalp. The vibration rattles through my skull. A thick strip of dark hair peels away. The room erupts into delighted laughter. I stare helplessly at the mirror. A pale stripe now runs from my forehead to the crown of my head. My hair hangs on either side like ruined curtains.

"You're all bitches," I tell them.

"Correct," Marina says.

"Ancient bitches," Reina adds.

"World-class bitches," Callista agrees.

Valeria raises her wineglass. "Award-winning, even." The toast earns another round of laughter. I hate every one of them. Unfortunately, that only seems to amuse them more.

"Oh, stop glaring," Marina says. "You're trying to look intimidating, and it isn't working."

"At all," Nessa agrees. "You look like you're about to cry."

"I am not crying." A tear chooses that exact moment to run down my cheek.

The tears start before I even realize they are coming. "Aw," Marina says. "The stupid cunt is crying."

"Of course she's crying," Callista replies. "Look at her. She's going to look like a subhuman freak." I choose that moment to look into the mirror. That is a mistake. The sight is absurd, humiliating, and grotesque all at once. A wide strip of bare scalp cuts through the middle of my dark curls like a scar.