Shearing Into Isolation

All of us were doing really well at the salon. People were calling from all over to get their haircuts, colors etc. by a Vidal Sassoon stylist. We have become the 'Best of the Best', in the beauty industry, & all of us became famous in our own right. I loved to color hair. The challenge of combining two or three colors to emphasize the shape & movement in the haircut was exciting to me. We believed that your hair was your crowning glory, so every cut should shine. And shine they did!

I, though, was very unhappy. Mom was making it more & more difficult to see Sal. She even suggested that I mail her the checks every week, because she was too busy for me to waste her time to get Sal. We argued every time I went to the house. It was always that Sal was sick, had a cold, they were going out, I took him out too late. Something was always preventing me from seeing my son.

Plus I had almost no personal life. I had stopped dating since the last man told me he was married, after seeing him for three months.

"What are you doing tonight?" Josef asked as he was cleaning up his station.

"Nothing," I smiled over at him. "I'll just do some laundry, I guess. Watch some television."

"Come out with me, Aaron, & Michele."

"Yes, CeCe," Michele added, "It'll be good, & if your with us, Aaron & Josef can't call me a 'fag-hag'."

"Well," Aaron waved his hand in the air, placing one hand on his hip,"Aren't you, girl?"

Michele had started hanging out with Josef & Aaron a lot, since she broke up with her boyfriend. She was tired of being used & then dumped on, she told us one day. I agreed with her. It seemed the 'sexual revolution' opened the door for every married man to go on the prowl!

All of us laughed together at Aaron's swishing. He was such a 'queen', & he fit into the mixture so well, we all loved him.

"Oh, I don't know," I was very tired from the days business, but I knew that I would have a great time with them. "Where are you going tonight?"

"To Ammies." Josef chirped in, "Where else is there a place with sooo many gorgeous guys?"

Ammies was a gay club in downtown Manhattan. It was an old warehouse remodeled inside, beautiful lights & beautiful people. On Saturday nights, the club was open to gays & straights. The music was terrific, & they usually had a live drag show. Aaron's boyfriend worked one of the six bars, so a lot of our drinks were free.

"Your coming tonight," Michele ordered, "I will pick you up at 10 o'clock & that's final!"