Lisa G's

:I opened the door to the salon. A faded sign greeted me, reading "Shear Genius". I chuckled.

My father and I had come here as a side errand. The only reason I dragged myself along was because I wanted my fan. You see, the salon was on our way to Home Depot, where I was planning to pick up a new ceiling fan. That was what my heart was set on, until I saw Terry in person.

Terry was a trans gender barber at the salon. Unfortunately, he was so horribly tortured, he was left with nowhere to go. My step sister and I had talked about Terry only once before. Being that we were both Atheists, we often held deep conversations about happenings in our community. It was well known that Terry had been fired from two previous jobs for being trans gender. Being in a Christian community, the companies had each fired him for "disorderly conduct". It is easy to say the topic was not well debated at all.

I had nothing against Terry, being that I did not follow the horrendous indoctrinations of the Bible. People still call me an extremist today, and I quickly correct their terminology with a term that does not stereotype certain ethnicities. They often get bored when I correct them, but my community's vocabulary is more elastic that year old underwear.

My first impression of Terry was not one of a trans gender. He did his very best to hide facial hair, the only two give aways of his manliness were his neck "fuzz" and the slight dip in his voice. Two other noticeable qualities of Terry were his long blond hair, highlighted pink on the end, and his nails, two inches long and also pink. I saw him, and felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had little emotion, until my father spoke.

"That's just wrong." My father's response was so docile, it took a minute to sink in.

I froze solid in my seat. My fists clenched tight, turning a light shade of red. Thankfully, my father didn't notice. I clenched my teeth, and let out a slight chuckle. I hate myself to this day for that chuckle. What had Terry done but expressed his personality to the world. Unfortunately, Terry's emotional wall reflected his feminine personality all too well. It was assumed that he cried a lot, for his eyes were a deep red most of the time.

"That's just his blush, ". My father laid that card so delicately on the table I disregarded it. "Did you hear me Bobby?"

"Oh...yah." I threw up another laugh, and grabbed for something to stick in my mouth. Unfortunately, three Starburst chews were not enough. I feared I might really throw up next time.

I sat in mere awe of the environment as my father got his haircut. Aside from the two men getting their haircut, my father included, the place was filled with women. Gossip was being exchanged throughout the 14x14' room. It is hard to explain the echo the walls cast throughout the building, the only explanation I have is that there was not really any gossip at all. The women wanted each other to hear their "secrets", something I do not understand to this day.

I jerked awake. Apparently I had dozed off during the past half hour. I looked up to see Terry's figure strolling towards the exit. I rolled my eyes at the next comment.

"What's up with the pink today?" my father asked Mo, the lady at the counter.

"I think he, she, it's trying to make a fashion statement!" They both burst out in laughter.

I ripped the keys from my father's hand, and ran to the car. Thankfully, my father suspected nothing. This gave me a minute to elaborate on what just happened.

I can't explain what I felt in the car, but I can tell you that I wanted to slap my father. I wanted to slap the whole town at that point. Everyone's attitude towards the irregular "its", in this case Terry, was despicable. Utterly horrible. Unimaginably detestable in my mind. I'm screaming at my monitor at this very moment. I am also very tired, so revisions are definitely on the way.