Chapter 10 Junie
Junie
Junie leaps into action inside the beauty shop. She hands out rugs and wall hangings and drapes, barking instructions. “Hang
this over there. A little to the left. Scatter these along that ledge. No, a little less uniform. Cute, nice arrangement.
Let’s wipe this area down first, then rug. Yes, actually no. This is better.” Tina and Cece obey orders without comment, and
even Georgia falls in line. Junie may not be the natural leader among the Louise women, but when she gets into her groove
with something, especially something creative, the others know to let her do her thing.
Eventually Junie looks into her box, then picks it up and flips it upside down. “We did it, ladies!”
She stands back, and the others stop and look around.
“It’s definitely way better,” Georgia says.
“Much cuter,” Tina says.
“Yup,” Cece says. “But I’m beat.”
Junie claps happily. “Sounds like break time. Where’s my tote bag? I’ve got goods.”
“I put it in Dad’s office,” Georgia says.
The women pull a few folding chairs from the storage closet and arrange themselves in a circle.
Junie disappears into the back office, and she takes the opportunity to pause.
She’s putting on a good front, but inside she feels terrible to be the cause of this destruction when there’s no guaranteed way out.
The sprucing looks great, but a structurally complete shop is better.
The others must be sitting out there with their minds spinning about how and when the shop will get fixed.
Junie can’t help but imagine how disappointed Mama would be right now. Maybe she’d even regret giving Junie the family name.
Maybe she’d bench Junie and put reliable, capable Georgia in to save the day. Georgia’s the sister who has what it takes.
After a few minutes, Junie takes the bag and heads back down the hallway, beginning her spiel. “I’m just so grateful for y’all
helping me with this sticky situation, I brought some wine and nibbles for a little thank-you.” She unloads the bottles onto
a stack of plastic tubs filled with hair products, then turns the corkscrew in one of the wine corks and rips it out with
a pop. “There’s also bourbon in there, if anyone cares to partake. Whoop!”
Junie circles the group handing out small plastic cups and pouring the wine. Once every cup is filled, she goes back to the
plastic tub stack and leaves the bottle, unpacking a box of Cheez-Its, some opened pretzels, and a bag of cheese puffs. “This
is all I had in the way of snacks.” She giggles at the selection.
“Cheers,” Tina calls out, and she and the others raise their glasses.
They sit and sip and nibble in a quiet that soon becomes unbearable. They’re all probably thinking the same thing: How does
this problem get fixed? Truly the only way out is with $50,000. Junie’s insides begin to wriggle and writhe, and she can’t
help herself when she blurts out her thoughts.
“Georgia, any word on the finances?” As soon as she’s said it, Junie realizes she should’ve waited for a private moment to
bring it up.
Georgia wriggles in her seat for a moment before she sighs and drops her hands into her lap.
“Actually, I just got an email back from my finance guy, and we might need to consider some other options. From what he said, it sounds like I won’t be able to get the cash out soon enough to make any difference here. ”
Well, shit.
“Oh. Alright. I get it,” Junie says.
She doesn’t get it though. Not one bit. Georgia sits there looking far too matter-of-fact considering they’re in the middle
of a crisis she’s unwilling to remedy. This is the shop. Their shop. The one place that means a world and a half to all of them. How is Georgia not devastated at the fact that her money
is out of reach? If that’s even the case. Part of Junie wonders if Georgia is finally trying to teach her little sister a
lesson, and if so, it’s pretty crappy to do it with the beauty shop at stake.
How does Georgia not see the rest of it? If Junie and Tina can’t see clients, all of them except Cece go broke. And once they’re
broke and closed up, that’s it. They won’t reopen; that’s a financial impossibility.
“How much do we need?” Tina looks even smaller than she usually does with her delicate stature.
A sting of guilt rushes up Junie’s throat. Tina’s job here is her livelihood too. “I don’t want this to be your responsibility,”
Junie says. It’s not like Tina would have anywhere close to the funds anyhow, seeing as Randy the Moocher hasn’t held a job
in the decade he’s been living under her roof.
“No. Speak up. What’s the number?” Cece is firm.
The aunts know the gist of what has unraveled in the past couple of weeks. Obviously, they’ve been ringside to the destruction
of the place. Junie’s haste and the lack of funds. Both of them were encouraging off the bat, when Junie sold the opportunity
as something the business could afford. Truth be told, they’ve all been a bit worried about the new salon across town, and
the timing of the offer just felt so meant to be.
June was naive to think it at the time, but it kind of felt like a bone from heaven. Like Mama was pulling strings up there for them. So they wouldn’t be out of business, and so their legacy wouldn’t die.
But maybe it was really nothing more than an excuse Junie made to rush in.