Page 46 - Obruni In Ghana | Amber Lockridge

44 EPISODE 5: PART 2- ALL’S HAIR IN LOVE AND WAR
It grew easier as the sun went down. The heat faded away and the strangling halo of wispy mesh dwindled to a select section in the front. I caught sight of the antelope man from time to time, glancing hopefully into the shop, but he did not come in again to try and woo me. Even the girls seemed to have lightened up the pressure on my head. Perhaps less in response to my small cries and more in startled self-correction as each managed to rip their own obruni hair souvenir straight out of my scalp. And no doubt a general numbness of head and heart descended like a grateful veil to wrap me up in a timeless stupor. I stopped checking my watch. I dozed and drooled and let my body be moved to-and- fro by the more settled and coordinated rhythms of my sister stylists. At some point, I grabbed for my book and discovered that my tolerance for arrogance was much improved with the reduction in general frustration and so I read for several hours.
The blue-trousered woman did not stay all the time at my head. I do not know if she tired of her failure to crush my commitment to this process or if