Three Blonde Wigs

Although I did not win, I wanted to thank everyone that did vote for me. It was such a fun short story for me to write, and it sure did bring back a very fond memory. As promised, below is the short story for your reading pleasure. As you can see, I placed the second runner-up in my category. As I continue to write, I am currently on chapter 10 of my second book titled “Overcoming Adversity Being An Aspie.” Many of you may or may not know that my son was diagnosed early with Asperger’s. As a result of his early diagnosis, he went on to finish college. I hope to share my story along with many of the emotional challenges he overcame along the way. He continues to surprise me every day, and we should be so thankful that this world has bright and unique minds that live amongst us.

Motivational & Inspirational

WINNER: Between Life and Death by Azmat

RUNNER-UP 1: The Simple Impediment by Hassan Rauf

RUNNER-UP 2: Three Blonde Wigs by Henderson

 

Three Blonde Wigs

By: Candace Webb Henderson

            How three blonde wigs brought twin sisters closer and developed a deep, lasting friendship remains to be part of our family. There are those friends that are indeed one of life’s great joys. I know I have several of those friends in my life, making me laugh till my stomach hurts. They are always there in times of sorrow or just when I am having a bad day. Whether you met when you were in grade school or college, work, you are just so happy to have found someone to be yourself around.

Growing up in a small town can have its advantages and disadvantages. I suppose what I mean by that is the small-town mentality that taught me the importance of finding great friends who get you, and to this day, those friends are still my friends. You learn that it is okay to be you, and it does not matter how much money you have. It is not how beautiful you are but who you are on the inside that counts. Now where the disadvantages come in are fewer well-paying jobs and lack of entertainment. What you do not know outside of your small town and having your family should be enough for some people. But for me, it was not, and I always had an adventurous side to my personality. There have been moments in my life when I have been confronted with inevitable situations that may or may not have led me astray. Some good and some may have been bad choices; however, these life experiences have made me a better person. I suppose that is why I packed my clothes in garbage bags, loaded them in my car, and headed to Long Beach, California, where I would live and find happiness at the young age of twenty-two.

Two very hard-working parents brought me up. My father, Ron, was a full-time printer associate at R&S Printing, and my mother, Joan, was a registered nurse. She worked for a family practitioner in town, and everyone knew her and called her nurse Joni. Our family was considered your average middle class. I was not an only child, as I have a fraternal twin sister, Connie. While you would think that there are benefits to having twins, there are challenges in caring for two babies, especially with both parents working. However, having great neighbors to share the help and lend a helping hand eased the burden on my mom and dad. The Browns were our second family that lived next door.

           Karen Brown was a colorful individual. Growing up in a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business; well, let’s say gossip can get around. If you needed to know what was happening in the small town of Danville, Il, Karen knew. You may not think you know everyone in your small town, but it seems that everybody knows everyone, and let’s just say word travels fast. Karen was good to us, and she watched out for our family; she was like a second mother. Nothing typically got past her, nor my mom. Now I am not saying that I did not have my share of good times because I did. Both my mom and Karen loved and cared for both my sister and me. So, looking back on our family and the trials and tribulations that we all go through, I can honestly say we were well cared for and, most importantly, loved.

Sometimes, I can still see Karen standing in the middle of her kitchen. She could cook as well as my mom. Karen would wear worn-out shirts and faded jeans and if it was hot outside shorts. Surrounded by the dull kitchen countertops, we would be sitting on the other side of the counter on barstools, wondering what she might serve us. All the while, she was telling us a story of interest. This memory of our family and Karen’s family sitting around her kitchen is so vivid I can almost see it. Such fond memories. Now one thing is for sure you did not want to cross Karen or my mother. However, they had a pack to watch out for each other’s kids, and that they did.

As a young girl, my sister and I went to private school, and our teacher suggested that the two of us be separated before we entered the fourth grade. We attended a small Lutheran school that could not accommodate our needs, so our parents transferred us to the public school district. Connie went to a different homeroom than I did, and we had utterly different classrooms. We were no longer in the same classrooms. Both of us were nervous about going to a new school not knowing anyone.

I walked into my English class, where I met this kind girl that spoke to me. When I approached my desk, I said to this blonde girl, “Is this advanced English?” Blonde girl giggles, “No, this is the lower-level English class?”

I was so deflated. It all made sense why we needed to be transferred as we were not thriving at the other school.

I was embarrassed and responded, “What? are you sure?” The blonde girl says, “Yes, I should know I have been taking the class.”

At that moment, I realized that I was no longer in the upper English class. The blonde girl says, “What’s your name? Mine is Lisa,”

I responded, “Candy.”

From that point, Lisa and I became best friends. We did everything together. Lisa’s hair was long blonde with soft curls. She had milky white skin with amazingly innocent blue eyes, and such a bright soul. I suppose that is why I love her. Her infectious giggle is guaranteed to brighten your day. It did not take long for us to ask our parents if we could sleep over at each other’s houses. I do not think either of us was nervous as we were just excited about actually sleeping over at our friend’s house. Some of our sleepovers were the best memories as we would spend hours talking and giggling, to the point where my mom would come in and tell us to be quiet, or she would have to separate us. Then, we would sneak in the kitchen and eat ice cream. Sleepovers were the best!

One spring day, we are now young teenagers around fourteen. My parents went to the Indianapolis 500, and Lisa came and stayed the night with Connie and me. It was not often that our parents left us alone. But Karen was watching over us. She could see from her kitchen window into our sliding glass door into our kitchen. So, we were not truly alone even though we were in the house. We also had two Dobermans. Both were show dogs. One was a champion/trained watchdog named Rafe, and the other was just sweet and lovable, Libby. Pretty much everyone that knew us knew that we had Dobermans, and you did not enter our house unannounced. So, we felt safe with Rafe in our home. We stayed up late playing games and talking, so we got up mid-morning. We ate breakfast, our usual, which was our favorite, Captain Crunch cereal. Dad tried to convince us that Wheaties was much better for us by telling us that it would make our boobies grow. We were not buying his story.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon. The sky was filled with white fluffy clouds that drifted across the sky. We wanted to go swimming, but we had no one to take us to the lake. We lived about four to five miles from Lake Vermilion. We used to go swimming at the Gao Grotto. We had it in our heads we were going to get there, but how? I suppose we could have walked, but in our minds, that was just too far. So, the three of us concocted a plan to drive my dad’s truck to the lake. Not sure who the mastermind was, but either way, we were all in. Since Connie was the tallest, she volunteered to drive as she could easily reach the pedals. Growing up in the country, we had all been behind the wheel with our parents but never driven alone, and at age fourteen, we were all too young to be driving. It was a bit risky, especially with Karen right next door, but we were up for the challenge.

My mom had beautiful gray hair, and it was stunning! She was six feet tall. She had striking black eyes with olive tone skin. We were unsure why she had to buy blonde wigs as her gray locks were thick and lush. Also, uncertain as to why she picked blonde as her natural hair color was jet black. We found her stash of blonde wigs in her closet, all short and sassy. We thought that putting on a wig would change our look and make us appear more grownup.

Our next plan was going to be to get to the lake. Since we had our wigs thinking this would surely make us look older, we were essentially ready to drive my dad’s truck to the lake. Now, all we had to do was ensure that Karen was not watching us. Somehow, we managed to realize that she was not home. So Yippie, we were in the clear. We gathered our swimming gear, loaded the truck. As we approached the truck, we thought we must ensure that it looked as though it had never been moved when we returned the truck. There was, however, an important detail that we did not think about, leaving us relatively vulnerable. My dad’s truck was a bright red Ford, and he had custom-painted wording on both driver and passenger door reading, “Ron Webb” along with “Marks-Tey Dobermans.” As I said, there are advantages and disadvantages to living in a small town. Living in a small town was a disadvantage as everyone knows everyone, so it would be tricky to drive this truck unrecognized without anyone noticing. Although in our minds, we thought we could get away with this plan.

Connie opened the door, we all let out a giggle; the sun was bright. Lisa and I piled in with our swimming gear. The inside of the truck was hot. Connie fumbled a bit to put the keys in the ignition. She turned the keys to crank up the engine to turn on the air.

“Connie, are you going to be able to back this truck out without hitting the mailbox?” Lisa uttered with concern.

Having a long driveway with a mailbox at the end was a victim to many visitors who would knock it down while backing their vehicle out of our driveway. Our mailbox was struck so much we lost track. I am surprised my parents did not just build a brick mailbox to prevent this from happening repeatedly.

“I will take it slow and easy; I have done it before I am sure I can do it again,” Connie responded.

Lisa began to giggle which then I began to laugh. Finally, Connie got mad at us as she needed to concentrate.

“Candy, Lisa, stop laughing; you are going to make me hit the mailbox!” Connie yelled.

Lisa and I had to look in opposite directions because if we looked at each other, we would start laughing all over again. It was never-ending; we could not stop! As Connie put the truck in reverse, she began to inch her way out of the driveway slowly. She used the accelerator pedal carefully, if at all. Connie drove very steadily, and when we came to the end of the driveway, we all got a little scared when it came time to make the turn on Gravatt Road going backward. She tried to remember how to steer the car in reverse and what direction to turn the wheel where you want the truck’s rear to go.

Connie paused. “What are you doing? Are you having second thoughts?” I said.

“No, I am just trying to remember what way to turn the steering wheel. Now let me think.” Connie said.

Connie looked at Lisa, “Did you just smirk?”

Lisa’s face was turning red as she was trying so hard to suppress her laughter, “No, I wouldn’t…dream of it.”

“Why is your face turning red? I can see your shoulders shaking, don’t think I did not see how red your face is either?”

Lisa was failing to suppress her laughter, and I was not helping.

“Okay, okay… let’s try to get ourselves under control so Connie can make this turn, or we are not going to the lake,” I replied.

“Yeah, you guys, this is not funny! But, remember, I am the one driving.” Connie shouted.

Lisa was uncontrollably laughing, “Alright, I can’t help it, look at us, we look so stupid in these wigs. I will stop; I think you have to turn the wheel to the left, Connie.”

“Yeah, I got it, now here we go,” Connie replied.

Connie turned her head to see out the back window and slowly guided the truck to the left. Hearing the two of us laughing, I think, was starting to get on her nerves. We could not help ourselves; we all looked so hilarious in my mom’s blonde wigs. Connie got us out with no mishaps, aside from our antics.

She put the truck in drive, “I can’t believe it, but we made it out of the driveway without hitting the mailbox. It should be smooth sailing to the lake from here.” Connie laminated with enthusiasm.

We were off, and Connie was driving with confidence. She came to a stop on Gravatt Road and made a right turn on Denmark Road. It was a straight shot to the lake. What could go wrong with three fourteen-year-old girls driving underage to the lake? Oh, and we cannot forget about the custom name on the side of the truck. I mean, how could we be recognized? We all three had blonde wigs on. We were so excited; nothing could stop us now!

After a long stretch of the open road, Connie was able to take advantage of it, and we got close to our destination. Driving well below the posted speed limit, we soon found ourselves with another car on the road, and it was coming towards us, going the opposite direction.

“Okay, be cool, y’all, we got this as we got mom’s wigs on.” Connie laminated.

I cringed when the car started to approach us. I could not look at Lisa because I knew we would burst out laughing. I stared out the window as if to look grownup in mom’s wig. The closer the car approached, the more familiar that car looked. Oh, no, could it be, the one car we pass on Denmark Road is Karen Brown? Lisa and I turned our heads to look out the rear-view window to confirm that it was Karen. Perhaps it was someone else.

I cursed as we realized it was her, “Shit, that was Karen, what are we going to do? Do you think she saw us?”

“How could she miss your dad’s truck? I’m sure she saw us.” Lisa yelled.

We were less than a quarter-mile from the turn to the Grotto. Connie turned into the parking lot, and we did a U-turn and hightailed it out of there as we knew the jig was up!

“What were we thinking? We are so busted.” Connie spewed with angst.

Our heads hung low as we headed back to our house, leaving us all with an awful feeling of dread in the pit of our stomachs as we realized that when we got home, the fun was over. There was silence in the truck for a brief moment.

“Maybe Karen did not see us. Let’s get the truck back to its original spot and hope for the best.” Lisa said.

Lisa was doing her best to try and be the voice of reason, but if anyone knew Karen, we were doubtful that she did not see us, although hopeful. When we arrived home, Connie carefully tuned into the driveway. Connie parked the truck hoping for the best that it appeared that it had never been moved. We did not account for the fact that our driveway was a rock driveway and that you could see that the rock had been disheveled. We grabbed our stuff and headed back into the house. We were sweating bullets as we sat in the family room waiting and wondering if the phone was going to ring and Karen would be on the other end. Back then, you did not have caller I.D., so there was no telling who it could be on the other end when the phone rang. We put mom’s wigs back where they belonged. Now it was just a waiting game.

We were watching television in the family room, and the phone rang. We all jumped and panicked. Finally, Connie answered the phone in the kitchen, “Hello?”

“Connie, it’s Karen. Funny thing when I was driving home earlier, and I saw three girls in your dad’s truck driving towards the lake. Do you want to explain to me what you were doing?”

Lisa and I were standing beside Connie, and we could tell that she was freaking out. But we were in this mess together, and we would support each other.

“Karen, yes, that was us, we were bored, and we just wanted to go to the lake.”

Karen cut Connie off, “Connie, what the hell were you girls thinking, you are all underage, and you could have been in an accident, not to mention pulled over by the cops. I do not want to even think of what could have happened to you girls. Also, you thought you could park your dad’s truck at the Grotto and go swimming, and no one would notice, HELLOOOO! I am coming down to talk to the three of you; hang tight.”

I suppose Connie could not take the blame for everything, even though she was the driver. We were all three in on the plan, and after all, the three blonde wig goers. We thought we had a solid plan. At this point, we knew we were going to get a tongue lashing, and we felt it was not going to be pretty, but we knew it was not going to be as bad coming from Karen as it would from my mom. There was an open-door policy with the Browns as with our family. So, with an instance, she came marching in with a stern look on her face.

“I am going to tell all of you what I told Connie. What you girls did today was irresponsible. SHIT FUZZY! Do you girls realize you could have been in a severe accident and could have gotten in trouble with the law? Now, if I am not mistaken, you girls were wearing your mom’s wigs? Where are they now?”

“We put them back where we found them, in her closet,” I replied.

“What in the world were you thinking putting on your mom’s wigs?” Karen said.

“When mom wears them, it makes her look so sophisticated, so we thought it would make us look cool while we were driving, and no one would think we were kids while driving dad’s truck, and maybe they would think it was mom.”

“Connie does look like mom. She is tall like her, and her eyes are dark like mom’s,” I replied.

“Did it occur to you that your dad has a custom paint job on both sides of his truck that reads, Ron Webb! That is pretty much a dead giveaway. As far as the wigs, why did all three of you have them on?” Karen asked.

“Mom had three wigs, and we all wanted to wear a wig,” Connie replied.

“Okay, well, you do know that you are going to have to tell your mom and dad. Either you tell them, or I will. What is it going to be?” Karen replied.

We all three agreed that we would tell our parents. Knowing how my mother would react, we decided to tell dad first. He was not surprised as he did have questions as to why his truck was moved. When they got home, he noticed right away that the truck did not look like it had been in its exact spot, not to mention that the gravel had been tousled. My dad was a bit more cool-headed. He tends to stay calmer in difficult situations, whereas my mom was strict with her rules. She expected things to be clear and precise and must be obeyed, or there would be consequences. Dad did not let this incident go without consequences as we were grounded, and he talked to mom for us. That was a massive sigh of relief for us. Mom was, however, disappointed in us as she left us alone in hopes that we would behave responsibly, and we let her down. Sometimes just hearing those words of disappointment is worse than being grounded.

Surprisingly, coming from dad, the blow was not as bad as it could have been. Being a mother and having raised two children, I understand why my mother held such a heavy hand. She loved us plain and simple, and she wanted to protect us from the bad in the world. My mother had her share of pain losing a son at the young age of three, and she did not want to experience that pain again. Like a mama bear, she was protective of Connie and me. She cared about our friends and became very fond of Lisa; she was like a daughter. So, protecting her kids meant keeping them safe from dangers.

We did not think through the wigs. Reflecting now, I suppose it would have made more sense for Connie to wear the wig. The driver would have been justified as looking like mom and taking my friend and me to the lake. But being kids, we all wanted to wear a blonde wig and appear to be an adult as we were doing something so taboo. We were the three-blonde wig musketeers. We stuck by each other’s side and had each other’s backs. Having each other’s back is what family and friendship represent. Lisa is and was a part of our family.

I do not remember exactly how long we were grounded for, but it did seem like an eternity. We could not hang out with our friends when we were grounded, which was such a bummer. Back then, that is all we had as we did not have much television. We only had three channels, and one was fuzzy as we did not have cable. Not to mention we only had one T.V. in the house. We did not have all the electronic games that kids have today. So, when we were grounded, we had to do our usual chores around the house and go to our room. We used our imagination and played board games, and read a lot of books.

Growing up, I was taught that family and friends are two fundamental kinds of relationships in your life. But one thing is always sure your family is always there for you, and there is nothing more powerful than the love of your family. While it is pretty important to hold your family close, it is incredibly healthy to have great friendships that we develop throughout our lifetime. I had a special bond with my mother; she and I could talk about pretty much anything. My dad was relatively mellow, and he and I got along quite well. However, I think friends are important as they tend to fill in the gap and provide support in ways our family members cannot. Friends tend to understand us differently, whereas our parents tend to see us in a different light, as they only want what is best for you.

Family members are here to stay for moral support. Friendships can be hard to maintain, especially if we move far away during our lifespan. I feel lucky to have cultivated many friendships over the years, and regardless of the miles between us, we manage to maintain our relationships. Friends spend time together because they want to. Not to say that family members do not spend time together because they do not want to, but there is that sense of obligation with family members. I do think it is essential not to take your friends and your family members for granted. Telling the people that you love them and value their presence in your life is such a small thing to do. I know when I get a card with a short but sweet sentiment written in it, it can truly make such a big difference. Or even a text can just brighten my day. Expressing our thanks to our friends and family is such a small thing to do. I wish I had my mom and dad around to tell them how much I love them and how much of a difference they made in my life. I am not saying I have any regrets because I do not. I often expressed my gratitude, told them how much I loved them, and put up with all my crazy antics.

Nowadays, there are so many levels of maintaining a relationship through digital communication. I am not sure from my perspective if that is good or bad. I guess what I mean by that is that we have stopped picking up the phone and calling our loved ones with technology. We tend to text or e-mail and have seemed to have lost that intimacy of a phone call. Now we are all on social media with people that we knew when we were in grade school and had no connection to their current life is a bit strange. However, I do wish that person well. The friendships that I am most concerned about are those that I think most fondly of, and for that reason, I still consider them a friend. I am not saying it has not been enjoyable to reconnect with people from high school because I wish all of them much happiness.

In our lifetime as children growing up, our parents’ guide us and teach us the world’s ways. As children and becoming adolescent teens, we tend to become more independent and test the waters. By the three of us deciding at age fourteen we could drive to the lake on our own was a poor choice to be made, but indeed a life experience and a hard lesson that we all learned by fortunately getting caught by Karen that day. It set an example as we advance that there are consequences to our actions, primarily those actions that could put us in danger. I do not think we thought through the jeopardy we were putting ourselves in as all we cared about was going to the lake.

As a parent, I tried to teach my kids all the essential life lessons a child should learn and understand to form a solid foundation to respond to certain life situations, i.e., handling disappointment and being kind to one another. Therefore, I read books to them that involved moral reasoning in teaching them right from wrong. Now, does that mean they followed my lead all the time, as sometimes they had to bend the rules to learn from their mistakes? That’s okay as I think if children grow up in a positive family dynamic and are taught early on that, they have the love and support of their parents, they are better equipped to have a healthy relationship moving forward.

There are many stories that we all can relate to that we probably read to our children, “The Boy who cried Wolf,” A story about a boy who took care of sheep and cried out loud to the village about a wolf. He thought it was a joke. He did the prank again, and the villagers came and no wolf. Then there really was a wolf that came, and he cried wolf, and the villagers did not come to his rescue, and the wolf ate his sheep. He then realized that he should not have lied. As parents, I think we have tried to teach our kids not to lie as nobody trusts a person who lies. However, in some cases, kids fear the consequences of what their parents might do if they are caught. Lying and tricking people will land us in big trouble, and the truth always has its way of catching up with us.

That day the three blonde wigs were a team. We formed an alliance with one another with a plan to get to the lake. It was evident that it was not a good choice, and luckily, we got caught. Although we were grounded, it was out of love. The friendship that the three of us formed has taught us moral values and ethics. Friendship is one of the most sacred bonds. We all stuck together that day, and we took the good with the bad. True friends always stick together, and that day we had each other’s backs. I value my friendships as these are the people that I can depend on and someone to enjoy. Now I am not saying I do not do all this with my spouse; I do. But as a child, if you remember when you once could run over to Lisa’s house and ask if she could come out and play, now you have to ask Lisa when she might be able to spare a few minutes to talk on the phone. So, cherish the moments that you have with your beloved friends and hold them close.