st johns beauty supply

my favourite thing to do in new york is go to the local beauty supply and hang out. a woman from the west indies holds up a pair of $3.99 earrings and asks if i think they’re nice. she’s looking for a pair to wear to her sons graduation, to match her blouse she says. she describes the blouse to me in an accent that i don’t hear much back in australia. i tell her that i think they’d match and she should get them. in my left hand i’m holding a blush, a lipliner, and two pairs of hoops that are light as a feather. sometimes women boast that they are born for expensive things because cheap earrings give them an allergic reaction, and i have the opposite of that problem. my detached earlobes ache wearing heavy earrings, real earrings. i remember being six years old when a family friend exclaimed saying that i have ears like a buddha, touching them gently as though for good luck. i think wearing dollar store nickel earrings gives me good luck. the man behind the counter recognizes me from my last visit, last year, and it makes me happy because i recognize him too. he asks how the flight was from sydney and nods as i recite my experiences. he says that my hair is longer now. he refuses to accept my tip of a one dollar bill and tells me ‘next time, next time.’