When I was a kid, I did something very dumb. I trimmed my eyelashes.
I was seven and we were still living in Cottage Grove, a very small inner-city neighborhood in Houston.
In Cottage Grove, almost every kid who ran around the neighborhood had a nickname. One kid was called "Big Red" because he looked like a mini-sumo wrestler with coppery red hair. Another kid was called "Juice" because that's what his name translated to if you mispronounced it. Another was "Fat Joe" because he was...well...not skinny and his name was "Joe." (This made a lot of sense since there were at least four or five Joe's running around.)
I was one of the few who had the luck of having more than one nickname.
Curly--Because of my hair.
George Jefferson--Because of the way I walked.
Can Opener--Because of my teeth.
Pretty Eyes--Because of my eyelashes.
None of those names seemed to bother me except for the last one.
The boys in the neighborhood would make fun of my eyelashes because they were very very long. There was never a day that went by when I would hear something like "Hey, you got girl eyelashes."
I don't think this would have bothered me as much if the girls didn't tease me too. But they did. Truthfully, I think they teased me because my eyelashes were longer than theirs. They weren't being mean. They were being JEALOUS.
I eventually got tired of my nickname.
One day, I walked straight home and into my room. I found my construction paper cutting scissors(the ones with the round tips) and went into the bathroom. I stood in front of the mirror and, without much hesitation, I trimmed the eyelashes over my left eye. Trim is actually generous. What I really did was just cut straight across being very very careful not to cut my eyelid or my eye!
As I was about to do the next one, my big brother walked into the restroom. For some reason, I forgot to lock the door.
To be continued...
Brother looks tight. A playa. Eyelashes are like daggers to the heart. He'll use them when the time is right. ;)
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