70--MOTHER'S NEW DAUGHTER

"You are going to look absolutely gorgeous as a blonde!" The two beauticians began sectioning our hair into quarters and then started applying the bleach to the hair with a small brush, section by section, until the blue colored paste had thickly covered all our hair.

I stared at Erica's blonde hair. It was so shiny and sexy. She looked really provocative with her blonde hair and trim figure in the tight little white mini-dress! She probably had a lot of boyfriends.

By now both mother and I had a thick coating of bleach. Erica covered our hair with a plastic hood and placed us under dryers to develop.

Through the clear plastic dryer, I could see mother's hair lightening through a number of shades from the brown it was originally, to light brown, then reddish. By the time Erica came over to check, it was orange!

I was horrified, but Erica just smiled and said that was quite normal. She then mixed fresh bleach and once again started applying this to our hair, but this time brushing the bleach down to the roots close to the scalp.

The orange coloring to the hair gradually faded, being replaced by more and more of a blonde color.

Mother and I were led to the wash basins where the bleach was rinsed off.

A California blonde toner was brushed in and left to develop for ten minutes before it was rinsed off and the hair shampooed and conditioned.

As Erica began blow drying my hair, it took on a dazzlingly bright blonde tone. "No one will miss seeing you now," Erica announced as she styled and blow-dried my hair.

Mother had her hair cut into a long bob and looked like a movie star.

"Don't you just love it," she asked.

Pat added, "You both will need your roots done every couple weeks."

Erica kept smiling at me sweetly. When I paid the bill, I gave Erica a hefty tip and thanked her again for doing such a great job!

After I took off the salon gown, I looked in the mirror and about fainted. I was wearing a crisp white sleeveless back-buttoning blouse, tight figure-hugging navy blue

SANDY THOMAS ADV. -71

mini-skirt, textured pantyhose, and navy pumps.

My blonde hair made me look really fabulous! Erica saw me and said, "You look beautiful and very sexy! You make a wonderful looking girl."

I was shocked. "You know?" I whispered.

"Honey," she said flipping her blonde hair back. "This is a beauty shop! Every one knows everything about everybody! I think it's great. . .in fact, maybe we can go out together some time. Pat said you still like girls?" "Yeah," I said keeping my voice low.

"Well, I think I could go for a boy like you!" she confided. "Can you imagine the guys looks if they found out we were on a date together?"

"Boy, oh boy," I thought to myself. "Blondes certainly do have more fun!"

Before we left the shop, Erica took me to the makeup counter and showed me how to enhance my new sexy image. Darker make-up and vibrant new shades of pink and reds best complimented my blonde hair color.

Being blonde did wonders for mother's self-esteem. Mine too! We knew we looked good----I see the men admiring us on the street with lustful glances.

Mother still looks older, but acts more like my sister than my mother. We spent a lot of time dressing up, the two of us chattering the way girls do about clothes, hair, make-up, jewelry and even MEN! "I'm not dead yet!" she announced after her face-lift.

We go out together a lot now. We do each other's hair and nails, hook each other's bras and waist clinchers and zip each other's dresses. I have to laugh when we are both in hair rollers and lingerie putting on make-up at the mirror. It's a ludicrous setting as off we go in our exquisite cocktail dresses, high heels, the perfume in the air around

us.

Mother has that breathless look of expectation----hoping that there will be some handsome well-dressed men in the bar at the restaurant. To them, I would be introduced as her "little sister." I realized that mother was a normal and now beautiful female who loved the attention of masculine, virile men. I had to accept that mother desired sexual relationships with men.

Mother didn't want to get married again, so she dated