Genesis Begins Again

Mama announces that it is time to do Genesis’s hair again, saying that “a woman’s hair is her crowning glory” (121). Genesis doesn’t think that her hair is her “crowning glory,” and that is probably why Mama works so hard to change it. Still, she never doubts Mama’s love for her when she washes her hair because she still does it no matter how many times she tells Genesis she hates doing it. Genesis says that unlike Mama’s long, straight hair, her hair is kinky and difficult to manage.

When Mama finishes shampooing her hair, Genesis combs through the tangles and knots with a dryer comb. Mama tells her repeatedly that she has to dry her hair up, not down, and that when she doesn’t dry it properly, she looks like she is in the Jackson 5.

Mama starts to straighten Genesis’s hair with a hot comb. As Mama works, she tells Genesis that her dad’s humor is what attracted her to him in the first place. She tells her that her dad was charismatic and funny when they first met, and that is where Genesis gets her sense of humor from. Listening to Mama distracts Genesis from how hot the comb is, but her scalp still burns a few times.