Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Smackdown VS Raw

What is it about ghetto salons that invites cat-fights, bitch-blows and all other such teengs for absolutely no reason whatsoever?

I'm sitting in a rather Jamo-fied (i.e. Jamaican-manned but African-owned) establishment on Monday afternoon having a rather skanky full-head weave (my FIRST thank you very much) stitched to my scalp by a very glamorous and very butch Jamaican feline, when a similarly butch, but not-so-glamorous (and alarmingly hairy - by which I mean facially hairy) Jamaican woman marches in.

First, she makes a fuss about having to wait longer than 10 minutes to have her hair done. Did she make an appointment pray tell? Nooope. Are there any free members of staff walking about doing nuttin? Nooope. But she kicks up a right fuss.

She's asked to be patient by the Kenyan owner (who by the way was arrested a year ago for running a BROTHEL in Mayfair... yes you now know the salon of which I write. I can't believe I still go there when desperation calls. Father forgive me!)

After huffing and scheeuwing, not-so-glamorous Jamaican woman takes up the empty seat next to me.

I don't give her more than a second's glance. I can smell the fire seeping out of her nostrils. Lady wants trouble and is surveying the room for something (or someone) to pounce on.

I get lost in my Equity Finance Textbook (riveting stuff!!) and 10 minutes later hear her say "Excuse me?" I know for a fact there's no way she's talking to me, so carry on being riveted by my riveting equity sumting.

Chinese Dude (who does the manicures in the place. It really is a market place... I kid you not!) calls to the lady doing my hair (i.e. very glamorous and very butch Jamaican Feline): "Feline... she taalkeeng too yoou."

Feline turns round to look at very butch but not so glamorous and alarmingly facially hairy Jamaican woman - let's call her 'Hairy Chin' for ease of reference.

Hairy Chin ignores her gaze, and so Feline returns to her work i.e. sewing skank-ass weave onto Bitchy's head.

Then Hairy Chin yells: "Oh so you gat de eyez too look me now wooman?"

[Kindly read italicised statements with a conk Jamo accent, unless otherwise stated, from here on end]

Feline: "I wurk in fraant of me! Nat behind!"

Hairy Chin: "Whatchu mean ya werk in frant? I calling to you, you ignaar me. Now you say you wurk in frant? Scheeeuw!"

Feline [Addresses Kenyan butt-kissing owner]: "Controool yar castumer Kenyaaan"

Hairy Chin: "Whatcha mean controol yar castumer. You'z mannarlessss! TYPICAL Jamaycan! Typical!

Feline [Slams skank-ass weave onto Bitchy's lap. Pushes back stool violently. Stool falls over]: "Who you teenk you is? Who de frig you? Udder castumers sarry, but FACK youu wooman! Yooseless! KENYAN controol yar castumer! Kenyaaan!!"

[Kenyan scuttles over]

Kenyan [read in Kenyan accent]: "Feline please. Feline calm down. Che!"

[Feline and Hairy Chin are chin to chin, puffing out heaving chests like gangsters buffing up for a street fight]

Chinese dude [read in Chinese accent]: "Feline. Easy Feline. She maykeeng trabble you Feline? I show har dooor Feline!"

Hairy Chin and Feline yell Jamaican profanities ("Frig You!" "Fack You!" "Blaady Appity Teeng!" "Yoooseless!"), spitting in each other's faces.

Chinese Dude and Kenyan get caught in the cross fire, eyes half shut, fearing being blinded by the venomous saliva.

The struggle rages on.

Hairy Chin is pulled out by Chinese Dude and Kenyan - This takes a while as Hairy Chin weighs more than the two combined.

Feline slams back down onto her stool, yanks skank-ass weave off Bitchy's lap, and returns to her stitching - shaking and enraged.

Bitchy leaves the establishment an hour later.

Bitchy returns home and cries to the Yote on the phone.

Bitchy's hair SUCKS!!

20 comments:

Jeremy said...

Pele. But it was surely worth it to get up close to such bawdy poetic dialogue abi? The artist must suffer for her art..

Jamaicans are masters/mistresses of verbal exchange. I sat in in Brixton Rec sauna for an hour years ago listening to an oldish Jammo extol his punani thesis to a recumbent and captive audience along the lines of: its fresh and ready to be picked immediately it lands off the plane, but give it a few weeks away from Jamaica in the arid colds of the UK, and it goes stale and dry)... that's another post!

Anonymous said...

I'm sure your hair aint THAT bad?!

HoneyBeeInDC said...

haha...after realising I had nothing to offer on the reuben abati article, I wandered off the afrobeat only to find out you are operating not one but two blogs! Is it wrong to say that BITC is a more fun read? My brain enjoys the simpler things. lol! I think you should go back and demand a free re-do if it's as bad as you say it is. And when I say "demand", I mean ask politely because Feline sounds like the last person you want to get into a fight with!

Anonymous said...

LOL! Absolutely hilarious, and you know I was actually trying to read in the different accents, didn't quite work out well....
I'm sure bitchy's hair is better than she thinks ;)

Anonymous said...

Bitchy is funnny. sorry bout the hair though. I've been to such jamo run establishments in london several times and there was always a guaranteed fight

Dammie said...

LOLOLOLOLOL, I'm upset thoo...i lost my kenyan accent!!!....Pele.

Bitchy said...

@ Jeremy - Are you offering up the punani thesis as your next post? That's hilarious

@ YMW - Yes it IS!! Lol.. How've youuu been?

@ Emmy - Of course BITC is more fun than TAB! Lol! I love love looove flighty discourse, and yet find myself very interested in deeper/more pressing issues too! I'm not going anywhere near Feline by the way. I didn't even want her doing my hair in the FIRST place cuz yah she may be a ghetto-genius and all, but she gives off a mega bitch vibe.

@ RJ - I too am rubbish at accents generally, but have found that after Monday's ridiculous incident, I'm now a pro at Jamo, Chinese and Kenyan lingo.

@ Anon - This place to be honest is the closest I've come to ghetto, but I've been there several times before and never witnessed anything like Monday. I couldn't even laugh about it at the time cuz they were taking it so damn seriously!!

@ Dammie - When did you ever have a Kenyan accent??? Check your email jo!

Anonymous said...

First time on your blog from Jeremy


LOL - this brings back memories of many years at black hair dressers.

A Naija lady ran a very good hairdressers till she hired some jammos. One sat 5 of us walked out after 2 hours of these ladies chatting up every Jammo man who walked in.Looking at their nails and trying to sort out thier hair.
Bitching about who had done who the last friday night..etc (boss lady was not around).

When I explain to my white colleagues that I need a whole day to braid my hair of half a day to weave, they dont get it.

Noni Moss said...

Loll - that was funny - i could just hear the accents.

Your hair cant be that bad. Hopefully you have a fringe. Using scarves/hair bands help as well - to disguise the meet point.

Anonymous said...

OMG, this is hilarious (I did the accents) sorry about the hair, at least you got some free entertainment ba?

Nigeriandoll in a Man's World said...

OMG just too funny, i'm sure your hair isnt that bad.

Put it down to experince, its a shame cos i find Jamos to be better hairdressers. You just have to deal with all their aggression.

Pele! lolololol

Remi Fagbohun said...

LOL!!
very funny...
I am sure it cant be that bad, description pls!

Cheetarah said...

Lol!I was in that salon with you as I read this, and im good with accents so im laffing my head of! Feline is scary!Pele jare! I go to the market salon in upton park for a weave, dont make sense as I live up north but I loves it:the drama, the noise, the characters! No novel can capture that. Plus they hook me up with some head turning weaves!
Nice1 Bitchy

vindication through innocence said...

yardie women are on another tip!!I dont know what posessed me but one day I decided to get my hair done in South London (saaf side) cos hair excellence in Kilburn was sooo not a good look and that zone in cricklewood is just beyond bait!!men, that day i suffered!!what did i not see? was it the random geezer crackhead who approached me as i came out of Brixton station askin for money - guy didnt know that I just managed to collect £5.40 for student travelcard!And then i got to the place and all these pineapple purple and green haired women were just lookin at me 'ya waaan ghana breeids?'- but they had nice patties next door!
lovin the accents tho...sounds like some serious yardie!

uknaija said...

Very funny...I should blog about my barber's

Idemili said...

Hehehehee! Very funny! Surely it can't be that bad!

Anonymous said...

lol... happy easter angel

Unknown said...

where you at and afro beat moved.. I cant access it... bo ho ho!!!

Anonymous said...

LOL...what can i say ..... hell hath no fury like a jamo woman scorned.i would have been shit scared she would sew the weave into my scalp

Unknown said...

Hilarious. Wouldnt want to be caught in the cross fire though. LOL!!