The Shaving Lie

The razor in our shower was thin, blue, and weighed nearly nothing. It must have been one of those economy Bic razors for men. I didn't have any armpit hair, but at age 9, I certainly had some leg hair. It wasn't dark or coarse; it was blonde and soft. I was curious so i started to shave my legs as the rest of the hot water sprayed my back from the calcified shower head. 

I suppose I could never tell a lie or keep a secret for that matter. As soon as I had dressed, I went to my mom. She was sitting in the kitchen prepping green beans by snapping the edges off with her over-worked hands. I stood there for a little bit just expecting her to notice. She didn’t.

“Maa, I didn’t want to but I had to and it was because I was just standing there and then the razor fell and it fell so that it took off a line of hair and it looked so bad and so I had to do the rest of that leg but then that looked bad too so I had to do the other leg. It wasn’t my fault.”

“Chamaca. Saca la basura.” Which means, Brat. Take out the trash.

I was relieved that she didn’t yell or pull my hair; although thinking back, she never had but somehow always made me think she would.

As I hurried around the house collecting and replacing the trash-filled grocery bags from the bathrooms and the trash from the kitchen, I thought that maybe my mom knew that what I told her was a lie. I recalled my story and considered that it could have sounded unreasonable because it would be really hard for a razor to fall in such a way that it could shave off a strip of my hair, especially one so light. I tried to think of back-up stories, just in case my mom figured it out. Nothing sounded reasonable to me – I was in deep. There was no turning back.

I went back inside started to say something. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, maybe confess? It was plaguing me and I needed to tell the truth not even realizing what the truth was. I stopped mid-mumble and hurried to my sister Stephanie’s room. She was making a mixed tape from songs on the radio. I sat next to her on the floor. I showed her my legs.

“You’re so silly, my mom’s gonna yell at you.” Stephanie said.

I smiled back, content in my mischief.