Melody’s Brow

The story is inspired by the painting

“Self-Portrait With Monkey”- Frida Kahlo

Hey Mom, “Can I get my eyebrows waxed? They’re so bushy. Karina and her friends keep making fun of me in first and second period. They call me Frida Kahlo.” Melody’s mom replies, “Well then, they are tasteless. Frida is my favorite artist. You used to love the picture I have of her hanging in the hallway. Your unibrow is beautiful Mels. It makes you special. Everyone has something about them that makes them different. Tell Karina and her friends to find something else to do with their time.” Melody answers in a low, saddened tone, “I’m guessing that’s a no.” The Mom sighs, “You can get your eyebrows done once you’re eighteen.” Then, heads downstairs to plate dinner.

Melody looks at herself in the mirror and lowers her head. Then, she gets an idea. She knows where her Mom hides her shaving kit. Without making any noise, Melody sneaks out of her bathroom and into her parent’s room to retrieve the razor from the dresser drawer. Instead, she finds a bottle of Nair Hair Removal Lotion. Puzzled but still wanting to fit in, Melody opens the bottle. She scrunches her nose because the smell isn’t so pleasant.

However, that’s not enough to stop her from smearing the lotion all over the center of her poor unibrow. Since she didn’t read the instructions, it was left on the skin way too long; it begins to burn. In a hurry, Melody makes her way back into her bathroom to rinse it off. When she opens her eyes and looks into the mirror, her forehead is red. Her unibrow is definitely gone, but now she has a bigger problem. She only has less than half of a brow on each side of her face. Melody is devastated. The bullying at school will only get worse.

Her Mom calls her name, “Melody! Honey, dinner is served. Are you coming down?” She panics. She can’t let her mom see what she’s just done to herself. She heads into her bedroom to find a head scarf. She ties it around her head and pulls it down to cover her eyebrows. She jumps out of the window and texts her mother, “Not feeling well, Mom. I’m going to bed early. Love you.” Her Mom reads the text message and finds it peculiar. Melody is a foodie. No sickness has ever got in the way of eating before, so she felt compelled to check on her.

The Mom enters the bedroom without a single knock. Melody is gone. The window is wide open. Her heart sinks. She calls her daughter’s cell phone but no answer. She can’t track the phone either because she notices that the phone is lying on the desk. Immediately, she runs to get Melody’s Dad and calls the police.

The officers arrive. As they are investigating the scene, they notice a fresh smell of Nair coming from their daughter’s bathroom. One of the female officers asks the parents, “Does your daughter normally shave before leaving the house?” The Dad responds, “No, why would you ask us that? Our daughter is missing, and you’re asking questions about shaving?” The Mom interjects, “Actually, Melody was asking about shaving her unibrow moments before dinner. I told her no. Do you think that has something to do with her going missing?” The Dad looks at his wife and shakes his head and says, “You better pray we find her safe and sound, or this is on you.”

A male officer speaks, “Hey! In situations like these, it’s easy to place blame. I’ll tell you from experience that it doesn’t solve anything. It’s not anyone’s fault. Our team will do everything in our power to return your daughter home safely. But, we need your cooperation. Most importantly, you both need each other.” The Dad’s face fills up with shame. He glances over at his wife and apologizes. “I’m sorry babe. It’s not your fault. We’re going to find her.”

The officers start to ask questions about where Melody could’ve went, but the Mom and Dad were adamant that they didn’t know. She didn’t have any friends since they moved from California to Virginia. The Dad says, “There’s a train station nearby. Maybe she’s trying to go back to Virginia.” The officers act quickly and send as many patrol cars to the train station to search for an interracial teen girl about one-hundred and five pounds, five-foot-six, and without any luggage. The Mom hands the officer heading to the train station the most recent photo of their daughter. The female officer stayed behind to console the parents.

The officers arrive at the scene. They are approached by a worker at the train station. He reports witnessing a teen girl begging for money to purchase a train ticket. When no one would donate to her, she ran into the woman’s washroom.

The cops rush into the washroom where they find Melody unconscious in a stall. She attempted suicide by choking herself with the head scarf her grandmother gave her last year for her birthday.

An officer charges to loosen the scarf from around her neck and checks for a pulse. There’s none. He doesn’t give up on her though. He calls for an ambulance, and the emergency medical technicians appear in under five minutes. They promptly transfer her to the nearest Children’s Hospital where Melody’s life is miraculously saved. But, she suffers a traumatic brain injury from the lack of oxygen to her brain. Her parents are in total shock. Their daughter will have to undergo serious mental and physical therapy, but they’re grateful that she still has her life.

Six months later, her Dad and Mom enter her bedroom. As the Mom is holding Melody’s hand and speaking to her, Melody answers for the first time since the incident. She says, “Mom, I’m sorry. I don’t want to shave my unibrow anymore. If I did, we wouldn’t look so much alike, and you’re the most beautiful Mom in the world.”