Chapter 17: The Man Everyone Knows
The Dream House
Book One
The strange thing about Sinnad wasn't that people liked him.
The strange thing was how many people liked him.
As Luna and I prepared to leave the barbershop, I found myself noticing something I hadn't paid attention to before.
Everybody knew him.
Not celebrity knew him.
Not social media knew him.
Real life knew him.
There is a difference.
A big difference.
One is followers.
The other is relationships.
I was standing near the front counter waiting for Luna to finish taking pictures of her braids when an older woman walked into the shop.
She looked to be somewhere in her sixties.
The kind of woman who probably carried hard candy in her purse and called everybody "baby."
The moment she entered, her face lit up.
"There's my favorite barber."
Sinnad looked up from his station.
A smile appeared.
A real smile.
Not one of those polite customer-service smiles.
A genuine one.
"Miss Carmen."
The woman opened her arms.
Before I knew it, the two were hugging.
Not a long hug.
Not an awkward hug.
The kind of hug people exchange when they've known each other for years.
"How's your grandson?" Sinnad asked.
The woman immediately launched into a five-minute update.
And somehow...
He listened.
Actually listened.
Not the fake listening people do while waiting for their turn to talk.
Real listening.
The kind that's becoming rare these days.
Luna noticed too.
I could tell.
Her eyes followed the conversation while she pretended not to watch.
Then another person entered.
A man in construction boots.
"Yo Sinnad."
"What's up Mike?"
A fist bump.
A quick conversation.
More laughter.
Then another customer.
Then another.
Then another.
Every few minutes somebody greeted him.
Every few minutes another conversation started.
At some point I looked toward Selena.
She was watching too.
Her arms crossed.
Her expression unreadable.
Which usually meant she was thinking.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
The world should come with warning labels whenever Selena starts thinking too hard.
"What?" I asked.
She looked at me.
"What what?"
"You're doing the thing."
"What thing?"
"The analyzing thing."
"I don't have an analyzing thing."
Luna laughed.
"You absolutely have an analyzing thing."
"I do not."
"You do."
Selena rolled her eyes.
Then looked back toward Sinnad.
"I just don't understand him."
That answer surprised me.
"Why?"
She hesitated.
For a moment I thought she wouldn't answer.
Then she sighed.
"Because nothing makes sense."
"That clears everything up."
"Shut up Maya."
I smiled.
"What doesn't make sense?"
Selena glanced toward the barber chairs.
"People like him."
"Okay."
"They trust him."
"Okay."
"They respect him."
"Okay."
She pointed.
"Yet he's not trying to impress anybody."
That shut me up.
Because honestly...
She had a point.
Most people spend enormous amounts of energy trying to be liked.
Trying to be respected.
Trying to be important.
Sinnad didn't seem interested in any of that.
And somehow he had all three.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The front door opened again.
This time a teenager walked in.
The same teenager from earlier.
The one who looked like life had punched him in the face.
His shoulders were slumped.
Eyes tired.
Head down.
He barely acknowledged anyone.
Sinnad immediately noticed.
Of course he did.
He seemed to notice everything.
"You good?"
The teenager shrugged.
Which is apparently the universal language for:
"No, but I don't want to talk about it."
Most adults would have accepted the answer.
Sinnad didn't.
He walked over.
Said something too quietly for us to hear.
The teenager nodded.
Then followed him toward a corner of the shop.
No haircut.
No customers.
No audience.
Just conversation.
For almost fifteen minutes.
I couldn't hear a single word.
Neither could Luna.
Neither could Selena.
Yet all three of us watched.
Eventually the teenager smiled.
Just a little.
But enough.
Enough to notice.
Enough to matter.
The boy left shortly afterward.
And for the first time since arriving...
He looked lighter.
Not happy.
Just lighter.
Like somebody had helped carry something.
I looked toward Luna.
She had noticed too.
Of course she had.
Luna notices everything people feel.
Sometimes I think that's her superpower.
Sometimes I think it's her curse.
"What was that about?" she asked quietly.
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
A few minutes later, Ruth walked over carrying a broom.
"You three done spying?"
I laughed.
"We weren't spying."
"You were absolutely spying."
Selena pointed toward Sinnad.
"Who is he?"
Ruth smiled.
The kind of smile that suggested she knew more than she intended to share.
"A barber."
"No seriously."
"A barber."
Luna laughed.
Selena looked annoyed.
Ruth continued sweeping.
Still smiling.
Still refusing to explain.
Which somehow made everything worse.
Or better.
Depending on who you ask.
And for the first time since finding the journal...
I found myself curious about something else.
Not the tree.
Not the photograph.
Not the mysterious woman.
Just a barber.
A barber who seemed ordinary.
And somehow...
That made him the most mysterious person in the room.
As we stepped outside the shop, Selena stopped walking.
Luna and I turned around.
"What?"
Selena looked back through the window.
Toward Sinnad.
Toward the shop.
Toward whatever thoughts were happening inside her head.
Then she shook it off.
"Nothing."
The problem was...
I knew Selena.
And when Selena says "nothing"...
It usually means something.
A lot of something.