“BLACK LIFE MATTER” the red sign on the door said, and the door was locked.  

But I had an appointment. It was the first week after L.A. County cleared beauty salons to reopen, so I knocked and was admitted. “No walk-ins, just by appointment only,” said Marina.

The unwelcome visitor is not the coronavirus, but looters.

“Boarding up costs $1,800,” said Marina, the proprietor, “and I can’t afford that. So my husband thought of making this sign.”

“For three months I’ve been staying at home, cleaning and cooking, cooking and cleaning. I didn’t see my baby granddaughter for two months,” said Marina. “We locked up here completely and left all our supplies in the store.  Products like shampoo that we sell, and never worried about them. But now I took everything and put it in the car, even the license that we have to display.”

“We always clean up after every customer,” said Marina, “and sanitize all our instruments and capes. We are required to do so by the Health Department.  So getting ready to reopen was easy.”  

“We can’t put out magazines or candy though,” said Yolanda. “And no waiting in the shop. If someone is early, they have to wait in their car.”

Young Again, the studio Marina and her partner Yolanda have operated for years, is off the main track, in an elongated strip mall at 7840 Firestone, near   Stater Brothers at Rives Avenue. They have a lady barber too, Isabella, also by appointment, from Friday to Monday.  Isabella has her own niche, and two men came and left while I was there.

“Did you ask the landlord for relief in the rent?” I asked. “The landlord told us to apply for a small business loan,” said Marina. “I paid my tax man $250 to make the application, so he could give all our tax information and show we are a legitimate business. So far, nothing.” 

“But I keep in touch with the owner of another salon,” said Marina. “He filed five days before I did, and he got $1,000. They did send me an acknowledgement they received mine, so I am hoping we’ll get something too.” 

I caught sight of a masked styrofoam head, originally made to display its long auburn tresses.  “Are you selling masks?” I asked.  

“My husband made that,” Marina said.  It’s extra-long and has a sanitizer built in.” 

“Before the Covid virus scare he was working making dresses and blouses, women’s wear,” Marina said. “Then he went to work for another company making masks, and so we have them in black, white, red, blue, green, orange.  They’re $15.” I asked her to set one aside for me to give my son, in a  serviceable gray.

“He made this one for me,” Marina said, modeling a smart feminine black cloth one with red roses. “Now he is back making dresses, and they are making matching masks to go with each outfit.”

Yolanda operates the chair next to Marina’s. Make that two chairs away, as the middle one is purposely not in use now. Young Again has a clientele that spans the generations, but Yolanda specializes in the older group. Her expertise is in handling delicate hair that needs long-lasting teasing. 

Yolanda was attending to a client who had been waiting three months for a permanent. “I’ve been house cleaning and changing the curtains,” Yolanda said. “I’ve been going out on the patio and getting lots of natural Vitamin D.” 

“We’ve got clients who are eager to come back. Some couldn’t wait and dyed their own hair,” said Marina. “I spent yesterday fixing the hair for one client who was getting a lot of gray. It was terrible.”

After almost three months, commercial activity and service-oriented businesses in Downey are cautiously beginning to reemerge. Suddenly communities, from Downey to Downtown LA and Santa Monica, face a new threat. Windows were smashed at the JCPenney store in the Stonewood Mall.  The Downey Police Department handled the situation but now we have to distinguish between those with grief and grievances, and lawless opportunists.  

The door at Young Again is constantly being unlocked and locked again.