Laneeka wants a perm. Laneeka had always wanted to get a perm, she had just started the 7th grade and really wanted to have her hair long and straight. “I could do all these styles and I could curl it.” she thought. She begged her mother almost everyday, until, eventually one day, her mother promised that she would get it done for her, as soon as she returned from the grocery store. It was a Saturday and Laneeka had gotten up early and was excited the entire morning because today she would get her hair done.

As soon as her mother left for the store, Laneeka quickly got her chores done and waited for her to return. She waited and waited, she went outside to watch for the taxi that would bring her mother home from the supermarket. When she could not wait any more she went to the cabinet where she knew her mother was hiding the perm kit. She took the perm kit and sat with it on the porch, still waiting for her mother to return. She waited and waited but each time a taxi stopped someone else exited the taxi cab. Finally she got tired of waiting and came up with a grand idea to get her hair permed that day.

With this grand idea in mind, Laneeka got up from the porch, and went over to her neighbor’s house. Her neighbor was a good family friend. She was also a hair dresser and Laneeka knew that if she were convincing enough she could get her neighbor to give her a perm. After all, her mother had already approved it, the perm that is. Eventually, she convinced her neighbor by telling her that her mother had said it was ok. She did not tell her hair stylist that she had just removed her braids and had irritated her scalp. She was so happy to be getting her perm that she ignored all of that information. Half way through getting her perm, Laneeka felt a tingling in her scalp, then it became a burn.

It was burning so badly that she wanted to cry, but only half of her hair had been done. She could not let the hair stylist know because she would have stopped the perming process immediately. She tried her best to not show the pain but eventually she could not take it anymore and started to cry “my heads burning, my heads burning,” she squealed. The stylist rushed her to the tap to wash the chemicals from her head but it was too late, Laneeka’s scalp was already damaged. She cried, her mother and the hair stylist were so mad at her, her hair was not properly done and on top of it all her hair and scalp were damaged. What caused Laneeka’s scalp to be burning?