Barbecue Sauce On Prom Night

My grandmother and I were sitting in the kitchen one evening, waiting for my younger sister to return from the beauty parlor. It was prom night, and we were both excited for her. I was sewing the final stitches in the hem of her gown, and Grandma was preparing a batch of her extra-special barbecue sauce, for the after-prom dinner to be held in the gym. It was my sister's senior prom, and she had been nominated for prom queen, so we were all atwitter. Our excitement turned to dismay on her arrival. Her hair was a disaster.

With tears running down her cheeks, my sister explained she had asked for a light blonde frosting, but something went wrong with the mix, and the more the beautician tried to fix it, the worse it got. It was really bad. Her hair was green, pink, and orange all mixed together, and short of a buzz cut, I couldn't imagine any way to fix it in time for the prom. Grandma looked up from the almost finished barbecue sauce, and told my sister to never mind, as soon as the sauce was done, she'd set things right. With that, she squeezed a couple of fresh limes into the brew on the stove, followed by a shot glass of tequila, into the barbecue sauce, not grandma.

The barbecue sauce was finished in about five minutes. Grandma poured about a third of it into an old mixing bowl, took my sister outside, poured the entire contents of that bowl over her head, and told her to stay put for a half an hour. My completely stunned sister did exactly as she was told, and when the time was up, Grandma rinsed her off with the garden hose, and told her to go inside, take a hot bath, and to call us when she was done.

As I walked up the stairs to her room, for what I thought would be damage control, she waltzed out of the bathroom. I was astounded at the transformation. My baby sister looked like a beauty queen, and her hair was a light frosted blonde, with tiny dabs of rainbow colors, that looked like glitter. As we helped her into her gown, she thanked grandma again and again.

Her prom was a huge success, and although she wasn't chosen prom queen, she looked as happy as could be, almost glowing. All the other girls complimented her on her hair, and asked her how she did it. The after prom dinner was also a success, due in large part to my grandmothers barbecue sauce, which drew raves from even the most particular students.

I still don't know what was in the barbecue sauce that fixed the color in my sister's hair, and I don't really care, but I am going to make a big batch of Grandma's barbecue sauce when my daughter has her first prom.