Hey Marque
“Marque was one of those magical artists, those hundreds of people that make millions of us look good.”
1999 — He leapt up the Shark Bar steps like a gazelle and looked square at me.
“ARE YOU HOLLIE HARPER?!”
I was waiting tables, knee deep in orders I had’t even put in yet and the “2 hour wait” night was at fever pitch.
WALL TO WALL PEOPLE.
I look at him and started to say no because everyone was staring. Then I remembered my sister was sending a friend my way.
Me — (a lil sheepish) Um…..yeah
Marque — GIRL I’m MARQUE!
He flipped his swoop bang to the side, smiled at me as he rested on his right hip and we were friends.
I lost my friend Marque yesterday
And I am SAD
He was an insane, coldly and boldly talented, Emmy award winning hairstylist who’s laser sense of humor made me cackle with delight.
He was an actor in two of my plays and one web series….and he was a crowd pleaser.
But his true talent was HAIR.
Y’all he could do some hair. Like I said, He won EMMYS. He gave me a weave in 2002 that was so damn good I had random women in the NYSC locker room putting their hands in my scalp searching for tracks.
The hair he gave me was powerful I had to up my damn birth control.
The man was GIFTED
He was also a hilarious friend.
When I went into labor with Luna, he came to see me in the hospital……with a date.
I couldn’t believe he brought a damn date but Marque was like that. He and his cute date sat with me and we all took bets on Luna’s arrival while the Super Bowl captivated Keith and my dad.
After I had Luna, and that thing that happens to women where they give birth and folks DITCH you, did NOT happen with him.
He brought me closer. And he could be abruptly honest.
One day, 6 months after having Luna, we shopped shoes in Union Square and he asked me when I was getting back to being fabulous.
It was like a kick in the gut.
Marque — Girl when are you getting BAAAACK? Where is Miss Hollie???!!!
I started to cry right there in the store because he was right. I was lost in maternity bras, diaper bags, breast pumps and pacifiers. My left breast was wet with milk soaking through and my yoga pants had dried banana on them.
I was wearing Crocs and thought I looked good
Yeah….. Let’s be real. You may look fine in Crocs but you don’t look good ….and Marque was right.
I was actually crying kinda hard in the store ( I WILL cry in public) and I was furious with him. I leaned on the wall and saw my reflection in the mirror and started laughing at the sight of Hot Mess Hollie.
He laughed with me.
Marque - Girl don’t cry, you’ll get back….. Just get back though
And we laughed again…..He was right. I did need to get back
I’ve been getting back for 13 years. His words stayed with me. And even though life took us apart right after I had Razi, I got to sit with him for 3 hours a few years back, at a mutual friend’s event. I got to soak up his smile and hang like we no time had passed.
Then yesterday I got the call
Marque was one of those magical artists, those hundreds of people that make millions of us look good.
He spent his life transforming women into their most heightened selves and he helped me see myself in a light I actually HADN’T before. That day in the shoe store he wasn’t letting me know how dumpy I looked to hurt me, he was letting me know where my LEVEL was and it wasn’t there.
You see I love being a mom. But anybody that tries to act like motherhood doesn’t punch you and your style in the damn neck is LYING.
Marque just threw some cold water on me.
I miss him. And I’m so pissed we never completely got our friendship back on full course. I always figured we’d have time.
.
.
.
.
I wish I could shop shoes with him one more time.
If I had one more day with him I’d buy every pair of heels he suggested.
I’d do my hair just the way he taught me.
I’d spend just 5 more minutes on my eye makeup because he believed in taking time for oneself.
Thank you Marque….thank you and all your years of the glow you set over me, laughing with me, rehearsals with me, train rides and snow cones and years passing, Love, food, babies and many, many moments
“Bitch you are BEAUTIFUL!” he used to yell
Yeah Marque….
And I will miss Your Beautiful self too
#YesIAmThatMom
#HolliesBrain
