Waiting to Exhale

Gloria watches from her bedroom window as a moving truck pulls up to the empty house across the street. She also sees an older man arrive and is pleased to see he is Black. She wonders about his story and his family, excited to have Black neighbors to visit with.

Gloria goes to work only to discover Desiree, the woman who specializes in weaves, has quit, and Phillip is out with shingles. Gloria worries that her customers will connect Phillip’s illness with his being gay and the possibility that he might have AIDS. Bernadine comes for a cut, and they talk about a new man Bernadine is dating who is much younger than she is. She likes this man and claims that he gets along well with her children. Bernadine tells Gloria that she took the kids to Robin’s and Russell opened the door.

At home, Tarik tells Gloria that instead of going to college after graduation, he wants to join Up with People, an organization that travels the world putting on music shows to promote positive thinking and racial equality. Tarik claims that he has a good chance of getting in based on his ability to play the saxophone and his good grades.