Beth

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BETH ……

By JimB   ©opyright February 2019

 

For years Beth had long reddish hair, which she tenderly cared for, brushing it at night before going to bed.

 

Taking tend care when she washed it, only getting the ends, the uneven ends, trimmed.

She wore it loose from a center part, pulled back into a “pony-tail” or two “pig-tails”, or one thick braid.

But, she never had it styled like the others girls she grew up with.

Never thought of cutting it short for the summer nor having it styled for special events.

When it reached mid-back she made the decision to keep it at that length.

She hated it when boys would play with it.

When some would tell her, “she should cut it a little shorter”, even getting a “really” short hair cut.

Even her mother got “the stare”, she would give when someone mentioned cutting her hair.

When she graduated from high school her hair hung from under her “mortar-board” and swapped back and forth as she walked to receive her diploma.

Then, it was off to college after a summer of travel, her graduation present from both her parents.

Four weeks of travel to the countries of her forefathers and finding known, and unknown, family. Seeing the towns where her great-great grandparents grew up.

Returning with photos of family, the towns, and stories.

She had one month to get her things together for her first year, her freshman year in college.

When school started, it was the same thing for her new college friends, “Why not cut your hair”.

“When are you going to get the mop cut”, hints she would answer with “the stare” she gave everyone growing up over the years.

Having spent her summers taking courses instead of going around the World like some of her college friends, or taking a part-time job, or just spending time home, she was able to graduate in three years, instead of four as the others.

Her grandparents surprised her with a big graduation present, one year to hang around taking her time in finding a job.

To get use to being on her own!

To learn what it would be like in years to come.

Their present allowed her rent for an apartment and needs, the day-to-day financial needs, and time to look around the job she wanted.

It did not take her long to find the job she wanted.

It was not a local job rather one miles away from her family and friends.

She did her research on the company.

The job and the company, fitted to her years of study, her college degree.

And, the starting salary was a little less than she thought, but over the years it would, as she would grow.

Her first year, on her new job, was as she thought, learning, meeting her co-worker, knowing them, and the clients she would be doing business with.

Her job took her to a few places she had never been, even thought of going to.

After two years she moved into a larger apartment, one with two bedrooms, a nice larger living area, a dinning area and kitchen, which were separated with a small wall, a bathroom with space, and two walk-in closets.

She took advantage of one bedroom turning it into a study and reading room where she kept her small, but growing, collection of books.

Her computer was set up, just a desk and chair and a storage shelf.

After moving in she decided to try out the bathtub. It was both a bathtub and shower.

One of the settings for the shower was steam setting.

Turned to the correct setting would provide steam.

She could stand or put a small chair in the tub to sit while the shower filled with steam which she could breath in or relax her body after a day of work.

She set the time for fifteen minutes.

Slowly the steam filled the shower, her body begin to flow water, her hair became damp, her body relaxed.

The stuffiness she had in her head begin to loosen up and she looked for something to let it loose in.

When the steam bath was finished she cracked the shower door open a little to let it out.

Then, she took a nice shower, shampooing her hair three times then adding the conditioner.

Before getting out the shower, completely, she dried her hair with a larger bath towel then wrapped in another large towel.

Then, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror and dried her self off.

She noticed she was getting a little larger in places she did not want to.

But, it could be taken care of by joining a gym, which she did the next week.

The gym was a few blocks from her apartment and opened twenty-four hours.

So, she could go there any time she wanted.

They had a staff, which interviewed you to see what you wanted and made recommendation.

It started slowly building her work out time a little by little until she reached the time, spent in the gym, was to her needs then to keep her at it.

She met a lot of people and noticed things she had never see, nor thought of, before.

One thing she noticed, while in the shower after a workout, which was required by the rules of the gym, was a lot of the women had shaved pubic areas and almost half of the women had short hair.

All but one of the female staff had short hair.

She noticed the majority of the men, including the ones on the staff, had short hair cut, some even had shaved heads.

She had met one of the men, one day, and they had a nice snack at the bar after a workout.

His hair was a little longer than a “Business man’s cut”.

Then, one Saturday he walked in with his head shaved.

She could not keep her eyes off him during her workout.

There was something about him she had not noticed before.

For some reason his brown eyes stood out more, his body was more pronounced.

She was not the only one to notice the change.

After the workout she asked him to join her in a snack and a little talk about their pasted week.

He smiled and said, “Give me fifteen.”

And, headed to the men’s shower.

She headed to the ladies shower.

There one of her new friends asked her, “You seem to take a shining to Roger’s shining!”

Beth blushed a little, “Yes. It was a shock to see him with a shaved head.

“We are meeting for a snack …..

“Want to join us.

“My treat”.

Her friend smiled, raising her left hand up, “Thanks, but I have to met my hubby at work then home and start lunch for the children”.

“Anyway, two is nice …..

“Three is a crowd.”

Beth dried off body then dried her hair as best she could. Still damp she wrapped it in another towel, as she always did, and headed to the snack bar.

Roger had just taken a seat and ordered two banana strawberry smoothies, one for each of them.

As she took her seat her eyes were on his shaved head.

Taking a sip of her drink she looked at his face and head.

Then, without thinking she raised her right hand to his head and slowly moved it from the forehead back.

“WOW, “ she said without thinking, “It feels smooth.”

She got a strange feeling in her body.

“Shaved before coming out the showers,” Roger answered.

“What do you think?

“I have not shaved in a few years.”

Her throat became dry. She tried to swallow but could not.

Her mine begin to wonder what he meant.

“What do you mean,” she asked him as her body began to shiver.

She reached to his head and let her finger tips brush back over his head, as her body shivered again.

“It goes back to my freshmen year in high school,” he began as he took a sip of his drink.

“If it was your first year of playing sports.

“The freshman boys had their head shaved, by one of the cheerleaders, and you had to keep it shaved for the season.

“I like it and kept it shaved until I graduated. I let it grow out for my mom for graduation night.

“Then, my first year of college …..

“mid term at that …..

“I started shaving my head again.

“But, let it grow when I got out in the “World of business”.

“When short hair came back into fashion for men, I started seeing men with shaved heads ……

“I …..

“Well, my barber was all to well in helping me.

“That, was six years back.

“I let it grow out last summer …..

“Why I do not know, but I did.

“Then, this morning when I went to the barber for a hair cut I saw two little boys getting their head shaved, there mom was sitting there watching.

“I decided then …..

“When I got in the chair I just told my barber, “SHAVE my head” and she did not waste any time.”

“A woman barber!” Beth inquired surprisingly. “Never heard of a woman being a barber.

“Of course, where I am from they are still getting use to high speed computers.”

After a few more minutes of talking about their past week, they went their way.

It was the last time she saw Roger because his company transferred him to the West Coast.

A transferred she had heard, around the gym, he had been asking for because it was close to his hometown.

But, this last meeting and talk did something to her.

Her body shivered when she thought of it.

Her body shivered when she looked at her body after a shower.

Her body shivered when she combed her hair after shampooing it.

Sometimes she woke in the middle of the night, her body shivering from a dream with unclear people in it.

She would lay awake thinking about the dream, trying to see the people in it and what were they doing, saying,

At work when one of the men walked by she would look at how his hair was cut.

She would wonder what they would look like with their head shaved.

She looked with interest at the women who had short hair, always noticing when it was freshly cut.

Wondering how they felt when their hair was cut.

Wondering why they cut their hair.

One day she found her self, asking a few of the men where they got their hair cut.

One night she was out with some of her friends. They had dinner and stopped by a local dance club for a few drinks and some dancing.

As they entered the club she noticed the doorman had a shaven head, which had her stopping in her tracks and staring at his head.

She wanted, ‘o’ she wanted’, to reach up and brush her fingertips over his head but was pulled by the arm by one of the others.

She noticed the two waitresses who had short hair.

She noticed the men, the women, who had short hair.

She noticed the men talking to the women with short hair, how they reacted.

After three hours of dancing and a few drink they started to leave.

Just as she walked out the dressing room her eyes caught a woman walking passed her.

Her eyes, her mine, did not believe what she saw.

The woman had all her hair cut off.

Beth stopped and her body shivered, as her pause speeded up.

She blinked her eyes, turned and looked as she entered the dressing room.

Her friends were waiting for her at the door.

As she approached they she looked back towards the dressing room and saw the woman coming out. She watched as she walked to one of the bars and took a seat.

Beth’s mine went crazy, asking questions after question.

“Ya’ll go ahead,” she told them.

“Tomorrow is Saturday.

“So, I think I will stay a little longer and relax with another drink.”

Her friends gave her a kiss on the cheek and head home.

Beth turned toward the bar she had seen the women sit at, but she was not there.

She begin looking around as one of the waitress, with short hair, asked her if she wanted a table.

Beth hesitated and looked around for the woman, then saw her sitting at one of the other bars.

“No, thank you,” she told the waitress and walked to the bar the woman was sitting.

There were three open chairs next to her. Beth sat two chairs from her.

As she sat she ordered a drink then looked in the mirror at the woman.

She could not believe how short her hair was cut.

She wondered how long her hair was before she cut it all off at this length.

She wondered why she cut her hair so short.

How did she fell while it being cut so short!

WHY did she cut her hair so short!

Beth sat there sipping her drink then looking at the woman in the mirror.

She sat as other women stop and chatted with her, she watched men stop and kiss her.

But, none of them touched her head, nor commented about her hair cut.

Beth’s mine was wondering, her body shivered ever so often.

“Want another,” a female voice asked. She looked up to see one of the female bartends standing, smiling.

“Yes,” she replied.

When she glanced in the mirror she saw the woman, who she had been watching, wondering about, had walked away. She turned looking for her.

Then, she saw her pushing the dressing room door open.

Beth took a deep breath and being to wonder.

When her drink was brought to her, she asked the bartender to watch it for so she could go to the dressing room.

She put a straw over the top of the glass, “This will do it.”

Beth got up and walked toward the dressing room, her mine wondering what she would say if the woman said anything to her.

As she entered the dressing room the woman was fixing her make-up, she looked up in the mirror and saw Beth then turned her head towards her and smiled.

Beth smiled back, her throat dry.

She walked to one of the stalls and stepped in, where she stood for a few minutes taking a few deep breaths as her mine clouded her head.

She could not think, she could not move.

Then, she heard other female voices.

She stepped out the stall and noticed the woman was no longer in there dressing room.

Beth quickly washed and dried her hands then walked out the dressing room.

When she got to the dance floor she begin looking for the woman but did not see her any where.

She felt disappointed and walked back to the bar to finish her drink and go home.

She sat there slowly drinking her drink, her mine wondering if she would have said anything to the woman.

If she was still around!

Then, ……

“Mine was not quite as long as yours’,” a female voice said as she felt her hair being pulled back off her shoulders.

Beth looked up in the mirror to see the female voice was the woman she had been watching and wondering about.

Beth sat up, smiled, and tried to say something.

“May I,” the woman asked as she pointed to the chair next to Beth.

Beth knotted “yes” and she took the seat.

“My name is Samantha,” she told Beth.

“But, my friends call me Sam, for short.”

“Beth,” Beth replied.

Sam leaned over and gave Beth a kiss on the cheek, “I have a cousin named Beth.

“It’s not short for any thing …..

“Just Beth.

“Yours’ short for Bethany ….?”.

“NO ….. Just Beth,” she replied.

“So, you have been wondering about the hair cut,” Sam asked her with a wicked look on her face and a smile.

“I noticed you when I first went into the dressing room, then when you sat at the bar.

“But, when you came into the dressing room a few minutes ago and stood there. I knew you were looked at my hair cut.

“Never seen a woman with a number one cut …..

“Have you?”

“No, not really,” Beth answered. “The shortest I have seen a woman’s hair cut is a Bob.

“Many of the girls I went to high school and college with had a Bob.”

“I know a little restaurant a few blocks from here.

“How about we go get a cup of coffee and talk,” Sam recommended.

“Just a sec,” Sam said as she stood up then stepped behind Beth.

She pulled Beth’s hair tightly back off her face.

“Yep,” she said as she moved Beth’s head side to side.

“What,” Beth inquired!

Sam let her hair go and patted her on the right shoulder, “Let’s get out of here.”

They walked out the club and headed toward the restaurant Sam knew.

As they entered the restaurant Sam said “hi” to one of the waitresses and said “two coffees” as they walked to a booth in the back.

Waiting for their coffee Beth asked Sam, “What was the “yep” about?”

The coffee came and Sam introduced the waitress to Beth, “This is my little sister, Debra ……

“Deb is this Beth.

“We just met at the club.

“So, if she comes in treat her nicely.”

Debra smiled, brushed her right hand over Sam’s head, “Got ya sis and the coffee.”

Taking a sip Sam looked at Beth.

“Yes and you would,” she told Beth.

Beth looked puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“Your hair,” Sam replied. “You should cut it short.”

Beth grabbed hand full of hair and held it.

“I know. You only trimmed the ends,” Sam began, “You never thought of cutting it short.

“And, if you did you went crazy at the thought.

“And, if anyone said anything to about cutting it short, your gave them a “stare” which told them they were crazy.

“RIGHT …..!”

Beth knotted “yes” as she lowered her head.

“Then, you saw me tonight,” Sam continued.

Again Beth knotted her head “yes’.

“I when through it all, too,” Sam told her.

“Then, one day, just like you, I saw a woman with short hair, shorter than I had ever seen on a woman.

“But, not this short.

“Just almost like a hair cut little boys’ get.

“I could not keep my eyes off her, I even wondered where she lived, where she worked, so I could …..

“Well, just wonder pass and hope to see her.

“I did after a few months.

“I was having lunch at a little out door restaurant and across the street was a barber shop and she came walking out.

“She crossed the street and walked towards the restaurant and sat two tables from me.

“And, I sat there, slowly eating and drinking, looking at her.

“When she finished eating she paid, got up, she turned to me and smiled and winked.

“Just like we did tonight. I met her and we talked.

“A few months later I found my self walking in to that little barber shop.

“When I entered the shop I knew who her barber was ……

“A woman who had the same hair cut I have.

“I did not walk out with the cut, it came about over a year or so.

“Do I regret it ……

“I regret not doing it years ago.”

Beth sat just listening to Sam talk, not saying a word.

Not asking a question.

Sam finished her coffee, got up, gave Beth a kiss on the cheek, put a note next to her cup, and went her way.

Beth sat there. She did not turn to see where Beth went.

She took a deep breath and put the note in her purse without looking at it.

Then, she finished her coffee, left Deb a tip, and left for home.

Over the next few months Beth looked at the note sitting in her purse each time she opened purse.

She wondered what was on the note.

Then, one day she took the note out and read it.

On it was just an address, nothing more.

No name, no telephone number, not even a message.

She quickly shoved it back in to her purse and covered it up with things in her purse.

The next month she got a promotion to shipping manager, a promotion she did not expected.

There were others who were more qualified and been with the company loner than her.

None of them said a thing when she was named the new shipping manager.

She would have her own office but her hours would be the same. Only she would be making over-time and would get extra days off sometimes instead of the over-time.

Days she could use the time for an extra vacation or just for a few days off.

She accumulated almost a month by the time spring came around. She also accumulated a lot of over-time, which she set aside for a vacation with the extra days.

Her scheduled vacation was not until mid August for two weeks. She had planned on going on a cruse for a few days then a short trip home to visit family and friends.

But, the spring weather was all but cool. It was more like summers she remembered as a child.

Hot and dry.

So, she decided a few days, maybe two weeks, off would be good. She could spend some of the time in the gym’s new outdoor swimming pool.

Maybe a day or two at the lake!

She looked things over at work and saw nothing much happening in April, it was always the slowest month.

Not a lot of shipments going out, nor coming in.

They did inventory in April and she did not have to be there, as an outside company, who specialized in inventorying was contracted to do the inventory each year.

All she and her staff did was relax. Maybe shipping out a few things but nothing went out.

So, she asked her boss if she could take off two week in the middle of April.

“Sounds great,” he told her. “If it were not inventory time I think I would join you, specially this year with all this hot spring weather.

“O’ ….. When you get back I might have you cover for Jane for a week, she starts maternity leave the third week of April”.

“I forgot about her leave,” Beth answered. “Maybe I should move my start day back a week?”

“NO,” he said. “I can use the time getting use to the computer system we put in for her department. You go ahead with your plans.

“Just let Marc know he’s going to fill in for you,” her boss said.

“Have you made any special plans?”

“I will let Marc know and make sure every thing is up to date Friday,” Beth told him.

“No, I have no plans.

“I just thinking about a few days in the new outdoor pool at the gym and maybe a weekend cruse ……

“Other than that I’ll be home resting and reading.”

“Have a good two weeks,” her boss replied.

Three weeks passed quickly. She kept Marc up on any changes.

On Friday she gave him a little schedule of what she would be doing, just in case things got crazy or an emergency came up.

On her way home she stopped at one of her favorite restaurant for a little seafood dinner.

When her drink, a glass of white wine, was served she took a sip and opened her purse and took out the note. She took another sip and read the address.

No name, no telephone number, just an address.

What was this place she thought to her self.

What kind of place was this!

Why had Sam given to her!

After enjoying her meal she headed home.

While walking to her car her thoughts went to the note and the address.

She did not recognize it as one she knew.

Should …..

She thought to her self a few times.

As she pulled out the parking lot the little voice, in the back of her head, had her turning left instead of right and home.

She knew the street and how to get to it from the restaurant she just left.

She drove to the street as her unconscious mine was directing her to do.

She drove slow, stopping at all lights, watching carefully as she drove pass the many business.

Looking for a hint of the address.

She stopped at a red light and took the paper out her purse and read the address again …..

515 Major Avenue ……

The street name came to her but she could not match it with anything she knew on Major Avenue.

A few minutes later she arrived at Major Avenue and Page Street.

She looked at the street sign to see which direction she had to turn.

The sign had arrows pointing in each direction with the block number.

Five hundred was to her left. She turned and slowly drove past the small business.

She recognized where she was when she saw the restaurant with the open seating area where she had lunch many times.

It was then she recognized the address.

It was the little barber shop across the street.

The address, the barber shop, she had seen that woman walk out with all her hair cut off.

Just like Sam’s haircut.

The women she had sat looking at as her body shivered. The woman who had smiled at her as she paid her bill and left.

Could Sam have been that woman!

She looked at the barber shop as she drove by, it was closed.

There was a hunk of a horn. She looked in her rearview mirror and saw there were cars backing up behind her.

She shook her head and drove home.

She did not get much sleep that night.

Her mine kept flashing images of the barber shop, images of that woman, images of Sam.

Her body shivered, she began to sweat.

The next morning after some coffee and a light breakfast, she got dressed and headed back to Major Avenue and the address of the barber shop.

All the time driving there her mine thought about what she would do once she got there.

As she reached the intersection with Page Street her heart jumped into her throat.

What would she do!

Slowly she approached 515, her eyes eyeing the barber shop as she approached.

She looked around for street parking but there was none. Her eyes found an open parking lot at the corner next to the furniture store.

She pulled into it, parked, got out her car, and nervously walked back to 515 Major Avenue.

A few steps from it she stopped and crossed the street and went to the little outside restaurant.

There she took a seat at one of the outside tables, and ordered a coffee and roll.

She sat so she was looking at the barber shop.

She noticed a woman walking into the barber shop, she grabbed hold of her long hair and pulled it through her fingers a few times.

She sat waiting for the woman to come out. An hour passed and she did.

Her hair was not short just as she walked in with. Just a trim Beth thought to her self.

Beth ordered another cup of coffee and continued sitting and looking across to the barber shop.

When she finished the second cup of coffee, Beth decided to go home.

She motioned to the waitress for her bill and telling her she was going to the bathroom.

The waitress shook her head telling Beth she understood.

When she came out she paid her bill and gave her a nice tip.

As she walked out the restaurant her eyes looked at the barber shop and slowly her mine took control of where she was going.

As she passed the table she sat at she placed two more dollars for the waitress.

She stopped at the curve and looked both ways. No cars coming.

She took a deep breath and began the journey across the street, she was just going to walk up to the window, look in, and head for her car and home.

But, when she looked into the barber shop …..

It was as if she was on remote control.

She walked up to the door, opened it, and walked in as she slowly let out the deep breath she had taken when she was opening the door.

It was not her first time in a barber shop.

She had gone with her dad and brothers many times as a child.

But, she did not get a hair cut, she just watched them get hair cuts. The last time was went she nine.

The first barber greeted her, “Morning”, as she walked in. “Just take a seat.”

She saw an open waiting chair but did not notice it was in front of the lady barber. The other three barbers were men.

“Just one more ahead of you,” the lady barber said.

Beth took a deep throat catching breath and sat in the chair.

As she did she pulled her long hair from behind her and let it fall over her right shoulder.

She played with the ends, at how uneven they were.

“Just a trim,” she thought to her self.

“That’s its a trim of the uneven ends. Then, out and home”.

Her eyes caught the men getting out the chairs and leaving.

Then, another man would walk to each one and sit in it.

The shop was filled with the smell of sweetness, the powder barbers dust on their customers when their hair cut was finished.

The sounds of scissors cutting hair, the sounds of clippers buzzing.

Then, while her mind was wondering “why” she was here, her eyes watched as the man, in chair in front of her, step from it, pay and left.

The sound of a barber’s cape being shook in the air, sending small clipper hair floating in the air then to the floor.

Next, her mind was brought back to reality by the sound of a woman’s voice.

“Sweetheart,” it said. “You’re next.”

Beth looked up at the lady barber. She had to make a decision and fast.

Could she walk to the barber chair and sit or should she get up and leave without saying a word.

Her choice of the two tumbled in her mind as the woman’s voice called again, but closer to her.

Her eyes looking down she saw two feet standing in front of her.

“Need a little time,” the voice said as she looked up the lady barber as she stepped back a little. “I’ll sweep up while you take your time.”

She heard the bell ring on the door and looked towards it, only to see the other two men walking out. She did not notice they had gotten out the chairs and paid.

“Eve,” her ears hear a male’s voice call, “Ron and I are taking an early lunch then going to the sporting goods for some fishing tackle.

“If, you take lunch before we get back …..

“Lock the shop.”

“OK,” the female voice replied.

“You decided,” the female voice called to her.

Beth stood, “Should I sit in the chair or should I leave”!

Her right leg stepped towards the chair. Slowly she walked to it and sat in it.

Her left foot rested it’s self on the footrest as her right leg crossed over it.

For some reason her body was relaxed. Her mind began to clear.

Her throat still dry!

She swallowed a little, then spoke.

“Just a trim,” she told the lady barber. “Not more than half an inch.”

“Okay,” she said. “My name is Eve. Yours?”

“Beth,” Beth replied as she looked in the large mirror on the wall behind the waiting chairs.

She looked twice and saw Eve’s hair was cut shorter, almost shaved, than Sam’s.

“Your first time here,” Eve inquired.

“Yes,” Beth replied nervously. “Someone I met a few months ago gave me your address.

“She, her name is Sam, told me you cut women’s hair.

“I only want a trim …..

“Nothing more than half an inch.”

“Sam,” Eve commented. “I know a few ladies with the name of Samantha, who go by Sam. Two of them are customers.

“They both get the same kind of hair cut.

“Short …… real short”.

“She could be one of them,” Beth said as she became more relaxed than when she came in the barber shop.

“We met one night at a dance club I go to on Friday nights.

“Her hair is almost cut completely off her head.

“Just enough to see she has hair on her head.”

“Like I said, could be one of the two,” Eve commented as she brushed Beth’s hair out.

“Just a trim.

“I don’t think I will have to cut half an inch. Just snip at the ends will make them look even”.

“Sam’s hair cut is a little longer than yours,” Beth commented as she looked in the large mirror.

“Like I said, could be either one of the Samantha’s who are customers,” Eve replied.

“If, I may ask,” Beth inquired, “How long have you been cutting women’s hair?”

“Let’s see,” Eve said. “I’m thirty-two …..

“I finished barber school when I was eighteen …..

“So, it would be fourteen years.”

“And, your hair cut,” Beth inquired.

“Ten years,” Eve commented as her eyes met Beth’s eyes in the larger mirror.

“It was a hot Spring day like today.

“Just walked in as usual, there were no customers and Carl, the owner of the shop, and I were just sitting, in our chair and I said to him, “Really hot today.

“Think I’ll cut my hair short, will you …..

“I looked in the mirror there and told him just cutting it all off.

“I got out my chair, I got in his ……

“Five minutes later I had a Buzz Cut and have never let it grow than uneven.”

‘Buzz Cut,” Beth asked, “Is that what you call your hair cut?”

“Yep,” Eve replied as she stepped to the shelf. “Just clippers, no attachment.

“Just a few passed over the head and it’s cut.”

Eve turned back to the chair, her eyes met Beth’s in the mirror.

“Come to think of it,” Eve continued, “Both Sam’s had long hair like yours’.

“They came in, different days, asking for a trim.

“But, walked out with a collar length trim …..

“If you can imagine what I mean.

“They came back ……

“Well, let’s just say they have great hair cuts, now.”

“Great hair cut,” Beth thought to herself. “They are almost bald.”

“I heard on the news and weather this morning,” Eve said as she continued to comb through Beth’s hair.

“This weather will be getting hotter over the next few days and will stick …..

“No pun ….. around until end of August”.

“Yes, I heard that, too,” Beth replied as her mine begin to go cloudy, again.

“I bet you will be getting a lot of women, and girls, coming in for a short hair cut ……

“I only want a trim.”

“Yes,” Eve commented as she pulled Beth’s hair back off her face and combed through it with her fingers.

“Had a few the past few days.

“Had a mom come in with her seven year old daughter.

“They both walked out with nice short Crew Cut.

“The daughter just sat there as I moved the clippers over her head. Her mom thought she would not sit still but she did.”

“WOW, that sound strange,” Beth said. “I don’t mean the hair cut …..

“A woman can cut her hair like she wants.

“I mean for her seven year old daughter, to sit still for such a hair cut is odd.

“They usually want to move around and see what is going on.”

“Right,” Eve comments. “Okay, ready for the trim.

“Like I said all I have to do is clip the uneven hairs, not a half an inch.”

Beth watched, in the large mirror, as Eve lowered herself a little.

Then, heard the quick “click” of the scissors.

She heard the “clicking” move from the right, behind her, then on her left.

“There,” Eve said as she stood up.

“Just clipped the uneven hairs off …..

“Even all around”.

Eve put the comb and scissors on the shelf and returned to the chair.

“Here, holed this,” she told Beth, handing her a somewhat larger hand mirror.

“A little trick I came up with for women with long hair who was a trim.”

Beth held the mirror out as Eve held a larger one to the side.

“Okay,” Eve asked again.

“Yes,” Beth said as Eve took the mirror from her and put them both in a cabinet under the shelf.

Eve turned back to the chair with comb in hand. She combed through Beth’s hair as she checked for uneven ends.

“I heard it will get drier as well as hot,” Beth commented nervously and a dryness in her throat.

“Bet hair will stick to the neck a lot.

“And, if you go out in a Sun Dress it will be sticking to your arms and shoulders ….. ever your back.”

“Yes, it will,” Eve replied with a snicker in her voice.

“Best thing to do would be some short.

“Even not wear a Sun dress.

“Not too short …..

“Maybe around the shoulders!”

“Yes, that could do it,” Beth nervously said, her mind thinking. “But, you would still have hair sticking to your neck a little!”

“Yes,” Eve’s wicked voice said as she begin pulling Beth’s hair through her fingers.

“Something a little short would be better.”

“Say like this,” Eve’s wick voice asked, with a evil look in her eyes, as she pulled Beth’s hair tight behind her head.

“Just even with the nape hairline ……

“Maybe a little higher!”

“That is short,” Beth told Eve.

“But, it would not stick that much,” Eve answered as she moved her hold, on Beth’s hair, higher.”

Beth felt something coming over her.

“Let’s say, I would ask you for a recommendation!” she inquired of Eve.

Still hold her hair, Eve smiled and pulled her hair off her face.

Gathering it in one hand, as she reached behind her.

Beth watched her move around behind her.

Wondering what she was doing, what was she reaching for.

“Just checking it to see where it was,” Eve commented as she held Beth’s hair.

“SO, ….?”

“So?” Beth asked nervously.

“Want to go for a little short cut?” Eve inquired as she let her hold slid down the length of Beth’s hair until it was around her shoulders.

Beth looked at her self in the mirror.

Eve let her hair go and turned to the shelf.

Her eyes kept in contact with Beth’s eyes.

Beth brought her hands up and began pulling her hair so it was like Eve had.

“That is short,” she told Eve who was still standing not facing her.

Her eyes caught Eve doing something.

Eve turned with her back to the shelf, her hands behind her back.

“But, no sticking hair,” she told Beth.

Beth let her hair go. It hung freely.

“DO IT,” she told Eve, who smiled.

She turned and picked up her comb and scissors.

Turning to the back of the chair, to Beth’s back, she combed a section of hair and began snipping.

When she heard the snipping, Beth froze.

Eve noticed it and began snipping more, faster.

Slowly the scissors appeared from behind her head on the left side of her head.

To her surprise Eve had cut higher than her shoulders. She was cutting her hair just above her ear lob.

All she did was take a breath and watch as Eve began snipping her hair from behind her to the right side.

See looked at Eve who was smiling.

“You know, I do remember Sam,” she told Beth.

She walked to the shelf and put the comb and scissors down.

“Her hair was a little shorter than your’s ….

“Was ….”.

Beth became a little upset but her body, mine, would not let her move.

Eve turned back to the shelf as she reached under it.

“CLICK”

Beth looked around for the sound.

“Then, I showed her WAHL,” Eve said.

“Wahl?” Beth asked.

Eve placed her left hand on the top of Beth’s head.

Beth looked in the mirror.

“Wahl Balding Clippers,” Eve told her as she raised the clippers for her to see.

“Then, they said ‘hello’ to each other.”

Beth took a deep breath as she felt Eve softly push her head down.

She was looking at her cape lap.

Eve just gently held her head.

“Hello WAHL,” Beth let out.

Eve placed the clippers below her hairline and slowly pushed the clippers up ward. Not stopping until the top of Beth’s head.

She began another upward movement sending hair down to the cape, as Beth’s eyes caught site.

With the back of Beth’s head buzzed close to her skin, she stopped to the left side of the barber chair.

Tilting Beth’s head up, so she could watch.

Placing the clippers at the back of her head, Eve slowly moved it forward pushing a pile of hair to fall pass Beth’s eye to the cape.

The right side followed with WAHL’s saying ‘hello’.

The clippers were turned off and hung.

Beth looked at her self in the mirror.

She tried to think.

Think ‘why’ she had let Eve cut, buzz, all her hair off.

Eve did not mention and thing about buzzing her hair off.

Just cutting it short, shorter.

“Mom,” Eve said.

“Mom?” Beth asked

“Mom and her daughter,” Eve replied.

“O’ the one you just told me about,” Beth replied with interest.

“Still can not believe a seven year old girl would sit still for such a short hair cut.”

“Mom, came back a few weeks later,” Eve began telling her.

“I was buzzing her back.

“I noticed she was feeling a little ……

“You know …..

“Just like you, now.

“A little nervous!” Beth said.

“Yes,” Eve replied.

“I just took the attachment off and showed her what WAHL BALDING looked like.

“She took a breath, smiled, and they said ‘hello’.”

“Just like I did!” Beth asked.

Eve smiled as she brushed her finger tips over Beth’s buzz hair cut.

“Then, I introduced her to …..!”

She turned to the shelf and took hold of …..

Slowly she turned and looked at Beth in the mirror.

She held up her straight razor.

Beth watched as Eve brought them over her head, for her eyes to see it.

“It sings a nice sound,” Eve told her as her left hand brushed over Beth’s buzz cut.

Beth turned her head to the right and looked at Eve standing there.

She moved the straight razor straight back above her head and placed it on the shelf.

She undid the cape and let it fall covering all of Beth’s buzzed off hair.

Taking a large white towel, she tossed it in the sink, which was now slowly running hot water.

A second towel was tucking into Beth’s blouse and spread over her shoulder.

Eve whispered, “The warmth will feel good and soften,”

Beth just shook her head as if she understood.

“UNDERSTOOD” what!

Eve rung the warm towel and wrapped it around Beth’s buzzed head.

Stepping to the shaving dispenser she flowed warm shaving lather.

She lathered Beth’s head.

Wiping her hand, she took hold of the straight razor.

Stepping to the right side of the barber chair she took hold of the leather strap and began stropping the open blade.

Beth turned her head to watch her do it.

When Eve let the strap fall, Beth turned to the mirror and watch as Eve began shaving her head.

Beth began smiling the more Eve shaved.

She could not believe how it felt, how much she wanted Eve to shave her head.

As Eve stepped behind the barber chair …..

The little bell over the door sounded.

“Well,” a female voice spoke.

“Did not believe I could do it.”

“Have a seat Sam,” Eve said and pointed to a waiting chair.

“You lose the bet.

“So, you’re next.”

Beth was shocked as she looked at Sam taking the seat in front of her sitting in Eve’s barber chair getting her head shaved.

She wanted to ask.

But, her mind said nothing.

Eve tilted her head downward and began shaving the back of her head.

“What did it take, this time?” Eve inquired.

“A cup of coffee and talking,” Sam said.

“Of course, I slipped her the address.”

Beth tried to think.

“Isn’t it time you showed her,” Sam said to Eve.

Beth looked at Sam, then Eve.

Eve stopped shaving and placed the straight razor on the shelf.

She walked to the front of the barber chair.

She smiled a Sam. She smiled at Beth.

“Do it,” Sam told Eve. “Or, I will.”

Eve raised her hands to her head. There was a soft popping sound.

She removed the wig.

“I have been shaving my head since I was twelve,” she told Beth as she stood there looking at her looking at her.

“I peed my mom and she took me to the barber shop …..

“And, told the barber ……

“Sam’s mother, to shave my head.

“She made me shaving my head every day, sometime twice a day.”

She turned to Sam and looked at her.

“Eve and I met again about ten years ago,” Sam began telling Beth.

“When I mentioned my last name and my mother was a barber.

“Well, she put things together.

“Months later, I was just getting a trim when she started telling how she knew me.

“I remember her.

“Then, I heard a “click” and my hair was being buzzed off my head.

“NO ASKING ……

“She just started buzzing.

“A few monthly later my head, again without me asking, was shaved.”

“But, why me,” Beth inquired.

Standing of the left side of the barber chair, Eve began shaving my head, again.

“We just started talking about shaving other women and before we knew it, it was a game.

“Sam looking and me shaving.”

I sat watching Eve finish shaving my head.

“How many?” Beth asked.

“You are number sixty,” Sam replied.

“And, mom,” Beth asked Eve.

“She did on her own,” Eve answered.

“MOM!” Sam asked.

“That’s right,” Eve told her. “I forgot to tell you about her.

“She came in a few months ago with her daughter and both left with a Crew Cut.

“Mom came back a few weeks later ……

“And, well she left with her head shave.

“I did not even have to talk her into it.

“She just sat there and she said ‘hello’ to WAHL Balding Clipper …..

“Then, I introduced her to ‘warm and soft’.

“She comes every Saturday morning.”

“Will you please finish shaving my head,” Beth asked Eve.

Eve wiped the excess lather and dusted Beth’s head.

As she stepped from the barber chair, she asked Eve, “If I send you a few customers!”

“Are you going to keep your head shaved” Sam asked Beth.

She looked at her self in the mirror.

“I believe you are next,” she told Sam as she sat in the waiting chair.

“Will you be joining us at the club tonight?” Eve asked as she started tucking a towel in Sam’s blouse.

“Will I be seeing any surprises?” Beth asked.

“Maybe a you will get a few surprises, your self,” Eve told her.

Beth looked at her questioning.

But, let it go.

“Then, we will see you at the club around seven,” Eve inquired as she lathered Sam’s head.

By JimB   ©opyright February 2019

 

2 responses to “Beth

    1. After rereading my posting ….. I think I might do another chapter “about a few years later” ….. I have done that a few time, sometimes incorporating the chapters / parts into one BIG / LONG story and posting it like that.

      Thanks for the idea.

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