The Tomboy

Growing up, Samantha had always been a tomboy. She was very athletic and found herself more comfortable playing sports with the boys than shopping with the girls. Everyone called her Sam, as she preferred it to her full name.

Her mother hoped she would grow out of her tomboy phase, but as she got older, her style sense leaned more masculine, often wearing blue jeans, with a flannel shirt and hiking boots. She never wore makeup, manicured her nails, and rarely wore jewelry. The most feminine thing about her was her long brunette hair, which she always wore in a ponytail that stuck out from her baseball hat.

One day, while playing in a basketball tournament with her friends, she was about to shoot the game winning shot, when a player from the opposite team pulled her by the ponytail, causing her to miss her shot, and loosing the game. Upset that her ponytail was the cause of her loosing the game, she decided to opt for a shorter haircut so it wouldn’t be a problem again.

But when she asked her mother to take her to get a haircut, her mother refused and would not allow her daughter to cut her hair short. However, Sam was strong willed. She figured it was easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission, so she decided to go to a salon by herself.

When she arrived at the salon, she saw the prices for a woman’s haircut and realized she did not have enough money to get her hair cut. Feeling dejected she went to visit her best friend Roger. She told Roger what had happened at the salon and why she was upset.

Roger was surprised to hear how much they wanted for a woman’s haircut. He told Samantha that his barber only charges him $15 dollars for his haircut. Suddenly Sam had an idea. She asked for the name of Roger’s barber and decided to go see him since she would be able to afford a haircut from him.

When Sam entered the barbershop, she was greeted by the barber who told her to have a seat in the waiting area while he finished up the customer in his chair. Sam watched as he shaved a hard part in the boys hair just before he removed his cape. He dusted off the boy and spun the chair around towards Sam.

As the boy paid, the barber motioned to Sam to take a seat. She sat in the chair and waited for the barber. As the barber approached the chair, he asked, “What’s your name Sport?” As she replied “Sam”, the barber removed her baseball hat and was surprised to see the long ponytail.

“That’s some head of hair you have, what do you want to do with it?”, asked the barber. “I need to cut it”, replied Sam, “ A guy pulled my tail and made me miss my shot”. The barber asked, “What sports do you play?” Sam replied, “Baseball, basketball and hockey”.

The barber looked at Sam. Aside from the long hair, there was no indication she was a girl. He said to her, “I’d like to take out the bulk and give you something more sleek and streamlined. You’ll be able to glide through the air freely in all of your sports while looking good doing so.”  Sam smiled and said, “That sounds perfect”

The barber then tied a cape around Sam and stood behind her. Still facing away from the mirror, he began to cut her hair with his comb and shears. He quickly removed the length of her hair at the back, which littered the floor. Sam heard the shears hack through her hair, but couldn’t tell what was going on behind her.

After cutting her hair short at the rear, he then spun the chair toward the mirror and began cutting the sides. His shears sliced off her hair above her ear, creating a very short cut. Sam saw her reflection in the mirror and got a little nervous, as this haircut was much shorter than she expected. She began to worry about what her mother would say when she saw her.

He then turned his attention to removing the bulk  of her hair from the top of her head. Tufts of hair rained down and began to litter the cape. All the while, Sam thought of how mad her mother was going to be. But she’d gone this far, there was nothing that she could do but to wait until the barber was finished.

With her hair at a more manageable length, the barber then spun the chair away from the mirror again and stood behind her. She suddenly heard a strange humming sound behind her. All at once, she felt her head being pushed down to her chest and a vibration throughout the back of her head.

Her head was raised and the chair once again spun towards the mirror. Sam could now see it was clippers that were eating at her hair. They then moved up and down the sides of her head sending tufts of hair sliding down her cape.

As the barber was tapering the sides of her hair, Sam blurted out, “It’s a little short, isn’t it?” The barber simply smiled and said, “Trust me, you’re gonna love it. We’re almost done”

When the barber finished tapering the sides of her hair to what little hair she had left on top, he picked up his hair trimmer and began cleaning her hairline at the back of her neck and around her ears.

He completed the cut by combing her hair and parting it to the side. He then shaved a hard part line in her hair, just like he did to the boy before her. He removed her cape, spun the chair around and declared, “All done,” as he dusted her off.

Sam looked at the floor that was covered in hair, then looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair that earlier was pulled back into a ponytail, was now cut short on top, parted to the side, with a hard part shaved in.

Using a handheld mirror, she was able to see how her hair now hugged her head and was tapered down to a fade, with a clean line edged all the way around. She couldn’t believe what had happened to her.

The barber, proud of his work asked, “What do you think?” Sam, still in shock, blurted out, “I look like a boy”. The barber simply smiled and said, “Yes, now you do, you looked like a girl when you walked in.”  Surprised, Sam replied “I AM a girl!”

The barber, now confused said, “Then why did you come to a barbershop dressed like a boy?”

Sam nervously went home with her new haircut. She knew when she got home, her mother would be angry.  When she arrived home, her mother was appalled at what she saw, but after Sam explained what happened, her mother felt her haircut was punishment enough.

After being ridiculed at school, Sam threw out her flannels, boots and jeans, opting to wear dresses, shoes and makeup. She manicured her nails and asked everyone to call her Samantha.

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