Trent
Sure, here’s the translation in English:
29-year-old Mrs. Martínez sits in a barbershop, a local inexpensive one, wearing a yellow bottle green blouse; her medium-length hair reaches down to her chest, hanging behind the chair. She gazes at her husband as he runs his fingers through her thick, black hair, pulling and squeezing it. The barber stands behind him with scissors in hand, ready to give her a haircut. Her husband asks,
“Are you sure, honey? You don’t need to do it, dear.”
“Yes, it’s essential. You know my hair is getting less care, I should cut it.”
“Think again, you’ve had long hair since school, as far as I know.”
“It’s okay; I’ll grow it back after some time, after we settle a little, maybe after 2 or 3 years.”
“Alright, whatever you say.”
He turns to the barber and says, “Give her a short nice haircut, she wants something that doesn’t need much combing, and if the visits can be less frequent.” Saying this, Mr. Martínez sits in the waiting area to watch his beloved wife get her hair cut.
Mrs. Martínez is gently pushed into a comfortable position, and then the barber gathers her hair into a medium bun. He takes out a red cape from a drawer and covers Anita while she closes her eyes. Her hair is now ready for the show.
Mr. Martínez is sad. One of the two things he saw when he proposed to Anita was her hair, then in college, a classmate of his, long, thick, and jet black. He liked the hair first, and then he started liking her too. They got married at 26, although she had reduced the length of her hair to her shoulders during the marriage. His love for her had overcome his love for her hair, but it remained. He convinced Mrs. Martínez just after a month to grow her hair again. She started growing it for two years. But the hair has lost its vigor, and it just reached mid-back. Everything changed a few days ago. Mr. Martínez opened a new store in the city center, leaving the old store under the responsibility of his wife. Thirty days of continuous store attendance prompted her to get her hair cut, as she couldn’t manage it well. ‘Short’ before the haircut was added after a convincing phone call from one of her mothers who convinced her that it is better to keep her hair short, as cutting it would allow her to grow it again, but if it is ill-maintained, she would lose it after a year or two for once and for all.
Mr. Martínez was lost in thought when he heard the sound of the scissors’ blades. Anita’s hair is now all combed. The barber has gently pushed her head forward, lowering her view below the mirror as her chin touches her chest. The barber has made a ponytail with his hand, gathering all her hair near her shoulder and has placed the scissors above it at her nape. The moment has come.
Kaaach..chchchchc.hchchch… the blades come into action, inserting into the mass, separating her locks from her head. The ponytail is too thick to be cut in one chop, so as he thought, the barber is inserting the scissors from different directions, trying to cut it apart. With every cut, more of her hair becomes free from the ponytails, hanging loose around her neck. After a good number of cuts, the hair comes loose.
There is a smile on the barber’s face, there is confusion on Anita’s face, but Mr. Martínez is gloomy. All the length she had acquired is gone, back to the shoulders.
The barber then drops the hair into a bin and reaches for a drawer to pull out a different comb. Anita touches her hair at the back, squeezing it, turning her head sideways to get a peek at her back, but the barber is back again. He then bends her head again and asks Mr. Martínez, “Am I cutting the hair at the back short, with the number two guard, or should I do it with…” Anita interrupts in the middle, “do it with the clipper, and I want the hair to be shortened much more at the back and on the sides too.”
The barber asks Mr. Martínez, to which he answers, “do it, whatever she asks, use number one or number zero if she wishes.” The barber removes the guard without asking and then switches it on. He pushes it at the back and then tells her, “I’m going with zero.”
Chunks of hair fall on the ground as he applies the clipper on her back. More hair rains in front of Mr. Martínez as he continues doing it at the back. Anita is enjoying the moment, the sensation. After a few rounds, the barber turns the chair so that her right side is towards the mirror, and then he clips off the hair from the left side to the top of her head. He does the same thing on the other side of her head.
Anita’s hair is short at the back and sides according to the barber. According to Mr. Martínez, Anita has no hair at the back and sides. The barber finishes the sides and back and then switches off the clipper, but this is not the end. The barber then starts wetting the areas he just shaved and then begins applying shaving cream. Mr. Martínez doesn’t resist as the barber takes a straight razor and shaves his wife’s hair from the top of her head to the back and sides, leaving hair only in the front. The first stroke reveals his wife’s virgin scalp, which he never expected to see when he first met her in college. The white patch continues to increase until it spreads throughout her back.
Mr. Martínez says, “Anita, how about shaving your head?” Anita doesn’t reply. The barber, after completing with the razor, combs her remaining hair in the front and stops there. Mr. Martínez says, “Hey, no shaving tomorrow, just give her a pretty haircut, she will shave her head on the next visit.” Anita takes a deep breath, as a sign of irritation and protest.
The barber then parts her hair on the left side of her head, distributing it into two parts. He levels his scissors at the level of the top of her left ear and cuts off whatever is left below it. He does the same on the right side. He then gathers all the hair in the front and cuts a few strands that reach her eye on her forehead. Anita keeps her eyes closed as locks of hair fall into her lap. The barbering is over now.
The barber reaches for another mirror and shows it to Anita so she can see her back. As Anita admires her haircut, Mr. Martínez squeezes and rubs his hand on her hair. He says, “I think the volume is too big.” Anita agrees with him, “yeah, the mop can be reduced I think.”
The barber simply nods and then takes a pair of scissors and a comb. He starts picking and cutting to remove the volume. He gathers the hair with the comb by backcombing and chops off whatever is gathered in the comb. He continues doing this until he is satisfied. Mr. Martínez is also satisfied.
The barber then takes a large brush
and starts dusting Anita. The floor, which was already covered with Anita’s hair, gets more covered as chunks of hair trapped in the cape start dropping to the ground. The barber dusts Anita’s face and then carefully opens the knot of the cape and slides it away.
The barber then applies some powder and combs Anita’s hair for the last time, then turns the chair so she can get up. As Anita admires her haircut, Mr. Martínez pays the fee and leaves the shop, thanking the barber.
10 minutes later
Anita and Mr. Martínez are both in the front seat of their car. Mr. Martínez confesses with difficulty, “I always thought you were beautiful with long hair, spread around your head, but, but I discovered today that this hairstyle is much more beautiful and…”
