Lira1802
I never really liked getting my hair cut for the school year. But as a boy in a small town, I guess you have to submit yourself to the local rituals. My mom would never allow her boy to look like her little girl, confuses her greatly. Dad, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about how long my hair was but heaven knows my mom would have gripes with him about his own hair.
So, dad would take me down to the local barbershop. It was the only one in town. An old, brick and mortar structure that was more spacious inside. The place smelled like strong cologne that the old, Italian barber wore. He was on the line, pushing fifty, and his skin looked as if it was baked onto his bones. His hair was silver and, what was left of it, was slicked back.
”Morning, sonny”,he hailed me,”Ready for the haircut”
He knew damn well what was coming and how short my mom expected my hair to be. I’m pretty sure some other parents dragged their kids or teens into this place before and had him give their son the classic schoolboy haircut.
After a couple of seconds, I was seated in the chair and a cape was flung over my body. The barber then went to work, using clippers to buzz every little hair on the sides of my head to very short stubble. With the top, he allowed me to keep some hair but not too much. Applying a guard to his device, his buzzed down my blonde crown to a half an inch.
”There we go, sonny”,the barber gave a chuckle as the cape was undone,”This is a good, proper schoolboy’s haircut”
I felt up the right side of my head, felt so weird. At that moment, my teacher, Ms Blavis, came into the barbershop. She taught me arithmetic and basic science. What was she in here for?
I had a crush on Ms Blavis growing up in her classroom. She was tall and brunette and always had a sense of style. When she came in, she was wearing a full jean outfit and her hair was put up in a fashionable updo.
”Hello, James”,Ms Blavis’ voice sounded like music to my ears,”Nice haircut”
”Thanks”,I blurted out,”I did it myself”
”Yes, you did”,the woman giggled.
I quickly climbed down from the barber chair and asked,”What are you doing here?”
”Well, it’s a new school year”,Ms Blavis took my seat in the chair,”It’s high time to shed some of this summer overgrowth”
”But you’re a girl”,I protested,”Girls don’t get school haircuts”
Ms Blavis chuckled,”Oh, my sweet boy. Everyone needs a haircut now and then”
”Alright, James”,my dad said,”Ready to go?”
”But dad”,I whined,”I want to see Ms Blavis get her hair cut”
”James”,my dad started but Ms Blavis vouched for me,”It’s okay, Mr Davidson. I’ll bring James home right after I get my hair cut”
”Okay”,my dad nodded then looked at me,”Behave yourself, you hear”
”I will, sir”,I thanked my dad as he started walking towards the door. When papa was no longer in sight, I turned around eagerly to where Ms Blavis was getting caped up. After fastening the black cape around the woman’s neck, the barber asked,”Alright miss, what’ll it be”
”I would like it a crew cut, please”,Ms Blavis requested,”I need a good tidy up if I’m ever going to teach the next generation adding and subtracting”
I was perplexed and extremely concerned but as I observed the barber’s face, he was all smiles. He gave a quick nod and went straight to work. Ms. Blavis closed her eyes and hummed a show-tune jingle as the clippers tried to join in with its uniform and unchanging hum. The long, brown hair that covered Ms. Blavis’ scalp thickly was slowly coming off with a few light attacks of the tool. What came off left the backside of the woman’s head scarcely populated with follicles. I became enchanted by the process, imagining myself in the Italian’s shoes doing the heavy lifting. My fantasy expanded to more hair and many more pretty faces. A young man who only came in for a haircut was now inspired to be the best barber this side of Mississippi.
”Here we go”,the barber sang in his own gruff but jovial voice, guiding the clippers over Ms. Blavis’ crown. The vibrating blades clipped off much of the crown until he was satisfied.
”There we go, Ma’am”, the Italian beamed, letting the lady inspect his work,”How do you feel?”
”Oh, It’s all simply marvelous”,Ms. Blavis ran both of her hands up the sides of her freshly, closely-clipped scalp,”You did an excellent job, but…”
I snapped out of my trance when I saw her heavenly eyes slowly shifting towards me. Her rose-lips said,”I think I start fresh for the new school year. What do you think, James”
Undaunted, I replied,”Yes, you should ma’am. You absolutely should do it”
That giggle from her told me Ms. Blavis put my answer into deep consideration and decided to follow through.
”Maestro”,she turned her head around and smiled at the man,”I would like you to take the rest off, please”
With no hesitation, the barber did so. His clippers came alive once more and made their rounds over my beloved teacher’s head. To and fro, they clipped and pushed aside everything until all the brown was on the ground. And that was it for the clippers. They died and were put away.
”There we are”,the barber undid the black sheet that enclosed Ms. Blavis’ torso. I stood in awe as this goddess ran her hands up and down and all over her short, stubbly scalp. She turned to me and chirped,”What do you think, James”
”I-I”,I could hardly find the words,”You’re beautiful, ma’am. Absolutely stunning”
”Well, let’s get you home”,she got up from the chair and took my hand tenderly,”Come on”
As if back in a trance, I followed Ms. Blavis to her truck and we drove to my house. On the road, I couldn’t stop looking at her beautiful, bald head. She tolerated my looks without a peep during the ride but before the truck reached my house, Ms Blavis stopped the vehicle. Acting dumb, I quickly turned my head away.
”I know you want to touch my head”,she smiled,”Would you like to?”
My eyes widened and I almost screamed,”Yeah”
Ms. Blavis lowered her head down to my lead and I gingerly stroked the soft scalp of her dome. It felt so nice and I never wanted it to end.
When I had my fun, Ms Blavis started the journey back up and parked near my house. She walked me up onto the porch before taking her leave, saying,”I hope to see you again in the barbershop for a haircut”
I nodded and waved goodbye as she turned to leave, her hairless cranium bouncing as she walked.
