The mechanic and his curious customer, Part 2

The phone rang.

Hank sighed and reached for the phone. “Integrity Auto”, Hank answered flatly.

“Hank?!”, practically screaming

“Who is this?”, Hank demanded

“It’s Tonya!”

“Oh! Are you ok? You on the side of the road?”

“The car is fine!”

Hank cut her off, “That’s good. So what’s up?”

“I messed up.”

“I thought you said the car was fine.”, Hank raised an eyebrow.

“It is. I was coloring my hair…”

He raised and eyebrow, then inquired, “What happened?”

“I thought I did everything right. I don’t know what went wrong and now half of it is fried.”

“Oh no! Tonya, that’s not in my wheelhouse. I don’t know anything about color other. You need to call your stylist.”

“I can’t go looking like this!”

“If she gives you a hard time for coloring your own hair, you need a new stylist. Isn’t it their job to fix that? I fix bad DIY repairs all the time. It happens.”

“Hank! You’re not helping!”

“Jeez. Ok. Come on by. I assume that’s why you called.”

“You catch on fast.”, she said flatly.

“You’re still on the phone? I’m tired, Tonya. I’ll wait 15 minutes.”

Hank sat back in the barber chair, relaxing. Less than 10 minutes later, he heard the front door open.

“That was fast!”, he thought.

“Hey.”, Tonya whispered as the door swung closed. The oversized hoodie she wore concealed her hair, but her faded blue jeans were tight, highlighting her curves.

“That was fast. So what happened?”

Tonya pulled back the hood to reveal the damage. From above the shoulders to the the ends were pale yellow, in stark contrast to her normal red, looking like straw, ragged and stringy. It took everything in Hank not to wince and suck his teeth. He nodded, then locked the front door, turned off the open sign, and extended his hand. Tonya took it and he led her to the back room.

“Let me take your hoodie.”

She pulled off the black hoodie. Underneath was a black tank top, which showed off her toned arms and c-cup breasts. He gestured to the barber chair. She sat, eyes bloodshot and teary.

“Breathe.”

She inhaled slowly, then exhaled.

“Thank you for answering the phone.”, Tonya said quietly.

Hank nodded. He gingerly examined her hair, then winced out of view.

“I’m sorry, but all I can do is cut the damage off.”

“Ohh gawwwd.”, she whispered.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see your stylist? I’ll drive you.”

“I can’t. How much do you have to cut?”

He looked and then put the edge of his hand to her hair, just below the chin.

“Twelve inches off the front and I’ll have to go a tiny bit higher in the back.”

“I don’t want that asymmetrical “Karen” haircut!”

“No no no, nothing like those abominations. I promise. “

Tonya exhaled.

“I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“You do, remember?.”

“What did I tell you?”

“…and I’m telling you that the only solution here is for me to cut off all this damage.”

“I knowww.”, she said an groaned.

“I’m sorry Tonya. It’s been a rough day for me too. I don’t mean to be so short.”

“It’s ok, let’s just get this over with.”

“Aw, c’mon! This isn’t an execution. “, Hank assured her. He gingerly pinned up the damaged waves and tied the paper strip around her neck, draped the pinstriped cape on her, snapped it at her neck, and let the hair drop. He saw a few nearly white strands float to the floor.

“Holy fuck.”, he thought.

“Ok, Tonya. I don’t think I can even brush this out without breaking it. This damged bulk has to come off first.”

“I never thought of my hair as bulk. Do what you have to, just don’t make me bald or look like a man.”

“Definitely not my plan. Try to relax.”

Hank opened the toolbox drawer and retrieved 7″ long shears. He stepped behind her and picked up a clumped together section at the back midway down her neck, his own hands trembling. The blades sliced through it with ease, letting the nearly foot long clump tumble to the floor.

*FRRRSK*

“Oh my god! I feel a breeze already.”

Hank kept cutting, continuing the line at the back to the right side. Clumps of white-blonde dropped on her right shoulder. Some joined the pile behind her, the rest slid down the cape, piling up on her lap. He glanced at her and saw her eyes were tightly shut.

“I don’t blame her.”, he thought to himself.

*FRRSK*

“Breathe, Tonya.”

She exhaled.

“Thank you for reminding me.”

The shears continued around the right side, blades opening and closing. Out of the corner of her eye, Tonya saw the blades close on the remaining long strands just below her chin.

*FRRSK*

Another clump landed on her shoulder then tumbled down the cape. He continued cutting, slicing through the damaged hair until the blades were cutting into the air, just below her chin. Hank glanced from side to side, then paused. He turned back to the toolbox, opened the top compartment, and retrieved a spray bottle. He misted her hair with from top to bottom, and combed it out.

“Oh! I thought you were finished.”

“Finished cutting off the damaged. Now I can comb it out and do the actual cut. It won’t be much shorter, so I’m sure no one will call you “sir”.”, he said and chuckled.

“Okayyyy”.

He kept misting while combing out the bluntly cut hair. He sectioned off the back half and combed through it.

“Head down, let me know if your neck gets tired.”

She obediently moved her head down. Hank retrieved a smaller pair of shears. He combed down to her nape and sliced off the strands hanging below the comb, just below her hairline.

She shuddered.

“Don’t worry, I’m not cutting that much more.”

“I’m not, the scissors are cold.”

“Oh, sorry!”

“No, I kinda liked it.”

“Even better.”, he thought.

His fingers closed the blades, sending wet chunks to the floor, sounding like light rain pattering on a roof. Then he continued slicing and combing, until every trace of damaged hair was gone. He tilted her head up and examined his work, pulling strands from each side and eyeballing them to make sure it was even. She reached back to feel the freshly cut section.

“Oh my god, Hank, it’s so short.”

“What’s the shortest you’ve ever gone?”

“I’ve never had it shorter than the middle of my shoulder blades.”

“I know it’s a shock at first, but you’ll get used to it. We’re not done yet, though.”

“Please don’t cut it all off.”

Hank nodded, then misted her hair again, pulled the strands from the left side even with the back and sliced across, dropping more pieces of hair on her shoulder. Some tumbled off her shoulder and slid down the cape, making a pile on her lap. He went back over it, carefully trimming the ends, then cleans up the right side. The cape is littered with wet clumps of freshly cut hair.  He combs out her bob and steps back, then opened the larger drawer on the tool chest, retrieving a round brush and hair dryer and chuckled.

Carefully, he rolled the brush while applying heat, working section by section.

He shut the dryer off and stepped back, then hands her a mirror.

“It’s so…different.”

“I tried to save as much of your hair as I could, Tonya.”

“I know, I know. It’s good. You did a great job, I just need to adjust.”, she said as she

runs her fingers through it, tucking one side behind her ear.

“Well, we’re about done here, just need to clean up back here.”

She hears an unfamiliar **POP**, then humming sound fill the air.

“What are you…? Oh my…”

Without speaking, he eased her head down and pushed the edge of vibrating blades under her new hairline and moved the trimmers down, cleaning up the stragglers. Bits of redhair and peach fuzz floated down. She shuddered and sighed. He ran them down her neck several times, then pushed the blade up. Looking over, he saw her freshly painted toes curl in her Birkenstock sandals. He felt his own body shudder and smiled.

“Just cleaning up you neck a bit. There were some stragglers that needed to go.”

“I…see.”, her breathing became more shallow.

Hank combed down the sides to the bottom of her bob, running the trimmer along the comb, cleaning the ends, then shaved the peach fuzz from sides of her neck. She squirmed. He raised an eyebrow, then smirked again, switched off the trimmer, and picked up the dryer, blasting off the loose hairs from her neck and shoulders, then removed the cape.

“All done.”

She stood up and glanced at the large pile of hair on the floor.

“Omigod, it’s all gone.”

“Please don’t be mad at me. I tried to save as much as I could.”

“I’m only mad at me.”

“It happens. You could have ended up looking like this.”, he grinned and pointed to his head, recently clipped clean.

She laughed.

“Thank you, Hank. It feels good. Light. You did a great job.”

She shook her hair out and swung it back and forth.

“Ooh, that’s fun.”, she said and fluffed her hair.

She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope.

“No no no, Tonya, you’re a friend and I’m helping you out.”

“Please, just take it. You saved me so much trouble.”

“If you insist. Thank you.”

She grabbed him and gave him a big hug. He felt her curves against his body, the faint smell of her perfume, and felt her nipples perk up as her body pressed against his. Hank wasn’t sure if she felt him grow increasingly firm, but he didn’t care. He let her pull away.

“Be safe.”, He looked into her eyes and smiled.

She smiled and walked out of the shop into the night.

*Will Tonya be back? Stay tuned for part 3*