Karoka
It was April 1st and Peter Maddox was dusting up his dad’s barber shop, nervous but excited at what the month held for him. For the past 25 years, his dad had upheld a tradition, offering clipper cuts for women at a massive discount during the month of April, with summer setting in.
It was a tradition that drew droves of customers on a daily basis, with mom’s, young women and young teenagers all coming in for a summer cut. At 18, Peter had been helping his dad out for just over 7 years, picking up the tricks of the trade while watching and practicing. Now, this time, he would handle the summer shearings on his own.
This was something Peter had been looking forward to for years. He felt a giddy excitement watching women and girls getting shaved and had wanted to be the one doing the cutting all along. Now was his chance.
The 17-year-old finished his dusting and went to the store’s door, flipping the closed sign to open. It was only 9 am, with customers likely to come in a little later on a Saturday morning. Peter was a tall 6’2″ and still growing, with dark brown hair that was short but stylish and brown eyes. Assured in his steps, the youngster had the aura of a longtime barber.
He went back to his station, opened the drawer and took out his trusty oster clippers along with a few guards and a sharp pair of shears for the day ahead. Then he sat down and waited. An hour passed with no customers coming, but Peter remained patient.
At 10:15am, his patience finally paid off, when a middle-aged woman with 2 young girls popped in. The woman was aunt Lyra, his next door neighbour, and her daughters, Stephanie and Angelica.
Aunt Lyra had long blonde hair that was open and reached the middle of her back, with light waves at the end. She stood at 5’2″ and was a beautiful, mature lady, with a developed body and subtle curves. Stephanie was a bit shorter than her mom, with the same blonde hair, but in a high ponytail that reached below her shoulders and a pretty face. Angelica was the shortest of the three and different, she wore glasses that covered her pretty features but light blonde hair, almost silver in colour, in a braid that reached her waist.
Peter walked over to them, greeted them and asked whether they were here for the special summer offer, anticipation bubbling in his heart. Aunt Lyra replied yes, while tucking a bit of her long hair behind her ear, saying that they all needed a good haircut.
She looked in good spirits while both daughters were used to it. They had been coming to this barbershop for years and were no strangers to a summer shearing. Peter asked who would go first and Aunt Lyra pointed at her younger daughter Angelica to get in the chair.
Angelica obliged, taking a seat and Peter calmed his nerves, while reaching for a cape. He pulled the cape over Angelica before picking up her braid to secure the ends around her neck. It was a beautiful braid indeed, with thick silky hair showing routine care. After securing the cape, he caressed the shining hair while asking Aunt Lyra what they were getting done. She responded, “Do what you think will be best for the summer, I trust you.”
Heart pounding, he thought of all the times he’d dreamt of buzzing the neighbour girls and couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. Peter replied, “I think she needs a good buzzing, a number 2 buzzcut should last her the summer”. Aunt Lyra flashed a knowing smile and said, “Go ahead”. Angelica’s fate was sealed with the young girl keeping quiet throughout the exchange, Stephanie on the other hand showed a hint of worry for her caramel blonde hair, while also being slightly excited for the transformation ahead.
Peter looked back at the caped Angelica, and thought ‘here we go’. He looked at his assortment of tools, eyeing the clippers and shears in particular. Making his decision, he picked up the sharp shears, took his place behind his sheep and asked, “are you ready?”. Angelica nodded meekly, not mustering up the courage to reply.
Peter lifted the thick braid, placed the scissors high near her nape and started cutting. The sound was like music to his ears, as his sharp shears sawed through the thick rope. Starting slow and steady, the teenager cut faster as he got more and more excited. With a final snip, the 2-foot long braid came free in his hand. Peter caressed it, inhaled the lilac shampoo smell coming from it and set his first trophy down on the counter. He then exchanged the shears for his trusty clippers, ready for the next step.
Peter walked behind Angelica, who now sported a jagged bob and breathed out, steadying his nerves. He ran his fingers up Angelica’s nape, brushing against her soft nape and over the top of her head, before pulling her bangs back.
The nervous 17-year-old barber positioned the clippers at the center of her forehead and paused. He calmed his nerves, switched the clippers on and a steady buzzing sound filled the moderately sized barbershop.
Peter pushed backed the buzzing clippers into her center part and down the middle of her crown, leaving a wide landing strip of almost invisible stubble. The shorn hair fell on either side of the chair, and Peter allowed the bangs in his hands to fall to the ground.
Excitement bubbling, he went for another pass, and then another, swiftly clearing the top of her head. Angelica had closed her eyes and seemed to enjoy the buzzing of the clippers. Peter took note of this as he placed his hand on top of her head and gently guided it to the left.
He thrilled at the feeling of the lightest stubble under his hand and couldn’t hold back, gently rubbing Angelica’s head, eliciting a slight moan of pleasure from the 16-year-old. She blushed as her mother and older sister gave her amused looks and Peter couldn’t help but smile.
He positioned the clippers on Angelica’s cheek and quickly cleared the hair on the right side of her head, moving her ear gently to get the hair behind it. He did the same to the left side, enjoying the feeling of the clippers going up his client’s cheek. Peter moved behind her, gently tilted Angelica’s head downwards and lightly gripped the hair on the back of her head. He then dragged the still running clippers up her nape ever so slowly, enjoying the moment.
He let go of the hair, watching it fall to the floor and cleaned up the back of her head with a few quick strokes. Peter ran the clippers all over her head, making sure to get it all even and enjoying the process. He deliberately stretched out the process, having noticed Angelica’s enjoyment.
The young barber shut down his clippers and rubbed his hand over Angelica’s freshly shorn head, saying, “You’re all done.” She replied with a slight smile and a soft “Thank you”, stepping down from the chair and rubbing a hand over her freshly buzzed head as Peter wisked away the cape.
She was slightly startled by the thick pile of silver blonde hair surrounding the chair, but made her way back to her mother and sister. Peter piled up the hair in one corner before collecting it in a bag discreetly, placing the long silvery blonde braid in it. Aunt Lyra noticed, but kept quiet.
Both she and Stephanie enjoyed running their hands over Angelica’s short pelt, loving the soft feeling and the 16-year-old’s cute reactions. But Stephanie was preparing herself mentally for her own fast-approaching transformation.
Peter stood behind his chair, turned to the family and said “Who’s Next?”
So is Peter 17 or 18?
And if the girls have had their hair buzzed the previous year,how could it have already grown as long as described?
One wouldn’t expect more than 6-9 inches.
Hi, thank you for the comment! Peter is 18, Stephanie is 17 going to turn 18 and Angelica is 16. Those are the ages, just to clear things up.
Also, I never mentioned that the girls got their buzzed the year before, just that they were no strangers to summer shearings and that they’d gotten short haircuts over the years. I will clarify more about this background in the next part. If you have any more doubts or feedback I’d love to hear it!
I had the impression that the summer shearings were buzzcuts by default since you never specified there being any other kinds.
The Summer Buzz is a tradition but is still optional. Not every customer gets a buzzcut every time. The tradition is more on the barbershop side of things, where they do it every year, and it’s gained popularity among customers. I also used the word clipper cut instead of restricting it to just buzzcuts, so that I’d have more options in terms of future options. To spice up the kind of haircuts that could happen. But all haircuts in this series will use the clippers. There will be some kind of buzzing.