Brandons Birthday by Moc

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The sound of the honking horn let Ryan know that he was running late. He pulled on a blue t-shirt, slipped into his buffalo mocs, grabbed his sunglasses and backpack, and headed out the door to the blue Jeep Wrangler parked at the curb. Brandon grinned at him as Ryan threw his stuff in the back and hopped in, "Let's get this Memorial Day camping trip on the road!”

"You said we had one stop to make before we head out, where too?” asked Brandon. "Main and Oak street, downtown.” Ryan replied. Ryan glanced over at his best friend and had to suppress a smile. Brandon was wearing his normal camping attire, gray t-shirt, an open red flannel shirt, Levis, and his knee high elk moccasin boots that he had ordered from Minnesota. His sunglasses were perched on top of his dark brown, slightly curly hair that cascaded to the collar of his shirt. "Ok buddy,” said Brandon as he pulled into the Saturday morning traffic.

Fifteen minutes later Brandon parked on Oak and Ryan jumped out of the Wrangler. "Come on, Brandon, we're late”, said Ryan. "Ok, ok” replied Brandon as he locked the Jeep. Ryan ducked around the corner on Main and was holding a door open, as Brandon arrived, "After you!” he said with a grin.

Brandon walked into a barbershop with two old fashioned white and black chairs, and the smell of fresh paint. A young guy, about 25, with a tall brown flattop and sporting a goatee was fiddling with a remote for the flat screen television on the wall. "Hey, Mike, this place is starting to shape up” said Ryan as he headed for the barber chair. "Yeah, it has been a bit of work, updating the shop since Carl closed it two years ago.” replied Mike. Ryan climbed in the chair, and as Mike secured the blue and white striped barber cape, Brandon shrugged and settled into a waiting chair and grabbed the latest Sports Illustrated.

"So, what do you want?” asked Mike as he ran a comb through Ryan's light brown hair. "It's Brandon's birthday, so we're here for Mohawks!” replied Ryan with a grin. Brandon's head shot up and his mouth dropped open as Ryan winked and said, "Hey buddy, you've always talked about getting a Mohawk, so today is the day!”

Mike snapped on the clippers and mowed a swathe with the clippers up through Ryan's right sideburn almost to the top of his head. Brown hair rained on the cape as Mike continued cropping Ryan's hair, switching to the left side before pausing to make sure the strip down the center of his scalp was centered. Mike turned off the clippers, and grabbed a barber's shears and comb, trimming the 2 inch wide crest to about 3 inches tall. Ryan looked across to Brandon, who had a pensive look on his face as he ran a hand through his curly mane. "Dude, this is going to be so awesome.” said Ryan as Brandon looked up, flashing him a quick grin.

Mike returned with warm shaving foam and massaged it into the stubble on Ryan's head. "Hold still” intoned Mike as he began shaving off the stubble with a cut-throat razor, pausing to wipe the lather on a white towel which he had draped an Ryan's shoulder. Mike took his time, carefully checking to make sure that the he had a close shave on each side of Ryan's Mohawk crest. Mike worked some hair gel into Ryan's Mohawk, combing it so that the crest stood like a ridge from Ryan's forehead to nape. Ryan couldn't help himself any longer and ran his hands over his head, feeling his new ‘hawk. "Whoa, this is awesome!” said Ryan with a wide grin on his face. Ryan got out of the chair, pausing to admire his new haircut in the mirror.

When Mike called, "Next”, Brandon got out of his waiting chair, pausing to remove his sunglasses, and made his way to the barber chair. As Brandon settled into the chair, he ran his fingers through his curly mane. Mike grinned at Ryan as he fastened the barber cape around Brandon, and proceeded to run his barber's comb through Brandon's curly locks. He said, "You've got thick hair, you'll have a great Mohawk!”

Mike snapped on the clippers and mowed a swathe with the clippers up through Brandon's right sideburn almost to the top of his head. Dark brown curls tumbled into his lap and over his moccasin boots as they drifted towards the floor. "I can't believe I'm doing this! Brandon moaned, as Mike drove the clippers relentlessly through the hair on the right side. " Don't worry, hair grows.” Mike intoned as he concentrated on clipping the sides of Brandon's head; making sure the strip of hair from Brandon's forehead to the nape of the neck was perfectly centered. As the clippers fell silent, Brandon gazed at the mound of hair in his lap with a slightly stunned expression.

Mike turned off the clippers, grabbed a barber's shears and comb, and trimmed the 2 inch wide crest to about 4 inches tall. Brandon looked across to Ryan, who flashed him a grin, "Looking good!” Mike returned with warm shaving foam and massaged it into the stubble on Brandon's head. "Hold still” intoned Mike as he began shaving off the stubble with a cut-throat razor, pausing to wipe the lather on a white towel, just as he done with Ryan. Mike took his time, carefully checking to make sure that the he had a close shave on each side of Ryan's Mohawk. Mike worked some hair gel into Brandon's Mohawk, combing it so that the crest was upright from forehead to neck

Brandon got out of the chair, and began checking out his Mohawk in the mirror. Ryan got up and as he was paying Mike for the Mohawks, he noted Brandon beginning to grin as he ran his hand over his head, feeling his new Mohawk. Mike flipped Brandon a tube of the Hard Head hair gel, "Use this on your Mohawk, it washes out easily.”

As Brandon and Ryan put on their sunglasses and headed for the door, Mike called out, "I will see guys next Saturday, same time!” Ryan flashed him a grin and thumbs up, calling out, "Thanks Mike!”

When they got back to the Jeep, Brandon said, "How did you know I wanted a Mohawk!” "A while back you told me that you had always wanted a Mohawk in high school. I figured it would be the perfect thing for your 21st birthday.” replied Ryan. Brandon grinned and said, "Thanks buddy! I'm really glad you joined in and got a Mohawk.” Ryan replied, "Hey, you're my best friend. Now let's get this camping trip started”.

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