A Barbershop Job!? (#2 Cue ball Caleb) by Jonathan

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"What did you do to your hair!" my mom screams.

"Oh mom it's almost summer and I was getting tired of my hair anyway, that's why I shaved it," I said.

"Oh your hair was so beautiful Caleb, you're bald now," my mom said.

"Cue Ball Caleb is your knew knick name," Jimmy my stepdad says.

"Ha, ha," I say.

"Mom I got a job!" I say.

"No, your kidding," she says.

"I've gotten a job at the Port Barbershop sweeping hair and stuff. I was getting my haircut and amazingly the guy offers me a job," I say.

"Really, that's great Caleb!"she says.

"So I can do it then?" I ask.

"Yes, but it can't interfere with your grades or school," I say.

"The barber said I can do my homework while it's not too busy," I say.

I run back to the Port Barbershop right away to tell the barber. I can't wait a minute. I don't want anyone else to get my job! I run over there feeling the wind on my shaved head. I still can't believe I shaved my head! It was such a random thing to do. I already miss my long surfer hair. The bald looks ok on me though. I just need a little tan on my shiny head. I'm Cue Ball Caleb now!

I walk in and see the barber that offered me a job. He is busy cutting some older guy's hair. I go up to him. He smiles at me.

"So kid, can you work here. I did you ask your mom?" he asks.

"Yeah, she said yes!" I say.

"Alright, come tomorrow morning and I'll show you all around and how it will work. Your name was Caleb right?" he says.

"All right Caleb, we'll see you in the morning," he says.

I can't ever being this excited in my whole life! I was going to have my first job. And it's at a barbershop. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. All this happened because I'd decided to go in and get my head shaved. Even though it felt so weird to feel my sand papery head and have my ears exposed I kind of liked being Cue Ball Caleb!

I was going to love being in this barbershop everyday. I'd gotten so fascinated with haircuts and watching them through the Port Barbershop's window. Now I actually got to work inside! I'd see everyone that came in to get a haircut. I loved the smells and sounds in there too. I couldn't hear or smell anything from the bus bench across the street. I could barely see a thing from over there. I still wonder ed how that guy knew I'd been from the neighborhood. What did he mean when he'd said he'd seen me around? Maybe he'd seen me walking by so slow and looking into the shop windows. I wonder if he'd noticed me across the street on the bus bench.

I decided to go to the beach and show off my new bald head. I was going to need to get my buds used to Cue Ball Caleb! It felt so strange not to have hair. I kept trying to filp my hair, but it's no longer. I went to the liquor store first. I now all the clerks that work there.

"Hey, Hank!" I say.

At first Hank at the store doesn't even recognize me!

"It's me Caleb!" I say.

"Oh man, I didn't even know it was you Caleb.I can't believe you shaved your head!" he says.

"Yeah I'm Cue Ball Caleb now, bald headed," I say.

My surfer friends don't even recognize me either. They all laugh and can't believe my shaved head. I tell them I'm Cue Ball Caleb now.

"You should keep it shaved," my friend Jeff says.

When I go swimming in the ocean my friends all are amazed when they see the water repel right off my bald head.

"Go in and out of the water again Cue Ball Caleb," he says.

I bob in and out of the water. Everyone loves watching the water just repelling off my new shiny dome. Now I'm really liking my bald head. People want to rub it and I even have a cool new knick name, Cue Ball Caleb!

I spend all the rest of that Saturday at the beach. I wanted to tan my bald head a bit. I'm a little worried it might burn. I'm medium in completion, but my head and ears haven't seen the light of day since I was a small kid. Soon I grow tired and head home. I walk by the Port Barbershop and can't believe I'll be working there now!

That night I can hardly sleep. The next morning I get up really early and head to the Port Barbershop. The security screening is still covering the shop. It's around 9:00 when I see Mario who hired me coming.

"Good morning Cue Ball Caleb, ready for work?" he asks.

"Yeah I can't wait!" I tell him.

He shows me everything. He starts with all the light switches. He shows me because I will have to help close up. He then shows me what other equipment to plug in or turn on. I am amazed at all the things I even noticed in a place like this. He shows me the brooms and dust pans. I see the alley where the trash dumpster is. Mario explains never get in the way of the barbers or customers. Do your job, but stay clear of people. There is a small table and chair in the corner where I hang out and wait to sweep up the hair. I can even do my homework there.

I just can't believe all this is happening! Mario introduced me to all the barbers. Two are women, the rest men. I'm going to paid buy the barbers giving me a bit of their tips each day. The other kid got about 30$ or 40$ a day. Busy days maybe more! That's a lot for a 16 year old kid like me! Another bonus is I get all the free haircuts I want. I'm shaving my head again I decided. Being Cue Ball Caleb is fun!

After about one week I've had a blast working here. I wait until each barber has done about two haircuts before I sweep up around their chairs. I could do this forever. Each hour the shop's mood, atmosphere and tone changes as customers come and go. Lots of people just "hang out" here. Some chat and then go. At times it's noisy and loud. Other times really quiet and calm. At times nearly empty, other times really packed. It's not a hard strenuous job. I'm loving this. I wouldn't want any other job, that's for sure.I'm real polite to the customers and barbers. I'm now known around here as Cue Ball Caleb.

After about a week or so on the job a young barber name Ricky tells me I'm not looking like Cue Ball Caleb any longer! My head has grown a considerable amount of brown stubble.

"It's time you hop up un my chair and I'll put the shaving cream on the head and really get you looking like Cue Ball Caleb!" Ricky says.

It's free and I've decided to keep my bald head and new knick name. I realized I needed my head shaved now. The shop even calls the shaved bald head a "Cue Ball Caleb special."

I hop up into Ricky's barber chair one Thursday after school. First he applies all these warm wet towels to my head first. It feels so nice and relaxing. I guess it loosens up the scalp making it easier to shave or something. Next Ricky removes the towels and applies a warm slippery bunch of shaving cream. Oh now that really feels nice. Then he applies a bit of water. After that he takes a Bic razor and shaves my head.

Ricky takes the Bic with the plastic yellow handle and goes back and forth across my head. He is standing really close. Sometimes my head is pushed up against his stomach or chest as a he continues to shave
my head. It's a weird feeling to have that blade running over my scalp. I hold really still! He puts more and more water on my head as he finishes my first real Cue ball head shave. When he's done he wipes the remaining shaving cream off with the towels. Last he finishes the shave using the small sharp little clippers to trim the loose hairs from my neck.

When it is done I just can't believe the shine! It's so smooth as my fingers run over my head. This feels awesome! I'm letting Ricky do this again for sure. Being
Cue Ball Caleb is cool!

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