The Beginning by Sir Hairalot

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The year was 1972 and high school graduation was approaching. Tom's parents were going to buy him the car he needed to work for the summer and to get to college in the fall, but the deal was that he had to get a haircut for his senior picture. He was miserable about this, but knew he didn't have a choice. He loved his hair - long, thick, silky and shiny - it was below his shoulders and he didn’t want to lose it, not even one inch.
The day was fast approaching for senior pictures and his parents reminded him: no haircut, no car. He didn't have a clue where to go to get a haircut. He knew he didn't want to go to a traditional barber, but he didn't know what other options he had. He checked out the phone book and saw that there were barber shops and there were men’s’ barber stylists. He started walking by the different shops on his way home from school. He would walk by a few times and peer in to each shop, and if he saw someone walk in he would hang around so he could see the finished cut - sort of a before and after.
But there was something else. Not only did he begin to get a sense about what his options were, but he began to realize that watching men get their hair cut did something to him. It aroused him in a way that he had never been aroused before. It got to the point where just thinking about getting his haircut, or walking by the shops and watching the men come out excited him. And while he didn’t want to have his hair cut short, he couldn’t help but fantasize what it would be like to have short hair.
Based on his research he decided that he would go to a shop called "The Captain’s Chair" on the south side of town. The shop had three barbers, and Tom had noticed that the barber in the first chair seemed to leave the hair a little longer than the others. He was younger than the other two and there had been one customer Tom had seen who went in with long hair - not as long as his but with his ears and collar covered - and he came out with a neater version of the same thing. This was the guy for him. He would explain his predicament, and ask for a haircut like the one he saw. That would satisfy his parents and it wouldn't be so bad. He wouldn't look like a nerd and by the end of the summer when he started college it would be sufficiently long for him to be cool again.
Finally, the day was at hand. Senior pictures were the next day and Tom knew he couldn’t put his haircut off any longer. After school he walked by the shop a few times, hoping that there would be a moment when the guy in the first chair wasn't working with a customer but the other two were. After about an hour of walking back and forth, finally the first chair was empty and the other two were busy. Tom went into the shop and nervously said to the young barber sitting in the first chair, "Um, hi. I wanted to get my hair cut." The barber grinned at him and said, "I was wondering when you were finally going to come in. I've seen you walking by for weeks." Tom's face got red, but he just mumbled, "Yeah, well…." The barber laughed. "We'll fix you us just fine," he said. "Mario over there will be finished in a few minutes and he'll take good care of you." Tom looked up and said, "But I wanted you to cut my hair!" The barber said, "Sorry kid, but I’m by appointment only and my next customer will be here any minute. I could cut your hair tomorrow about this time. How would that be?" "No," Tom said, "that won't work. Senior pictures are tomorrow. It has to be today!" "Don’t worry," the barber said. "Mario will do a terrific job on that mop of yours."
Just then, the door opened and the barber’s customer arrived, so Tom had no choice but to skulk over to one of the chairs in the waiting area and wait for his turn. After about 10 minutes, Mario’s customer left and he came up and smiled at him. "OK, let’s get you cleaned up."
Tom seated himself in the barber chair and took the rubber band out of his hair, letting it fall loose around his shoulders. Mario's eyes gleamed. "Ok," Tom said, very fast. "I don't want it short. I want to part it on the side and have it cut so that it covers about half my ear and the hair in the back still touches my collar, ok?" Mario looked at him with a big smile. "Yeah, sure, got it. No problem." "No, really," Tom said. "This is just to make my parents happy." "I got it, I got it," Mario said. He put the cape on and Tom repeated, "Remember, not too short!" Mario grinned broadly and said, "Don’t worry kid, I’m a stylist, not just a barber. You’ll look real sharp." Without another word he took Tom’s glasses off, placed them on the counter, spun the chair around, and the next thing he knew, Tom was getting his hair washed. He had to admit, it felt pretty awesome.
After the shampoo Mario towel dried Tom’s hair and kept the chair facing away from the mirror. Tom couldn’t see what Mario was doing, but he felt his hair getting combed and he heard the scissors but he was blind without his glasses and couldn’t see anything. He began to relax â€" at least Mario wasn’t using clippers. He was beginning to enjoy the haircut, and, he was beginning to get aroused. The combing and snipping went on for a long time, and Tom was hard as a rock. He moaned softly. Suddenly, it felt like his hair was being scraped. He snapped out of his stupor and asked Mario, nervously, "what are you doing?" "Take it easy, kid, your hair is really thick, so I’m using a razor to thin it out a little." "I don’t want you to thin it out," said Tom. "Just a not too short haircut!"
Mario stopped what he was doing and moved around so he was facing Tom. "Look," he said. "I know what I’m doing here. You need to look neat for your senior picture, right? But you don’t want a standard short back and sides, am I right? I’m giving you the haircut all the swingers are wearing â€" movie stars, executives, straight out of the Barber-Stylist Journal. You’re going to look great. I’m not using clippers at all, except to clean up the little hairs at the back of your neck, so stop worrying and let me do my job."
Back to work, Mario did a little more scraping, then he pulled out a hairdryer and a brush and began to dry Tom’s hair. First with a big brush, then with a little brush which he worked carefully and lightly all over Tom’s head. Next, to Tom’s surprise, Mario sprayed his hair with hairspray, and brushed it one more time, so lightly Tom could hardly feel it.
Mario handed Tom his glasses and smiled broadly at him. "See. Looks good!" he said. He swung the chair around and Tom was couldn’t believe what he saw! His hair was like a helmet. It was parted on the side, his ears were half covered and it just about reached his collar. But the front was completely off his forehead and when he touched it, it was stiff. Actually, it felt like straw. He groaned.
"What’s the matter kid, you don’t like it?" Mario said. He was genuinely surprised. Then he bent down and said in a softer voice, "It sure seemed you were liking it under the cape." Tom’s cheeks turned scarlet. Mario continued to speak softly into Tom’s ear. "Hey, don’t be embarrassed. Lots of guys get off on getting their hair cut. No one’s waiting. Maybe I should keep going? Cut it some more?" Tom was embarrassed, and he didn’t want his hair any shorter, but when he looked at Mario in the mirror, he couldn’t help himself. He nodded ever so slightly.
Mario winked at him, spun the chair around again and said, "Ok, so you don’t like this style? Maybe we go old school. This time, kid, it’s the barber’s choice," and he reached for the clippers. Tom wasn’t sure what was coming, but he knew he wasn’t going to stop it. He was hardly breathing.
When Tom finally got home his parents were surprised to see him with a short Ivy League haircut, but they didn’t say anything. Tom raced up to the bathroom and checked out his new haircut from all angles. He couldn’t stop running his hand up the back of his head. He had to admit, it looked pretty damn terrific. He didn’t care what the other kids thought. He just had the best afternoon of his life and he’d be replaying it in his mind for years and years to come.

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