The Barber and the Lawyer - Part 4 by Gator

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The Lawyer and the Barber â€" Part 4
by Gator
This is a work of fiction. You may desire to read Parts 1 through 3 first. This part came about because of the ending of Part 3.

Saturday morning came. I opened the shop at the usual time of 8:00 AM. I closed at 2:00 PM on Saturdays. Saturdays were busy in the early mornings and business slacked off around 11:00 AM. I seldom had any college students on Saturday unless they came after noon. You remember those college days? Out late on Friday nights and sleep in on Saturdays. This college crew was not any different.

Today, business was busy with the town folks. At noon, I got a few college students in. One of them was Jeff (see Part 1). It was around 1:00 PM. He sat in the chair and after I caped him, he said, "I’d like to go with a high and tight with a crewed top." "Very nice. Razor shaved sides, correct? And the beard is coming off today?" He looked a little hesitant. "I’ve never had a barber shop shave before." "Oh? So, you want it shaved smooth or clipped down very, very tight?" Jeff had been in several times and had been going shorter on each cut. Today would be his first razor shaved high and tight. I was going to shave his beard, too. We had talked before about how the shorter cut and the beard on his face was kind of a mismatch. He wasn’t sure. My normal comment was ‘Trust your barber.’ Well, this time he was going to trust me. I was pretty sure that Jeff would be my last cut prior to Corey coming in. Jeff was always a good sport about going shorter each time with his cut.

I was finishing his face shave and sat him up. I cleaned up his face, neck, and around his ears. I turned him towards the mirror. "Well?" "I look so young without the beard." "Well, yes, but it’s a good look on you." He smiled and said, "I guess I will get used to it." "Perhaps you’d like a flattop next time?" I asked as I ran my hand through his top. "We’re getting close now, you know." Jeff looked in the mirror and finally said, "I like this cut and this length. Maybe this summer?" I nodded. I’d keep that for future reference. "I had a flat one summer a few years back. I don’t think I looked great in it. But, you’re a different barber so I might try it out again." "Thanks for trusting me." I released him from the cape. We went to the register so Jeff could pay. At that time, Charlie walked in. Charlie smiled. Jeff was a little surprised to see another flattop in the shop. "Did you plan this, Pete?" asked Jeff. I laughed. "No, Jeff, I did not. This is Charlie, a recent flattop convert." They shook hands. "I’m trying to convince Charlie to get a horseshoe like mine!" Charlie choked and laughed. "Doubtful, Jeff," replied Charlie. It’s taking me time to get used to this cut." "Looks good on you, Charlie." Jeff paid and left.

Charlie and I sat in the waiting chairs. Corey still had some time before he showed up. "Well, now that you’ve had time to sleep on this flat, what do you think?" "I like the cut and I can’t deny that. I am really nervous about work on Monday. I’m worried about my parents and their reaction. This is so, so short." "But, it is your dream." "Oh, it is. Now that I have it, I will get used to it." "Ready to get in the chair for a clean-up?" "Now??" "Why not?" He laughed. "No, I’m going to wait until end of next week." "So, you thinking of going shorter?" "No, I am not." Charlie reached over and rubbed my sides which did need to be shaved today. I normally shaved my sides and back twice a week and one day a week I would tighten up my top. "Someone needs to shave his stubble." I smiled. "Yep, today is my day to do it after the shop is closed." Corey then came into the shop.

"What is this, a convention?" he asked. "I didn’t know I’d have an audience for this cut." He shook his head. "The chair awaits you, my friend." I walked toward the chair. Corey stood by the door. Charlie walked over, put his arm around Corey’s shoulder to begin directing him toward the chair. "It’s your turn to get shocked by a short cut, my friend," said Charlie. Charlie eased Corey into the chair and softly held him there while I put the cape on him. "Thanks for the help there, Charlie!" Corey replied sarcastically. Charlie smiled. "Why did I bet on this? I should’ve known better!" quipped Corey.

I fired up the Osters, placed my 5-aught blade on them. I palmed Corey’s head with my right hand, kept my hand on top of his head. I put the clippers at the base of Corey’s right sideburn and ran the clippers straight up. I repeated the action after pulling his side tight. I repeated this action on his right side. I then rubbed my fingers up his clipped sides. I saw Corey smile. I placed my hand back on the top of his head, roughly moved it forward so that his chin almost touched his chest. I continued stripping off his hair taking it down to rough sandpaper. As I kept my hand on the top of Corey’s head, I would take my thumb to feel the stubble left behind. There was no tapering at all, just cutting straight to the crown. I was planning on taking the sides a little over the crown area. I moved around to Corey’s left side, pushed his head to the right, and stripped off the hair. This all landed in Corey’s lap. He was breathing hard and he had his eyes closed. A sure sign he was enjoying this cut. I kept going over his sides and back making sure that I didn’t miss anything. Since I had taken the clippers up a little over his crown area, his top was going to be a little narrower. "Hmm. How short to go on the top?" I asked out loud. I still hand my right hand on Corey’s head and was keeping his chin to his chest. He tried to speak, but I told him to be quiet. Charlie spoke up. "What about a #1 on top?" "Hey! Whose side you on?" croaked Corey. Charlie laughed. "Mine right now. It was you who got me into this flat, Corey!" He laughed. "I like that idea, Charlie!" I said. I changed to the number #1.5 guard. I let Corey raise his head; I then took my right hand, put it on his forehead and straightened his head with a slight lift to it. I then place my right hand at the back of Corey’s head as I stood behind him and aimed the clippers for his forehead, the middle of his top. If he went to bend his head back, my right hand would stop him. As I had guessed, he tried, but failed. The clippers landed on the front center of his top. I took the clippers straight back to his crown. I placed the clippers back to the right of my first swipe and repeated the same move. I did this once more to the right, then moved to the left and cleaned off his top in two paths. His top was shorter than it had been in a long time. "Dang! Do I have anything left up there?" he asked. "A little." I said as I switched the #1.5 to the #1. I then took the clippers to the middle of the top and removed more of the top towards the crown area in back. I liked having some variation of length on top. I finished and then took my hand and rubbed it across Corey’s top. "Well? How does it feel?" "Short," moaned Corey. Charlie had a big smile on his face. "It looks great on you though," he said. Corey looked at him and asked, "So you’re next then?" Charlie laughed and said, "Not me."

In the meantime, I had grabbed a hot towel to wrap it around Corey’s head so I could shave him smooth. I patted Corey on the shoulder. "You’re a good sport buddy!" Corey gave me a smirk. "You can still be an ass when you want, Pete!" But he said it with a huge smile on his face. I got a handful of warm lather, took off the towel, and spread the lather all around his sides and back. I met with a little resistance from the stubble, but not much. I let the lather sit for a while, then grabbed my razor. I pushed Corey’s head to the right, place the razor at his sideburn and took my first stroke up against the growth. I repeated this process a few times. I took a break and rubbed my thumb on the shaved part. "Almost smooth, Corey." I continued to shave his right side and moved to the back. I was watching Charlie out of the corner of my eye. He was intrigued. Perhaps?

As I moved to Corey’s back, I pushed his head forward. I put my hand on the top of his head and said, "I like the feel of the top. Very tight." Corey moaned. I am sure it was contentment from him. I moved to his left side, pushed his head to the right and continued the shaving of his sides. I was finished. I got my hands wet so I could wipe off the lather. I kept my right hand wet and rubbed my forefingers around Corey’s head to find any missed spots of stubble. There were a few; I shaved those areas. I then took my duster and powdered the line between the shave and the clippered top. I then took my brush to clean off the excess talc powder. I grabbed my edgers, turned them upside down so I could blend out the line left by the clippers and the razor. I was finished. I placed the clippers on my back bar, grabbed the bottle of Osage rub, place some on my palms, rubbed my hands together and rubbed the Osage all over Corey’s head. He winced a little. I turned him to face the mirror. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed. "This is so frickin’ short!" I laughed. "It IS a recon," I stated. "This was our bet!" Corey took his hand out from under the cape and slowly rubbed his sides and then moved to the top. "Wow! You got the sides smoother than normal! And higher!" He kept rubbing. "I haven’t had the top cut this short since I first came to you!" He was smiling. Charlie walked up to the chair and rubbed Corey’s sides and back. "Amazing! So smooth!" Charlie said as he rubbed.

I released Corey from the cape. He stood up. He looked in the mirror. "Wow! I can’t believe it!" "It looks good, Corey. So, next week, same cut?" I asked. He turned to me and smiled. "We shall see!" All three of us laughed.

It was closing time. We all headed to the bar for a drink and a bite to eat.

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