Family Ties - part II by P.J.

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Family Ties - Part II
Pete looked at Ric. Well, what's it going to be? He walked over and pushed his hand through the plush chestnut brown forelock that had slid free, covering half of Ric's face, hanging just below his chin, he pushed it back behind his ear. You could stand to lose a few inches and still have great looking long hair bud.

Ric was torn, on one hand he could get a concessionary haircut, one that might appease his mom a bit. One the other, no haircut in the world was going to make her like a gay son. He could probably get a crew cut like he had when they were kids and it wouldn't matter. Whats the use Pete, I'll still be her "gay" son . She's going to hate me either way. He decided, no crew cut. Mike liked his dark auburn hair long and thick, he knew that at least, and so did Ric for that matter. He did admit it was getting a bit long, even for him though. Hmmm, Walt, what could you do for me that would still leave me with long thick hair, something for my partner to play with, long like you know I like it, but would still be enough of a change to show I had a haircut?

Walt said, come on over here and sit down, patting the big barber's chair. Ric looked over at Pete, Pete smiled encouragement and nodded towards the chair. Ric haltingly approached the chair, excited, and terrified at the same time. Walt said, come on now, I don't bite, Pete can attest to that. Ric slid into the chair, Walt taped and capped him and got a comb. Ric panicked, pushing up on the cape, wait a minute Walt, I'm not committing to anything here, tell me what you MIGHT do if I let you. Walt laughed, easy killer, the cape isn't a commitment to anything, yet. Let's see what you've got here, besides of course, a barbers dream.

Walt began combing all Ric's thick tresses straight down, all around. Wow, looks like someone REALLY likes long hair. This is very long, but well cut and well taken care of. Walt was conflicted, the barber in him wanted to shear Ric down to stubble, But he'd known these guys since they were kids, he didn't want to spoil that now, especially since they'd just decided to come back after all this time. He couldn't resist a little tease though, even if Ric was a bit down in the dumps about the whole affair. How about a #2 crew? Walt said. Ric started to get up again. Sit down boy, I was only kidding. although you 'd look great with one I have to admit. Ric said, look, when it comes to cutting this hair, I have NO sense of humor, O.K.? Alright, alright I get it, Walt said. Hmm its well below your collar in the back, almost to your shoulder blades if I pull it straight. The sides are just touching your shoulders, and the bangs, well, the bangs, just breaking over your chin my man. All basically one length, tapered on the ends a bit. Humor me, what's your favorite thing about this hair, Walt asked? Come again, Ric said. Tell me what part of this mane you absolutely do not want to lose, said Walt. Oh, Ric pondered, talking through his thick forelock. Walt pulled it off to one side, wrapping it around his right ear for a minute. I guess it would be the bangs then. Walt said O.K. I can't cut them at all, or I just can't cut them shorter than what length... above your eye brows maybe? Ric sat for a minute thinking, I guess I want to be able to tuck them behind my ear as they are now, but I think you can cut some off and still be able to tuck them , yes?.

Walt combed for a minute, O.K. that means I can cut about 2 inches and you'll still have it be tuck able. Yeah, I guess that'd be O.K. Alright, what about the sides and back, Walt asked, shave them with a #2 guard, all the way to the part line? Absolutely not! Ric shouted, immediately on the defensive. O.K. how short then, ears showing, nape showing?
Yeah, sure, I guess, Ric murmured. Wow when was the last time he'd seen both ears? White walls around the ears, up the back, Walt intoned,( lets push it and see how far I can go). Ric barked, NO! No white walls, nothing shorter than a #4 at the bottom, tapering out as you go up, I'm O.K. with some disconnection, but nothing severe. At least starting with a #4 it'll look like the cut is a few weeks old. You can still shave my neck right?

Walt said alright, I think I've got the general idea, sit back and let's get started.
Ric sat back but had a vise grip on the big barber chairs arms under the cape. The cords in his neck straining a bit under the combed down mane. Pete could pick up on how tense his big brother really was. Walt combed the forelock down again and began a horseshoe parting around the sides and back. Ric watched closely in the mirror, as closely as he could with his massive forelock hanging in front of his eyes. One more thing Walt, DO NOT turn me away from the mirror, I promise you I'll bolt if you do. O.K., O.K. your wish is my command your majesty, pandered Walt, giving a sideways glance and wink at Pete. Ric asked, can you part it a bit lower, I don't want to look like I have a Mohawk please. Walt redid the parting, then clipped the massive forelock up so he could get started. Now Ric could mostly see what was going to happen. Walt was just dampening all the hair below the parting with the spray bottle and comb, this took several minutes. Satisfied, Walt reached for the fast feed Osters, clipped the #4 guard on, smiled over at Pete and said, O.K. here we go tiger. Pete could see Ric clench is jaw slightly. That boy needs to relax thought Pete, as the pleasant feeling of arousal began in his loins. Brother or no brother , this was going to be one haircut he didn't want to miss. Pete settled into the adjacent barber chair to be close to the action.

Walt decided to start in the back, out of sight of the mirror, took one last look at the parting, which extended in a deep v in the back, and pushed his way into the deep dense mane to find the nape. Wait! barked Ric, let me see those clippers, Walt paused, and brought the hungry clippers around front. Show me the guard, show me the #4 on it Ric barked. Walt complied. Satisfied, Ric said O.K. now you can start. Shhesh, You'd think you didn't trust me, Walt said with a shrug. Ric said, I don't, not yet anyways. Walt had a firm grip on the top of Ric's head , gently pushed it all the away down, and plunged the clippers in at Ric's nape, or there abouts, it was just a guess at this point till some of the thick locks were cleared away, the clippers bit in, Walt pushed up, up, pulling back at the occipital bone, mounds of thick wavy auburn hair slid off, onto Ric's shoulder, Walt pushed them so they fell into Ric's lap. Oh God, Ric thought why am I even bothering, it won't make a hoots worth of difference to Mom, but it will with Mike. There goes 6" of hair chopped off. Look at all that hair he sighed, and its only just starting, what did I do? Having located Ric's nape, Walt made short work of the hair on the lower half of the back, mound after thick wavy mound joining the first in Ric's lap. Leaving a plush velvety brush like taper from the nape up to an inch or so below the parting. This was definitely a bit unconventional thought Walt as he surveyed the progress so far. He wasn't used to giving these kinds of exotic clipper cuts but these guys had faith that he was a master of his craft. Having cleared the back, Walt set to work on the sides, First left, then right, carving around the ears, long shoulder length curls sliding down, thudding into the pile in Ric's lap. Ric watched silently in the mirror, seeing his ears appear one at a time for the first time in he couldn't remember when, he started to tear up, Mike was going to be furious all this gorgeous hair sheared off. It would take him a year or so to grow it back to a reasonable semblance of what it was,he thought to himself. Walt shut the clippers off. He turned, picking up scissors and comb and paused before starting in again.

Pete thought he was going to explode at this point, the cut looked HOT so far, and he was amazed at the amount of hair Ric was willing to part with, his whole lap was covered in mounds of thick auburn locks, the shop lights danced off the highlights. Pete was thoroughly enjoying this shearing, but he knew from Ric's pained expression he was the only one.

How you doing big guy? Walt gently massaged Ric's shoulder. Ric could only shrug. Big change huh, said Walt, bigger than you first anticipated? Oh yeah, that's an understatement, Ric said dejectedly. My partners going to be massively pissed. He loved all this long hair, Ric nodded to his lap and gently bounced the pile with his hands from under the cape. Well, Walt said, we're not done yet, but I promise you , he'll still have plenty to play with. It'll look better when it's finished I promise, the worst of the going shorter is already done. With that , he set to work blending and tapering the upper part of the sides and back above the clipped taper into the clipper work. He was a master, and he knew this one had to matter, not just to him, but the client. Scissor over comb, seeming to go on forever Ric lamented, adding to the huge pile of hair in his lap. Pete was clearly enjoying this in spite of his knowing what this meant to Ric. Walt was finally satisfied with his handy work on the sides and back. He ran his hand up each side and the back from bottom to top, watching the hair fall perfectly back into place each time. Ric gave an involuntary shudder with each pass of Walt's hand. He teared up again, Oh God that's so short! he exclaimed. Pete came over to the chair and said, yes it is but it looks incredible! Patience buddy! he smiled, running his hand through his fresh cut thatch. Walt unclipped the massive forelock, Ric groaned in anticipation. Walt said, I have two ideas for this, stay with me please. He tucked the forelock behind Ric's right ear for a minute, it fit much better now with no hair on the side to compete with the space behind his ear. Walt took a lock in his fingers , gauged the length, and Snip! off came 2" . Keeping track, he pulled the forelock back down front. He found the cut lock, and quickly trimmed the rest to that length. Just about at the bottom of Ric's upper lip. Pete lost it, moaning loudly, attracting Ric's attention for a minute. Walt smiled to himself. If he remembered correctly, that wasn't the first time that had happened with these two, he mused.

Now pay attention, and just understand the ideas here for a minute, first, he sprayed the forelock down to dampen it and to make it easier to handle. He combed over the top from the left parting, bringing everything to the right side. I can cut it even on the right side here, giving it a slight taper, then you can tuck it behind your ear or ... he combed all the hair straight back, piling it up in a thick quif/pomp. You can slick it back and have a very sophisticated daytime look if you like. I'll give it a bit of taper in the back so it lays right. You could gel it back if you want, then at the end of the day comb the gel out and let it hang to the side behind your ear, kind of get the best of both, still VERY long in the front. Lots to play with. Ric though for a minute, yeah lets go for the slick back, leave it as long and thick as possible. DO NOT thin it out, at all! Walt proceeded to do a very high, thick quif, tapering it into a deep "v" in the back, it came down and blended perfectly into the back taper he'd done earlier. Thick and glossy. Theh fresh clipped hair being slightly darker auburn than the longer top. He gelled it for Ric to see. Ric nodded dejectedly. Walt hit it with the blow drier to set the gel. Then he brushed it out, the thick forelock was dry, and down in front again, Walt brushed it back behind Ric's right ear, it laid perfectly. Ric had to admit, he was impressed with Walt's work, he was a master barber. Then he glanced into his lap. Well Walt, I guess there's no doubt you've given me one hell of a shearing, more than I anticipated , that's for damn sure. Walt smirked, you know, I think you're the first guy in all my years of barbering, that I was genuinely not looking forward to shearing right down to the wood if I could. You have great hair, it was a bit of a shame to cut it but... I'm a barber, after all, and I think it looks good, if a bit unconventional for an old coot like me. I'm sure I won't be cutting anything like this again anytime soon.

Pete had finally composed himself after watching all the playing with the forelock, and strolled over to the chair. Ric, Mike is an asshole if he doesn't think you are one HOT looking guy with this cut. That finally brought a small smile to Ric's face. Really little brother? He turned his head from side to side, I still don't know about this but, it's a little late now. Ric, looking at himself in the big mirror, scrubbed his hand through his beard, having forgotten about it till now. It looked a bit off with the new haircut. What do you think about the beard, Walt? Pete? Walt suggested that they take the beard and mustache down close, more like a longish 5 o'clock shadow and see how it looked with both types of hair style. The beard was a similar shade of auburn but with some lighter auburn highlights. Definitely a unique look but a bit too bushy with the new cut Pete thought. Walt set to work and soon had Ric trimmed out perfectly. Walt stepped back and said hmm, I can take it or leave it , it's up to you, we can do a goatee, or just the 'stach only too if you want. Ric studied himself carefully in the mirror for a minute. He looked to Pete inquisitively, well what say you little brother? I don no, I kind of like it like this Pete mused, studying Ric closely from several angles. Let's leave it as is then Walt, I can always remove it myself later, I want to see Mikes reaction first. Walt uncapped him, and he stood up, cringing as he ran his hand over the back and sides, "my beautiful hair" he sighed, Mike is going to tweak. Walt, hand me the gel, let me try and see if I can get it right, I've never used this stuff before. He soon had the thick piled quif/pomp back and looking sharp. Pete gave a small swoon, "that is so hot" brother. They profusely thanked Walt, paid and tipped him handsomely, and headed home.

If you want , give me your phone, go over there next to the lamp post, and I'll snap a pic and you can send it to Mike, test his reaction, Pete suggested. Ric turned to his brother, look Pete, this has been one s**t vacation /holiday for me. The debacle of coming out to mom and dad, moms reaction, and now this overly short haircut. I think I'll wait till I get back to San Fran to deal with Mike. Pete said , O.K. only if you text me or call me and tell me his reaction. Deal. Let's go home for the next round of American gladiators with mom and I. Thank god my flight leaves in less than 24 hours. I don't know how much more of her I can take.

They walked into the house, Mom and dad sitting at the kitchen island together , no doubt discussing how disappointed they were with me, Ric thought to himself.
Dad had a big smile, Wow, don't you two look handsome! You didn't have to do that you know, dad said with a pained look on his face,Ric caught a quick Glaring glance from dad to mom.
Mom said, yes boys, you do look much better now, both of you, (heavy emphasis on the word Both Ric noticed) Hmm, was there a chink in moms armor?
Boys, I mean guys, mom started to say, I promise that's the last time I pressure you about haircuts. You are both adults, your choices are your own to make not ours. I fear I've been a bit overbearing with both of you during this holiday and I'm sorry. Pete said, you couldn't have told us this before we left the house this morning? You could have saved us a bit of cash, and a whole lot of lost hair! They all laughed.

Ric, I promise I'll do my best to work on accepting the new you, please be patient with me , it's going to take some time. Your dad has been talking with me over the last few days and it's helped a lot.
The next night Pete got a text with 10 thumbs up imogies on it from Ric. He likes it! was all it said. Pete replied, good I didn't want to have to go all the way to San Fran to kick his ass.

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