Kyle's Baldings by Deke Cutter

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Kyle commented that, in his view, in too many stories, threats were made to "shave him bald" but never followed though. Well, Kyle, this one's for you.

Kyle remembered every time it had happened. His parents had threatened him, "get your hair cut or we’ll have the barber shave it off". Why had he never learned the lesson. At twelve, it was just replacing his shaggy bowl cut that his mom wanted trimmed up before his grandparents’ anniversary. He was dragged to the barber for what his mom called a "baldy sour." All the kids in his class had laughed at him and rubbed his head. His dad thought it was such a practical haircut he made him keep it all though that summer.

When Kyle turned 16, dad had told him repeatedly, that the pony tail had got to go. But Kyle was too busy hanging out with his cool friends, cutting classes, and being a jerk. When the school called his parents, his dad had had enough. Dad marched him into the barber shop. "I want him shaved bald! He leaves here with a shining scalp."

The barber looked from Kyle to his father. "That’s a pretty big change, are you sure?"

"Kyle has had chances to get his hair cut but refused. Now his behavior has got him in trouble at school. He needs a "wake-up call" and this is it."
The barber went to work. Fist he cut off the pony tail and laid it in Kyle’s lap. Then he went to work with his clippers, with no guard, quickly shearing away Kyle’s remaining shaggy hair. Before the barber picked up the foil shaver to eliminate stubble before applying the shaving cream, Kyle’s father stopped him to remove Kyle’s earrings (two in each year). "You can forget these until you start changing your ways!" The barber then continued his work. He prepared the shaving cream and covered Kyle’s head. He carefully shaved, first with the grain, then against it.

When the barber was done, he applied a liquid and said to Kyle and his father, "this will give the head a good shine!" Kyle remembered how horrified he was to see himself looking like a light bulb. His parents had grounded him and suddenly his cool friends melted away. His father had him shave himself each morning and apply the shine liquid. He hated it. But it worked. He turned himself around.

After three months, his parents let Kyle grow his hair out to a moderate length and he promised himself he would never shave his head again. Kyle took great pride in his thick brown hair that he spent a great deal of time and money on. So, how did he get himself in to this predicament? "Kyle," his boss said, "I need a young go-getter to lead this year’s charity drive. We’re going all in with Saint Baldrick’s and you are going to lead it up. You tell folks you’ll shave your head and I know we’ll get at least 10 others and raise a lot of money. Why this may be a yearly event!"

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