DAD! (Part 8 of 15) by JB

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The blow dryer comes on with a roar and Jack begins brushing Kevin's hair up, "That's doin' the trick. Yer hair's gonna stand up just fine now."

Watching Kevin's transformation over the last few minutes has taken Scott's mind off his own transformation. Out of habit, he reaches up to brush the bangs out of his eyes and encounters his bare forehead and half-inch bristles instead. It all comes rushing back; the initial bewilderment and rage he felt when he got his first glimpse of this unwanted and unexpected flattop, "Crap," he mutters to himself. He cranes his neck to see himself in the mirror on the wall across from him and reaches up higher to stroke his stubbly landing strip and run his hand up the back of his neck again.

Jack sees him and grins. He thinks Scott is enjoying his new haircut, "Takin' yer flattop out for a test drive, huh Scott? Examining the white-sidewalls... feeling the plush upholstery... checkin' out the sunroof."

With an effort, Scott manages to grin. But inwardly he is thinking, "Oh wow. I look like the nerdiest nerd ever... I'm King of the Nerds."

The loud whirring winds down and the blow dryer gets hung back on its hook, "There ya go, " Jack says, "Standin' up stiff, and ready to be taken down flat."

Kevin looks at himself in the mirror and turns his head from side to side, "Geez, I look like I've seen a ghost!" He reaches up and lightly runs his hand over his waxed one-inch bristles, "Wow... gnarly! It IS kinda stiff... and shinier, too."

Jack reaches for the clippers and flattop comb, "Yep, those are the two words that best describe a head o' hair that's had Butch Wax applied to it- stiff and shiny... I only used a small dab on your hair; just enough to get it standin' up." He pumps the chair up a bit. Giving these two young guys flattop haircuts has put Jack in a jovial mood. He grins, "Back in the Flattop Years, the fifties, some guys would use about a quart of the stuff in their hair... well maybe not a quart, but a lot; maybe two fingers-full. Their hair was so shiny an' stiff an' sticky you could use it as flypaper. 'Cept, the flies would probably drop dead just from the powerful fumes of all that Butch Wax long before they came in contact with the guy's hair; like putting 'em in a jar of ether."

Kevin lets loose with a loud, goofy laugh. Even Scott manages a chuckle or two.

"Of course," Jack continues, "it's not necessary to use that much of the stuff, unless that's the look yer goin' for; stiff and shiny. Most guys use just a dab, like I did with you just now... How about you, Kevin? You wanna be one of the extra stiff and shiny guys? If ya do, It'll have ta wait till I'm done with yer flattop; all that Butch Wax would gum up the clippers."

As Kevin sits and mulls it over, Scott thinks, "C'mon Kevin, say yes. That would make you look even nerdier than me. Then YOU would be King of the Nerds!"

"Hmm... I dunno," Kevin says.

Jack switches the clippers on, "Well, you don't have to decide right now. Wait'll you see what ya look like after yer flattop is complete."

With the clippers humming, Jack steps slightly to Kevin's side so that Kevin can see the final act of his transformation in the mirror. He watches, transfixed, as Jack runs the comb through the slightly stiff, one inch hair standing upright at his forehead. Positioning the comb just so, he slides the clippers across the top of the teeth, leaving a swath of three-quarter inch high hair at the front. Kevin blinks a few times as the loose hair falls past his eyes, over his nose, and into his lap.

For once, Kevin has nothing to say; focusing instead on his top being leveled off flat. After a couple more passes with the clippers, he gets his first look at the landing strip appearing down the middle of his head, "Whoa," he mumbles. Then thinks, "Geez, what am I doing! What did I just do!? I'm so screwed... but I like it! Don't I? Yeah, I'm sure I like it... But a flattop; I have a flattop! Geez! Looks pretty cool though." Kevin continues to wage his inner battle as Jack finishes lowering his deck and blends the edges. Switching the clippers off, Jack steps away and studies Kevin's flattop to see if any final adjustments need to be made.

Kevin turns his head to one side and makes an observation, "Huh. The white sides above my ears sorta match the white stripe, the landing strip, running down the top of my head. They kinda go well together."

Jack adds, "Yep. One without the other just wouldn't look quite right. The whitewalls and landing strip compliment and re-enforce each other. Now, how about that Butch Wax, Kevin? Ya wanna make yer flattop extra stiff and shiny?"

Being so keenly focused on his transformation, Kevin had forgotten about the Butch Wax. He looks in the mirror again, runs his hand up the front of his flattop, and pats the top of his stiffly bristled head, "I dunno... I kinda like it the way it is now. Kinda stiff, kinda soft, kinda shiny."

Jack grins, "Kinda sounds like ya kinda like yer flattop kinda the way it is, huh Kevin?"

Kevin's inner battle reaches a conclusion, "Yeah, I guess I do!"

Scott interjects, "Welcome to the Flattop Club, bro!"

Kevin flashes a big grin, "Hey! Maybe we could start a club at school; the Flattop Club!"

Scott doesn't think much of Kevin's idea, but he humors him anyway, "It would be a pretty small club though; membership: two. You an' me."

Kevin is clearly excited about the prospect of starting a school club, "You could be the president and I could write down the minutes of each meeting. And there would be a club photo in the yearbook, just like all the other clu...OH CRAP!... The yearbook photos... I forgot all about that! Oh man oh man oh man... I'm gonna have a freakin' flattop when I get my senior pictures taken!.. This is bogus, man."

Scott can't help but grin a little. He'd gone through the same realization about half an hour ago and has now begrudgingly accepted the fact that, he too will be sporting a flattop in the yearbook, "Y'know of course," Scott says, "when the yearbook comes out, our photos will be side-by-side like they usually are; our last names being Kramer and Krause. The only two dudes in the whole school with flattops... Anyway, why are you flippin' out, Kevin? I thought you liked having a flattop."

Kevin blinks a couple of times in confusion, then looks at himself in the mirror, "I DO like it! I like the way it looks," he runs his hand across his wide landing strip, "I like the way it feels... I even like the way it smells with that Waxy Butch stuff in it... but it's a freakin' FLATTOP!"

Jack weighs in, "I've been cuttin' hair for decades. I've seen styles come an' go; from long to short and now long again. What goes around, comes around. Long hair has been the style for over a decade now; it's time for a shift back to the shorter styles. Mark my words, guys will be gettin' crewcuts an' flattops again one of these days; and soon."

Over in the waiting area, Scott inwardly chuckles to himself, "Yeah, right," he thinks to himself.

Jack continues, "I've already seen it start to happen- a year or two ago, all guys were wearin' their hair long enough to cover their ears. Now, those same guys are gettin' their hair cut shorter; so's it only covers the upper half of their ears. An' shorter in back, too. Some of 'em are gettin' their tops cut short enough to kinda stand up along the center part-line; like that 'disco-style' cut you had a few minutes ago, Scott... I was kinda hopin' you'd stay with that cut; it looked good on you. But thanks to your dad, I know what you really wanted is that flattop yer sportin' now."

"Yeah. Thanks to my dad," Scott says, dryly. Inside, he is still filled with a mixture of anger and misery- anger at his dad, and misery for all the teasing he'll get at school.

Jack turns his attention back to Kevin, "There's no reason to be ashamed of yer flattop, Kevin. Look at Scott over there; you don't see him worryin' about what yer schoolmates will think. It took guts for you two guys to get these extreme haircuts, well, nowadays they're extreme, for a couple of high school guys anyway. But that's why you should be proud; it took guts. Wear it with pride! If someone teases you about your haircut, just grin and run yer hand across the landing strip like you did in the mirror just now. Show them that you LIKE having a flattop. You might even start a new trend. Maybe more of yer school buddies will take the plunge and get their decks taken down flat."

Kevin regains his enthusiasm after Jack's pep talk, "Yeah! Then there'd be more guys in the Flattop Club at school!"

Scott douses Kevin's enthusiasm, "Yeahhh, I don't think that's gonna happen, Kev. I can't think of any guys at school who'd wanna get themselves flattopped."

Kevin remains upbeat, "I bet there is! I've never had short hair before, but I always wondered what it would be like; what it would feel like... Haven't you?"

"Not really," Scott replies, "I used to have a flattop till third grade. I still remember what it was like and..." He is about to launch into all the reasons why he hates flattops, but then remembers the act he's putting on for Jack's sake, "... aaand I already know what it's like to have a flattop... aaand that's why I have a flattop now... because they're so awesome..." The last word comes out sounding weak at the end.

Jack removes the cape from Kevin, making sure that all of his shorn hair tumbles onto the floor, not in his lap, "You bet they're awesome!" Jack says, " They were awesome back in the fifties an' they're just as awesome today."

"Hey!" Kevin says excitedly, "That reminds me- We've got Fifties Week comin' up at school next month. Usually, guys just wear an old leather jacket or somethin' and slick their hair back, greaser-style. But with these flattops, you an' me can really look like we just stepped outa 1958!... I think my dad still has some old clothes from back then, stuck in some closet somewhere. I'll be wearin' gen-u-ine fifties duds and wearin' a gen-u-ine fifties flattop haircut- outa sight!... I bet your dad has some old clothes layin' around too, Scott. One of us is bound to win the 'Most Authentic' award!"

"Great. More yearbook photos of us with our flattops," Scott says sarcastically.

Kevin and Jack fail to detect the sarcasm, "Excellent!" Kevin exclaims, "When one of us wins that award, wearin' our fifties clothes and haircuts, I'll bet more guys will join the Flattop Club!... I'll be the one who wins that award, y'know." He adds, competitively.

Scott rolls his eyes, "It's all yours, Kev."

Kevin turns toward the mirror and gazes at his haircut some more. Unable to resist, he brushes his hand across his landing strip yet again, "This just feels so weird... and AWESOME!"

Jack sweeps the pile of brown and blond hair off to the side, "Yer landing strip isn't as big as Scott's, Kevin. But your dark brown hair really makes it stand out; makes it look a lot bigger and whiter than it really is."

Kevin grins and tilts his head down to get a good look at the white stripe running down the middle of his head. He reaches up and whisks his hand across the top several times.

Scott can't help but notice how mesmerized Kevin is with his new haircut, "Guess you won't be runnin' yer hand across my flattop anymore, now that you've got your own to play with... I wouldn't play with it too much in public though, Kev. People will start to think yer weird," Scott grins, "Oops. My mistake. People already think yer weird, even before your haircut."

Kevin catches Scott's eye in the mirror, "Har-dee, har, har."

Scott grins, "It looks like yer gonna sit in that chair and admire yer flattop for the rest of the day, Kev." Scott gets up from his seat in the waiting area, "But I'm goin' home." His grin disappears, "I think my dad and I are gonna have a long talk about my new haircut."


(To Be Continued)

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