A firm no nonsense approach by Luke Travis

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My First story A HOME BARBER VISITS saw Julian at the age of thirty-two engage a home barber to role play a prison haircut. This was in 1995 but this story takes us to an earlier time in Julian’s life.

Young Julian pondered the advertisement in the local newspaper, it was advertising Children’s Hairdressing with a firm no nonsense approach. What did it mean and at thirteen was he too old? poor lad was a bit confused by his increasing interest in haircuts and the firm no nonsense approach was exactly what he was wanting. Julian really wanted to be made to have a very short haircut by a strict barber, he often day dreamed about it. The paper had already been read by his parents and so he carefully removed the page and hid it before the paper was discarded.

A couple of days later, when he was alone in the flat where he lived with his parents and sister, he telephoned the number, he was rather anxious and extremely nervous, having had some experience with the drama club at school he would attempt to sound much older than he was. The telephone was answered by an oldish sounding woman, he wondered if it was the wife of the barber.

"Hello 35761"

"Good Morning, I have seen the advert in the paper and I wondered if my thirteen-year-old son could get his haircut"

"I see no reason why not, any particular reason you are asking me?"

"It says a firm no nonsense approach, I think that’s just what he needs"

"Is he being difficult about having his haircut?"

"You could say that…he is at that awkward age"

Julian’s heart was beating so fast and he was shaking a bit but he must control his excitement

"Well he won’t be awkward with me for very long, my ad says firm and no nonsense as I hesitated to use the word strict, but if your son needs strict, I can be strict"

"Yes, he does need strict, the stricter the better"

"Not a problem Sir and do I take it that you would like his hair to be cut short?"

"I certainly would"

"I’ll just get my appointment book"

Before Julian knew it, he had booked himself in for an appointment at the woman’s house in two days’ time, his hand was shaking as he wrote down the address. The next two days passed slowly as Julian thought about what was going to happen, her name was Mrs Burrell and she lived in the next town about a twenty-five-minute bus ride away. The journey there seemed to take forever but Julian arrived outside her house with plenty of time to spare. After walking around the block to kill time he walked up her very small garden path at the appointed hour, it was a small terraced house. A stern looking woman with short white curly hair wearing a green overall answered the door, she looked him up and down.

"I’m here to have my haircut"

"Are You Julian?"

"Yes"

Mrs Burrell opened the door fully to allow Julian to go in,

"It’s the first door on the right"

Julian made his way there as Mrs Burrell closed the front door and followed him in, the room was like a lady’s hairdressers with a sit under hairdryer. Mrs Burrell had unfortunately developed a skin allergy a few years ago which had forced her to abandon setting and perming lady’s hair so this has led to her new vocation.

"There is a peg there for your jacket Julian, hang it up and let’s get things moving along"

Julian hung up his jacket, by then Mrs Burrell was holding a lady’s hairdressing gown which she held for him to put his arms in, she then tied the fastenings at the back and then Mrs Burrell gestured for him to sit in the vinyl covered seat,

"You’re to sit up nice and straight, let’s see those shoulders back"

Julian surprised at the abrupt and unexpected command did as she said, as she adjusted the gown at his collar, nice clean and soft hair she thought as her
hand touched his hair, this boy is in for a surprise.

"I understand from your father that you can be a difficult boy when it comes to having your haircut, be warned I am very used to dealing with difficult boys, there is only one way, which is my way, do I make myself clear Julian?"

"Yes Mrs Burrell"

She began to comb his fair hair, it had reached over his collar and began to cover his ears, selecting the scissors for the job she began to cut his hair. Julian was sitting to attention loving what was happening, there was no mirror to see into as she had sat him away from it. As she snipped away at the nape of his neck, she was confident that all was going to plan. Certainly, he was not being difficult with her, the telephone rang and she told him to remain as he was whilst she answered it. She left him and went to answer the telephone, Julian could not resist standing up to have a look in the mirror. His hair was certainly a lot shorter already, he could hear Mrs Burrell talking away and it sounded like she was making an appointment. On her return whilst he was sitting back down with his head bowed, she noticed that Julian’s hair which had been resting on the cape had dropped to the floor.

"I told you to stay exactly as I left you, but I can see that you have disobeyed me and stood up…I can see because your hair has fallen to the floor"

"I am sorry Mrs Burrell, I wanted to just see what you had done"

"It’s not for you to see what I have done, you’re here to have your haircut not see what’s being done, disobey me again and you will feel the hairbrush dusting your trousers and it won’t be a light tap either my boy"

"Yes Mrs Burrell"

With her scissors once more in her hand and the comb in the other she continued to cut Julian’s hair with a much more determined scissor snip due to her crossness. She could tell that he was subdued following his scolding, but this was exactly why his father had sent him, so he could benefit from her strict approach. The late sixties and now the seventies had seen this monstrous change in appearance and challenge to the very fabric of the establishment. Boys needed short haircuts and as Mrs Burrell saw it too many barbers were happy to indulge them with fancy haircuts for fear of losing custom. Having abandoned the scissors Mrs Burrell was now dampening Julian’s hair with water ready for the razor comb, she sprayed his hair and combed it. When she picked up her razor comb Julian had never anything like it, she was now going to strip away a lot of his hair. Tilting his head forward and starting at the crown she ran the comb down the back of his head, it tugged at his hair and successfully removed a great deal of hair, when she began on the front of his head Julian could see clumps of damp fair hair fall onto the cape. Having completed the whole head, Mrs Burrell then took a short pair of scissors and snipped his fringe short.

"I think your father is going to really like what I have done"

"He’s been wanting my hair cut shorter for a long time Mrs Burrell"

"Pity that you were such a bad boy and didn’t do as he wanted but instead you were difficult and awkward, so much so that he had to send you to me"

"I know"

Having combed Julian’s hair and given him a side parting the boy who had arrived with thick wavy fair hair now had short hair which had been thinned right down. There was a ring on the doorbell, Mrs Burrell knew exactly who it was, the mother of a girl who had been caught stealing had phoned earlier. She was bringing her to Mrs Burrell to have her pigtails cut off and her hair cut extremely short as a punishment.

"Wendy and her mother are a little early Julian, I’ll just let them in"

She went to the door and they came in and Julian could hear the girl was crying

"It’s no good crying Wendy, girls who steal have to have their hair cut short, because that’s what would happen if you went to prison"

"Mrs Burrell is right Wendy; you knew what you were doing was wrong and now you must be face the consequences, you are lucky Mrs Burrell isn't going to cut off your ears"

Julian could not quite believe what he was hearing, but as he sat there with no mirror in front of him, he was not aware that Mrs Burrell was behind him holding electric clippers and walking towards him. Down went his head which Mrs Burrell then held firmly in position, with the thumb of her right hand pushing the switch the clippers came to life. She began to clipper shave the back of his head making the hair really short, her grip on his head was firm as she clipped him eventually visiting both sides of his head. It was the ultimate boy’s short haircut, in her view nothing was better, whether he liked it or hated it she couldn’t have cared less, it was what he needed.

The truth was Julian didn’t like it he loved it; he would have preferred a strict male barber to have done the honours but there was no one to fit that requirement. Over the next few years, he would go in search of and check out different barbers further afield, sometimes having his haircut there. But there would always be a return to Mrs Burrell, the excitement of catching a number 37 bus to her house was always a thrill for Julian. As for Mrs Burrell, she looked forward to Julian’s visits and as time went on would remind him that whilst he might be seventeen and studying for his A ‘levels his father still made the appointments for his haircut. It was phrases like "I don’t want Julian treated any differently to when he first started coming to you" and "make sure he knows who is boss and does as he’s told" spurred her on.

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