New neighbor Dan. by Jajko

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New neighbor Dan.
I grew up in poor conditions. My name is Mathew. I grew up without a father. The mother worked hard all day, but only for a meager salary. Most of my clothes were donated from acquaintances to older boys. I've never been to a barber, even though I was already 14, From time to time my mother cut off the ends of my hair at home, but my hair was quite long, which was popular among boys at the time.
A new neighbor, Dan, who had 3 sons, moved into the house next door. Mr. Dan did not have a wife. The older two sons Jax and Joe were twins were 16 years old, the youngest Luis was 14 years old than me. All 3 boys had shorter hair at the time. The hair touching the ears at the top of the head was longer and about 5/8 inch at the back of the head.
After moving in, a new neighbor, Dan, came with us and his sons to meet us. When a neighbor found out that I was living without a father, he suggested to his mother that he help her with repairs around the house. My mother admitted that she did not have the money to pay someone for it, but the neighbor and his sons gradually began to make various repairs. I was also involved in repairs.
When Luis first came to our class, he sat down on the bench with me. We were really good friends.
Neighbor Dan, joking more and more about my hair. He once said that I should get a haircut at the barber's and not an amateur haircut from my mother. The mother responded that it is expensive in the barber shop. But neighbor Dan, said they're not all expensive, they're cheap and they make nice hairstyles there. That's when I realized that my classmate is called Van, who 3 times a year goes to the cheap and very dreaded barber shop Marschall and always comes up with a very scalped one. He has a maximum of 3/8 inch long hair on the top of his head and then only stubble. I didn't want to have a hairstyle like that, so I said that I like my mother's hairstyle.
A few days after this conversation, when I came home in the evening, our neighbor Dan was with us. Upon arrival he will inform me: Tomorrow you will come with us to the barber !!! That did not sound like a question but a regulation. And he continued, tomorrow is Saturday so you don't go to school. Come to us at 8:30 in the morning and we'll go to the barber's. I found an excellent and cheap barber continued by neighbor Dan. I looked at my mother and waited for him to stop me, but she just nodded that she agreed with the neighbor. Then she said, Mathew, why can't you go to the barber shop like the other boys? I couldn't sleep that night, I kept thinking about going to the barber shop for the first time in my life. New neighbors do not live here even months, so many new things have already happened and now even the barber shop. I realized that Jax, Joe and Luis don't have as long hair as I or most boys.
My mother sent me to my neighbors at 8 in the morning so that I wouldn't be late, even though they lived next to us. Jax, Joe and Luis were sad to go to the execution. Luis asked which barber to go to, but he just shrugged and said he didn't know. Then Joe said: first you can get a haircut as always Luis then you go Mathew I'll follow you and at the end Jax.
We were all quiet all the way to the barber shop. But when I noticed in the distance the inscription: Barbershop Marschall began to shake my legs. I told a neighbor that I don't want short hair like my classmate Van leaves when he leaves this barber shop. A neighbor promised me that I would not have short hair but a decent hairstyle.
After arriving at the barber shop, he gave me a sharp smell of barber products mixed with smoke. We sat on wooden waiting chairs. The barber was slender taller than a short-haired gentleman and was about 50 years old. A gray gentleman sat in his chair. I began to look at the barber shop, which had yellowed walls of smoke, wooden waiting chairs, a large mirror, under which was a long counter with various barber scissors and tools, and there was a built-in sink. On the walls hung a lot of old pictures of boys', military and men's short hairstyles. As I looked at them, I began to tremble all over my body. I don't know how long I've been looking at them. When Jax pushes me and tells Mathew it's his turn. My legs were wooden, but I finally got up and took an uncertain step to sit in the barber's chair. I didn't even see how Luis was cut. When the barber wrapped me in a white sheet with black stripes, neighbor Dan told him. This is our neighbor Mathew, He's a good boy but he's never been to a barber shop before. I like him like I'm my son. To the barber's question: how do we cut a boy? Neighbor Dan replied: I want all 4 boys to have the same Skin fade hairstyles. The barber had already combed my hair, pushed my head forward, took the large scissors, which he placed on my neck: I was frightened when he fastened them and shook my head. The barber grabbed my head harder and told me to sit still. Scissors climbed the back of my head and for a moment I saw my long blond hair fall to the ground. The barber moved again from the neck up the back of the head and then gradually on the hips. My ears no longer hid my hair. The barber told me you had small ears, why did you cover them under your hair? When I looked in the mirror, I still had long hair on the top of my head, but my hips were only 1/2 inch long. Neighbor Dan praised the work of a barber and that he is glad that he found an excellent and cheap barber in this new town as well. The barber said that his price is half as low if the customer goes regularly and does not run more than one month since the last hairstyle. To this Dan, he replied that his sons went to the previous barber every 3 weeks and it will not be otherwise now. Meanwhile, the barber began to lift the hair on the top of my head with his comb and scissors followed his teeth, leaving an inch-long hair on my head. The barber took finer scissors with which he began to cut short hair on the temporal bone, continuing over the ears and the back of the head. As he made a transition between the hair on the top of his head and the fine stubble above the neck of his head, he soaked his neck and over his ears and gradually scraped the small hairs on the smooth white skin. When I jumped out of the barber's chair, almost all my hair was on the ground. Only a very small part of them were on my head. Joe has already taken my place.
I had no idea what my hairstyle looked like on the back of my head, so I looked carefully at Luis's head and stroked my head as if I were looking for my hair. Jax noticed and said, "Be sure you have the same hairstyle as Luis, and look, in a moment, Joe will have the same."
Luis's hair was an inch long at the top, combed slightly back, and gradually narrowed until it faded to the skin of his neck. Most of the back of the head was white. I thought to myself: I never want such a hairstyle again and let my mother cut my hair. When all four boys were cut, I got up and wanted to leave, but a neighbor, Dan, also sat in the barber's chair. His hairstyle was similar to ours, only his hair on the top of his head was about 3 inches and was combed at the forehead back.
When paying, neighbor Dan told the barber that we would be regular customers. The barber told him that he was writing in a customer book: Dan + 3 sons, but Dan corrected him to write Dan +4 sons.
After leaving the barber shop, I told my neighbor that I would not go to the barber with them any more. To that, a neighbor put his arm around my shoulders, hugged me, and said, Mathew, you need a father to raise. I agreed with your mother that from now on you would be like my son and I your father. Therefore, I will have control over your hair and you will respect it. I wouldn't like to have to pull the strap off your pants and put it up your ass. Now tell me: Dad, I got it and thank you. I began to tremble at these words and was silent for a moment, but finally I said: Dad, I understood that and thank you.
At that, the boys started laughing that they had a new brother, and we laughed at each other with our hairstyles and laughed. My classmates also laughed at my new hairstyle. When my classmate Van noticed me, he came and said that he saw in me a serious competitor for short hairstyles. He thought only his father was so conservative and forced him to go to an old-fashioned barber shop, and he didn't understand who made me do it. You know, my hair is already in control of my hair, and I pointed to Luis, whom Van hasn't seen yet. You look almost like brothers and started laughing. Then I added that we get this hairstyle at the Marschall Barbershop every 3 weeks. Then Van expertly assessed that our hair would grow by about 3/8 inch. Your hair won't touch your ears and you'll look like this again. Your hair will no longer ever grow.

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