New house new barber part 2 by Tony

---

New house new barber part 2
It was now four weeks since my first haircut with Brian's Dad and I must admit I had got used to my hair being shorter, all the other kids in school had pretty much the same haircuts too, that's more about the way of life in this small town, it's so different to what I had been used to just outside London. Brian and I were good friends and spent a lot of time together. Mum had settled into life up here too and had made friends with Brian's Mum as well
Brian's Dad had let us know it was time for our next haircut, Mum was pleased about that, she said I looked so much better without my long fringe hanging over my face, I had carried on using the hair cream to hold my fringe back since the first haircut, I suppose it was nice that my Mum was happy with the way I look now, she had made the best of bringing me up on her own and works hard, the least I can do is to make life easier for her and not give her a hard time. I have to admit, life is better here than in London, it's slower and more relaxed too.
I met with Brian and we went off down to his Dad's barber shop, as before, Brian went first and I sat watching as his Dad shaved his hair like before, but this time he said to Brian, the weather is getting much warmer now, so it's time for a shorter summer haircut, with that I could see the back was shaved higher up to the crown, then the sides too, but he did leave the top the same length as last time, it's just that he shaved the back and sides much higher with the razor this time creating a much more severe white skin strip. Brian was now finished and his Dad said, your turn now Gary, I am glad your Mum liked your hair cut shorter, she will be pleased this time as its your summer cut and that's shorter still, my stomach knotted up and I had that sick feeling again, I thought last time was bad enough being shaved into a short back and sides after the longer hair I was used to.
I sat in the chair while he put the cape around me and tucked it tight into the back, I sat for a few seconds thinking what to say, should I say it was short enough last time or, but before I could even get any words out of my mouth, my head had been pushed forward and the clippers were making their way up my neck, I had noticed this time he used different clippers which seemed to shave closer to the skin, next were the sides, the feel was just as before, his hand holding my head firmly as the clippers pushed hard against the skin, it wasn't long before the lather and then the scraping of the razor, I was looking the same as Brian with the white skin high up to the crown and to the top of the temples at the side, a little more cream and the fringe combed back to perfection and I was finished, he took the cape off and said, there you go Gary, one nice summer cut for you too, I said, thank you sir, it's very nice, then I got the money out of my pocket Mum had given me for the haircut, but Brian's Dad refused to take it, he said, no need to pay, you are a very good friend to Brian and that's good enough for me, I said thank you sir, Mum will appreciate that, it's very kind.

We went off down to the town before returning back home to my house, Mum said when she saw our haircuts, hey boys, you both look very smart today, you both have very nice haircuts, she asked us if we wanted some lunch, we took it up to my room where we played some video games, then later Brian went off home, Mum spoke to Brian's Dad and thanked him for the free haircut and said how nice we both looked.
Later that month Mum got a phone call from her Brother, my Uncle Roger, he had been given the opportunity to go to the Middle East to work for twelve months, he asked if my cousin could come to live with us for that time, my Aunty was going with him but felt it wasn't a good place for a young lad, Michael was younger than me, by about a year, Mum said she would talk to me about it and phone him back.
Mum asked me how I felt about it? I said, can you afford to keep another member of the family, she said Uncle Roger would pay her well for doing it, so all I could do would be to agree to it. Mum phoned Uncle Roger back and made some arrangements, she said it will be in three weeks time, she would have to organise for him to go to my school.

Three weeks passed so quickly and Brian said his Dad sent a reminder for us that our four week haircut was due this weekend, that was the same day that Vince was coming, so Mum rang Uncle Roger and asked if he could drop Vince off on Friday evening as Saturday I would be going to the barber shop, he said, that's great, can Gary take Vince with him to the barber shop? as his hair was so long it needed tying back now, Mum said that was fine she would ask the barber if he minded doing another haircut, she explained to Uncle Roger that George the barber had become a friend and that his son Brian was Gary's friend. She told him also that George does a nice short back and sides haircut for the two boys every four weeks, Uncle Roger said that was fine, he always had a job getting Vince to the barbers.

Vince was dropped off Friday afternoon with all his stuff, I had a little chuckle to myself when I saw him, his hair was so long it was on his shoulders, oh dear, what a shock he would get tomorrow when I take him with us to the barber shop. I could not wait for Saturday morning to come, I told Brian about Vince and said, your Dad will have a fit when he sees how long his hair is, he said, don't worry, your Mum already told him, she said he needs a well over due haircut. Saturday morning Vince and I called for Brian on the way, he asked where we were going, I said, we are going to the barber shop, his face was a picture, it was sheer panic, he said, why am I coming with you, I don't want a haircut, I explained that his Dad had arranged it with my Mum, she had asked Brian's Dad if it was ok, he said yes, so you are getting a haircut Vince. As we got to the shop, I pushed him through the door first, Brian's Dad said, hello Gary, so this is Vince, I said, good morning sir, yes he is in need of a haircut just like ours, and he will be joining us every time we come for our haircuts sir.
Hello Vince, said Brian's Dad, jump in the chair, I will soon have you tidied up and looking like a young man again, it's obviously a long while since you had a good haircut young man!
Vince climbed in the chair slowly, obviously not looking forward to having a short haircut. Brian's Dad put the cape over him and before long started cutting his long pony tale off first, that was about eight inches long, as the last bit was cut, he dropped it to the floor, the clippers were switched on and Vince was almost in tears, his head was pushed forward and held in place while the clippers pushed up his neck, there was so much hair falling to the floor and you could see the first white strip of skin appear on his neck, the clippers were used again and again, each pass created a wider strip of white skin, I was really enjoying this, watching him squirm every time the hair fell on the cape in his lap, before long the back was totally shaved high up near the crown, he was definitely getting the summer cut straight away. Next came the sides, Vince's hair was nearly touching his shoulders at the side, so Brian's Dad had to lift the long hair up to get the clippers under it before placing them close to the skin and pushing them up slowly to the top of his temple, about eight or nine inches of long straight hair fell into his lap, then another pass did the same thing , before long all of Vince's hair was in his lap and on the floor, he was not looking very happy, the last part of the long fringe was snipped off like ours ,just above the eyes, then he was lathered up and shaved with the straight razor, the look was so stark and the skin was very white, the hair cream was massaged into his hair and the sharp side parting formed with the fringe slicked back off his face, Brian's Dad looked very pleased with this haircut and instructed Vince to come with us every four weeks, next up was me as I had to get back so Mum could take Vince for his school uniform, after my haircut was finished I thanked Brian's Dad and took Vince back home, Mum was so pleased to see him with his new haircut, although he was not happy at all, later that morning she came back with his school uniform and asked him to go up and try it on, he came down in full uniform and Mum took a photo to send to his Mum and Dad.

---