The American neighbor by Storyteller

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I lived my childhood and teen days in the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s, when in Brazil, where I was born and raised, the fashion for boys was long hair. My father used to take me to the barber shop for short cuts, but not too short, until I was 8 years old, after that age he decided that my brother and I could follow fashion and have our hair the way we wanted, as long as we kept it clean, well combed and that we went to the barbershop, on our own, at least after a few months.

I was a very obedient and respectful boy, with my parents and with all adults, I followed the rules that were established, but I took advantage and let my hair grow. I would go to a barber shop where the barber must have been in his 60s, he was very friendly and I would just say "take some off" and he would do just that. When I was 12 my hair was quite long by my standards, reaching down to my shoulders, completely covering my ears, which were huge, and the bangs would totally cover my eyes if I didn't constantly throw them to the side, plus, at that time I had spent vacations at the beach and my face was quite tanned, but after so many years of long hair, the scalp under the hair was completely pale.

At this time, a couple from the United States moved into the house next door to the building where I lived, they were very friendly and soon became friends with my family, so we often had barbecues and spent time together. The man was a military man and his hair was always extremely short, in a cut that no one wore in Brazil, not even the military, and, of course, there was no young man I knew who had such haircut.

This man was very kind and enjoyed talking to me, he learned our language spoken in Brazil, Portuguese, quickly and, as at the time I still didn't have English classes at school, I was able to talk with him thanks to his fluency in Portuguese. As geography was my favorite subject at school, he was impressed with how much I knew about the United States and complimented me for that, which, of course, made me very proud. For this reason, too, whenever the families got together, I quite enjoyed talking with him.
His haircut was something that caught a lot of my attention, because he always seemed to have his hair freshly cut and because it was something completely opposite to what I was used to have, and I would never think of having a haircut like that.

At one of these meetings, I was listening to something my neighbor was talking to me, and I couldn't stop looking at his hair. He then said: "Is my hair attracting your attention?", I was quite embarrassed and quickly replied "Yes, Sir", he smiled and asked "Do you like my haircut?" and I, not wanting to be discourteous to such a nice neighbor, said, "Yes,Ssir." He said "It's a common haircut in America, did you know?" and I sincerely said "No, Sir, I didn't know", and then he said "Who knows, one day you'll cut your hair like me?" and I replied, quite embarrassed "Yeah, who knows…" hoping the subject would change, and to please him I added "...I would like it, Sir", he smiled, and really, to my happiness , the subject has changed.
Time passed, the families got together several times and, as I got used to it, I never paid attention to his haircut anymore and that subject was never discussed again. My hair, in the meantime, has grown even a little longer.

On a Saturday, my parents had gone out to visit some relatives and I was going for a bike ride when my neighbor was leaving his garage and saw me. He asked me "do you want to leave your bike here in my garage and ride with me in my car? I’m going to do some things on the other side of the city?" I smiled and said: "Yes Sir, but won't it be a bother to you if I leave my bike in your garage?", he smiled and said "You're really a good boy. No, it won't be a problem, put the bike up there against the garage wall and please close the garage door before getting in the car". I did as he asked and got in the car.

His car was very good and modern, I complimented him for the car, and he thanked me. On the way he talked to me about different subjects, until he arrived in a neighborhood where there were many shops and different services and parked the car. Right in front of where he parked there was a barbershop that had something you don't see in Brazilian barbershops, a barber pole. We got out of the car, and he pointed me towards the barber shop. He said: "This is the barbershop I usually go to, the barber is American, he mostly tends to serve American or English customers who live here, as he only speaks English, you will find it interesting". I, not even remembering that conversation about the haircut said: "That's cool, Sir". He told me how to say "Good morning, Sir" in English so that I could greet the barber when I arrived.

We entered the barbershop, and the barber was a nice American gentleman who greeted my neighbor with a smile and both the neighbor and I said: "Good morning, Sir". My neighbor then began to speak several things in English to the barber, I didn't understand anything, and waited patiently. The barber then smiled at me and pointed to the barber chair and motioned for me to sit down there. I smiled and doubtfully looked at my neighbor, who said: "Sit down son, he's going to give you a haircut, it's nice, isn't it?", I, a little confused, but wanting to be nice, said smiling "Yes Sir" as I went, walked over to the chair and sat down.

After I sat down the barber put a cape around me, closing it tightly, and taking care that my long hair did not get caught inside the cape. He pressed the pedal to raise the chair. As he was quite a tall man and used to only have adult customers, he asked me to get up so he could put a booster seat over the barber chair seat. I was a little embarrassed as this was something only little boys did, but I smiled, got up, and then sat down on the booster seat, my legs were up from the footrest, I was really feeling like a little boy.

He then turned the chair so that I was facing the waiting seats, where my neighbor was, and with my back to the mirror. Then he took a comb and combed my hair, leaving the bangs completely over my eyes. I wasn't seeing anything, I just heard his footsteps and him dealing with something, until I noticed his presence again in front of me. Immediately I felt his hand holding my head firmly and the other activating something that made a clack, immediately making a very loud noise and he positioned that tool on my forehead and I started to hear that the noise changed, and I felt a vibration that started in my hairline and it was going to the back of my head. Later I would find out that those were clippers and that they had the #2 blade. I was very surprised, but even if I wanted to say something, it would not work, cause I didn’t know any word in English and he didn’t speak Portuguese.

I didn't see the hair fall out as he threw the hair behind my head, but I could feel the air was touching the top of my head and after a few strokes the bangs didn't cover my eyes and I could see my neighbor again on the waiting seat. My neighbor smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back, not really knowing why. Meanwhile, the barber kept running clippers on top of my head, sometimes he'd go over areas he'd already gone through, and eventually little bits of hair would fly around. The barber then turned off Clippers for a while and ran his hand over the top of my head, I had a very different feeling, I couldn't explain it, he said something in English, which I didn't understand. Meanwhile, my neighbor smiled at me and said: "Your dream is coming true, son", I still didn't remember that conversation about the haircut, so I didn't understand, but I smiled and said "Yes, Sir".

Meanwhile the barber changed the clippers blade to #00000. He then forced my head down, causing my chin to touch my chest. I had never seen this type of action from any barber. My hair, in the back, was still long. He positioned the clippers under the hair at my nape, turned them on, and began moving them from nape all the way up to just beyond the crown. I started to see huge chunks of my hair falling out. And he repeated the process a few times and I just saw the hair fall out in front of me.

He then lifted my head again, and began running the clippers, carefully, across a portion in the middle of the top. Then he moved my head slightly to the side and started running the clippers on the right side, from sideburns to the same height as he did on the back. My big ear started to show off, and I noticed that he had a surprised look on his face when he saw the size of my ear. He smiled at me and gave my ear a little tug. I, not knowing what to do, smiled at him. He controlled my ear with one finger as he passed clippers around it.

I was feeling my head getting lighter and a huge amount of hair was on the floor. And he then moved to the other side, moved my head slightly and did the same procedure he had done on the left side. Again, he controlled my ear with his finger to run the clipper around. He then unplugged the clipper, put it on a hook on the wall and ran his hand all over my head. What a different feeling.

He then started to deal with something that I couldn't see what it was, but it made a different sound. Soon he came up with a large amount of shaving lather and spread it all over the back, sides and that middle part of the top of my head where he had used #00000 clippers on. The aroma of the shaving foam was very good, and I had never felt foam on my head before.

He then took a razor and started to shave the hair in the area he had lathered, I could hear, in the silence of the barbershop, the sound of the razor on my head shaving the tiny bristles, and I, very scared, did not move a single muscle. He did everything very carefully. When he finished, he used a piece of cloth to remove the excess of lather, then he used an aftershave, the aroma was incredible, but it burned and I did an "ouch", but it soon passed. Also, of course, it was a very strange feeling to feel his hand touching my head directly.

After that, the barber took a duster brush and dusted my entire head. Then he powdered the tips of the duster brush and rubbed it around my ears and the back of my neck. Then he shook the cape well and carefully removed the cape. And he made a sign that I could get down from the chair. My neighbor, who was paying attention to everything, said "Don't forget you're on the booster seat, be careful when you get up", I smiled and said: "That's true, thank you for warning me Sir" and carefully, I got down from the chair.

The barber then led me so that I was facing the mirror and showed me the cut also using a hand mirror so that I could see the back. I was completely astonished. My hair was cut extremely short, almost exactly like my neighbor's haircut, my huge ears looked even bigger without the hair covering them, and my head was insanely white comparing to my tanned face. I tried to avoid any reaction that might upset the barber or my neighbor and, as I couldn't speak any English, I smiled to the barber and gave him a thumbs up.

My neighbor got up from the waiting seat, took his wallet and paid the barber. He said something in English, and I saw him wave goodbye to the barber. I reached out my hand to the barber and said "Thank you Sir" and my neighbor translated to the barber, who smiled, and gently rubbed my head. We then left the barbershop.

The neighbor then said to me "Finally, son, the haircut you would like to get someday", I immediately remembered that conversation, smiled and said: "Yes, Sir, thank you so much for providing this to me". And he said: "Now let's go get some ice cream", I was really happy and I said "Wow, thank you, Sir".

We arrived at the ice cream parlor, and I had the feeling that everyone was looking at me and my neighbor, both with that very short haircut, unusual for the time. We sat down and an attendant came to assist us and said to my neighbor, smiling: "Are you going to make the order for you and your son?", we both looked at each other and smiled. He ordered, we had the ice cream and I, by this point, didn't even remember the whole haircut thing.

As we left the ice cream parlor and went to the car he said "Now when I go get my weekly haircut I will take you along with me so you always get the haircut you like" I was so excited with the ice cream I had and riding with him in his car that I didn't even think about it and said "Yes, Sir", and from there we went to his house, I got on my bike, and said: "Thank you so much for everything, Sir" and I went to my house. As I walked out the front gate he said "I'll pick you up next Saturday so we can go to the barbershop together"...

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