The Deaf Old Barber by Clipperboy

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I felt good as I left the house this morning.
I felt like today was going to be terrific.
It was a day where it felt like nothing could
go wrong.

It was early, about 8:00 i would guess. The
sun was shining and it was very hot. My hair
had reached about 6 inches long since the start
of the school year, which made it ever hotter.
I walked out of the driveway and began to walk
down the street to my friend Eric`s house.

When I got there, I found Eric in his room
watching tv. He looked up at me and said,
`Before we do anything, I need to get a haircut.
Mom`s been all over my case about it. Maybe you
should get one too, that mop is getting really long.`
I agreed, so we set off to find a barbershop.

We walked what seemed like hours until we found
a little barbershop on the street corner. We
peeked inside and saw two chairs. A little old
man was sitting in one chair reading the morning
paper, and a very young guy was standing up next
to his chair sorting out his materials. Eric said
that this looked like an ok place, and we should
try it out. I was a little skeptical at first, but
I finally agreed with him.

As we entered the shop, the younger guy greeted us
and told Eric he could have a seat in his chair.
He told me to have a seat in his father`s chair.
The little old man got up from his chair and motioned
for me to sit down. I didn`t want to , but I didn`t
want to chicken out in front of Eric. So I sit down
anyway. The old man asked me what I wanted done,
and I told pointed at a poster hanging up on the wall.
The guy`s hair in the poster was 3 inches on the top,
and about 2 and a half inches on the sides and back.

The old man nodded and grabbed his scissors and comb.
Over and over again, he cut. I watched my dark brown
hair fall on the floor beneath me. after a while of
cutting, he finally put down his scissors. At this
moment I looked over a Eric, who was getting a half
an inch buzzcut. he looked back at me, and gave me
a thumbs up. I smiled back at him and turned back
to the mirror. I looked at my haircut and said to myself
it`s a little short, but I like it.

Just then, the old man unhooked the clippers from
his work table. I thought to myself, just gonna blend
in he sides with the top. But I was wrong. He snapped
a short attachment on the clippers, and flicked them on.
He placed them at the nape of my neck and pushed them all
the way up to the crown of my head.

At that moment I paniced. I couldn`t see how short it
was, but I could feel the air on my scalp. He continued
until the back was finished. Then, he started on the sides.
With the first pass I could tell how short it was. He was
cutting my hair down to half an inch. I started to yell
at him and tell him that was way too short. He payed me
no attention and just kept on cutting. I figured it was
no use, so I let him finish. After the sides were done,
he switched the attachments, and started on the top. I
closed my eyes, and tried to enjoy it.

When I opened my eyes back up, the old man had stopped
cutting. I looked at myself in the mirror, and said out
loud that it was way too short, but it was ok. The old
man looked at me weird and grabbed my shoulder. He asked,
`Well, if you want to. I understand it`s too long. We
can go shorter.`

I looked back at him and said, `What??` He said nothing
further as he grabbed the clippers. He kept his hand
steadily on my shoulder, so there was no way for me to
escape. I looked over for help form Eric, but he was gone.
He left me in this barbershop with this old man and his
son.

He flicked the clippers on and drove them right down the
center of my head with no attachment. I stared in shock,
as he continued to shear of the rest of my hair. In about
five minutes, he was done with the clippers. he sat them
down on the counter. Then he left the room. about a minute
later, he came back with shaving cream. I said, `No way!
You are not gonna shave my head!`

He ignored me again, and applied the shaving cream on the
back and sides of my head. I closed my eyes again and tried
to think of this as a dream. THe old man stroked a straight
razor on a leather belt a couple of times, then he began to
shave my head. I could hear the scraping noise of the razor
as it glidded across my scalp. I hated the feeling. I wanted
to get up and walk out, never to be seen again.

Finally, he finished with the razor, and I opened my eyes. I
stared at myself in shock. The back and sides were completely
bald, and the top was so short, you could barely even tell it
was there. He cleaned up my shaven places with a towel, and
then he left the room again. He came back shortly carrying a
bottle of green liquid. He applied this to my back and sides
and said, `This will keep it bald for at least a month.` I opened
my mouth to yell, but it was no use. It was way to late to start
fussing. After about 10 minutes, he rubbed the stuff off and then
he grabbed some oil. He rubbed my head down with the oil until it
was nice and shiny. My life is ruined I thought to myself.

Seconds later, Eric walked into the room and dropped the cokes
he was carrying. He said, `I never thought your hair would be
this short.` I stormed out of the barbershop, and didn`t even
pay for the haircut. The whole way back to Eric`s house, he kept
rubbing my head.

I just knew school was gonna be hell Monday.

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