Growing Up - Part 4 by buzztob

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GROWING UP - PART 4
by
buzztob



Next term, I started my new school. It was a completely different experience from the last place. Everyone was friendly and my grades improved. Dad got his promotion and fortunately we were able to stay in the same place. Sunday mornings became a really pleasurable experience with Steve taking over the running of dad’s barbershop. He seemed more than happy to allow Steve to operate from the place over the weekend and they came to some sort of arrangement as Steve started to charge a small amount, which he was putting towards buying his equipment ready for starting college. Dad encouraged a lot of his work colleagues to come over which they were happy to do considering how little Steve charged for the haircut. Steve became very proficient in all sorts of haircuts and soon picked up the various names thanks to the haircutting sites on the Internet. He soon had a good collection of hairstyles printed from the Internet. The vast majority were short, very short, and very, very short styles. He loved using the clippers and trying out variations to the different styles. The lads from school were always over and it appeared that the whole school now supported short haircuts. We were even surprised when one Saturday morning, a familiar face appeared at the garage door and asked if he could have a haircut, it was James. He came in and asked how I was and apologised for all the grief he had given me. He now realised what a jerk he must have been. It would appear that he had completely changed in more ways than one following our little game with him. I told him that it was water under the bridge and that I was really happy at my new school. Steve told him to take a seat. As he placed the cape around him, he lent forward and whispered in his ear, SKINS RULE. James went a bright red and was about to get up when Steve said ‘water under the bridge’. A smile came to Steve’s face and James looked from Steve to me and then started to laugh. He told us of the embarrassment he felt following the removal of his hair and was horrified to find what the tattoo said. He had kept it a secret for quite some time and even today, his parents did not know about it. He sat back in the chair and asked if this time, Steve could cut his hair more slowly so he could watch in the mirror. James had kept his hair fairly short ever since his experience so when Steve asked him what he wanted, he said shaved around the back and sides and cropped on the top, you know the style!

Steve’s reputation started to spread and he was never short of customers. However, dad was very insistent that he could only cut hair at the weekends. Friday nights was nearly always reserved for dad’s friends who continued to come over for the beer and chat as well as the haircut. They soon became used to Steve and he knew what cut they wanted before they sat down. A plate was placed at the side and dad’s friends dropped in their money when Steve had finished.

I started to look forward to weekends as the garage was always very busy, mainly with our friends from school plus a few from the other place, including James. We actually became friends after a while, but he always swore that he would get his own back for the tattoo. Dave came by most weekends for a trim of his high and tight and always brought some friends with him. The hairstyles that Steve produced became more radical and he adopted dad’s old saying, ‘the shorter the better’. The end of the school year was looming and all the exams were out of the way. I had decided, well dad had, that I would stay on and get the qualifications for university. Pete had successfully applied for the Army and would soon be off for his initial training. Steve had been accepted by the local hairdressing college so would soon start his career in earnest. He and dad had already been out and bought more equipment that he would need and dad had told him that he could now use his place whenever he wanted. There only remained one last thing for dad to do before he handed over the reins.

We all had gathered at my house for a celebration on the Friday. Dad arrived home, went upstairs to change and came down to join us in the garage. He looked at Steve and said that it was now time for the request he had made a while ago. I didn’t know what he meant, but Steve quickly started to smile and jumped straight into the chair. All he said was ‘Shave me bald’! Pete and I stood with our mouths open. We knew that Steve had mentioned it a few times about shaving his head but we didn’t think that he would go through with it. Dad picked up the cape and ceremoniously wrapped it around Steve. He picked up the clippers and made sure the #00000 was on. Placing the clippers at the front of Steve’s head, all he said was ‘I now christen this head bald’. The clippers sprang into action and the short hair on top of Steve’s head was slowly peeled away. Steve just sat there with a broad smile on his face. He had waited so long for this moment. It was not long before dad switched off the clippers, wiped Steve’s head and spread a large amount of lather all over his head. He then opened a box on the bench and inside was a brand new straight edge razor. Dad ran the blade a few times over the strop on the side of the chair and positioned himself in front of Steve. Very slowly he started to remove the lather on Steve’s head. He was soon placing more lather all over his head again and shaving against the hair growth in order to ensure a smooth finish. When he finished, he wiped his head, then opened a jar, placed some white substance on his hand and rubbed it into Steve’s head. He then took hold of a bottle of baby oil and spread a little on the surface of his head. Again, he massaged this into the scalp and wiped off the surplus. The result was brilliant. Steve finally had a really smooth shining head

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