Moving Home - Part 1 by buzztob

---

Moving Home â€" Part 1
by
buzztob


Partway through the final school term for that year, father announced that we would be moving during school summer holidays. The company he worked for were expanding their business at another location. A number of workers and their families were being transferred to that location. The company had already found suitable housing for all the families.

It was hard saying goodbye to friends at the end of term. During the first week of the school holidays, we moved. After a short drive, we arrived at the new town, found our new home and were met by a rep from the company. We were informed that our belongings would be arriving later that day. In the meantime, the man invited us around to his house which was just around the corner. There we met his wife, daughter and son, who was my age. My parents seemed to get on well with the new family and I was starting to get to know their son, John.

Mrs Jones had made some lunch and whilst sitting around their table eating the food, Mr Jones told John to get a haircut that afternoon and he would get a trim at the end of the holidays before heading back to school. Father looked at me and said I could do with a good haircut and should go with John that afternoon as nothing else was planned. After we finished lunch, father asked how much haircuts were around here. Mr Jones told him what he gives John. I was given the money and told to make sure it was cut, he wanted value for his money and not just combed and blow dried like I did the last time.

We left the house, and whilst walking, John asked me if I wanted a normal haircut or a haircut that would leave some money left over for sweets. I chose the latter. He said OK I know where we are going now. He explained that the shops on the high street charged what our parents have given us, but he knew a place where it was nearly half the price which would leave money over, but I was not to let on to my parents.

We walked for about 10 minutes, then, stopped at a rather large house. John said this was the place which I thought was strange, as there were no indications that it was a barber’s shop; no barber poll, no signs, just a normal house. I asked John and he said the guy who lives here does it as a bit of a hobby, mainly for his friends but he was sure he could persuade him to cut our hair. We opened the gate walked down the path and knocked on door. A guy older than my father, a lot taller and heavier opened the door. He was dressed in shorts with a stained tee shirt, flip-flops and a couple of day’s growth on his face.
John asked him if he was cutting hair as his father had sent him wanting him cleaned up for the summer holidays. The guy asked if it was both of us and John said it was. He said to John that he had not seen him for a while but he would soon get him cleaned up. He said that he was just finishing off his lunch but he could fit us in before he had to go out later that afternoon. He opened the door further and told us to go into the first door on the right and he would be with us when he had finished his lunch.

Walking into the room, it was really bare. It had linoleum on the floor, a rather large wooden chair to one side, a wooden cupboard and a couple of plastic chairs. We sat down and I was just about to ask John about the guy when he walked in drinking a mug of tea.

He placed the mug on a shelf, opened the cupboard to reveal an assortment of hair-cutting equipment. The man grabbed a grubby looking cape and asked who was first. John looked at me and I said you go first. John made his way to big wooden chair, the cape was secured around him and the man asked if he wanted a parting, or brushed straight forward, John asked for a parting. The next question puzzled me. The man asked electric or manual. John said manual. The guy said oh you want it short and tight â€" that’s going to be a nice haircut for you. The man looked at me and asked if I was having the same, I said I didn’t know I would wait to see what John looked like. I think I must have said the wrong thing as the man asked if I doubted his skills at cutting hair, if I didn’t know what I wanted, why was I here. I told him we had just arrived in the area, had met John and his family and was told by my father to get a haircut with John.

The man looked at me and said to John that he thought I should go first being the newbie. John shrugged his shoulders said he didn’t mind. The barber removed the cape and invited me into the chair. Hesitantly I moved towards the chair and sat down. The cape was secured and the guy started to comb my hair. He said that it was really thick and too long for his liking. Again, he asked the question electric or manual. I told him I didn’t know what he was asking. He went to the cupboard and brought out clippers with a cord attached, which I had obviously seen before and in his other hand something that he explained were manual clippers. Having never experienced manual clippers before, I thought I would play safe and asked for electric. The items replaced in the cupboard the barber asked 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. He said that the number would determine the length. Thinking higher was longer I would play safe and I asked for a 5. The barber gave a chuckle and said that it would be a really nice haircut and that it had been a while since anyone had requested that. With the comb in his hand, he placed it just above my ear and asked if I wanted it cut to there or higher. John then said to remember what my father had said about getting a good haircut and wanting value for the money. The barber replied that he was a man after his own heart and he would make sure that I received a value for money haircut. With that, he turned to the cupboard, picked up the clippers, switched them on, changed the top of the clippers and with comb in hand, nudged my head forward so my chin was touching my chest. Slowly he started at the nape of my neck, and pushed the clippers up over the bump in the back of my head then flicked out. Nothing appeared on the cape so I had no idea how much he was cutting off. The process was repeated a few more times. He lifted my head and positioned himself at the side, placed the clippers below the base of my ear and moved them up the side of my head, it was then I saw the amount of hair that was coming off. Panic started to take a grip but I thought there was nothing I could do now. Folding my ear over, he pushed the clippers up to the top of my head, more long hair hit the cape. A couple of more passes and he seemed satisfied with that side of my head. He moved around to the other side and that’s when I caught a glimpse of John, his mouth was wide open but no sound came out. I knew that was not good.

The hair from the other side was soon raining down on the cape and I just hoped that there was something left. When the barber was satisfied with the destruction, he asked me about the top. He stated that with the top being so thick it needed to be a lot shorter to blend in with the back and sides. He then brought out another set of clippers and said that he thought a 2 or a 1 would go nicely with the rest of the haircut. He showed me the guards that would be attached to the clippers. I asked him about the other clippers and it was then he explained that I had asked for a 5 zero on the back and sides taken nice and high. With that he produced a hand mirror and showed me the result. I was speechless. I was bald all the way up to the top of head. Fighting back the tears I could feel welling up inside me, I asked for a number 2. The attachment was clipped onto the new clippers and, starting at the front of my head, he proceeded to strip the hair from the top of my head. He just kept running the clippers over and over the top of my head. After a while, a strange feeling came over me and the running of the clippers over my head became enjoyable. It was soon over and the barber said that he needed to blend the top into the sides to complete the haircut. Once he was satisfied, I was given a thorough dusting and handed the mirror once again. Sounds stupid, but it was then it hit home that there was no large mirror attached anywhere to check out the haircut. From what I could see in the small hand mirror, the haircut was really short but I thought it suited me. I knew that I would be in for some ribbing but fortunately, no-one except the Jones family knew me. I couldn’t believe what the guy charged me for the haircut, there was plenty left over for sweets. It suddenly dawned on me that John still needed to get his haircut.

As John made his way to the chair I was torn as to whether to try and gain revenge for him bringing me here or just sit back and watch. I was erring on the side of revenge when the barber wrapped the cape around John and asked him if he wanted a similar haircut to mine. John was a bit tongue tied by the question but quick as a flash, I informed the barber that our fathers had said we should get similar haircuts to last for the summer holidays and then just get it trimmed before we went back to school. The barber smiled and said excellent choice, two good haircuts in one afternoon. I think before John realized what had been said, the noisy clippers were switched on and I saw at first hand, the damage that the clippers with the 5 zeros could inflict. Hair was raining down and it seemed in a relatively short period of time, the hair on the lower part of John’s head was removed. Following a quick dusting, the barber said that with John having fairer hair he didn’t know what to do with the top. With a slight smirk in my voice, I said that I thought a number 1 on top would look good on John. The barber looked at me and said he thought I was right. Turning back to John he asked what he thought. I think John was still in a bit of a stupor and didn’t reply so the barber thinking there were no objections, started to remove the hair on top of John’s head. It was soon over. Cleaned up and the cape removed, John stood up, paid the barber and we made our way out to a cry of don’t leave it too long next time.

Out on the street, we both looked at each other and asked what we had just done. It was going to be hard to explain to our parents what had just happened, but with money rattling in our pocket, we made our way to the shops. I don’t know if I was looking forward to the end of the summer holidays or not and would my dad trust me to go on my own again.

Both sets of parents were a bit shocked when we entered the house, but my father was the first to congratulate us on our choice of haircuts and looking at me said that he hoped I would be keeping the hairstyle from now on. Mother was a bit unsure but father just said that I was growing up.

---