Fifth Friday at Manny's - Teo's Tail by Manny

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My hand trembled slightly as I grasped his thick tail with one hand. The circumference was enormous! Such a bulky and heavy appendage needed to be removed carefully and completely intact. The 15 inches of dense Central American silken ebony would become the ‘piece de resistance’ of my tail collection!

"Are you ready to lose this?" I asked the handsome man as he squirmed in the chair under the cape.

His slight smile was more the product of nerves than of excitement.

"My new patron, my boss, said ‘no tails’ when he gave me the job. It must all be cut off, the long hair," he stammered uneasily.

I snapped on the huge set of Oster clippers and advanced the chattering, unsheathed teeth so that they were poised to saw through the massive tail, right at the base.

The low hum seemed deafeningly loud and all-encompassing. My hand still trembled with excitement. The tail was coming off, right at the base where it was collected and bound with elastic, just above the nape.

Then, I paused, strategically, to enjoy the moment a bit more, and continued the chat.

"How long has this hair been left to grow, uncut?" I asked

"Since I left ‘onduras, about two years," he said, still fidgeting.

"It’s very nice, healthy hair," I noted.

He blushed and nodded silently.

Removing the tail would simply be the first part of his transformation. He was going to get shorn! Scalped! Sitting silent and still beneath the constraining cape, almost all of his beautiful hair would fall to my feet.

I had taken smaller tails before -- a 12-inch tail and a 9-inch tail -- from modest heads of hair. In both cases, the lads had gone from shoulder-length to short tapers. But, their manes had not been nearly as dense or heavy. Furthermore, they had been very vocal about preserving some length.

But this fellow….all he had said was that his long hair needed to be cut off. His prized crowning mane would be mine, without restriction. That was the way I interpreted his request, anyhow, and that was the way I intended to act on it.

As the I brought the chattering teeth closer to the base of the tail, I squeezed the collection of captive hair and yanked the man’s head back slightly.

He was visibly uncomfortable, and his breathing became labored. He was subdued and there was no escaping his fate.

I could see how the bands struggled to contain the plush mass. It was so thick and voluminous. The weight tugging at the fellow’s head all day long…how could he endure such a heavy appendage?

As the teeth were ready to strike their target, the fellow cleared his throat.

"What is it?" I asked, pulling back from the assault.

"Oh, uh. Nothing, really. Just a bit nervous," he laughed awkwardly.

"Your hair must attract a lot of attention," I remarked. "You’ll certain miss your constant companion, this showy tail, once I take it off."

I pictured the hair gods weeping as I fondled the heavy silken coil, intent on removing it. One more longhair would be liberated by my Oster’s.

The man’s tail was still intact, still attached. But not for long.

"Go ahead, I’m ready," the fellow urged.

With one determined thrust, I began pushing the hungry teeth of the clippers into the bundle of captive hair. The first few strands were severed. The Oster’s were energized and pushed their way deeper into the tail’s cross section.

"No turning back now," I laughed, as I imagined pulling the tail off and holding it up like a hunting trophy.

The man was silent. This face frozen. A classic deer-in-the-headlights! Beneath the white cape, he gripped the arms of the chair to steady himself.

I pushed the clippers further into the mass of black hair. The cut was approaching a third of its way through the tail.

"It doesn’t want to come off," the man suddenly said, his face pale and sickly.

"Oh, it’s coming off!" I assured him.

I was half way through the execution. Half of the tail clung to the head and half showed itself independent, as severed strands of hair.

"I should have used a chain saw!" I joked. "This is a massive amount of hair!"

The man sat agonizingly still, staring unflinchingly at the mirror.

"Yes, it’s coming….coming….coming….OFF! IT’S OFF!" I announced gleefully.

The tail succumbed! I held it up with one hand. About a foot and a half of wonderful, shiny hair, bound at one end with several bright bands, dangled from my hand. The neon lights from barbershop bounced off it like a disco mirrored ball!

His face turned red and he stammered, not knowing what to say. He giggled nervously to relieve his anxiety.

"How does it feel, without the tail?" I asked.

He struggled to come up with a response.

Finally he blurted out, "So light, so….better."

I imagined he had guessed that was what I wanted to hear. Or, perhaps, he was consoling himself that there might be an upside to his dramatic loss.

I tossed his tail to the floor with great ceremony. He landed with an audible thud. He craned his neck to see it lying forlornly on the checked linoleum floor.

"Good riddance, right?! No more tail for you," I stated firmly.

He could not be allowed to concoct a "carry out" situation, with tail in tow. Oh, no! That tail belonged to me, to my collection.

I surveyed the shorn nape where I had clipped off the tail. Very dense and lovely stubble. He would be clipped down to stubble, all over. One single, no-nonsense length. That’s where I intended to take him. To a very simple, very short butch cut.

But we weren’t there yet. No, in fact, his massive forelock, unleashed, flopped about aimlessly. He still had so much hair!

"What’s your name?" I asked the man.

"Teo. In English, Ted," he said.

"We need to do something about all this hair, Teo," I stated flatly, running my hands through his lush mane.

His hair was so black, it was almost blue in tint!

"Are you ready for a haircut that will bring a smile to the patron’s face?" I asked, snagging the unruly forelock with my comb and lifting it up, away from his large, coffee-colored eyes.

It was a rhetorical question.

I pushed the clippers right into his hairline, at the scalp. One quick, determined drive down the top of his head ensued. An explosion of long chunks of cut hair fell in every direction. It was so fast, so dramatic, so irreversible.

Teo looked miserable.

"Oh, that is going to be very short," he stammered, not even attempting to disguise his concern.

"Yes, short for the boss! And very practical for you. No more tail, no more long hair….!" I exclaimed.

"No more hair, at all," he whimpered, as he perceived the baldy haircut taking shape.

"Where will you be working? Cutting grass, construction?" I asked.

"In a warehouse, stocking shelves," Teo replied.

"Is it air-conditioned?" I asked facetiously.

I mowed off another swath of his lovely hair. The mounds of black ebony seemed to cascade down in sheaves, almost in slow motion as they fell from his head. The cape looked like a zebra pelt!

"No," he admitted, indicating he comprehended my zeal with the clippers.

"You will thank me for this short haircut, more than you know," I assured him.

"I think so," he murmured in resignation as his eyes darted about, giving me an interested once-over.

Then, he added, "I don’t recognize myself with a buzzed head."

"Instead of everyone’s gaze clamped onto that massive tail I removed, it will now be on your handsome face," I said to console him.

He blushed, then looked at me sheepishly.

"You are handsome, too. That white tunic makes you look almost like an angel," he murmured.

He was flirting with me!

I looked at myself in the mirror. My lush, shoulder-length chestnut-colored locks gleamed in the neon.

The brilliant white of my tunic further enhanced the glow of my flow.

I smiled at him and stroked his clipped pate playfully.

"Who cuts your hair?" he asked.

I flicked my mane. I loved lording my long hair over him now that he was virtually bald.

"Does it need to be cut?" I asked. "All shaved off? Down to a short pelt like yours?"

I preened a bit more in the mirror.

Was I toying with him….or with myself?!

"I don’t have a boss telling me to cut my hair," I laughed. "And, I am working in a comfortable, air conditioned barber shop, not a warehouse! And, long hair suits me, don’t you think?"

Teo seemed to enjoy the cutting remarks meant to make him mourn the loss of his tail and fate as a vulnerable itinerant worker.

"Has it ever all been shaved off - like this?" he asked, motioning to the hair-laden cape.

My mind jumped back to that fateful, cruel day, when my one-time heart throb Robert Holdred shaved my head for his own pleasure and for my humiliation. Tears streaming down my face as I realized I would bald by his band…my beautiful locks falling to his feet.

"Yes," I mumbled. "And I looked horrible, and I felt naked."

I uncaped Teo, and his hand instinctively reached to feel his clipped nape.

"Wow, so short," he murmured, half in awe, half in regret.

He fumbled in his pocket.

"Without that," he said, pointing to the severed tail that lay on the floor, "I won’t need these. Here, you might use them."

He tried to thrust a few elastic hairbands into my hand.

"Perhaps you would," I nodded to the elastic bands, "you would, arrange my hair into a tail. Yours was done so perfectly when you came in."

Teo grinned.

"Of course, sit in the chair there," he said, pointing to the throne he’d just vacated.

I hesitated….we had talked about me and a shaved head….and now he was guiding me into the barber chair!

My heart pounded.

Teo took me and guided me very gently, but firmly, to the chair.

"There, there. Nothing to worry about. You have such beautiful hair," he said, his face close to my lustrous locks.

I felt so uncomfortable in my own barber chair.

Then his hand moved toward the clippers.

He was going to do it!!!

My heart leapt. I felt a surge of excitement in my groin. I was ready to succumb! I was ready to be shorn!

Teo smiled mischievously as his hand lingered near the clippers. Then, with twinkling eyes, his hand kept moving and he retrieved the brush.

With firm strokes, Teo began brushing my locks straight back. His hand was authoritative. Though the brushing hurt somewhat, the session felt divine!

His hand caressed and fondled my hair as he gathered it into a mass and quickly applied the elastic band. It was a high tail â€" near my crown! Not a low tail near my nape, the type he had sported when he walked in.

"There, a lovely tail!" he exclaimed.

I flicked my head and felt the massive lock swing like a pendulum behind.

Then he grabbed me by my tail, as I had done to his at the start of the makeover, and tugged it in a menacing way.

"Shall I cape you up and take this off?" Teo teased.

"Oh, god!" I stammered, closing my eyes and imaging my tail removal followed by a private session in the back….

Suddenly, Teo’s phone shrieked with some Latin-type music.

He quickly answered. "Yes, sorry! I’m on my way! Just, five minutes. I’m coming I was getting my hair cut…." he stammered nervously.

"Let me show you," he added, switching to video mode.

I heard his boss’ reaction. "That’s perfect! You look much better."

"And I feel better too," Teo added.

When the call ended, Teo was flustered and in a hurry to leave.

I saw him glance at the severed tail, as if he were considering taking it with him.

"You’d better hurry," I said, rising from the chair and stepping between Teo and my trophy.

"Yes, thank you for knowing what was best for me, amigo," Teo said, giving me a Latin bear-hug and holding me closer and longer than I expected. His arms were muscular.

Then he grasped my tail and fondled it playfully.

"This will have to wait for another day!" he cooed as he slid away.

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