Kelly Changes His Mind by Shant

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I live in an older section of the city that is known as Kenilworth. Many of the houses are over 100 years old and the streets are lined with large oaks and other big trees. I live right on Kenilworth Road, which runs through the center of our neighborhood.

My house is on a slight hill on the corner of Kenilworth and Normandy Road. It is an English Tudor and was built in 1927. When I started house hunting, it was the very first house I looked at, and I bought it that very same day. I tell people that everyone gets a couple of breaks in their life and mine was getting to buy this house.

Any car that drives through our neighborhood drives right past my house. There is a large yard, and having grown up on a farm, I immediately began planting perennial flower gardens when I bought it. After about ten years of the plants multiplying, I had enough plants to start having a sale every summer. As years passed, it became an annual event with people from all sections of the city coming to buy plants.

At the very end of the street there is a convenience store. It is just under a mile from my home and I stop there often and buy gas and any small items I need. It’s great having it so close by.

One day I went in the store and saw there was a new worker. His name tag said that his name was Kelly. I guessed he was in his early 20’s. He was a really good looking guy. He had an immense head of dark brown hair that he pulled back and tied in a topknot and then wore a baseball cap or hoody on top of it.

I usually would stop at the store a few times a week. If Kelly was not busy, we would talk for awhile. I was really intrigued by his hair. I couldn’t tell how long it was and I always hoped that one day when I went in the store he would have his hair untied and hanging down around his shoulders.

One day, I asked him, "When you come to work, do you come from Tunnel Road or do you come from Biltmore Avenue?" Kelly replied, "I come from Biltmore Avenue to avoid all the traffic from the other direction. Tunnel Road has just too much traffic to deal with during rush hour."

"I live less than a mile from this store. You pass my house every day when you come to work. I’m surprised you haven’t seen me out working in the yard because that’s what I’m usually doing."

I told him the address and said that as he drove by he would see flower gardens everywhere. "I’m told that I’m known as the "Garden Guy" in the neighborhood. You may have seen signs for my plant sales which I have every year."

"I know exactly where your house is," Kelly said. "I have always wanted to see all the gardens that are there."

"When you have the time, you should drop by. Half of the gardens you can’t see from the road. I also have a pond in back and no one even knows it is there unless I take them back and show it to them."

One day while I was working in the gardens, Kelly stopped by. "I saw you working and thought I’d take you up on your offer to see your gardens. Man, they are really awesome. I’ve seen gardens like this in parks before, but I’ve never seen gardens as beautiful as yours in a person’s yard. You must spend a huge amount of time working on them to keep them looking so good."

"They definitely take up a great deal of my time. I’m afraid I may have created a monster. It’s starting to be too much work for me to handle by myself and I’ve been thinking about hiring someone to help me. I figure I would pay someone $25 an hour for about 20 hours each month from March through October. That would give someone an extra $500 a month. Any chance you would be interested?"

"Definitely. The pay isn’t all that great at the store, and I’m always worrying about having enough money to make ends meet. $500 extra a month would really help me out. I’m sure I could also learn a lot from you and that would be an added bonus."

"Fantastic. Because I’m retired we can easily work around your work schedule at the store. We could do as many or as few hours at a time as you like. Some months during the summer, I would probably need you even more than 20 hours a month. I know I could definitely use you more when I’m having my plant sale. You can start helping me immediately, so just let me know when you’re ready to come to work."

Kelly and I worked together all throughout the spring and it was now the middle of summer. It really was great having him helping me and also getting to know him as well. He was a really nice guy.

One hot summer day while we were working, I said to him, "You know, all the time that I have known you, I have never seen you without your hair in that topknot and a baseball cap on your head. I’ve always wondered how long your hair is."

"When I used to cut hair, typically, if a guy had long hair, he really loved it. You wouldn’t believe how vain some guys are about their hair. Most of my customers with long hair always enjoyed showing off how great their hair looked. They always loved it when someone gave them a compliment about how awesome their hair was."

"Despite you having long hair, you really don’t seem like you are all that much interested in it. You look like you have an immense head of hair there. Having been a barber, I’m curious to see what it looks like not all tied up on top."

"No problem," Kelly said, as he untied his topknot and his hair cascaded down around his shoulders. It was really beautiful. It had to be over a foot long. It was super thick and had a slightly coarse texture to it, which made his hair really stand up high on his head and look really full. He had a massive head of hair hiding under that baseball cap!

"Man, I had no idea that your hair looked anything like it does. It looks awesome not being tied back. Why don’t you ever wear it down and show it off and let people see how great it looks?"

"To be honest," Kelly said, "I know I’m lucky to have such a full head of hair, but I really don’t like spending a lot of time on it. I also always hated going to a barber shop and having some guy that I didn’t even know cut my hair."

"When I was 16, I decided to buzz all my hair off. I then went two years without getting a haircut. The growing out stage was a pain, which caused me to start wearing a baseball cap. I really liked it once it was long enough to tie back because I then no longer had to do much with it, just pull it back, tie it up, put on my cap, and I was ready to go."

"After growing it for two years, I knew I didn’t want it to get any longer. It’s so thick that it really is uncomfortable, especially during the summer, and I decided to get it all buzzed off again."

"The first time, I had a friend buzz it all off for me and I then just started growing it out again. I get it cut about once every two years. I get it buzzed entirely all off, let it grow out again, and then buzz it all off again. I’ve done that three times now and I’m getting ready to do it again."

"You’re really going to buzz off all your hair? That would be something I’d love to watch. I bet it would be really wild. When are you going to buzz it?" I immediately hoped that maybe he would let me buzz it for him because I had been a barber after all. I had not had my hands in such an immense head of hair in years and it would be fantastic to cut it.

"Actually, now that summer is here, I’m going to do it really soon. My buddy that used to buzz it for me has moved, so I need to ask another friend if he will be willing to buzz it for me."

That was even greater news to hear, and I thought it would give me an even better chance to get to cut his hair. "If you’re looking for someone to buzz your hair for you, how about letting me do it? I haven’t cut hair anywhere near as long as your’s in years."

"I’d also be glad to help you out some more financially because you have been such a tremendous help for me this year. I’d be willing to pay you if you would let me cut your hair. Consider it a bonus for a job well done! I would really like to cut your hair and it would be worth every penny to get to do it. I know I would have a fantastic time. What do you think? Would you be interested in letting me cut it for you?"

I then told him how much I would pay to cut his hair. "Really?" he said. "You’d pay me that much money to cut my hair? That would be fantastic! Getting someone who really knows how to cut hair and also getting paid to have it cut too? I don’t think it could get any better than that. Sure, I’ll let you buzz it for me whenever you want."

Seeing that he said I could buzz it for him whenever I wanted, I decided I was going to seize the moment and hopefully cut it right now. "No time like the present," I said. "It’s time for us to end for the day. Do you want me to cut it now?"

"Sure, why not?" he said. "I’m ready to get it cut. I don’t have anything I have to do this evening. Let’s do it!"

We headed into the house. Both of us were dripping wet from the heat. "How about if you take a shower and I’ll get everything ready for your haircut? I’ll hop in the shower after you’ve finished and then we’ll start working on that hair of yours." Kelly definitely had to have clean hair for all the things I wanted to do with his mane.

After I showered, I took him back to where I cut hair. "Wow! That’s a really great looking barber chair you have there," he said. "When I closed my barber shop, I brought the chair home with me. It really is a beauty and I just didn’t want to part with it," I said.

"I know you said you don’t like to get your hair cut, but I’m hoping I can get you to change your mind about that. I think you just haven’t found the right barber yet," I said with a smile. "Let’s smoke a joint before we start. That should help get you relaxed and hopefully help you not hate getting your hair cut so much. You might be surprised and even end up enjoying it."

"You know me," Kelly said, "I’ll never pass up a chance to get high." After we smoked, I had him sit down in my barber chair and I took my wide tooth comb and began working on his mane. It was still wet and made it easy to part his hair down the middle and then comb the sides and back straight down. Every hair on his head was the same length, a little over twelve inches long.

I then took my brush and blowdryer and began working on his awesome hair. "I bet you’ve never used a blowdryer on your hair before. You’re going to be amazed how different your hair is going to look."

I left him with the center part and then brushed all his hair on the top and the sides back. His hair was really beautiful. I started running my fingers through his hair to see which way it naturally fell. God, his hair was so thick and so long. It had been years since I had my hands in such an incredible head of hair. It was wonderful getting to bury my hands in his mane.

His hair had such great texture and body that when I brushed it back, it stayed perfectly in place. I couldn’t believe what a fantastic time I was having, and Kelly seemed to be enjoying himself, too. I’m sure he had probably never experienced anyone paying so much attention to his locks before.

His hair on top stood up over four inches high and the sides when swept back covered his ears. I couldn’t believe that he had such fantastic hair and really didn’t care much about how it looked. After I finished drying his hair, I said, "Just look how awesome your hair looks just being brushed back. It really looks great."

I then said, "What I’d like to do now is take your hair down a bit at a time. Just buzzing it off all at once would only take a few minutes, and I’d really like to spend more time on your mane than that, and give you a few different looking haircuts."

"Seeing that you have really not had a distinctive hairstyle in over eight years, if it’s all going to be buzzed off anyway, I think this would be a great time to show you some different ways your hair could look. You’ve got such great hair and I think you might even like some of the haircuts that I would like to give you. I’d really have a lot of fun showing you how different you could look, and I bet you would enjoy seeing some ways you could wear your hair. Will that be okay with you?"

"Sure, I’m feeling really mellow and I don’t have anything I need to do tonight. I actually like the idea of seeing some different ways my hair could look. Maybe you’ll even convince me to try something different. Go ahead and do whatever you want with my hair."

That’s all I needed to hear. This was going to be fantastic. I slightly wet his hair and brushed it all straight down from the center part. I started in the back and grasped the long lock in the middle and took my scissors and cut off about ten inches of his hair.

I continued to cut his hair in the back and on the sides so that it was all the same length all the way around. It was now just touching his shoulders. I then started at his temple and combed out a lock of his hair on the side and chopped off about six inches. It was such a rush seeing hair that long falling into his lap.

I was going to still leave his hair long on the sides, covering about half of his ears. I cut the sides at an angle, leaving it longer the further it went back. I wanted to show him what a mane he could still have, but with a lot less hair. His hair looked really great with the sides all being swept back. They really showed off how thick his hair was.

I then combed his forelock for awhile. I loved running my hands through his thick hair. I lifted up his forelock and chopped off over six inches. Kelly jumped a little when I did that. He knew that it was all going to eventually be coming off, but it was still wild for him to see himself lose so much hair.

When I finished the haircut, I took some pomade that made his hair shine and ran it all through his gorgeous locks. "What do you think so far?" I asked him. "Man, it really does look a lot different not having all the hair on the sides," he said. "My hair doesn’t look wild and bushy like it usually does, but it still looks long. I think it looks great. What are you going to do next?"

"I’m going to get rid of your middle part now and part it on the left side and brush the top up and back to the right. I’m going to first take my scissors and cut the sides down shorter. You’ll still have about two inches of hair above your ears to brush back."

It was awesome getting to section off each lock of his beautiful hair and take off another two inches all around the sides and back. His hair on top was still about six inches long and stood up high atop his head. He looked so much different with his hair being so much shorter on the sides and back, but still being long on top. Once I finished the haircut, I said, "Look how great your hair looks being so much shorter. If you do decide to grow your hair out, I think this would be a great look for you."

"I really like this haircut too," Kelly said. "This has been great seeing my hair look so many different ways before you buzz it off. What are you going to do next with my hair?"

"I still have a couple more haircuts I’d like to show you. Next, I’d like to take my clippers and taper your hair even shorter on the back and sides. It’s really going to look sharp taking it down more, but still leaving the length on top. Other than having your hair all buzzed off, I bet you have rarely had clippers used whenever you get a haircut."

"Go ahead and do it!" Kelly said. "I can’t remember the last time I had clippers used on my hair other than my buzzcuts. I’m really psyched seeing how it is going to look this time."

I put the #2 guard on the clippers and placed my hand on the top of his head and pushed it down, with his chin almost touching his chest. "Get ready for this. This is going to be a rush for both of us!" I said. I turned the clippers on and placed them at the middle of the back of his head and ran them almost all the way up to the crown.

I ran the clippers up to about three fingers above the top of his ears. When I was growing up, this was what my barber called the "sweat line" when he cut my hair. I then combed his hair on top straight back and lifted up a section at a time, taking off two more inches, which now left his hair just about four inches long. The pile of hair in his lap was huge!

"How did you like having the clippers used on your mane? There is even a sharper contrast now between the sides and top. It’s a real trendy looking hairstyle, and I think you look great."

"I can’t believe how different I look," Kelly said. "If I had known my hair could look this good, I would have started cutting it shorter years ago. I’m really liking it."

I then said, "I want to cut your hair down shorter one more time before I buzz it all off. I’m not going to tell you how I’m going to cut it, but I promise you that you are going to end up with a haircut that you have never had before. It’s my favorite haircut to do, and I think it will look awesome on you."

I thought it would be best not to tell him I was going to give him a flattop, fearing he might think it would be too extreme looking and that he might not like anything so radical. I’m sure the thought of getting a flattop had never entered his mind in his entire life.

It was actually going to be shorter on the sides than his buzzcut, but the top would be about an inch long. His hair was so thick and stood up so well that I knew he could wear a fantastic flattop. If he didn’t like it, I would just go ahead and buzz it all off, but I was really stoked to see how he would look with a flattop.

Without waiting for him to respond, I put the #1 guard on the clippers and ran them up the back and sides almost all the way to the top again. Kelly may have had buzzcuts before, but I doubted that he had ever had his hair cut this short. All that remained on most of the back and sides was stubble, until you almost reached the top.

I then squared up the sides and the back. With the texture of his hair being slightly coarse, his hair stood straight out and was easy to perfectly square up. His hair looked like a thick bristle brush. All I had left to do was take down the top, which was still about four inches long, and he would have a flattop for the very first time!

I was really eager to take the top down because I was positive he was going to look awesome. I had cut hundreds of flattops when I was a full time barber and it had always amazed me how just an inch of hair could make such a big difference in a guy’s appearance. Kelly was not even going to recognize himself!

I slightly wet his hair on top and took the blowdryer and vigorously brushed all his thick, dark hair straight back, getting it to stand up as high as I could. I took my comb and clippers and started slightly behind his hair in front and buzzed it down to an inch. I was having the time of my life!

I combed the next section back towards the crown and continued cutting off about the same amount. As I worked my way to the back, I took it down a little shorter. I knew his hair was going to stand up as flat as a board. I was anxious to see what his reaction was going to be.

I then took my comb and clippers and lifted up the very front of his forelock and took off between two and three inches. I wanted to leave the front just long enough to barely brush back. When I finished the haircut, I again took some pomade and ran it through his hair and then aggressively brushed it all up and back.

When I finished, I stepped back to get a good look at his haircut. I wanted to make certain that every hair was perfectly in place. I couldn’t believe how hot he looked. He looked awesome. I was right, Kelly could really wear a fantastic flattop. I hoped he liked it enough that maybe he would keep it instead of buzzing his hair all off. It was just so striking compared to a normal buzzcut.

The moment had arrived. "So what do you think?" I asked as I turned him around to face the mirror. "The sides and back are as short as if you buzzed it all off. The top is only about an inch long. Your hair stands up so great. I think it’s really an amazing look for you."

"If a guy has the right hair for a flattop, I don’t think there’s any other short haircut that shows his hair off any better. You definitely have the perfect hair for a flattop. I hope you like it and will keep it like this for awhile, but if you don’t like it, I can just buzz the top all off, and you’ll have your buzzcut. What do you want me to do?"

"You gave me a flattop and I didn’t even realize it! I can’t believe that my hair could look like this! Never in my life have I ever thought about getting a flattop. I always thought it would look dorky, but I love it! I definitely want to keep it this way instead of having you buzz it all off!"

"You know I said how much I hated going to a barbershop, but this has been great. This certainly has not been what it’s like going to a regular barbershop. I’ve actually enjoyed it and have had a fantastic time. You’ve shown me that my hair can look really good several different ways, and without spending a lot of time on it."

"Maybe it is time I start growing it out and start showing it off a little more. I would never have imagined that it could look like this. You’ve shown me so many different ways I can wear my hair. I can’t thank you enough!"

"I’m glad you like the haircut and won’t hate the thought of getting it cut anymore. If you decide to keep the flattop for awhile, and I definitely hope you do, you’ll need to get it trimmed up every few weeks, if you want to keep it looking so sharp. I’ll be glad to trim it up for you whenever you want in order to keep it looking so fantastic. It’s such a great look for you."

"When I do start growing my hair out again," Kelly said, "I hope you will keep cutting it for me. I’m now really looking forward to trying some different looking hairstyles after seeing all the ways you have cut it. I’d like to see what you will do with this hair of mine as I grow it out, that’s if you will want to be my barber from now on," he said with a smile.

"You know I do. This has been a really fantastic time for me. I can’t remember when I last cut such an awesome head of hair. It’s a barber’s fantasy to get his hands in such a beautiful, long, thick head of hair like yours and cut it short, especially cutting it into a flattop for the first time. I always enjoyed giving a guy with great hair his first flattop."

"This has been one of the greatest haircutting sessions I’ve had in years. I’ll be glad to be your barber and cut your hair for you all the time. I can’t wait to see all the different ways you are going to look. We’ll have to start taking pictures of you after each haircut. I think we’ll really have some great times constantly giving you different looking haircuts!"

"I hope you continue to work with me in my gardens for a long time. I also hope you'll like to be constantly changing the way your hair looks. There are so many ways I would like to cut your hair. From now on, instead of hiding your awesome mane under that baseball cap, you are really going to show everyone how great that hair of yours looks!"

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