To Dad's Preference by Armando94

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Twin brothers Julian and Timothy McDonough had, like most their high school graduating class, moved away from their small Midwest town. For most these kids, that sort of life was all they knew. Everyone, including the twins, expanded their horizons, and begun to plant their roots elsewhere after college as well. Whether that was staying where they were, moving for work or graduate school. Coming home only ever happened for the holidays, and maybe once each summer, twice at most. Julian and Timothy had gone to different colleges, but both ended up in the same city postgrad. They were also a 4-hour drive from their hometown now, so easy enough to get to.

Several years later, having moved out from each other to live with each of their girlfriends, thirty just a couple years away, life seemed to be heading in a good direction. They’d even brought these girlfriends home for an extended time that summer, for their older sister’s wedding. The twins were able to make it home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, heading back to the city soon after the holiday. However, they did not anticipate they’d be back on that road again soon after.

The call came from their new brother-in-law, the tragic news. Their father, Daniel, had apparently had a heart attack out of nowhere in the middle of the night while sleeping. He never woke up. He had only turned sixty-five little under a year ago. Both boys were stunned and lost for words. Each of them left work early that day, and both their girlfriends said they should go out, just the two of them. So, McDonough brothers met at one of their favorite bars, and toasted to their now late father, and widowed mother. Not much was said between them as they both stared at the television screens around them and kept ordering more and more pints.

"He was such a good man," Julian mumbled at one point. "I know it sounds cheesy bro"

"Its not," Timothy sighed. "Not really, cuz its true bro."

"Yeah" Julian circled the rim of his glass. Then he found himself laughing, "He was a bit of a hard ass, but like, in the softest of ways, you know?"

Timothy looked at his brother with this strange fixation and said, "You know?" and then they both laughed together, Timothy reenacting their father. His glare to any of his children wasn’t a harsh one, but underneath you knew he meant business. Daniel McDonough, you would have thought, was a cop or ex-marine, or something. Nope, he was your everyday man, simple but good life. Worked as a CPA during the week, busy all through tax season. On weekends it was running around between sports or going to church, the same pew every Sunday morning mass at 8. He made sure, along with his wife, that the kids were healthy and behaved. For the longest time, the twins always wore their shirts tucked-in, even t-shirts. Because that was what their dad did. And even when the styles of hair were the shaggy surfer or skater boy look, there father never let their grooming slide. Once a month, they went to the barbers with their father and older brothers. Buzzed on the sides and back, some off the top with a little bit to style in the front, and tapered around the neckline. Timothy’s hair was always much lighter, not a true blonde, but a typical dirty blonde. Whereas Julian’s was kissed by honey, but a dark amber honey, most would say he leaned more brunette. Twelve bucks per cut, the twins were sure that price hadn’t changed even in all these years later! Their father’s hair was slightly more severe, shorter all around, probably why people thought he was an ex-marine. But no, he just had a no-nonsense tolerance. And people respected him, especially his two youngest boys.

Julian and Timothy worked the next day, but then drove home that night, and figured they would work remote until the wake and funeral, then take some time off for that and a bit afterwards. Their sister and older brothers, and all their spouses, were already surrounding the matriarch and helping out, but they said the company would be good for their mom. Plus, many townspeople had been around, so it would be good for that too. Their car ride home they played a mixture of 70s and 80s rock, the songs Daniel McDonough used to play in the car. They got in late, everyone else was asleep, so they dropped their things and retreated to their old room, still with its bunk beds, and settled to sleep as well.

They woke to the smell and sound of a heavenly breakfast that next morning. Pancakes and coffee and…Timothy sat up from his bed, as he heard Julian sniffle from below. Timothy climbed down and saw his brother was holding back tears. He embraced him and whispered, "I know, I know. It reminds me of him too." When the twins had collected themselves, they headed down to be with the rest of the family, who were all thrilled to see them returned. The mood shifted for an hour, distracted by conversation of the twins. Eventually, things went back to the new reality, when their brother-in-law asked if their girlfriends would be coming, and the twins said they’d be coming for the funeral for sure. Then, the rest of the day went about doing a bit of remote work, helping around the house, making some calls for things, and about every few hours, some neighbor would turn up with a casserole or pie, or both. Making the house smell good once again, and feel warm and loving. Something they all needed.

The next few mornings, the twins made the effort to go for runs each morning around the neighborhood. They even went into town, to some of the trendy coffee shop places to get work done out of the house, but also to look at all the relics of the past. The small public library, the post office, the deli, their barber shop, some things never changed, and that made both of them feel good. One of the nights, they went out with their older brothers and brother-in-law for some drinks, which was another good distraction, outside of people recognizing them, but pretty much they all gave them space, and treated them like strangers passing through town.

The night of getting drinks, when they eventually made it home, the twins couldn’t fall asleep, and so they started to sort through the things in their room, finding a whole bunch of stuff from pre-school to senior year of high school. Laughing at a few things, or trying to call back what something could have meant. The week so far had also been a whole lot of trips down memory lane, looking at the many photo albums their mother had put together over the years. But the twins had a few of their own in their room that they now found themselves looking at.

"Do you remember this?" Julian asked softly, pointing down at one photo of them at the start of summer when they were no older than twelve.

"How could I forget," Timothy smiled. The twins had always had their standard haircut, as did their older brothers, issued by their father. So it was a surprise when at the end of that school year, when they went to the barbers with their father on a typical Saturday, that they requested something a little bit different.

"Was it you who convinced me?" Julian asked.

"Me? It had to be you," Timothy jabbed back.

"Nuh uh, you went first, I remember it. You’re the one who showed Mr. Tom the picture."

Of course, Timothy remembered going first, and so that means he was the one to show their usual barber, Mr. Tom as they called him, the piece of printer paper the twins had printed out, of a few photos of Brad Pitt with his buzzcut from some different films he was in. "But you were the one that convinced me," Timothy stated.

"Only because you were the one who brought it up!" Julian defended. They both laughed at each other, until they fell silent, and Julian added, "Dad always liked us with these crew cuts."

"Yeah," Timothy silently moaned. Remembering back to their father’s surprise on that day. When he told Timothy he would go first. Getting caped up, as usual, and when Mr. Tom asked their father if it was the same as usual, Timothy cleared his throat, and slowly brought the paper forth from his pocket from under the cape and showed the barber. Mr. Tom was surprised, and turned to their dad asking if he knew. Daniel had no idea, you could tell by his expression. Timothy remembers thinking back to that day if he had stepped out of line or offended their dad. And he remembers Julian silently waiting by, probably wondering the same.

Relief flushed over both brothers when their father laughed, and nodded back, saying, "Alright, let the boy get his hair cut how he wants." Daniel turned to his other son and said, "I suspect you’ll be getting the same, son? No pressure." To which Julian blushed in embarrassment. After both brothers were buzzed down, and their father had his usual cut, they marched on out of the shop. Daniel teased his boys, "Trying to compete with me for the shortest hair, huh?" Which made the twins giggle. With the start of summer, there was tons of time in the pool or being outside, and their father couldn’t have been more happy to see his buzzed boys, as he liked to call them. Their older brothers did not partake, but complimented them. The twins then vowed to do the same thing every summer after school let out, but fell off of it at the end of senior year of high school, already self-conscious about college on the horizon.

The next morning was the wake, and so both twins had taken off the day from work. They got up much earlier, having been unable to sleep all that much. Yet managed to go out for a run, bundled up. They got back to an empty house, everyone had run out to go handle things, including their mother. After showering off, Timothy turned to Julian, and said, "I have an idea."

Julian eyed him up, likely trying to see if they were already on the same page. When they both nodded back at each other, Julian said, "Breakfast afterwards?"

"You bet," Timothy patted his brother’s shoulder. They showered, got dressed in hoodies and jeans and boots, and made their way to town. Pulling up to an old familiar spot, they both let out a sigh as the barber pole did its dance. It looked pretty empty on that Friday morning. Perhaps it had just opened. "You don’t have to do this if you don’t want," Timothy mentioned.

"Of course I don’t have to," Julian said, then turned to his brother with a smile, "but I want to bro." That made Timothy smile too, as he unlocked the car and both McDonough brothers got out and went into the barber shop. Not much had changed on the inside, a bit brighter, so maybe a paint job. Only one barber seemed to be in, a young man maybe a decade or so older than them.

"Morning, gentlemen," the barber greeted them. He looked slightly familiar, but neither twin could place him. "How may I help ya today?"

"Is Mr. T—I mean, is Tom in, or still working?" Julian asked.

The barber laughed to himself, and down at the floor, before looking up. "You mean my daddy? Yeah, he’s still working, but he took off today. I’m Tommy, by the way," he stuck his hand out to each of the twins, and they said their names. "Guess you’re from around here, boys?"

"We are," Timothy said, "We’re just home, for, uh…" and he found he couldn’t find the words, given what today in particular was.

"Oh shoot," Tommy shook his head. "Timothy and Julian, gosh, I’m so stupid. My sincerest apologies, as well as my condolences to your whole family. Your father was a good man, a great man even. You should be proud to be his boys, he always was proud of all his kids."

Timothy bit down on his tongue, and he could tell Julian was trying to hold back some tears, so he rubbed a small spot on the back of his brother to calm him down. "Thank you," Timothy managed to say, coming up for air. "We really appreciate it."

"I take it you boys are here to get cleaned up for the services?"

Timothy nodded, and motioned for his brother to take a seat in the waiting area, as he, like many years ago, was the first to go for his haircut. Tommy gently caped him up and then began to comb through his hair. "Seems like just a little bit off the top, and you’ve got like a mid-fade thing going on, but not totally to the skin? Is that right?"

"Yessir," Timothy nodded. "But, uh…that’s not what I’m here for today."

"Alright then," Tommy said. "What are we thinking?"

At the thought of what he was about to do, Timothy found himself smiling back in the mirror. It gave him the confidence he needed to say the next slew of words. "Crew cut, please. A three and a half, all over. Square off the neckline, and sideburns midway through the ears."

"Crew cut in winter…I like the way you think," Tommy teased. "I used to be a military man myself."

"Oh, really? Well, thank you for your service," Timothy said. "And actually, its sort of an inside joke. We pulled this on our dad when we were little, and he used to love it when we did it every summer thereafter. Haven’t done it in over a decade now. But it felt right."

"Good for you boys," Tommy smiled, and Timothy could tell the barber was getting a little choked up too. He went to his station, and cleaned off the clippers, before adding the guard he needed. Before they knew it, the silent barber shop, with soft rock music in the background, became filled by the humming of the clippers. Tommy placed them at the front of Timothy’s hairline and peeled all the way back, slowly but surely. When he moved his hand out of the way to start another swath across the noggin, Timothy saw that strip stand out amidst the long hair still on either side of his head. Tommy continued, raining down sheaths of brownish-blonde hair onto the cape from the left side. Timothy suddenly got self-conscious, wondering if his hair might be receding, but it seemed okay so far. The clippers continued their magic, across the surface of Timothy’s head. It felt…good. It felt right. He had no regrets about deciding to do this, as pass after pass the clippers turned his hair to the shorn boyhood look that their father always preferred. As they haircut continued, Tommy struck up a conversation with Timothy, and Julian from the sidelines. All the while, Timothy watched as hair gathered on top of the pinstripe cape, as well as a few clumps falling off to the floor. He felt like his hair was actually much lighter than he remembered, as it kept getting shorter. Miracle it was still that way, all these years later.

When the barber came around to his back, it felt like a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders, as Tommy made quick work of removing the bulk from back there. Timothy felt like he was being reborn, even if it was in honor for a departed. Tommy continued to buzz all around his head, making sure that every single strand was in uniform with each other. Not a single piece out of place, so meticulously cut down. It sort of reminded Timothy, in a way, of their father’s haircut. No that that was a buzzcut, but how even and clean cut it was. How even perfect it was.

Eventually, all had been buzzed, and Tommy was dusting Timothy off, and he was being released from the barber throne. As Timothy walked over to his brother, Julian stared at him with wide eyes. Timothy said, "Your turn, bro," and Julian only laughed back, before standing up, and grazing a hand over the top of Timothy’s newly shorn scalp.

"Still feels weird all these years later," Julian laughed some more.

"I know," Timothy joined him, but then added, "but also good, this time around."

Then Julian was stepping into the hot seat, and Tommy didn’t even ask him "Same thing?". He got right to work from the right side of Julian’s head, and continued shearing until he had reached the top and center. For how dark Julian’s hair had always been, his was seemingly still a bit lighter from underneath.

"Y’all really gonna look like twins now," Tommy teased.

"Wouldn’t have it any other way," Julian said, and winked at his brother from the mirror, who smiled back and got all red. Julian was amazed by how relaxing this sensation was. Sure, he still maintained regular enough haircut appointments, and kept himself cleaned up in other ways too. But he forgot what this particular haircut felt like. It took him back all those years, a little bit scared but also a lot a bit of excited to see the result. He had that same sort of childish feeling right now. He was much older now, and not a young boy, so he could look stupid. But he was doing it with his twin brother, his best friend, and for their dad. How wrong could this be?

The smaller and sharper clippers cleaned up around his neckline and around his ears, making the perfect arch. Nothing dramatic or drastic, it looked natural, but completely cleaned up. The whole look was sharp, beyond sharp! Their father would be proud, or at least, he must be proud looking down on them right now. Yet again, the twins pulled a sneak attack on him with these crew cuts. He probably was laughing in Heaven, come to think of it.

Finally, Julian’s cut was complete, and he was out of the chair too. They asked Tommy if he could take a picture for them, which he was more than happy to. They wanted to remember this moment, even on what was going to be a very sad weekend. At least this one bright spot might make things a little less gloomy. When Tommy refused to charge them, the twins insisted, and so instead made sure they paid him for the cut as their tip, and then some. Prices had gone up a bit, but only to sixteen bucks, not too bad! "Maybe we’ll have to make more frequent trips home," Timothy suggested.

"That crewcut you’ll have to maintain more than just once a month, my friend," Tommy said. "Unless your okay with the tennis ball look, or want to go back to your old style. I’d be happy to cut y’all either way."

Then the McDonough twins made their way to a nearby diner, where they sat up at the countertop and ordered hot coffees and water, as well as the same meal: one of those deluxe options that came with two pancakes, two bacon strips, two sausage links, and two eggs with a side of home fries. As they waited for their food, Timothy slid his mug over to his brother and raised it in salute, saying, "To Dad’s preference"

"To Dad’s preference," Julian mocked, and they clinked mugs, and had a sip, taking in the day ahead of them. When they got home, of course everyone was stunned at the new looks, but had a good laugh, as it reminded them all of what the twins did when they were only 12 years old. Their oldest brother even said how their father would have thought they were pulling his leg, but be so damn happy about it too. Almost the whole town turned up for the wake, they had to extend it by almost two hours to allow some other working people to pay their respects, including Tom and Tommy. The twins’ girlfriends were stunned by their boyfriends’ looks when they arrived into town right for the end of the wake. At night they showed them some of the old photos from when they were young and first did it. Timothy and Julian weren’t sure they were going to keep this look, they likely weren’t going to. But for the occasion of this weekend, it had to be done, to honor the man who had done so much for them in his much short-lived life.

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