NEXT, my turn, GULP! by Barbershop memmories

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David,, was once again looking just like he always did,, freshly clipped and very smart.
The pale bare skin ran perfectly straight and level a half inch or so above the top of his ears all the way around his head blending seamlesly from bare skin to bristles, gradually getting a little longer tapering up the sides and back of his head.
The top also perfect with its prescisely combed side parting aided by the Brylcreem which also made Davids hair look darker than it actually was and gave it a sheen causing the short clipped hair on the back and sides of his head to glisten and look more bristlely.and stand out more because of the very pale almost white looking skin underneath

It was the same haircut that Fletcher gave him every three weeks or so.

Just like his mum wanted and always asked for.
She seemed quite pleased and satisfied
with the finished result,,, as did
David,, who looked very happy, as he sat
back down,,, lowering his head, he
smiled to himself as he began running his
fingers up the back and sides of his head
feeling the bristles..
I, on the other hand,,, wasn't feeling
pleased or happy in the least.

I had spent the last five minutes or so, watching Fletcher adding the finishing touches to Davids hair with my mind in a complete whirl after hearing my Dad agree with Fletchers suggestion, that a descent and propper short haircut would be the best thing for me and do me no harm.

All i said to him was " isn't the customer always right ".
I only meant it as a joke.
I wasn't being really sarcastic or cheeky, my Dad wouldn't have even noticed if Davids mum hadn't over reacted the way she did.
Ever since that moment i had sat very quiet and been very well behaved and respectful, answering and agreeing with whatever Fletcher said, even calling him Sir once or twice,, in the hope of getting back in my Dads good books and change his mind about my impending haircut.

My Dad's sound, pretty laid back and easy going,, he's not strict and old fashioned like Davids Mam and Dad are,, i'm sure he'll change his mind, i thought to myself.

My mind was in such a spin,, a mixed bag of thoughts occuring to me all at once.

Would it be so terrible.

If it doesn't bother David,, why should i let it bother me.

How good would it be to once again, hear and feel the clippers buzzing and vibrating their way up the sides and back of my head

How many times had i fantasized, and imagined this very thing happening to me.

Hold on just a minuet,, what am i thinking,, i'm not ready for such a drastic change, not today anyway, plus, there's no way i'm going to let Fletcher think he's won, if he suggests a short haircut for me and my Dad agrees with him, i'll just argue and say that i really don't want it short,, Dad would never force me against my will, i knew my Dad to well,,, i'll be fine.

Davids mum was paying Fletcher at the till.
Go on christopher, your turn, Dad said to me.
I walked over to the chair and sat in it, i was just about to tell my Dad that i want my usual trim when the bell above the door tinkled as it opened and two boys from our class at school walked in and sat down in the waiting chairs.

Well, what's he having, Fletcher asked my Dad.

The same as David here, my Dad answered.


The two boys looked over at David then back at each other, one whispered something to the other and they both started to snigger.

I was horrified, i couln't say anything cos if i argued or protested with my Dad now,, and my Dad stuck to his guns,, i would look even more stupid and they would know that i was getting a haircut i didn't want,, a haircut ordered by my Dad against my will, something which only happens to you when your'e a kid.

They'll tell everyone at school, i'll never hear the end of it, i'll be a laughing stock.

As much as i liked Davids haircut, it was a style that suited him, not me, he always looked very smart, like a typical 1950s schoolboy, a bit too goody goody for me though.

Fletchers fondness for the clippers and the severe way in which he cut hair was well known,, almost ledgendary,, and i was pretty sure that today,, because of the sarcastic and cheeky remark i made to him that mine would be cut even shorter and more severe than normal.

What could i do to save face in front of my two classmates who were sat there watching me and grinning at me.

I'll have to look happy about it and act as if i'm not bothered at all, and pretened its what i want, i thought to myself.

Fletcher caped me tucked in a tissue and fastened the cape tightly round my neck, my body jerked as he pumped the chair up with his foot then picked the clippers up off the counter,,, i looked at him via the mirror in front of me,, he was stood behind me with a kind of smug satisfied grin on his face.

I turned my head round and looked straight up at him, i had butterflies churning around in my stomach as i said,,
,, trying to look and sound as positive and as confident as i could,,,. I want the sides and back really short, shorter than Davids, but i don't want a side parting,,, then i looked accoss at my Dad and said,, is that ok with you Dad.

Well er err yes i suppose so, but how do you want it if you're not having a side pating, my Dad said to me.

I lifted my hand out from under the cape and pointed to one of the two old fashioned black and white posters pinned on the wall above the mirror in front of me, it said,, look your best,, it had pictures of mens and boys different haircuts and the names of them.

like one of those three boys at the bottom.

I want it like that.

Well which one. The regular boys cut.
The crew cut.
Or the Flat top, my Dad said,, as he read out loud the name of each haircut

I don't mind, so long as the front's a bit longer than the rest of it so i can flip it up to look like theirs does.

I could hardly beleive what i was saying, l still felt really nervous but a part of me was enjoying the nervous feeling i had in my stomach,, it might sound daft but i think the fact that all three boys in the poster looked so happy helped me a little.

I knew it was an American poster and all the three boys haircuts in the poster were really short but i also knew how severe Fletcher would be with his clippers and what type of haircut he wanted to give me.

I would end up looking like a well and truely scalped 1950s schoolboy by the time he was finished with me,, all very primm and propper.

I wasn't going to let this happen.

He wasn't going to have it all his way.

He wasn't in charge any more,, i was.

He would be doing exactly what i want.

Exactly What,, i tell him to do.

The confidence inside me grew.

How far dare i go, i thought to myself.

GO FOR IT, i told myself.

Will those clippers cut short enough i asked him,, cos like i said, "i want the back and sides really short". I really did mean it this time, not like the first time i asked him.

Can't you adjust them like you did when you cut that other lads hair when his Dad wanted it shorter, thats how short i want mine, CLACK, the clippers humming started getting louder as he turned the screw on the side of them clockwise with a screwdriver,, the loud rattle started then stopped when he backed the screw off a little leaving them buzzing very loudly,
This is going to feel great, i thought to myself.

The nervous feeling i had in my stomach had now turned into a genuine feeling of excitement as i tilted my head to one side.
with his left hand , he parted my hair which grew down well below my ears and folded the top of my ear right over and pressed it down holding it firmly against my head with his fingers,, at the same time as he placed the clippers sideways high up on the side of my head at the front of my temple, he ran them around the right side of my head above my ear,, l could feel the cold steel of the blades bite against my skin as he ran them round pressing them hard as he went.

I had a band of white bare skin the width of the clipper blades with long hair hanging below it.

He bent my head down and did the same around the back, then again on the left side.

The band of white bare looking skin now ran right round my head.

He then removed all the hair underneath the band by running the blades downwards all the way round my head,, my head now looked like a mushroom.

I wasn't feeling so good right now.
Calm down it'll be ok when its finished, i told myself.

He put a guard on the clippers and began running them repeatedly and quite rapidly up and over the sides and accross the top all the way round my head.

He did this several times using different guards of varying length leaving the front a little longer just like i asked.

I felt much better now, i was looking almost the same as the boys in the poster. The white sides blending seamlesly into the top.

He brushed me down then picked up the clippers again and removed the guard, then pushed my head right down and began running then up the back of my head pressing them nice and hard up the back of my neck,,,i thought the back and sides of my head were bald, they looked so pale, almost white, but i knew by the rasping sound the clippers were making and the feel of them, that they where definitely cutting,,, that's more like it i thought to myself, as he carried on all around the back and sides, driving them upwards, sometimes at varying angles.

It seemed to go on for ages and only
Stopped when the rasping sound ceased.


I looked in the mirror.
The back and sides of my head now looked pure white and still blended perfectly into the top.

He was using a comb to lift the front and running the clippers accross it, reducing the it gradually.

It looked perfect.

Nobody had a haircut like this.

I didn't look like a goody goody.

I looked cool.

He again brushed me down, removing all the loose hairs.

Not quite finished yet, he said.
He took an electric foil shaver out of a drawer and plugged it in, then he rubbed some talk powder into the sides and back of my head with his hands and then began to shave the sides and back with it.

The rasping sound was even louder than it was with the clippers and it felt even better, it got quieter and quieter until it stopped.

He wiped the sides and the back clean with a towel, which slid smoothly around my head, only snagging a little near the top where their was still a few short bristles.

He sprayed the front with a little hair spray and flicked it up with a comb.

He removed the cape and showed me the back with a mirror.

I didn't wait for him to ask.

Thats fantastic i said.

See you in three weeks time.

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