NEXT , 2 Propper short back and sides by Barbershop memmories

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As Hank pumped up the chair with his foot,
I got up from the bench seat and sat back on my stool next to the worktop counter straight accross from it and got comfy, with my right elbow on the counter and my chin resting in the palm of my hand, the bar at the bottom of the stool was just the right hight for my feet, Perfect.

I,, Have,, A,, Job,, In a Barbershop. This must be the luckiest day of my life,
I thought to myself.

So,, What are we having,, just a trim and tidy up Hank asked as he looked accross at Peters father.

Err, no, not today, quite the contrary in fact.
The new head at blue coates is cracking down on smartness and appearence, his main concern being the unruely length of boys hair.
The school sent out a letter detailing all the new changes and the section regarding the length of boys hair was quite explicit,,. Above the ears and collar.

Short back and sides was the preffered style mentioned in the letter

which is partly the reason i brought them here thinking it was still Fletchers barbershop and not their usual hair salon.
Mr Fletcher always had a good reputation for giving boys proper and decent haircuts.

So instead of their usual trim and tidy up as you put it,
A really smart good old fashioned short back and sides would suit best i think, don't you.

Back and sides clipped tight and tapered with the top thinned right out with just enough length left on the top for a side parting looks smartest i always think, and if you like i can etch in the side part in with the straight razor, leave them both looking really sharp,, how's that sound for ya Hank asked.

Yes, that sounds like just the ticket the Dad said.

Hank sprayed the boys hair with water and combed thruogh it all, then put a big black plastic guard on the Oster clippers,,, Hank was stood right behind the boy in his chair, it's Peter innit Hank asked.

Yes Sir the boy said nervously as he twisted his head round and looked up at Hank.

Ok Peter just put your head right down for me and hey kid,, don't look so worried you'll be just fine ok,, Peter managed a half tight lipped smile which dissapeared the second he turned his head back round and bent it right down trying to keep sight of himself in the long mirror on the wall directly in front of him.

Hank put his left hand accross the top of Peters head pushing it gently down a little further still, until his chin pressed against his chest at which point he gave up trying to look at himself in the mirror and instead began to focus on the cape and his feet sticking out below it.

With the chair being only 5 feet away from where i was sat i could see and here everything so clearly.

The clippers burst into life with such a loud CLACK that they made his feet and knees under the cape jolt a little and as they where placed under his hair at the back of his neck he took a deep breathe and closed his eyes as they made their first pass all the way up the back of his neck to the top of his head quickly followed by a second then a third and then the same on the right and left side of his head as Hank manipulated it tilting it from side to side gently as went.

The large guard had left him with about half an inch on the sides and back,
Hank switched them off and hung them up then started with the thinning scissors and comb all over the top,
The comb banging on the top of his head caused him to jump a little, this was something i rembered and never liked when i was young.

The thinning out lasted a good few minutes then Hank reduced the length of the top by lifting it with the comb and gripping it between his fingeres and snipping all the hair off that stuck out above them, this again took him a good few minutes then when he was satisfied the length on top had just enough length to allow a side parting he blew all the loose hairs away with a hair dryer, combed it and took the clippers back off their hook and removed the guard and tilted his head over to the left a little and placed the clippers on the right side of his head in front of his ear and ran them up to about half an inch above the top of his ear then a second pass up as high as the first and carried on along the side of his head then tilted his head down and ran them up the back of his head up to the same level as the side and then carried on round to the left side which i coudn't see from where i was sat but i assumed was just the same as the right.

He now had a very distinct straight line of thick dark hair running right around his head a half inch or so above the top of his ears

The tiny bristles that the 000 blades had left in their wake on the side of his head were much more visible than the 3 boys before him as they all had very fair hair but Peter's hair was much darker and because off this, they made the skin that was now clearly visible on the side of his head look very white indeed,

Hank looked accross at his Dad,

Do you want the wet razor for a really clean smart look.

Yes why not, the new term on monday is peters 3rd year at Blue coats and Nicholas here's first, so a good first impression with the new headmaster should stand them in really good stead.

Hank looked over at me.
Chris can you give me a hand over here.
I got up and walked over to him.

Be a good kid, put that towel in the sink there and run the hot tap over it then wring it out for me please.

A warm pleasant sensation of butterflies began to grow in my stomache at the thought of what i was about to watch happen as i ran the hot tap over the towel.

Hank folded it over a couple of times and wrapped it round the lower half of his head, ok now stand here and keep it in place,, thats it, just keep it pressed against his head.

I did as he said using both my hands as Hank began to slap the razor back and forth on the leather strop, he put rhe razor down gently on the worktop and picked up the old spice soap mug and shaving brush
and frothed up the soap using the hot water from the tap,, i could see Peter's knees twitching a little bit under the cape and at the same time he began to flip the lids up on the 2 small ash trays on the end of arm rest on the barber chair with his fingers causing them to make a tinny metalic rattling sound.

Hank nodded at me, ok chris.

I removed the hot towel and stepped to one side as Hank moved behind him and began to soap up the sides and back of his head.
When this was done he put them back on the counter and picked up the razor.

Ok Peter, now it's really important that you keep your head real still for me so i'm going to turn you around away from the mirror,, i think that'll help,, ok.

He looked up at Hank, his mouth opened momentarily as if he was going say something then closed again tightly,

Never in his life had he experienced anything like this.

He'd never even had his haircut with clippers before today.

His hair had always been long, posh, private school kids didn't get short haircuts.

Peter, looking quite nervous and very unsure of himself looked up at Hank and just nodded

I was stood so close to what was happenig,, it was amazing, my heart had began to pound and i tried desperately not to show how heavy i was breathing and calm myself down.

You can go sit back down now chris if you want.

I really didn't want.

I wanted to stay right where i was.

Thinking quickly and trying hard to sound calm and casual.

Is it ok if i stay here and see how it's done,

I think i'd like to be a barber when i leave school and i'm gonna have to learn how to use a razor pretty soon anyway so i might as well learn from a real expert like you.

Yeah ok kid.

Talking to him broke the intensity of the situation and my heart rate and breathing returned to normal.

Hank pumped the chair uo a little higher and tilted the boys head over to the left usig his hand to clasp the top of his head and keep still.

Ok now Peter you keep real still for me now ok .
Hank placed the edge of the razor along the line formed by the tiny dark bristles and edged the razor down using a short downward stroke immeddiately followed by a longer full length stroke, the bristles disappeard leaving a bar of pure white skin on the side of his head in front of his ear.

Hank repeated this same short, followed by a longer stroke technique as he made his way along the side of his head towards the back.

The fact that the haircut had now become a kind of tutorial for me meant that i watch it intently as that was exactly what i was supposed to be doing.

The site of the white smoothe skin and sound the bristles made as the razor removed them was just incredible.

When all the back and sides were done, Hank rubbed them over with the damp towel and used the hairdryer him off.

Hank then began to create a perfect taper by going all around the sides and back with the clippers, first with no guard on to take away the thick line above the top of his ears that ran around his head then a half guard and so on, by the time he finished, the back and sides looked perfect, the taper from zero to half inch long at the top was faultless.

He created a parting with the comb then edged the clipper blades along it to create a wider looking parting.

He used a soft brush and the hairdryer to get rid of all the loose hairs then vigorously rubbed some Brylcreem into his hair and combed it all very neatly into place.

I had never seen a short back and sides cut as short and severely as his in my life, saying that, it was also the smartest looking haircut i had ever seen due to it being cut so perfectly.

He really was the smartest looking boy i had ever seen.

Hank removed the cape and tissue then turned the chair back round.

Hows that for you, Hank asked, looking across at his Dad .

My word, thats so smart, perfect, thankyou, thankyou very much he said

Peter just stared at himself in the mirror, his lips trembling a little as Hank showed him the back with a mirror.

Say thankyou Peter

Thankyou sir, he said politely.

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