Best Friends

I was in eighth grade at the time and had long hair over my collar and completely covering my ears. The sides were hovering at my shirt collar. The very back was just touching my shoulder blades. I had not been in a barbershop for a haircut in many years. Most of my friends were forced into short haircuts by their parents. My friend Frank was no exception. On many occasions I would go to the local barbershop with him to watch him get his haircut. He always tempted me to get mine cut too. I really wanted to but didn't have any guts. It was Friday night in late September and Frank asked me to spend the night. The next morning Frank's mom woke us early. She reminded Frank that he needed to get his haircut. She told me that I could use a cut too. Frank on occasion would tell me he wished he could let his hair grow long like mine. I stepped in and jokingly asked, Frank's mom to let him grow his hair long. I did this because I knew she did not like my long hair. It would be the first time I had ever asked her. She looked at me and said," If I let Frank grow his hair long, after he gets it cut today will you be willing to sacrifice your own hair to a more reasonable length today." Frank's mom was teaching us a life lessons that nothing is free you have to earn it. I looked at Frank and asked," this is your chance do you really want to grow your hair longer?" Frank replied," yes I would like to see how it looks long." See Frank never had hair in his life that ever covered his ears. His mom set a few more stipulations that had to be agreed to. She would allow him to grow it out until the end of the school year if he kept it clean and neat. That his haircut today would have to be shorter than the usual trim, again another sacrifice for something he wanted and finally that I too would have to agree to get my haircut again at the end of the school year. It was decided and agreed upon. I called my mom and asked her to stop by the barbershop and pay for my haircut. I told her I decided to get my haircut today with Frank. Knowing how much I cared for my long hair my mom never asked me why. It was September and we had already started basketball practice and the coach had had already warned a few of us that our hair was too long. I would have to get it cut to his regulation (off the collar and to the middle of the ear before the first game or I would not be allowed to dress for the game.

Frank and I left his house at 8:00 A.M. As we rode our bikes in front of the shop my mom had just came out of the barbershop. She told me she had paid Al for my haircut and told him that I was coming in with Frank and to cut my hair just like Frank. I told my mom no, that I was just getting my haircut (trimmed), not just like Frank. She said," too late I already told Al and you were the one that had decided to get your haircut. She then told me to stop arguing with her or she would go back in and tell Al to cut it shorter than Frank's. At that point I shut my mouth and Frank and I walked in the shop because my mom meant business. Al had just finished up and was dusting off the seat and told Frank to take a seat in the barber chair. He walked over to me and said." Your next".

Frank took a seat and Al proceeded to grab a white towel and placed it in his collar. He took a white tissue and placed it around his neck. He then grabbed the cape that was hanging on the arm of the chair. He unfolded the cape, shook it out and guided it into place firmly fastening it around Frank's neck. Since I would be next I took a seat in the unoccupied barber chair next to Frank. Al was the only one cutting hair so I would be safe there for the moment. It was know 8:30 and the Saturday rush has started to come in. The first two were friends of our Chris and Cary. They to had been given orders to get their haircut or they would not dress for the first game also. Chris and Cary were a lot like me and were a couple of the boys in our class that their parents would allow them to wear their hair long. Chris asked me if I was going to get my haircut too. I said yes because, If I got my haircut Frank's mom agreed to let him grow out his hair long like mine at least until the end of school, next May. I told them there was a couple of catches that Frank has to get his haircut shorter today and that I too would have to get my haircut again with Frank at the end of the school year. Chris and Cary worked on their dad for a similar agreement. It was agreed, The four of us would get our haircut and then we wouldn't have to cut it until the end of the school year. By now the shop was full and people were standing. AL had combed out Frank's hair and he had told Al to take it a little shorter because his mom had agreed to let him grow out his hair.

Al grabbed a pair of clipper with a number 4 guard and turned back towards Frank as he was turning back Al turned the clippers on and they buzzed with life. I was watching with an uneasy feeling because I was going to end up with same hair length hair as Frank. Al pushed Frank's head forward and placed the clippers at the base of his neck and pushed them to the top of his crown. The first three or four passes I could not see because I was in direct line with Frank's face. I however had noticed that the cape had generous portions of thick clipped hair on the back of the cape and some had begun to fall to the floor. As the floor was clean it was easy to gauge that it was going to be shorter than usual. Typically Al would only use the clipper over comb when I had been with Frank in the past. Al turned off the clipper and grabbed a small pair of clipper and moved to the right side of Frank's head. Using his finger he bent Frank's ear over and removed the hair from off the tip of his ear directly following his hairline from the base of his neck to the front side of his ear. He then grabbed the clippers that he had passed on the back of Frank's head and turned them on. As he came to the right side he made a swoop with the clippers toward my head as if he were going to gouge them into my head jokingly. Although, it was no joke AL would be getting that opportunity very soon. He turned his attention back toward Frank and with his left hand on top of Frank's head Al guided the clippers up to crown several times and then front to back. With each pass another clump of now matted hair from the clippers would rain down on the front of the cape. He swung the chair around to work on Frank's left side. I could now see the length on the right side of Frank's head. It was short but you could not see any scalp underneath. I was still uneasy about the length, but I tried to block it out for the moment. I grabbed my hair and rubbed the side of my head as to imagine what it was going to fell like. He quickly repeated the process on the left side and moved to the top thinning and blending his hair on top to the sides. He then turned to the bangs and shortened them by about two good inches. As Al was unfastening the cape Frank's mom walked in to pay for his haircut. She looked with disapproval and told Al it was not short enough. Al fastened the cape back up and Frank's mom told AL she wanted the sides really short and told him that the top of his head looked like a mop, meaning it was too long also. Al grabbed a pair of clippers and popped them to life and pushing Frank's head into his chest again as he began to now work very quickly pushing the clippers from the base of Frank's neck to well above his crown this time. As Al did this I could see hair that looked like he was peeling an orange fall to the floor. He moved to the right side where I could see and with his hand firmly on top of Frank's head he began the same process removing a path of hair each time that fell to the cape with authority. The right side was now complete and I got a direct visual of it. Simply put Frank was getting scalped. There was very little hair left on the side of his head, which was previously dark brown. It was now white from the near bare scalp. As I watched with amazement of what was happing to my friend it was at this time that I realized that I was next and the instruction my mom gave Al was to cut my hair just like Frank's. My heart began to pound very quickly and my body became weak at the thought of how short my hair was going to be in minutes. I looked over at Chris and Cary who had signed on to the same program and they too were now feeling somewhat uncomfortable. By this time, Al had finished Frank's left side. He then moved back to the top and left just enough length so his hair would not stand straight up. His mom now nodded with approval and Al unfastened the cape and cleaned up Frank's neckline and turned on the vacuum to suction up hair inside this shirt collar. Al removed the cape from Frank sending a large amount of hair to the floor. As he did with all kids Al tossed a piece of bubble gum as he left the chair.

Al was now standing at the back of the chair and looking directly at me said, "next" With great hesitation I got up and took the seat my best friend had just been scalped in. I grabbed the two arms on the barbershop chair and held on to them very tight. My heart still pounding in fear and my legs shaking in anticipation of what was about to occur. AL could see I was scared and told me to relax. I had not sat in a barbershop chair since third grade. I didn't remember what it was like although I was surely going to find out very soon. Al tucked the same towel he had used on Frank down my shirt collar; it felt somewhat itchy from Frank's hair that was left in it. He then placed a white paper tissue around my neck. He shook out the cape and bringing it around to the front of the barber chair guided it like a sail down over me. He fastened the cape securely around my neck with a barber clip. With one arm on the barbershop chair he pumped the chair up three or four times. I now had a big lump in my throat. I tried to get out of the massacre that was going to happen on my hair, I said." Just take it of the collar and the ears", hoping he had forgot my moms instruction. Al said," nothing doing your mom gave me strict orders instructions to cut your hair just like Frank's. Once everyone in the barbershop heard this, the shop fell silent. The focus now was on my head. I looked over at Frank and over at Chris who had moved up in the chair next to me. I could see the enjoyment that he was going to get from seeing my haircut as well as all the others in the shop would to. The back of my hair was still stuck beneath the cape and the hair on both sides of my head was touching the cape. Al did not take the time to comb my hair because there would be no hair to speak of on the back or sides. He pulled the same clippers he had finished up with Frank and turned them on. Taking a firm grip on my head he pushed it forward, as he did I resisted because it was pulling the hair stuck in the cape. As I resisted he pushed with more force against my head; Al pushed it forward with yet more force burying it into my chest. I could feel Al gathering the hair that was caught in the cape with his left hand together. I could now hear the crisp buzz of the clippers getting louder and then I heard what seamed to be a muffled buzz for a couple of seconds. I would soon learn that he had just severed the long hair that had cascaded down my neck and on my shoulders. Al walked around to the side of the cape in almost a ceremonial walk and deposited a mass clump of hair in my lap on the cape. My long brown locks that had so gently laid on my back were now history. The hair in my estimation was six to seven inches in length and about ½ inch in diameter. Frank new that this meant a lot to me so he got up and came over and gathered the clump of hair. With a rubber band he took for the daily newspaper, Frank secured it together and held it for me. Al moved to the rear of the chair with the buzzing clippers directly on my neck for the first time I jumped in the chair seat and with the presence of Al's hand only buried my head deeper into my chest. The shop was now stone soup cold silent other than the clippers buzzing. The first pass came with no hesitation AL plowed the clippers into my hair and following the strict instruction my mom left, transforming my hair to look like Frank. The first pass was complete and I knew that there was no turning back now. The hair caught on the back of the cape where it came in contact with the top of the chair. He began to make a second, third and forth pass quickly. The clippers now felt warm and on a couple occasion the clippers had bogged up in my long hair as Al tried to push the clippers through to fast. When this occurred it hurt like someone was pull my long hair. By the expression on my face you could tell Chris was now very uncomfortable. My long brown hair was piling up on the cape near the top of my shoulders. Al pushed the hair forward and it slowly began to slide down the cape like an avalanche of hair right in front of my eyes. Al had removed all my hair from the back of my head in less than a minute. Al now turned his attention to the right side of my head. As he was starting on the right side a few more customers had walked in and Al told them there was an hour wait. In many cases they would leave and come back, but when they saw what was taking place they decided to stay. The hair on both sides of my head was still in contact and still rested on the barber cape, but not for long. AL turned the clippers at an angle and from behind the back of my right ear Al was poised to remove more hair. Pushing the clippers into the long hair he followed my hairline up and over my ear leaving longer strand than what he had cut in the back tumbling down on the cape until he removed anything hanging over my ear. He then went back and placing his hand on top of my head he ran the clippers from back to front taking all the hair on the right side. I now had a very large pile of my own hair sitting limp in my lap. Al swung the chair around to the other side. Chris was the first person to get a clear view of my right side and informed me that my head now resembled Frank. Now concentrating on the left side Al again followed the hairline sending another wave of long strands of hair tumbling to the cape. From where the rest of the people were sitting this was the first full view of my long hair that they would get a view being clipped. Al again moved from back to front pealing the rest of my hair from my head like an orange. He now had only the top to finish. Using the clippers he began removing the length so I would only have enough left to let it lay down on top. After a couple of passes my nose began to itch from the hair getting stuck on my face. I took one of my hands from under the cape to wipe the hair away and itch my nose. The clippers fell silent Al was almost done. Moving to the front he loped off my bangs well above the middle of my forehead just a second ago they hung in my eyes. Al unfastened the cape and removed the white tissue from my neck sending yet another mass pile of hair down the cape. He then picked up a small pair of clippers and outlined my hairline and proceeded to vacuum up the hair that had slid in my collar. He swung me around towards the mirror and I was able to see and touch the bare sides of my head for the first time. It actually felt awesome. He then turned me back around and with a swing of the cape he set me free. My hair cascaded to the floor in mounds. I got up rubbing my head and took a seat next to Frank. Al threw me a piece of gum also. One thing was certain, that based off the new cut I would definitely not need a haircut until next summer. In another manner I did not half to worry about my long hair anymore or protecting it, for it was gone. The sacrifice I had made for my friend also was one about me being able to let go of something that had no material worth or value. What had taken several years was removed in less than 15 minutes.

Al pointed to Chris to have a seat. Chris got up and walked over and had a seat in the chair. As Chris was having a seat he motioned to his brother Cary to move up. Al quickly put the cape around Chris and placed the same towel used on Frank and I in his shirt collar then taking a tissue strip and placing it tightly around his neck he fastened the cape. Al looked to Chris and Cary's dad and said," what's it going to be for the boys today." He replied," they decided they want it cut like the two you just finished." They too had got caught up in the little issue of what Frank got they would have to get too. Chris began to stutter," Awe dad come-on I just decided I wanted it trimmed now." Chris's dad replied like my mom, "nothing doing boys you made the decision and I agreed there is no argument."

Chris's face was red with anger. AL wasted no time getting to work on Chris who had light brown almost blond hair. His hair too was long but not as long as mine was. His ears were fully covered and the back hung well over his collar. As with me Al wasted no time with the comb. The clippers popped to life and Al pushed Chris's head forward into his chest. He then laid the clippers at Chris's collar and began to peel the hair from the back of his head. One, Two, Three, four and a final fifth pass was made clearing the back of his head, with each pass came a uniform strip of hair tumbling to the back of the cape and being pushed off to the floor by the next. Chris's face was now emotionless except for when Al pushed the clippers up the backside of his head. He quickly moved to the right side and followed Chris's hairline removing long strands of Chris' hair sending them to the cape. He then made several passes from the back to the front until Chris's head was bare like mine. His brother Cary got up to feel the right side of Chris's head and his dad told him to sit back down he would get his chance next. Chris was now facing where Frank and I were standing his bangs hanging in his eyes and the hair on the left side still intact for the moment. Al quickly made similar passes to remove the mass length of hair covering Chris's left ear. Sending yet another pile of hair to Chris's lap. The hair from our haircuts was now mounting up on the floor. Mine covering Frank's and now Chris's covering mine. Finishing the left side Al moved to the top and reduced the length to just long enough for the hair to lay down. He then moved Chris back around to where he was in direct contact with Cary and like with me Al put his hand under Chris's chin to steady him as he took several snips across Chris's forehead reducing his bangs well above his eyebrows. The cape was now covered with light brown hair that Al had sheared from Chris. Al turned him towards his dad, and with a smile, his dad approved. Al unfastened the cape removed the towel and tissue from around Chris's neck. Pulling out the small clippers Al put the finishing touches on Chris's neckline. He turned Chris towards the mirror and he got to see his bare white scalp now exposed. Al swung the chair back around and with a flip of the cape sent Chris's mound of hair to the floor covering mine. As Chris exited the chair he replied," next brother it's your turn." See Chris too had lost a lot of hair in less time than I did. Al tossed Chris a piece of gum.

Cary got up and would be the final one to take a seat. He looked over to his dad also as he was about to have a seat and his dad replied," No your going to look like them also." Cary sat down with a frown on his face. Al shook out the cape and placed it over Cary. Using the same white towel he tucked it into the back of Cary's shirt. He then grabbed a tissue and placed it around his neck, pulling up the cape and fastening it tightly around his neck. Al made some small talk with Cary's dad," you want him to look just like the other one." His dad simply nodded with approval. Al turned around with the same pair of clippers that all our hair fell victim to, and placing his hand firmly on Cary' head pushing it forward into his chest. Al began to move the clippers up the back of Cary's head and now Cary soon would be like us. With each pass Cary's light brown hair was no different as it was being peeled like another orange. With each pass Cary' hair began to cascade down the back of his shoulders and finally falling to the floor covering up the hair we each had lost before. He moved to the right side and pushed the clippers around his ear sending strands tumbling into Cary's lap and then from back to front until the right side was bare. He then swung Cary around to work the left side in a similar fashion. At this time it was taking Al about half the time of our haircuts. On a couple occasions Cary's said ouch as the clippers bogged down as Al pushed the clippers forward too fast. The cape was now full like it was for Chris and I, Al was already moving to the to the top pushing more hair to the cape. Cary pulled out his right hand to push hair away that was stuck on his face. Al then removed his bangs like ours and turned him towards his dad for approval, Al unfastened the cape, removed the towel and tissue and cleaned Cary's neckline and vacuumed him off. With a final swing he turned Cary towards the mirror for his first glimpse. Cary too was scalped to almost bare skin. With a final swing of the cape all the hair that the four of us lost that day was now on the floor together like the four of us friends. He handed Cary a piece of gum as he exited the chair.

As we all stood together the sides of our heads bare white from the encounter with the barbershop chair that day, there was still one more sacrifice to be made. That would come at the beginning of next summer when we all agreed we would have to get our haircut again. This was for the sacrifice our parents had made to us by letting us grow our hair long. Before we left the shop that day the four of us collected our hair in one bag together. The next Monday the four of us decided to show up for school early. Wearing stocking caps the four of us went to see coach and simultaneously we pulled off the caps and coach smiled in approval of our new haircuts especially Chris, Cary and myself.

That fall Saturday morning started out like no other but end with friends making a sacrifice so another could make a wish to have long hair become a reality. I too grew because of my sacrifice, for Frank allowed me the guts to have my hair short like most of the other and especially my best friends. In return he was going to get the experience to feel what long hair was like. It was February and our hair was beginning to cover our ears and by May our hair was over our ears already and touching our collars.

School had just dismissed for summer break and we knew that we had to make good on our promise and sacrifice our hair again. However, the second time wouldn't be any easier than the first. The four of us gathered and were walking to the barbershop without any of our parents this time. When we walked into the barbershop that day all us had hair covering our ears and on the collars. Picking numbers had predetermined the order we would sit in the barber shop chair, that order would be Cary, Chris, Frank and myself. When we entered the barbershop that first day of summer two other brothers were there getting their haircut as a surprise to their mom for the summer. Without being nagged on from their mom at all, they were sacrificing all their hair and getting crewcuts. With the four of us watching the second brother had taken a seat in the chair. Al capped him and told him to lean his head backwards. With his head hanging somewhat over the back of the chair Al asked, "are you sure you want a crewcut?" with no hesitation the answer was yes. The clippers buzzed to life and with the first pass right done the middle large masses of blonde hair fell to the back of the floor right behind the barber chair. Within less than five minutes his haircut was finished. Watching another friends cut first it was clear that we too would agree to sacrifice all our hair that day for our parents gesture of their sacrifice to us. One by one first Cary then Chris, Frank and finally I would take a seat that day. Each of us would be capped one last time and asked to tilt our head backwards and all had a choice to back out. When Al asked, " are you sure we all replied yes." Upon our approval Al pushed the clippers down the middle from front of back. The only change this time was there would be no hair hitting the cape but only one large pile at the base of the barber chair. For Chris, Cary and myself it would be the first crewcut we ever had. For Frank it was a sacrifice to us for the ability to experience long hair.