It'll save some money

I’m William. I’ve been travelling through the US for a month with my friends, Scott and Jake. We’re in San Diego, our forth stopover and were just on our way to a barber, when Jake stopped us.

“Just let me get some painkillers” Jake said, pointing to the Drug store.

We enter the store and begin to wander the isles.

“Scott will take that area, and you can search over there and I’ll head down here. Shout out if you find anything.” Jake says already heading off.

I search for a few minutes, then hear “found them” from somewhere to my right. I head over there, to find Jake holding a blue and green packet. Scott comes up from behind me and says “look what I’ve found”. He’s holding out a haircutting kit: clippers, guards, scissors and a cape.

“Would save money” says Jake, with that little smirk on his face.

“No”, I say crossing my arms, “this is a set up. You are not getting near me with those things.”

Jake, Scott and I have been friends since the beginning of High School, and for pretty much all that time they have been trying to get my hair cut shorter. It’s not that my hair is long, but it just isn’t as short as everyone else’s. Scott’s black hair is in short flattop while Jake has a quarter inch buzz. My hair curls at the collar and sometimes gets in my eyes.

“Come on, think about it. Lets say it cost $10 per person, so thirty bucks. These only cost $8.99, so you are saving $21. Plus, we’re planning to be travelling for quite awhile, at least another two months before we’ll be returning home, so there will be a need for another haircut while we’re here. Possibly two. So your looking at saving 50 dollars, to be spent on other things.” Scott says, putting his arm around my shoulder.

“Look, we will buy it and you can do whatever you want” Jake says, heading towards the cash registers. It doesn’t take long to buy the stuff and exit the store. Jake and Scott turn back towards the backpackers hostel and I feel inclined to follow. It might be interesting to watch and I can always get my hair cut latter. Up the stairs and into the room.

“I’m first” says Scott.

“Whatever. Fist I’ve got to find a power point” states Jake.

“Um…unplug the TV” I say taking a seat on one of the beds.

“Oh yeah” Jake takes out the clippers, plugs them in and switches them on. They make a metallic buzzing sound. Scott grabs the plastic stool sitting in the corner of the room and places it in the centre then takes a seat. Jake grabs the cape, shakes it out then attaches it around Scott’ neck. “So what do you want” Jake says.

“A flattop. Just cut the sides and back down and then you can give the top a go. If it doesn’t work I suppose I’ll be getting a buzz.”

“Okay, your putting you life in my hands” says Jake grabbing the clippers. He switches them back on again and places at the bottom of Scott’s hair. He places his hand on Scott’s head and slides the clippers up the back, not stopping until he has reached the crown. A white stipe of skin almost devoid of hair appears. Jake continuos to clear the back of Scott’s head with firm swipes of the clippers. Jake moves onto the left side of Scott’s head, the side that I have a clearest view of, and soon the buzzing clippers have cleared all but the smallest lengths of hair. Jake moves onto the right side, and though I can’t see it, I can hear the clippers removing the hair. Jake does one last pass of the back and turns the clippers off. Scott’s shoulders and the floor are covered with short flecks of cut hair.

“Ok” Jake says to himself, grabbing the comb that came with the kit. “So how long do you want the top” Jake says brushing the top up.

“Oh, make it about 3cm. But don’t worry to much, if it doesn’t turn out so well I’m perfectly willing to buzz it off as well…Actually just grab the number 2 guard and just clear it off. It’s too much effort for you.”

“You sure?” Jake asks, putting down the comb.

“Yeah”

Jake grabs a guard and shoves it on the end of the clippers and switches them on. “You really sure?”

“Just hurry up” Scott says.

Jake places the clipper at the front of Scott’s brush of hair and pushes back. He doesn’t stop until a clump of hair falls off the back of Scott’s head and lands on the floor. The strip is very obvious and you can plainly see Scott’s white scalp. Stroke after stroke, Jake clears the top of Scott’s head until the hair is all of the same length. Jake turns off the clippers and undoes the cape. Scott stands up and brushes the back and then top of his head before heading into the small bathroom to have a look at his new haircut. He walks out in no time and says “not to bad, What do you think, Will?”

“Um, it’s good....but not for me” I say.

Scott nods before turning to Jake and grabbing his shoulder “Your turn.” He says smiling.

Jake takes a seat and Scott grabs the cape and does it up around Jake’s neck.

“Will, Just buzz it down for me” says Jake.

“Me”

“Yeah you” Jake states. Scott grabs the clippers, removes the guard and switches them on. He then passes them to me. I place the buzzing clipper at the base of Jake’s neck and slowly push them up. I stop at the crown. Jake’s hair is light brown and the stubble that remains is even less noticeable then Scott’s. I do another stroke to the left of my first, and then to the right and soon most of the back of Jake’s head is clear. The skin is quite pale underneath. I move on to the left side of his head and start at the base of his sideburn, pushing up slowly the hair just tumbles off. Two more passes and the left side is clear. I decide to do his crown next and place the clippers at his forehead and drag them toward the back of his head. A white, straight line now exists down the centre of his head. I buzz left of the line first and then move onto the right. There is heaps of hair on the floor. Getting pretty good at this I quickly skin the right side of his head. I rego over the top just to make sure all of the miniscule pieces of hair are the same length. I turn the clippers off and then remove the cape. Jake stands up and drags his hand from the front of his head to the back, then walks into the bathroom.

“So where are you getting your hair cut?” asks Scott. “Here? Down the street?”

Before I can even aswer Jake pipes in with “Come on, is it really that bad? You’ll save ten bucks. Generally your so money conscious.

“Well….if you don’t cut it too short I guess. But you got to promise me you wont do anything stupid”.

I take a seat on the stool.

“Course” Jake says picking up the cape and putting it around my neck.

“No way, my turn to have some fun.” says Scott, grabbing the clippers quickly.

I’m pretty happy with that as I trust Scott more than Jake.

“Longest guard I suppose” Scott says switching the clippers on.

“Yep”

Something is placed on the back of my neck and a hand tips my head forward. I feel the clippers move up the back of my head but still can’t see any results. The clippers pass up the back of my head many times. Scott moves around to the left side of my head and I assume that the back of my head is done. He places them at the bottom of my sideburn and I can hear the buzzing loudly. He pushes them up quickly and a lot of hair falls down into my lap. Maybe I’ve done the wrong thing. A few more strokes and he moves onto my right side and the process is repeated. Suddenly a hand is placed on the back of my head. I can feel it really easily. The buzzing clippers are then run down the centreof my head. Again and again they passed through the hair on the top of my head. Suddenly the clippers are turned off and someone pulls the cape away. I stand up and head straight for the bathroom with it’s mirror.

I’m in shock. Virtually all my hair is gone. I turn my head to the left and can easily see the skin through the remaining hair.

“What did you do?. This is not the longest it could be” I ask seeing Scott in the mirror behind me.

“Oh well, I couldn’t let you get away with having hair that long. You wouldn’t fit in. But most importantly you didn’t get me to promise. And anyway it’s not that short. Third longest, third shortest”, he says with a smile on his face.

“But you must admit that it looks good. Better than I expected” Scott says.

I place my hand on the top of my head and push back. Feels interesting.

“Yeah, I suppose” I say slowly.

“Could go shorter if you want” Scott says, brushing the back of my head.

“Nuh” I say turning around to face him.

“Come on guys, I’m hungry” says Jake from one of the bunks.

“Yeah”, I say exiting the bathroom, “Once you’ve swept up all the hair covering the floor”.