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Joe and Erik had been best friends since, well, forever, or so it seemed. At least since the 6th grade. Some people even thought they were brothers. They did everything together, sometimes their parents thought they had an extra child and sometimes they wondered if it had just been a dream that they had a kid at all. The only thing they had in common, besides being the same age and they were pretty handsome boys, was blue eyes. Joe had raven black hair, Erik had blond hair. Joe’s hair was straight and covered his ears and hung down onto his collar. Erik on the other hand, had curly hair that flipped out from under the indispensable baseball cap, usually worn with the bill to the back. His hair was maybe even longer than Joe’s if it was straightened and combed out. They were both into skateboards, swimming, and soccer as they got older. They dressed like the teenagers they were, in the style of the day - although not with sagging pants with boxers hanging out. For starters, they wore briefs, second, there was no chance either of their parents would have let them wear their clothes that way.

They were a team, they had never disagreed over anything. That was until Erik’s oldest brother, Tom, went off to the Marines and came back with his high and tight flat top. Joe thought it was cool and asked Erik if he’d get his hair cut like that. "No way! Maybe. If we join the Marines." "We can’t join the Marines, we aren’t out of highschool yet. Besides, we’re going to college. Right?" "Right. Although I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it. That’s why Tom joined up, he's going to use the GI bill to pay for college when he get’s out. I’m going to work this summer and plan to save every penny so I can just go to college after highschool." Tom overheard their conversation and thought he’d have fun with his brother. "I know how you can go to college and the Marines will pay for it and you go in after you get your degree." "No way! If that’s so, why didn’t you do it?" "I didn’t know about it soon enough. There are a couple of things you have to do to get accepted." "Yeah. Like what?" "Three things. You have to join the JROTC at school, then see the Marine recruiter." "I thought you said three things?" "Never mind. You said you wouldn’t do it anyway." "Why not." "You just won’t." "I’ll bet I would." "Hmph. What would you bet?" "I’ll tell you tomorrow afternoon. Right after you get home and tell me you’ve signed up for JROTC." He paused. "Tell you what, I’ll pick you up after school and take you to the recruiter’s office myself." It was Joe that said, "I don’t know. I’d have to ask my dad if I could join the JROTC." "Ok. So ask him tonight. You can tell him Erik is joining." Joe said he’d think about it. He looked at Erik. "You gonna do it?" "Sure, it’s worth a try. I really want to go to college after highschool."

Tom picked up Joe the next morning, and dropped them off at school. "See you guy’s at 3:30, ok." "Ok. Come on Joe, we only have a half hour to see the JROTC counselor." It was a good thing school was only about two weeks into the year - they could still join. He told them that really was sort of the first step to going to college on an ROTC scholarship. He signed them up and gave them papers to have their parents read and sign, they would start at the first meeting that Thursday after school. Tom was there, right on time to pick them up. They showed him the papers. He said, "alright. I went by and saw the recruiter today. He’s waiting to see you." They were a little puzzled, if that’s where they were going, when Tom pulled into a little strip mall not too far from the school. They knew the recruiters office was downtown near the main post office. After he parked, Tom told them to come on. They got out and followed him.

He opened the door to the barbershop. "What’s this," Erik asked. "I told you three things, 2nd, you got to get your hair cut short. You can get it cut like mine or just buzzed down." Erik stalled, "wait, wait, wait just a minute. Nobody else in JROTC has his haircut that short." "Yeah, but you’re going to see the Marine recruiter and most of those other guys are Army dogs. Besides, you need a haircut anyway. What do you think Joe?" "I’m ready, whatever. I think your haircut is cool. I’m getting mine cut just like that." Joe led the way into the barbershop, Erik followed reluctantly. "I don’t believe I’m doing this. I don’t believe I’m doing this," he mumbled. There were three chairs and as luck would have it, two were empty. Tom had asked the recruiter where he got his hair cut and this was the place. This is where the Marine recruiters came as well as a lot of the Police and Firemen. Joe got in the first empty chair. Erik went to the other one like a condemned man going to the gallows. Tom gave him a little push. "Go on. I’m paying for it." Erik sat in the chair and tried to shrink into a small person. At 16 both boys were almost full grown, near 6 feet tall.

Joe sat right up, straight. His barber soon had him all set up, cape covering down to his legs. Before he could even ask, Joe told the barber, "just like Tom’s," he said pointing to Tom who was standing by Erik’s chair. "That close on the sides too?" "Yes sir. Just like his." "Alright. That’s called a high and tight. You don’t have any moles or big scars on your head do you," he asked while he combed through Joe’s hair. "I don’t think so." His barber took his clippers off the hanger, brushed them off, added a drop of clipper oil, put a guard over the blades and snapped them on. "You’re sure? No going back." "Yes sir. I’m sure." The barber put the guard right at the front of his head and pushed back over the top. Long shiny black strands fell away sliding to the floor. In just a few strokes, all the hair on top of Joe’s head was a pretty even at ½ inch. The barber turned off the clippers, removed the guard, set it down and brushed Joe’s head and shoulders free of a few loose strands that hadn’t fallen to the floor. Joe sort of held his breath when the clippers started back up and the blades were placed below his ear. His barber seemed to be enjoying himself as the 00000 blades sheared the long black hair away from Joe’s head. First all the way around from temple to temple, sideburns trashed, then everything from his neck almost to the top of his head.   There was pale skin where there had been coal black hair and only on top was there just a bit more. "Be sure you use some sun screen when you’re outside. You should tan up pretty quick, but you want to avoid getting your skin burned." After creating a really short transition from the now naked sides to the top, Joe’s barber lowered the chair a couple of notches. He used both hands to position Joe’s head facing straight forward and level. Using only the comb and the 00000 clippers, the barber freehanded a short flat top. From the back toward the front down the center of Joe’s head was a bare landing strip. From that bare strip it was level out to the sides and to the front. He went over it twice to make sure it was even and flat. Setting the clippers aside, the barber added some butch wax to make Joe’s hair stand up straight. After brushing it up, the barber used his comb and scissors and with judicious snips evened it all up. When he was finished he brushed the top off, then the sides and then the little pieces of hair that were on Joe’s shoulders. The barber loosed the cape and removed the paper strip. Then with edging clippers he went over Joe’s sideburns, around the ears, and all around the neck, moving right up the sides until he had pretty much shaved it all the way around, about an inch above the top of his ears. He brushed Joe off a final time, adding a little talc to the brush. With a flourish he removed the cape from Joe’s lap and turned the chair around. "Awesome! Cool!" "I guess you like it?" "Yes sir. It looks great!" The barber turned the chair around and let Joe step down to wait on the bench. Tom paid him and gave him a tip. Erik was nearly finished.

Erik had been petrified. He didn’t really want his hair cut short. He sat stoically as his barber got him set up. "High and tight for you too son?" Erik looked at Tom. "Six ought on the sides to the top, leave him maybe a half inch on top. Clean up the sides with a razor if you would." He looked at Erik, or do you want a flat top like mine?" "No, I don’t want a flat top," ‘or a haircut’ he wanted to yell. "Ok. Just sit up straight young man. It won’t take any time at all." Erik reached up around the cape and wiped a tear that had started to leak from his eye. He sat there, all set up, for a minute while his barber went down to the first chair and came back with a set of red clippers. "Sorry about the wait young man. Dan has the perfect clippers for the sides." He combed through Erik’s hair. Then raised it up at the back of his neck, set the buzzing clippers down and pushed them up. Blond hair spilled away from the front of those blades. In their wake, naked skin. Almost as close as a razor could shave it, about 1/100th of an inch. It looked like bare skin. He started at the back and moved around to the front. From where the cape was snugged about his neck all the way to the top. Erik’s sideburns fell into his lap with a thud. Blond curls littered the floor around the chair. When the sides were bare, the barber stopped and brushed Erik’s shoulders off. He added a short guard over the ‘wicked’ teeth. Hair was once more falling, this time into Erik’s lap. All the hair he had left was somewhat less than a half inch, more like 1/4 inch. After he’d gone over the top a couple of times in every direction to make sure it was all even, the barber shut the clippers off long enough to remove the guard. Then he carefully brought the sides up to the top, creating a distinct line between the clean sides and the short patch of hair on top. The barber turned the chair around from side to side, carefully judging by looking in the mirror that it was all even. He brushed the sides of Erik’s head and his shoulders off. The cape was loosened and folded down into his lap, the strip of paper was removed and replaced by a towel tucked into Erik’s shirt collar. Erik kept wanting to turn his head and see what it looked like. He heard a whirring sound behind him, then felt warm lather being smeared around his ears, over the sides and back, down to his neck. Tilting Erik’s head to the side, pulling the skin tight in front of the ear, the barber began shaving around Erik’s head. The sideburns, the sides and the back were shaved smooth, all the way up to the top. Erik saw Tom smiling and even his best friend Joe had a grin on his face. Only after he’d removed the towel and wiped off Erik’s head with a warm damp towel did the barber turn the chair around so he could see the damage. Erik nearly shit his pants. ‘Oh my God!’, he thought. ‘I’m bald.!’ He wasn’t really, he still had that patch of hair, a whole 1/4 of an inch high, on top. But it being blond - you could see his scalp - and to Erik - it might as well have been shaved too. The barber turned the chair back around. He put some lotion in his palms and massaged the sides of Erik’s head, soothing the freshly scraped skin. Then he removed the cape from his lap and lowered the chair down.

Erik got out. If looks could have killed, Tom would be dead. His friend Joe perhaps would have met the same fate for being so up-beat. Tom got up and paid the barber. "That’s just what I hand in mind," he said.  As they were leaving, Tom told them he’d be back in on Saturday to get his high and tight before he headed back to Camp LeJeune.

Erik sat in the back seat, fuming all the way to the recruiters office. When they got there, he’d calmed down and cooled off some. "I’ll get even with you," he told his brother. "You just wait." He was only a little mollified when Sergeant Johnson greeted them with a smile and his own freshly cut high and tight. After they went over the program, the need for both of them to get really good grades, the JROTC was a good idea, and they sure did have great haircuts. Perhaps they might be interested in meeting with him every so often to work on physical training exercise, and even going running. Before they left, he gave both Joe and Erik a red tee shirt with the Eagle Globe and Anchor on the front and "MARINES" across the back in gold. On the way home, Erik was even a little more cool about everything. They’d made arrangements for Joe to eat supper with them before he went home, so they all wound up at Erik’s folks. His dad liked the haircuts, "glad to see you boys have ears and are actually young men under all that stuff that was on your head."

Both Erik and Joe were a hit at school the next day - well, perhaps not a hit, but definitely their haircuts were the topic of conversation among their friends and class mates. They brought the signed papers to the JROTC counselor on Thursday. They also brought the check to pay for the uniforms that they would have to get. Perversely, Erik was now miffed that Tom hadn’t made him get a flat top like Joe’s. He began to hatch his plot to get even with his brother - before he left on Sunday after church.

Tom went back to the barbershop alone on Saturday to get his shaved high and tight. For good measure, he had the flat top cut really short, only a horseshoe "C" remained when he got out of the chair. He spent most of the rest of the day with his friends that were still around. A whole group of them had lunch at the pizza place, then played soccer at the park in the afternoon.

Erik was almost too talkative during supper, even continuing to rattle on until they all went to bed. He went into Tom’s room to ‘see what you are gonna wear tomorrow.’ "My dress blues. You gonna get dressed up too?" "I might. Maybe I’ll wear my suit." "That would be nice. Go on now, I want to get some sleep. It’s a long drive tomorrow." Erik looked around the room, noting where everything was. That had been his purpose anyway. "Ok. See you in the morning." He went to the kitchen and then to his room. You might have thought he’d lost his mind when he put the wind up alarm clock under his pillow. He might not need it, he was so keyed up. Then he dozed. The pillow muffled the alarm when it went off at 1:30, but it was loud enough to wake him. He got up, hoping there would be enough light from the hallway so he didn’t stumble over something and spoil his revenge. As quietly as he could, he crept into Tom’s room. Tom was snoring lightly, he’d always been a sound sleeper. It took a loud alarm going off in his ear to wake him. Hopefully the Marines hadn’t changed that, at least not while he was home.

Tom lay with his face turned slightly to one side. There was just enough light that Erik could see what he was doing. He held the blades of the kitchen shears next to his skin to make sure they were warm enough and not cold. With just a little trepidation, Erik put the blades right in front, the longest hair in the horseshoe on Tom’s head. He let the warm blades rest against the skin only for a second, then he closed the blades. Erik was afraid he might laugh. It was just so funny. He made 4 more cuts. ‘See how you like that, brother of mine,’ he said to himself as he walked silently out of the room and quietly closed the door. He put the shears back in the kitchen, stopped by the bathroom and pissed, then went back to his room and to sleep. He reset the alarm to wake him at 7:00. He wanted to be up and dressed when Tom discovered his ‘adjusted’ haircut.   He wouldn't be able to mess with him if he had his shirt and tie on.
Erik got right up and took his shower. By the time he was dressed, his mom was up and stirring about the kitchen. "Wow! You sure do look nice this morning and dressed so early." "Thanks mom. I woke up and decided to go ahead and get ready before everyone else." "Go see if your brother is up. He needs to pack his car before he gets all dressed up. Sure wish he could stay a while longer." "I’ll go check on him. If he’s up, he hasn’t taken his shower and shaved yet." Erik dutifully went to check on Tom. He was awake, but not up. "Mom said to check on you and to remind you to pack your car before you get all dressed up." He wanted to laugh out loud. In the dark he hadn’t really been able to tell how successful he’d been. The cuts were ragged, uneven, but there were spots where it was right at the skin. Tom said, "ok. I’ll get up." Erik went back to the kitchen. "He’s up now and gone to the bathroom." It was several long minutes before "what the he..! Erik! Erik I’m gonna kill you." Erik was laughing out loud now. His mom was looking at him with a ‘what’s that about’ look. He shrugged, "I don’t know nothing." "Maybe you should go see what the problem is." "I don’t think so mom. I think I’ll stay right here. Anything I can do to help you?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I may not be able to save you if he comes to get you." Her eye’s sparkled. Tom and Erik had been playing practical jokes on each other for years.

A half hour later Tom called, "hey Erik, come help me carry some of this out to the car will you?" "Go on," his mom said. "Go give him a hand." "Yes ma’am," he said with just a little apprehension in his voice. Time seemed to stretch out as he walked into Tom’s room. He tried to act normal, to not look at Tom’s head. Finally he had to. His mouth dropped open and made an "O", then he laughed. "You like it?" Tom asked. "You shaved your head." "Naw. Really?  You mean there’s no hair up there?" He reached up to feel. "Wow. You’re right. It’s smooth." Tom picked up a bag and headed past Erik towards the door. Suddenly he dropped the bag and put Erik in a headlock. With a pair of scissors he began shredding the little bit of hair that he had. After he’d made quite a few bald spots he let Erik loose. "Looks like you should do something about that awful hair cut you’ve got this morning." Erik started to leave and call his mom. "Go ahead. Be a baby. She won’t be happy, but you’ll still have to shave your head too, or look like an octopus got hold of it." Erik stopped. "Come on," Tom said. "I’ll give you a hand. Best get it over with." Erik looked at his head as he passed and sat on the throne. Tom wrapped a big dry towel around Erik’s shoulders. "Just sit still." He brought out his old beard trimmer he’d gotten his senior year in highschool. He plugged it in the socket and snapped it on. It wasn’t as quick as the barber’s clippers had been, but there was only about a 7 X 4 inch patch to go over, and, it worked. On the low setting, it was just really short stubble in a few minutes. Erik insisted on seeing it, just in case it was short enough, it wasn’t, like the bald spots along Tom’s "C", there were several bald spots on top of his head. He sat back down. "You know. I might get kicked out of school for shaving my head." "You wish." Tom spread gel over the top Erik’s head and the sides. Might as well do the whole thing. About 10 minutes later, Tom was putting some after shave lotion on Erik’s head. "You’ll smell good anyway." "Mom’s going to kill us." "No she won't. It’s your fault anyway." They went back to Tom’s room and took his bags out to the car. "You ride with me this morning?" "Might as well. The ‘bald’ brothers."

Mom wasn’t real happy about the shaved heads, but she said to both of them, "I told you both that one of these days you were going to carry your practical jokes too far. Now you see what happens."

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