Todd had been sort of an average student in highschool. More interested in his skateboard and having `fun', than his future. His mom kept him protected from his dad most of the time and she tended to just let Todd's life go with the flow. Todd turned 18 that summer after he finished high school. His dad had been on his case about getting serious, getting a job, joining the military or applying to the community college, there was no way he was getting into a university, before the fall term started. Todd tried a few jobs after highschool, but quit or got fired for not showing up or goofing off with his skateboard friends instead of working. His mom was going to go stay with his aunt who was having surgery. She was taking Todd's younger brother, but would be back in time for school to start. He would be some company for her and a playmate for his cousin who was about the same age. Todd was staying home. His dad put his foot down, and time was running out, his patience was reaching the breaking point.
Todd and his dad took them to the airport early on Monday morning to catch their flight. After they saw them off, on the way home, they stopped and had breakfast. His dad kept the conversation on what Todd was going to do. Did he have any job opportunities? Was he going to the community college? Todd hadn't found any job openings and he hadn't worked on getting in to the community college. His dad became very still and quiet. `This boy isn't going anywhere without a shove. So, today I'm gonna shove hard.' Todd could see that his dad was on the verge of blowing a gasket. He just wanted to get home and go out on his skateboard, just get away until his dad cooled off.
His dad looked at him hard. Not a bad kid. Just seemingly forever a kid only interested in having fun. `Look at that hair down on his collar, scruffy looking, even to see his mother off. He could at least have gotten decently dressed and combed that mop. That mop. Probably why he couldn't get a job. Who would hire a kid that wasn't ever going to grow up?'
"Let's go son. No point in putting of the inevitable." His dad got up and paid for the breakfast. It was almost 10:00. He had taken the day off to see his wife off so there was no rush to get to work. He would begin to take care of Todd's future. Like, right now.
Todd was not paying attention as they road back towards town, they lived on the other side, away from the airport. He did look up when his dad pulled into the little shopping center. `Probably needs to get something,' he thought. Todd was surprised when he pulled up in front of the barbershop. His dad didn't say a word; he just got out. Coming around to the other side of the car, he opened the door and told Todd to, "get out, now," in a commanding voice. The voice that did not brook any nonsense. Todd got out. "Time to get that mop cut," his dad said. "Oh, dad. There's nothing wrong with my hair. I like it long like this." "That's too bad son. Today it's coming off. Now let's get inside and get it done." He opened the door and Todd preceded him inside.
It was a 4 chair shop. Big chrome and black leather chairs that seem to be in most any men's barbershop. Large sturdy chairs that seemed to swallow small boys if they weren't in a booster chair. Todd hadn't been inside one since he started highschool. His mom sometimes had taken him to the salon where she had her hair done to get his trimmed. His dad had been too busy at work, and then there was no getting around his wife's, "just let the boy be a boy." But today she wasn't there to protect him. They were the first ones in this morning, no customers waiting or in the barber chairs. Only two of the barbers were in: a pretty barberette with stylishly short hair, and a male barber with a buzzed high and tight. Todd was afraid his dad would make him sit in the barbers chair. The man looked like he would just love to run the clippers right down to the bone on top of his head. His dad asked the man who had cut his hair. The barber said it was Janet, the pretty barberette in the next chair. His dad pointed to her chair and told Todd to git in the chair and sit down. Janet got the paper strip from the dispenser and pushing Todd's hair up, put it around his neck. Then she spread the cape out and snapped it tightly around the paper strip. She combed his hair out and was about to ask how he wanted it to be cut when his dad said, "buzzed to ½ inch on top and close on the sides. Taper it up a little and shave his face." Todd froze. `Surely his dad wasn't going to have all his hair cut off! This can't be really happening. His mom would be livid when she got home.' His dad sat down in front of him with a quiet smile on his face. `Oh yes,' he thought, `a new beginning'.
Janet turned and picked up the big black clippers. She put on the ½ inch guard. She had seen more than one father here with his son in the same situation. There was no moving the father, the young man might as well just sit still. The sooner started, the sooner it would be done.
The clippers snapped on and the loud pop made Todd jump. Janet told him to sit still as she placed the vibrating clippers right at his hair line and pushed them straight back across the top of his head. In there wake was only short one half inch long. Tears began to stream down his cheeks as the hair slid to the floor behind the chair. The buzzing seemed to echo inside his head and it was as if the hair was crying out as it was mowed from the top of his head, row after row. With the top soon stripped of long hair, she removed the guard and moved to the side, pushing his head over applied the teeth low on the sideburns and up to the top. Then around his ears, and front to the back, the blades ripping through the waiting strands. Now falling onto his shoulder and into his lap. Todd felt every hair being released. The side was done. Janet moved to the other side and began again. The sideburn fell with a plop into his lap. His eyes looked down. Suddenly his tears dried up, he sat still, not moving as in a trance. The buzzing receded and his mind passed into another place. He was drawn back out as Janet moved behind him and pushed his head forward. The cool air felt good and his head was lighter. The clippers were turned off. She brushed all the loose hair from his head, neck and shoulders. Then he was turned around. There was a new person sitting in the chair. He suddenly realized that his childhood was fast going behind him. The new person looked at him. It didn't look too bad.
Janet turned him back around and brought out a new pair of clippers. When these were snapped on, the buzzing was more like a whirr. The blades were thinner and the teeth finer. With these she began again on the side, pushing his head over gently, as if she saw the change in him. Over where his sideburns used to be they left practically bare skin. The hair was less than 1/16th of an inch. She took it up about an inch above his ear, leaving behind nearly smooth bare skin. Like very fine sandpaper when he reached up to touch it as she moved to the other side. It didn't take long for the sides and back to be gone over leaving the bare skin all the way around. There was no long hair to fight as she then free hand with only the aid of her thin black comb to taper it to the top. Again she brushed off the sides of his head and neck and spun him around so he could see the change. The nearly smooth bald sides tapered up to the ½ inch long top. Then there was the really straggly growth of beard and moustache. "Could you use those last clippers on my face too?" he asked. "Get rid of everything. And do the top too. Shave it all off."
We'll never know who was the most amazed, Todd, Janet, or his dad. Janet looked at his dad who had heard. "No," he said, "it looks pretty good the way it is. A flat top maybe, but only shave the neck line and his face." Janet asked Todd if he'd like a flat top. "Do you think it would look good?" he asked her. "You have a nicely shaped head that would hold a short flat top really good. This time I'll let you watch." She picked up the red 000000 Wahl clippers and again just using her thin black comb began to flatten out the top. It was near ground zero down the middle, but it shaped up really well. Then she tilted his head back and took off the wispy hair from his face. Todd watched it all happen. He got more excited as if he began to see the real Todd that had been hidden under the hair. Janet undid the cape and removed the paper strip. She tucked a small towel around his neck inside his shirt collar then turned him back around and told him to lean back. She inclined the chair back towards the sink. She removed the headrest so that his head was over the sink and proceeded to wash off his head and then, with a warm towel, his face. It was easy to dry his head and then she raised the chair back up a little. She lathered his face and shaved it smooth from the ears down to his neck. She cleaned that off with a warm towel and set him upright. Janet took a steamy warm towel and put it around his head to soften up the little tiny bit of hair that remained. The hot lather machine hummed again. She removed the towel and lathered around the sides and ears, and down the back of his neck. The keen edged straight razor made swift work of shaving the skin to a smooth silky finish. She cleaned everything off with the warm damp towel and then using a small dab of crew wax, massaged it into his flat. Using her hands she pushed it back making it stand up straight. Then the last time she took her comb and scissors and made sure that each hair in the flat top stood even.
Janet turned him a
round once more as she removed the cape and the towel from his neck. "There you are young man. A new you." Todd had a big grin on his face. "That's too right!" he exclaimed. "I love it." She turned him back around and lowered the chair. Todd got out and stood up. He turned back around to see himself again in the mirror.
His dad was indeed very happy as he paid Janet and gave her a good tip. He couldn't resist giving Todd a good shoulder squeeze hug. "Now you're beginning to look like a man."
Out in the car Todd asked his dad to take him home. He wanted to change his clothes. So home they went. Todd went to his room, stripped off, and went in to take a shower. He was careful not to mess up his hair, although Janet had given him a jar of the air wax. After showering and drying off, he got dressed. He found a pair of jeans his parents had given him last Christmas that fit, not sagging down on his hips. A clean white tee shirt and a red and yellow striped polo shirt with a collar, tucked into the jeans. He double checked his appearance in the mirror over his chest of drawers. He combed his hair so that it stood up.
Todd found his dad in his study going over some papers. "Dad, you are right. I need to find some direction in my life and this haircut sort of made up my mind. I'd like to see if I can join the Marine Corps." His dad leaned back. "Are you sure, son?" "Yes sir. I've been afraid to tell you and mom, but I can't get a job here anymore. I got fired twice and quit a couple of times. The last place I applied, they told me I would have to grow up first. I either have to go back to school or go in the military. I think I would just fall back on my goofing off at school. But the Marines won't let me do that. I've already gone on the internet and filled out some forms and I've called the recruiter here in town. He told me to come in any time and I could get started." Todds dad was amazed. His son had just been waiting to be pushed a little. "Do you want me to go down with you?" "Yes sir. I may need your moral support so I don't chicken out." His dad got up and came around the desk. "I'm getting real proud of you son." Todd drove down to the recruiting office. The recruiter told Todd he was in luck. There was a bus going tomorrow morning to the regional recruiting station to do physicals. Since his information was already in the system, background checks would be done and ready. He should take a small sports bag with clean underwear, socks and a tee shirt. It was suggested that he not take anything of value, the only thing he might need would be his drivers license, perhaps $20, a cheap Timex watch, no credit cards or cell phones. If he passed the physical he would be going straight on to Parris Island for basic training. Todd must be at the recruiting office at 7:00 am, he could not be even a minute late.
Todd was on time and arrived at the recruiting station around noon. He and the other prospective recruits were fed, then lined up for their physicals. Todd had nothing to hide when they stripped down to their shorts. If nothing else, the skateboarding had kept him fit and trim. The doctor said he passed and sent him back to the Marine First Sergeant that was in charge. At the end of the day there were about 25 men who had passed their physicals and were going on the next day to basic training. They were put up for the night in a hotel, two men to a room. They were wakened the next morning at 5:30 and put on a bus headed to South Carolina. They stopped about 9:00 in a small station and there was time enough to grab something to eat. They had meal chits that covered up to $8. Then it was back on the bus until around 1:00 pm they stopped to change drivers and refuel. This was their last meal stop. They rolled into Parris Island right at 4:00. A Sergeant got on the bus. "When you get off the bus, you put your feet on the footprints and stay there until I tell you to move. You don't do anything until I tell you too. Does everyone understand?" There was a chorus of "YES". "I'm a sergeant, so your reply is `YES SERGEANT'. Do you understand that?" "YES SERGEANT." "Now, Get off the bus!" Each man stumbled out and onto a set of footprints that were painted onto the sidewalk. Their names were called off one by one. Then it was inside the building to stow their bags. Then each was called forward to the Lance Corporal sitting at the desk. Their papers were checked against their ID's. Then it was outside again. We have time for one thing before chow. Turn and face to the left. "I don't suppose you know how to march. Just stay behind the man in front of you. MOVE OUT!" It was a straggling line that proceeded towards a nearby building. Outside was a simple sign, induction center. "We are going to try and do this in some semblance of order. Starting with you there on the right. Just go in single file. The first 5 of you sit in one of the chairs. The rest of you stand in front of the chair, fill it in behind." He counted them off. "You 5 will be the first in the chair. Then you five," counting down the next five, will each stand in front of a chair behind the line in the floor. Then you next 5 will stand behind one of those 5. You do that until each man is inside. The barbers will start cutting as soon as you sit. When he tells you to get up, you will come back out here and line up, just like you were. You will not talk, you will not move around. Am I understood?" "YES SERGEANT!" "Alright, get inside."
Todd was the first man inside. There wasn't a lot to cut on his head. That barberette had taken care of most of it yesterday. He saw that none of the other new recruits had really long hair, but none were as short as his. He went down to the farthest chair and sat. The barber whipped a strip of paper around his neck, then the cape was fastened in place. The sergeant came over. "A real smart ass." he said. "Sam, shave it all off, use the razor." The barber grinned. He took the clippers and made short work of Todd's flat top. Todd was surprised when his head was lathered and any stubble left was shaved off. He would have the smoothest head at the end of the day. "You are gonna be a special man in your platoon," the barber said. "Now git outta my chair."
Todd's head wasn't shaved again all through his basic training. But it wasn't allowed to grow out either. Every time his platoon went for a haircut, he was given the haircut that the other recruits got at the induction center. On graduation day, everyone in his platoon had a high and tight, but the hair on top was almost a half inch long. Todd's sergeant took him that morning, immediately after breakfast back to the barbershop. "Use the closest blade you've got" were his instructions to the barber in the chair. "This is our Guide and Honor Man" he bragged to those in the barber shop. Outside, Todd was instructed to get back to his barracks, a quick shower and get changed into his dress blues. Back in the barracks he stripped and quickly got his shower. The rest of his platoon were already getting dressed when he went in to shave. Still wet he lathered his face and then said to himself, "what the hell! Why start having hair now." He lathered his whole head. And began to shave, first his face. His best friend and buddy came in. "You're not really gonna shave the whole thing, are you? Sergeant James will have a fit." "Sergeant James, buddy of mine, had my head shaved the day I got here. It's appropriate that I go out the same way. How can he complain. We all did our best, and with all of you guys help I made the Honor Man, there's no way I could have done it without the rest of you." Todd first shaved off the sides and then with his razor at the nape of his neck ran it all the way up and across the top to the front. It didn't take long to go over it. He rinsed it off and used both hands to feel for any missed spots. It could be smoother he thought. Lathering it up again, he shaved it in the opposite direction. This time when he was finished, it was smooth as silk. Suddenly there was a loud, "What the hell? Todd, what are you doing?" "What's wrong Sergeant?" "You shaved your damn head." "Sergeant James; you had it shaved the first time when I got here. I thought it would be cool to just keep it this way. Is there a problem?" "No, PFC Todd, there is no problem. I just came to tell you that your parents are here. I had to explain to them that while you can go out with them today, you are staying another two weeks for further aptitude testing. We think there is more potential in you than just becoming a grunt. Hurry up now. Get that uniform on. I'm very proud to have been your drill sergeant. You deserve the Honor you will receive today."
Rate this story now.
Enter some comments about this story or see what others have said on the forums.
Recommendations
If you liked this story, here are others that you might like.
Your Internet home for stories about male and female haircuts, head shaves, buzz cuts, alternative hairstyles, and more!
Copyright 2002-2012 by the owners of HairSnip.com