Summer headshave

The summers here are too hot. In the summers we used to get short hair and each time from the same barber. I dreaded that day almost all year. We would go to the barbershop in the car and one of the servants who is also the driver take us there. The day I remember most was a Sunday when the barber shop was full of men. Barbershops are only for men or little children no woman ventures near them. Now, when I sometimes peek into a barber shop from a passing car I see a little girl around the age of ten or twelve getting a boy's hair cut. Usually, a man goes with a girl to the barber shop as a servant if the family is rich (mothers do not have time to take them to salons) and if poor the girl is accompanied by a father or a brother who stands there and makes sure the girl gets the shortest hair cut or even a head shave sometimes. The barber shops here are traditional. They have huge mirrors and leather chairs. They use white sheets as capes so when children get a haircut. She is draped in it from head to toe. They pump the chair up for little girls. That day I'll remember, our servant took us to the barber shop on the main road, which was full of men. The instructions had been given to him. Every girl and boy was to get a very short haircut and if it is possible shave their heads. There were three of us. Me and my cousins. The chairs were all full by the time we got inside so we had to sit and wait. Time flew! Suddenly one of the barbers was free. The first to go into the big leather chair was my cousin Sima. She was about ten years old. She wore glasses and her hair was black and till the shoulders. The servant told the barber to give her a short boy's haircut. The barber smiled as if he had won a trophy. He made her sit in the chair and covered her with a white sheet. I could see she didn’t like it at all. After she was fully draped in the sheet the barber started spraying her hair with water and started rubbing it making sure the hair was wet. Then he started the cut. He used scissors at first, and then her hair was above the neck he took out his hand, and ran the clippers on her neck all the way till I could see the white shaved part. By that time she was in tears. Then the barber started snipping in the front till her bangs were cut short. And then he finally took out a straight razor and held up her chin so that he could shave her sideburns and the hair above and below the ears. That was when she started to wriggle under the cape but the ever-ready servant was there to hold her down till both her sideburns were shaved. She no longer looked like a girl, instead, she looked like a small boy. All the black hair was on the cape. When she was finally done the barber powdered her neck and she was done. I remember she was wearing a small red dress that day and when the cape was removed and she got out of the chair she looked funny. She looked like a boy in a girl's clothes with a tear-stained face. But it wasn’t over. I was next. I slowly stood up shivering. The servant lifted me up onto the chair. There I was sitting in that big chair and the barber smiling and asking the servant what was to be done to my beautiful hair that went all the way down to my waist. The barber started laughing and then he nodded. He took the same white sheet and wrapped it around me. He pumped the chair up till everyone in the shop could get a good view of what was to be done to my hair. He started spraying it with water. He told me to hold still or he would shave me bald. That scared the shit out of me so I just sat there. The barber took his scissors and started cutting hair off my neck until I was left with a short bob. Then he sectioned my hair and cut it at the base. I could feel the cool air from the fan on my neck and I knew there was no hair on it anymore. There I was sitting in that chair helpless and little while all the men in the shop were looking at me while they got their haircuts and some free barbers came and stood next to my chair to chat with the barber working on me. That is when I started blushing, It was embarrassing. All the black hair on the white cape almost resembles a boy when you are a girl and desperately want to look like one. I couldn’t look at myself anymore in the mirror. I tried looking down but every now and then I would look at myself. He pushed my head down and started clipping my neck and above it just like my cousins. Then he combed my long bangs and cut them off with a few snips. All the time he was talking to the other barbers saying see what I make out of this little girl. He held my face and took out a straight razor and started shaving near my ears. He bent my right ear and shaved around it till the skin turned white. Then he did the same to the left ear. I looked at myself the moment he was doing that I looked awful. I looked like a boy. Then he shaved the hair off my neck, but one of the other barbers said it wasn’t short enough. So he took out his scissors again and started cutting what was left of my hair. I could see my white scalp and all the men looking at me and laughing at me. My servant enjoyed it too. He snipped for around five more minutes. Till I almost had nothing on my head. I looked down and saw loads of hair on the floor and, on the cape. I looked funny. Then he held my face and shaved off my sideburns. I was done. He took oil and massaged my head. With my small head in his strong hands, I couldn’t even move. Then he powdered my neck and I was taken off the chair. I looked like a boy. I had big tears in my eyes. But the show wasn’t over. Next was another cousin of mine whose mother had instructed Servent to give her a complete head shave. She knew it beforehand so she started struggling but the servant and one of the other barbers got hold of her and made her sit on the chair where her head was first sprayed. Till all the hair was completely wet. Then the barber started giving her a massage to make the hair softer to shave. She was looking at herself in the mirror. All the men in the barbershop were looking at her. They held her down and the barber took out a sharp straight razor. He started scraping the hair at the forehead and, then he slowly came down till the front of her head was shaved and her scalp was white. She was crying and struggling to get out, but when the barber started at the back she gave up and that’s when they let her go there she was half shaved with a white scalp and further shaved. The barber held her head down and asked her not to move. All the black hair was falling onto the cape and some still were stuck to her wet scalp. She was crying but was looking at herself in the mirror. The other barbers gathered around her. Other barbers came and cleaned the stray hair off her scalp. Then she was finally done. All her hair was shaved and her scalp looked like an egg. The barber took out some paste, put it on her scalp. and lathered it. Then he again took a straight razor and shaved it close this time. But he had forgotten the sideburns. She looked funny with all her head shaved and just the sideburns there. He shaved those too. The skin on her face was darker than her scalp. She looked very different. The barber then took out oil and applied it on her head till it started shining. He took the cape off and there she was in a blue dress looking absurd, funny, and crying poor thing I felt sorry for her and, I was happy it wasn’t me who got the head shave. The barber rubbed her scalp and they all laughed. The men had totally enjoyed what we all went through that day, especially her head shave. We were packed into the car again and taken home where the others had a good laugh. I laughed too at my shaved cousin but I didn’t know I was to get the same treat soon. When we reached home, my mother saw my cousin shaved head and I was the one making most of the fun. She got mad at me and decided to teach me a lesson. She put me back in the car and asked the driver to take us back to the same saloon. I didn't know what was happening so I kept seated quietly. After we arrived, I got a little worried as to why my mother had brought me back to the barbershop. She asked me to go and sit on the chair. I was a little scared of my mother so I did as she instructed. Then she went and whispered something in the barber's ears. He nodded his head and came near me. He started putting a white cape around my neck and while doing it he said that he missed cutting some of my hair from behind, which is not looking good, and he will fix it. Then he sprayed water and started massaging my head, the way he did to my cousin before her headshave. Then he walked and loaded the blade in the straight razor, but I should not panic so he placed it down and started acting as if he was looking for something. And suddenly he turned toward me and placed a straight razor on top of my head and started shaving. Before I could know what was happening, my hair started falling in front of my eyes. Now, my short-haired head was getting shaved smooth. I could see in the mirror that the top portion of my head was shaved and my white scalp was clearly visible. He then walked back and started shaving my head. Tears started running down from my eyes to my chin. Barber was still shaving my head. I could feel the scraping sensation of a straight razor on my scalp. In a few minutes. he shaved my head completely. Then he asked my mother if my shaved head looked good. She walked and rubbed her hand on my head and asked the barber if my cousin's shaved head felt the same. Barber said yes it should be the same. Then Mother asked the barber to run a straight razor one more time all over my head. She wanted to make it more smoother. Barber again started spraying water on my shaved head and ran a straight razor all over my shaved head. He did it quickly and then again asked my mother. She inspected my shaved head. After rubbing her hand on my smooth shaved head, she nodded her head in agreement. The barber wiped my shaved head with a cloth and removed the cape. Then my mother and I got into the car and headed home. Now, all my other brothers and sisters were laughing at me and rubbing my shaved head as it was smoother than my cousin's.