RELUCTANT PRESS

I would be labeled a freak and locked away for the rest of my life. I decided it was best I said nothing and try to keep my feelings and thoughts under better control.

I bought Sports Illustrated and even Playboy and started watching sports on television, figuring this was what a "normal" boy would do. I hoped this would take my mind off "girls" things. But it did not help. When I opened the centerfold of Playboy my eyes went first to her hair, which got me excited thinking about washing, setting, and brushing it while I ignored the enormous breasts and the rest of her body. And television sports bored me as much as the real thing and I would find myself reaching for one of my mother's magazines on the coffee table to look through while some baseball player scratched himself and spat on the ground. I began to consider myself a freak and thought I would be better off dead than to have someone discover my deep, dark secret!

High school dragged by and I could not wait for it to end. I was not a good student and was somewhat of a loner. My whole thinking was focused on graduating.

CHAPTER TWO: Susie

It was my senior year and everybody was talking about what college or job they were going into. I had never given much consideration to this, but now realized I had to make a decision. I had applied to several colleges, just to postpone the time I had to enter the "real" world, and now the rejections began coming back. My grades were poor and I had always taken the easiest courses which was not what colleges were looking for.

"So what will you do now?" Mom asked.

"I don't know. The career counselor said she would do some research and see what else might be good for me but there really is nothing I am interested in."

I saw Mom's eyes light up and knew what was coming next.

"How about joining me in the shop? You have a real knack for hairdressing and it can be very rewarding."

Mom had scraped up enough to buy her own beauty shop last year and I had helped out on Saturdays, the busi-

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RUFFLES & CURLES

By Kammi Morton

est day, giving shampoos and taking out the rollers as well as sweeping the floor and other odd jobs. I had strongly fought this when Mom first suggested it, again terrified of what people would think about a boy working in a beauty shop.

"Danny, nobody knows you in Lincoln and besides, so what if people do see you? I really do not know what all the fuss is about. Lots of guys have jobs after school and most are damn glad to have them."

Lincoln was about five miles away from Meadville where we lived and she was right, we did not know anybody there. But Mom had many friends and had developed a following at the shop where she had worked before, and most of those customers thought nothing of going to Lincoln to have their hair done. And sure, lots of the guys had part time jobs but none of them were in a damn beauty shop!

Mom was persistent and she really did need the extra help. And so every Saturday morning we drove together to Lincoln and put in a good ten hours making women beautiful. I looked forward to eating out after the shop was closed. -000-

At first I just wore a white shirt and slacks but then Mom succumbed to the pitch of a salesman.

"Oh goody! They've arrived. Wait 'till you see what I bought you," my mother said excitedly as she opened a package that had been delivered to our house. She held up a pink nylon smock that had white piping and on the breast pocket was embroidered a white flower with the word Danni stitched in a curve under the flower. It had small, curved collars with a satin bow between them. It had two buttons in the back!

"Don't you love it, sweetheart? I got two for you and four for me," she said, holding up her white smock with pink lettering. "They're real easy to wash and are drip dry so you won't have to iron them. What do you say?"

"They're, ah, kinda feminine, don't you think?" "Well of course they are! It is a beauty shop after all. You'd look pretty funny wearing blue overalls, for crying out loud. Now, just go touch them up with the iron to get the folds out and you can begin wearing them on Saturday. Oh,

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