RELUCTANT PRESS

"Hi, Mrs. Wales. I'm Danny Norris. Is Susie home?" "Yes, she's expecting you. Come in Danny, it's nice to see you again."

I had forgotten that we had met at the beauty shop, as I had always treated that as another part of my life that did not intersect with my life here in Meadville.

Mrs. Wales was a very attractive woman and also turned out to be very nice. She led me into the den where Susie was waiting.

We got right to work and I feared that the intimacy of our prior meeting would not be repeated. Susie was an honor roll student and took her studies seriously. Her mother brought in a tray of milk and freshly made cookies and Susie continued her tutoring as we ate. After an hour, she finally put the book down.

"There, all done for today!" she said and I feared that was supposed to signal me to go home.

"Thanks Susie, you have been a big help," I said, standing up.

"You're not leaving, are you?"

"Ah, well, don't you have your own homework to do?" "Just a little, but I can do that later, unless you have to leave."

"No, I can stay longer."

"Great!" said Susie, changing from the studious teacher to the fun girl I remembered. "Feel like doing my hair again?" "Sure, I'd love to. But how about your mother?"

"Oh, she only does her hair once a week, so she doesn't need it set."

"No, I meant, will she mind, and, ah, well, I'm a little embarrassed to be seen doing something like that."

"DAN NORRIS!" she protested, sounding just like my mother when she was upset with something I had done. "Why would my mother mind if you set my hair? And why would you be embarrassed to be seen? You do this every Saturday for women you don't even know."

"Well, it's not something guys usually do and people might think that I'm, ah, you know..."

"QUEER? Is that what you were going to say. Danny, I'm shocked! I thought that you were different from the other guys who have so many hang-ups about their masculinity.

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RUFFLES & CURLES

By Kammi Morton

Even Jack, who is as macho as they come, won't use anything but Ivory soap in case anyone thinks he's a sissy for using a scented soap. What rubbish!"

I realized that I was very close to endangering my newfound relationship with Susie and that I had to do something quickly.

"Susie, please let me do your hair. And I'm not like the other guys. That's why I don't have a lot of friends. And I agree with you about the way all the other guys act. I have often thought that they are the ones with the problem, and not me."

"I like you just the way you are, and I don't want you ever to think of yourself as 'queer', no matter what you do."

Susie reached over and hugged me tightly, and I knew that the damage had been repaired. She had already brought her hair stuff to the den before I arrived and I stood up behind her and began rolling. I stiffened when her mother came into the room.

"That's so nice of you to do Susie's hair. It came out so much better than when she does it herself. You must have inherited some of your mother's talents. Maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to get my hair done too, Danny," she said and winked at me in the same way that Susie had the last couple of days.

"Mom, Danny is a little shy about his abilities as a hairdresser and would appreciate you not telling anyone."

"All right, but I really do not understand why this world makes such distinctions about what is 'proper' for a man and a woman. If you like doing something, you should be able to do it freely, without fear of ridicule."

I finished her hair and got my reward, a hug and a kiss on the cheek. As I was leaving, Susie asked me if I would be willing to help her get ready for Friday night's game and I did not hesitate to say "Yes".

-000-

On Thursday I again had to scramble to get all my work done for Friday and, at Susie's request, I went directly to her house from school to give us more time. We had a pep rally that afternoon and I could not take my eyes off Susie in her short cheerleader's outfit. She was by far the most beautiful girl in school, I thought.

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