Two Alive, стр. 78
“Ok. No problem, captain… sir. Uh, Captain Baker.” One big arm came up as Lincoln saluted with his left hand, then awkwardly lifted his right arm to salute again, not really certain which one was correct. Baker just shook his head and left.
“Thanks, Captain Baker!” Brandon was thrilled. He took a handful of Antonio’s hair and made an O with his mouth. “Man, you been out there a while, huh?” He laughed and Antonio shoved him.
“Shut up, man! It ain’t like I could go to the barber shop and get a fade.”
Brandon shook his head, smiling, and turned to hurry down an aisle. He waved for Antonio to follow and the kid looked at Lincoln, confused but intrigued. Lincoln shrugged his big shoulders. Antonio went after Brandon and found it hard to keep up. They jogged down a massive aisle of hair products. Shampoos and conditioners and moisturizers and gels; countless unopened, untouched hair products just waiting on their shelves for someone looking to grab a deal. When Antonio finally caught up to Brandon, they were in the middle of a large section of wigs at a display counter.
“You want a bald fade?” Brandon stepped behind the counter and flipped out a barber’s apron. “How many inches you want me to take off the top?”
Antonio watched Brandon plug in clippers and set out combs and brushes. Brandon snapped out a cape and used it to brush off the spinning salon chair. It had been so long since Antonio had thought about a haircut it took him a minute to understand what Brandon was talking about.
“You gon sit down or what?” Brandon asked with a smile.
Antonio laughed and jumped in the seat from where he was standing. He kicked up his feet and lifted his chin when Brandon wrapped a tissue paper around his neck. The cape flapped in the air and draped over Antonio and his smile somehow spread past his ears.
“You been here cuttin’ hair this whole time?” Antonio laughed as Brandon snatched at his hair with a big comb and a pick.
“Ha! Somethin’ like that! Naw, I just come over here and help people out when I can. It’s the least I can do.” Brandon moved the boy’s head to get the best angles to comb.
“You two know each other from before?” Lincoln was leaning against the display counter, watching them.
“Yeah! Brandon was a staff in my classroom! He was coo!” Antonio laughed, then cried out when the comb got stuck in a snag.
“Yeah. That feels like a lifetime ago.” Brandon chuckled then turned on the clippers. The buzzing made Antonio start shaking his leg in anticipation. “We were at the school when it all went down in Oakland two years ago,” Brandon said softly and began mowing through the thick afro on Antonio’s head.
“Really? You guys were in Oakland? Wow, that’s crazy.” Lincoln leaned in closer, his eyebrows high with curiosity. “When the whole city went wild? You guys survived that? I heard almost half the city turned. It was all them millennial gentrifiers who took UGEN and LRS-10 for everything.” The big man shook his head.
“I don’t know what happened. All I know is, if it wasn’t for Johnathan moving like he did in the beginning, me and a bunch of other people wouldn’t have even left the school.” Brandon turned off the buzzing and replaced the guard to cut Antonio’s hair length lower. “He was… he was a great dude. He always helped out however he could at the school and didn’t complain. Aite, well he complained but not to yo face, you know what I’m sayin’?”
Both Lincoln and Brandon laughed. Antonio could feel the good spirited humor and joined in.
“He was a good man. He really was.” Brandon paused and continued going around Antonio’s head with the clippers. “If John really stayed with you guys this whole time, it makes me think I should’ve stayed with you. I shouldn’t have ran away like I did.” The hard memories made him go quiet.
After lining Antonio’s hairline and brushing the stray hairs from his face, Brandon took the tissue wrapped around Antonio’s neck and dabbed it with alcohol he took from under the display counter. He wiped Antonio’s hairline with the alcohol and examined the job he did.
“I could go get another razor blade to give you a better line up, but I think you good. I’ma let your little peach fuzz grow.” Brandon chuckled to himself and raised a mirror for Antonio to look at his cut.
The teenager took the mirror, moved his head from side to side and tilted back, unable to stop smiling and unable to take his eyes off his reflection. He was a completely new person. In new clothes, cleaned up, and with a fresh new high top haircut. The teen bit his tongue as he cheesed in the mirror.
“Yeeaahh! That’s what’s up!” Antonio proclaimed.
***
Miles tapped his boot as he tried to be patient. He was waiting for Captain Baker to return with his dragunov rifle and found it difficult to stop fidgeting. It felt like forever ago since the last time Miles held his gun and he couldn’t wait to get his hands back on it. If he had it yesterday while they were taking care of the hive, he was confident he would’ve been more proficient with his strategic thinking. The old man always talked about strategic thinking. Said it was when you thought on the fly in any given scenario. The old man would’ve been proud of Miles and Antonio yesterday. They managed to use some impressive strategic thinking to get rid