I look away when the door opens, mostly because I don’t want to make things worse. Max follows Avery into the barber, and I trail behind, noticing how he’s dragging his feet and fidgeting with his hands. He’s terrified.
“Hey, Nick. Thanks for opening up for us,” she says, her smile soft and utterly defeated. Nick opened up special…just for them. I get it. And I wish I could tell her. But she doesn’t want pity. She just wants the next two hours to pass, and me to never bring them up to her. And I get that, too.
“Sure thing, Avery. You know Max is my favorite customer,” Nick says, his overgrown, graying mustache dusting the top of his lips. “Max, can you sit on the special chair for me? I’ll let you decide how high it needs to be.”
I can tell that Nick has done this before. I can also tell that he’s not sure if it’s going to work today. Max is still rocking a little from side-to-side, and his hands have started tugging at one another harder. I’m so goddamned heartbroken for him that I just jump in with both feet, and try something completely unwelcomed, but that I think just might work.
“Hey, Nick. I’m Mason,” I reach over to shake his hand, and Nick smiles at me with a hint of surprise.
“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re Barb’s boy,” he says, and I cringe inside a little, hoping like hell he’s not one of my mom’s conquests.
“Yes, sir. That’s me,” I say, half-squinting, and holding my breath, waiting for the lecture on my mother, or worse—me, and what a douchebag I am.
“You were good over at Dusty’s the other night. You planning on playing there again?” I’m pretty sure Nick notices my huge sigh of relief, but I don’t care, because I also notice that Max has stopped swaying.
“I do. Next weekend, in fact,” I say, looking to Avery next, and making a mental note of her lip tucked nervously in between her teeth. “I’ve got a few more songs I’d like to try out.”
“Good, I’ll be there with the wife. She loved your show,” Nick says, his eyes darting between Avery and me now. I manage to give him a silent shake of my head before he asks if we’re together, so he lets it pass. Thank god, because I think that would pretty much do Avery in for the day.
“So, I was thinking, Nick. I probably need a haircut, too,” I say, and Nick is nodding in full understanding. Avery’s eyes are wide with surprise, and I take this opportunity to wink. I’m proud when it makes her blush. “You know, it’s what you do, when you start something new. And now that I’m playing at Dusty’s, I probably should look my best.”
Nick takes my lead perfectly and pats the seat next to the one meant for Max and invites me to sit down.
“Max, you mind if Mason gets his hair cut too?” Nick asks, and Max shakes his head no slightly. I see his eyes shift to my feet while I step up on the seat, and he leaves them there while I work my way into my chair. Nick fluffs the cape out next, shaking it out to lose the wrinkles, before swinging it around my body and fastening it around my neck.
“So, what are we getting?” Nick asks, scissors in his hands. Honestly, I hadn’t thought things through this far. I wasn’t planning on cutting my hair for a long time—I sort of liked the length. But…this was more important. And I was coming to terms with the fact that I was going to be in Cave Creek longer than I originally thought, so my hair would probably grow back by the time I hit the road again.
I look to Avery, prompting her to help me answer this—I wanted whatever Max was getting. Her eyes are still wide, but she curls the edges of her lips slightly when she starts to speak, and I swear I can feel my heart kick at the sight of it. “An inch off the top, and shorter on the sides,” she says.
My hand runs through my hair one last time on instinct, almost like I’m saying goodbye. “Yeah, that’s right. I’ll have that,” I say, noticing that behind Nick, Max has now climbed into the seat. I tilt my head to Nick so he notices, and when he looks back at me, his smile says it all. Thanks.
Avery hasn’t said a word about my shorter hair, but I caught her looking at it in the mirror during the drive home. I decided to ride home in the back, next to Max. He let me, and I felt sort of honored by that. He showed me some more details of the music program he was working on the other day. Since the last time, he had composed an entire song. The instrument choices weren’t the best, but the intricacy of the song he built was impressive. Every rhythm and count matched perfectly, and it made me wish I could get a real guitar in Max’s hands.