HaircuttingStories.com

Author?s note: This story is protected under legal copyright law. Please respect the wishes of the author. This story has been placed here for your reading enjoyment and is NOT to be downloaded or distributed to any other site without the expressed written permission of the author. Thanks for your consideration. Enjoy the story??????hairman001

?Last evening the audio visual department was broken into. School property was seriously damaged to the cost of $7500.00. With the agreement of the school board and the faculty, the following changes had been put into place, effective immediately. All extra-curricular activities are on hold until such time as the person/persons who did this step forward. All school dances are suspended, all field trips, all sports activities are cancelled for the rest of the school year. The student council has been disbanded and effective immediately, the school board is implementing a dress code. No jeans, no t-shirts, no sneakers, no cut-offs. Any and all infractions will be dealt with with all severity. If anyone wished to step forward at this time and say anything, I?????????..? the principal stepped back from the podium. The principal stepped forward to the podium. ?Any questions from the student body?? He looked out into the general assembly. A hand raised. ?Sir, this is not fair to the student body. The entire school cannot be held responsible for the actions of a small group of students who have no respect for the rest of the school,? she said. ?I understand your concern, Esther, but there are no exceptions this time. The student body in this school has it too easy. Students just skimming by, thinking we are not watching. The jocks thinking they don?t have to study because they are here on scholarships. You people seem to care more about parties then your education. What are you going to do if you have a serious accident and cannot compete anymore? What are you going to turn to? Fame is fleeting. An education is forever,? the principal said. The vice-principal stepped forward. ?Finally, effective immediately, curfews are in place for all residents on campus. Doors will be locked at every hall at 10:00pm. The library will close at exactly 8:00pm. Study halls will be monitored and all students will be expected to be in class unless they have a written note signed by a doctor and their parents. I am sorry everyone. I was the only one who voted against this motion but this recent defacing of school property will not be tolerated,? he said. ?At the recommendation of the school board, we will give the person/persons who did this to step forward but we will not wait more then two days. If within two days I do not have a full confession on my desk, the entire school year will be forfeited and no credits will be issued. I am sorry but our hand has been forced,? the principal said. ?No questions will be asked. All we want is to know who did this. Of course it will mean suspensions and some form of punishment but if the person steps forward voluntarily, all suspended activities will be re-instated, to a certain degree,? the vice-principal said. With that the assembly of students was dismissed.

She walked back to her dorm after school. She passed a bunch of girls who were standing outside in the lobby smoking pot. She held her breath as she quickened her pace. ?Oh look, there goes Miss Goodie-two-shoes. Did you have fun trying to speak up for the student body this morning?? one of the females said. Esther just continued to walk by but the girls encircled her. ?What are you trying to prove?? another one said. ?She does not associate with people like us. She thinks she is so much better then we are,? another one said. ?Yeah, we aren?t ivy league like she is, are we girls?? the leader said. ?Look at her! Does Mommy dress you every morning, brush your hair, wash your face?? Esther finally stopped in her tracks. She turned to the leader of the gang. ?I know you did this. I saw you in the library last night at 7:30. I saw you pick the lock.? The leader of the group laughed. ?And what are you going to do about it? Are you going to squeal? Do you think they are going to listen to you? You know what we do to people who squeal,? she said as she stepped forward. ?I would hate to let my girls have a go at you. They would strip you of your beautiful long locks. I would not be able to hold these girls off on my own. They would have a time with you.? ?I am not going to say anything. I am here because I want to be here,? Esther said. ?But I do know. And you owe it to the student body to step forward. You are nothing but bad news.? The leader grabbed Esther by the arm. ?I don?t like you and we are going to be watching you. If you step out of line, we will be there,? she said. She ran her fingers through Esther?s long black locks. ?Yes, so shiny and silky. If you squeal on us, I will be more then happy to take this from your head, myself. Forget giving you to my girls. And I will show no mercy. Let her go. She has to get back to her dorm before curfew.? Esther walked off. ?Don?t forget. We will be watching you and we will know if you do anything out of line,? the leader said as she stepped back and drew a puff from the marijuana cigarette.

Esther got back to her dorm. She threw herself down on her bed, crying. Her roommate stepped in. ?What is this all about?? ?Nothing. I just had a bad day.? Esther said as she sniffled. ?No, that is not true. I have never seen you like this. You are shaking and your face is pale. What is going on? You know you can talk to me,? she said. ?I can?t tell you. I will get into trouble,? Esther said. ?Please, just leave it alone.? ?No, I can?t leave this alone. You know something about what happened the other night!? her roommate said. ?I can?t tell you?????..I can?t,? Esther protested. ?Who threatened you?? her roommate said. Esther sniffled more. ?I don?t know what to do,? she said. ?You have to tell. The student body does not deserve this punishment,? her roommate said. ?The principal was right. Things have changed so much here. Too many students are getting away with bad things and the faculty has no control,? Esther said. ?Someone has to step forward and show that they are not afraid to speak out,? her roommate said. ?I can?t??????..? Esther said. ?She said she would shave my head bald if I squealed.? ?Who said that?? her roommate said. Esther got up and ran to her room, closing the door. Her roommate just sat there. ?She does not deserve this. She has done so much for the student body,? she said.

Back in the campus yard, the gang of females were still smoking marijuana and drinking. ?What do we do now?? one of the girls said. ?Make the call tonight. We have to stash the equipment, get it out of view. It has to be sold fast and no tracks,? the leader said. ?I will get the letter into the hands of the media. No one will trace it to us.? ?But she knows,? another girl said. ?Look, leave her to me,? the leader said. ?I can swear that she is not going to talk. Just get it done.?

Finally at the end of the week, the principal came forward and told the student body that certain restrictions had now been lifted. ?The person who did this has come forward to the police and the school will be pressing charges,? he said. Esther looked behind her. Sitting three rows back was the gang leader and her girls. She looked at Esther. ?No, this is not right,? Esther said to herself. ?She got someone to take the fall.? The principal dismissed the assembly and the students went back to their classes. The gang leader walked toward Esther. She put her arm around Esther?s shoulder. ?Isn?t that nice that things are better? I am sure you are happy now? You can get back in your library. I heard the school board approved the spending of another $10.000 to get new equipment. Oops! I should not have said that,? she giggled. ?Okay, leave her alone,? someone else said. The gang leader turned and looked into the eyes of one of her own. ?What did you say?? ?Leave her alone. She has not squealed on us. We have had our fun,? the second one said. She turned to Esther. ?Get out of her now before this gets ugly and you hear something you should not.? The gang leader stepped forward. ?No one goes without my permission. She stays until I let her go,? she said. The second gang person stepped forward and pulled Esther away. ?Get out of here now!? she demanded. Esther turned and walked away.

Three days later, Esther saw the second gang member alone. ?I am sorry for what they did to you but she is right. If you say anything, she will humiliate you,? she said. ?What is your name?? Esther asked. ?That is not important,? she answered. ?Look, I did not have a part in this, you know that don?t you?? Esther nodded her head. ?I did not see you there that night. I only saw the other five. Why don?t you step forward and tell the truth? And what did they do to you?? ?Like you, I can?t and what they did to me is non of your business,? she answered. ?All she would do to you is shave your head. Me, it could mean my life.? Her face was bruised and her arm was in a sling. ?They would kill you?? Esther said. ?Why are you telling me this?? ?Because I need to relieve my conscience,? she said. ?And because I am leaving the campus and dropping out.? ?That is not right,? Esther said. ?I am living a lie,? she said. ?I know too much and I know someone is going to get hurt if it does not stop,? she said. ?If you were smart, and I know you are, you would ask for a transfer to another school. You do not want to be here when it happens.? ?When what happens?? Esther said. ?I can?t tell you. What happened at the library is a warning,? the second gang member said. ?Look, I like my school. Someone has to tell the principal,? Esther said, ?and if you don?t, I will.? ?I wish you luck,? the second gang member said. ?Look, come with me. We can make this right,? Esther said. ?The principal is a kind man. He will listen to the truth. He will listen to me.? ?You are going to stand up to her? You are crazy! Why?? the second gang member said. ?I have a plan. Come with me, please. I think I can flush them out,? Esther said. She shook her head. ?Look, I have to get out of here. If they see me talking to you, I can kiss my ass good-bye. And you better go to. Curfew is almost on us,? the gang member said.

The next day, Esther managed to elude the gang and she got to the counselor?s office. After talking to the counselor in confidence and explaining what she knew, the counselor sat at her desk shaking her head. ?I don?t know what to do about this,? she said. Esther looked at her. ?I am afraid but someone has to say something. I like my school and I don?t take kindly to be bullied,? Esther said. ?Esther you are protecting someone. I agree something has to be done,? the counselor said. ?But what? If you are protecting someone, that person is just as guilty as the others, whether she had a share or not.? ?I believe she is telling the truth and I know I did not see her that night. Look, you do believe me, don?t you?? Esther said. ?Of course. But it is your word against the word of five others,? the counselor said. ?Maybe they were using her as a look-out.? ?But I think I have a way of making the truth come out. The gang leader said she would shave my head if I spoke against her. Call an assembly. I will expose the gang and I just hope that the person who told me what I know has the conscience to stand up,? Esther said. ?How are you going to expose them?? the counselor said. ?I am going to ask you to bring a barber to the assembly. I am going to speak to the assembly while seated in the barber?s chair and I am going to tell the entire student body what I know. I am going to tell who was behind the job and as I speak that person?s name I am going to tell the student body that she threatened to shave me bald but I am not afraid to lose my hair if it means that the truth is told. I just hope that the girl who came to me is there and she steps forward and tells the truth. Otherwise, I will find myself without my hair because if the barber does not take it off, then the gang leader will,? Esther said. ?I will have to speak to the principal about this,? the counselor said. ?I know,? Esther said. ?I just hope he believes what you tell him. Look, I have to get back to class.? ?Leave it with me. Get going,? the counselor said.

After lunch, teachers read out a memo to their classes. An assembly had been called for the last period in the gymnasium. The counselor had gotten through to the principal that she believed what Esther had told her in confidence. At 3:30, all the students were gathered in the gym, including the gang leader and her now four members. Esther was concealed behind the curtain of the stage. The fifth member, who had spoken to Esther did not show up for class. The principal addressed the student body. After outlining the reason for the assembly, he stepped aside. A chair was pushed toward the center of the stage and Esther stepped out from behind the curtain. She looked at the student body and spoke: ?What has happened over the past two weeks in this school has outraged a number of us. I need to speak my peace,? she said. ?I was in the library on the evening that this took place. I saw five girls enter the library and watched them walk to the audio visual door. I saw one of them holding what I though was the key. They also had a requisition. I thought everything was okay. I did not expect anything dirty or wrong. I left the library at 8:00 and I thought I saw a light still on in the audio visual room. But I did not think to go back. Besides, the door was locked. I walked back to my dorm and as I headed down the back way, I saw a car pull up to the audio visual door. Someone got out and I saw the trunk pop open. I ran back and hid behind the dumpster. I recognized the voices and I listened as they were shouting orders to ?Load quickly. We only have ten minutes before the guard comes around.? They were gone in seven minutes. Esther sat down on the chair. ?I confronted the leader and told her that I saw her do it and she threatened me saying she would shave my head bald and humiliate me if I spoke up. Well, I am speaking because she also had her gang beat up one of their own, bruising her face and breaking her arm. Well, if my head is going to get shaved for speaking the truth, so be it. You might as well all enjoy it,? Esther said. From behind the curtain stepped a barber holding a pair of electric clippers. Into the gymnasium walked eight police officers who stood two to a door so that no one could leave the gym. Esther sat back, straight backed in the chair. The barber stepped forward and undid the ponytail that held her black hair together. The barber threw a plastic cape around Esther?s shoulders and pulled it up and clipped it closed. He took out a pair of scissors and he combed back her long hair. ?You are a brave girl,? he said. Esther swallowed hard. ?No yet,? she said. Esther looked into the eyes of the student body. She started to name names, one at a time. As she called the names, the four gang members looked at each other in astonishment. Finally Esther cleared her throat. She spoke the last name and looked at the barber. ?You can proceed,? she said. The barber grabbed a section of hair and bounded it with an elastic band. Then he grabbed the second section and bound it. He stepped behind her as he turned the chair so that Esther was facing the audience. He opened the blades of the scissors. He was stroking her long ponytail with a comb. The student body was looking on is astonishment. Some of the students were even calling out for the barber to make the cut. The door to the gymnasium opened and the fifth member of the gang stepped in. ?Stop! She does not deserve this. She is telling the truth. Please let her go. She did this for me and for all of us. She has more guts then anyone of us. If anyone deserves to be shaved, it is me because I did not stand up for what is right. I am sorry for my actions and I am sorry for getting involved with this bunch of hoods. It should not have happened and I am glad it will now be stopped. I will testify against the five gang members,? she said as she walked up to the stage. She looked as Esther and Esther stood up. ?I was praying that you would come,? Esther said. ?I came to clean out my locker. The counselor saw me and took me into her office. She told me that you were able to give them the slip,? she said. ?She told me what you were going to do and I came to realize that you were right. This is a good school and it needs people like you. You don?t deserve this to happen to you. She also promised me that she would consider a lesser disciplinary action in my case since I did not actively participate I the actual theft.? The barber took the cape off from Esther?s shoulders. The sixth gang member sat down on the chair. The barber threw the cape around her neck and she looked at the gang members as the police made their way toward them. ?If you want to shave someone?s head, come and shave mine,? she said to the leader. ?I am sitting right here and just to prove that I am sorry for getting involved with you,? she said as she turned to the barber,? ?would you please give the clippers to Esther and Esther, I want you to shave MY head.? She lowered her head and Esther took the clippers, flicked the switch?????????????.

Author: hairman001 Copyright protected ? 2002 Copyright legal and registered.

Rate this story now.
5- Excellent 4- Very good 3- Good 2- Needs work 1- Poor  

Enter some comments about this story or see what others have said on the forums.