Prison Blues

10 - Broken

The scissors were very sharp. Little wonder they were carefully engraved and counted and not allowed to leave the barber shop. They hacked through Blake's beard with ease. The tangled snarls soon littered the floor and the towels Adam had used to cover Blake's shoulders, chest, and back. It didn't appear as if Blake had ever combed it out. Adam hacked brutally through it, and already Blake looked like a new man. Blake had a lot of grey, but now that more of his face was visible, Adam could see that Blake really was much younger than he'd first thought.

Blake didn't move or say a word. His eyes watched Adam quietly as Adam worked, using the scissors to trim his beard as close as he dared. Naturally, the razors had all been stolen during the initial rioting. Adam snagged the beard trimmers and buzzed Blake. Now Blake appeared to have a bad case of scruff. But Adam wasn't finished. He put the trimmers down to their lowest setting and carefully worked at Blake's face. He knew how slow he was moving. He couldn't imagine what Blake thought. But it didn't matter. He'd already cut away enough of Blake's beard that he'd seen what was under it. And what was under it was a work of art. Adam's hands moved over Blake's face with reverence, making sure his beard was perfectly trimmed down to a short stubble. "Wow."

Blake cocked an eyebrow, giving Adam a confused look. But he didn't say anything.

Adam considered Blake's hair. Then he pulled Blake up and brought him to the shampooing sink. "I just washed my hair!" Blake complained when Adam pushed him down.

"I know. But you used that shitty body wash."

"Same thing I used for the last five years."

"Yeah, it shows. Shut up. This is my show and I'm doing it right."

Blake shrugged and let Adam push him back. Adam manned the sprayer, spraying it into the other sink as he adjusted the temperature before directing it onto Blake's head. Blake twitched when the water hit him, but then he smiled. Relaxing, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and let Adam tend to him. The immediate trust made something well up inside of Adam's chest. He swallowed it back down and focused on his work.

Adam worked the shampoo through Blake's long hair. It didn't seem to have benefitted any more from a comb than his beard had. Adam's fingers combed through the greying locks. He generously used the conditioner, working with his fingers. Finally he had to resort to grabbing the scissors to cut off the worst of the matting.

Blake never responded. He lay as he was with his eyes closed, trusting Adam to do whatever he wished. His lips were curled in a small smile. Adam massaged at Blake's scalp, his eyes on those lips. Don't do it, Levine, he ordered himself. Yeah, he's starting to look really good, but remember, in a situation like this, emotions are intense. Do not kiss him!

Noise outside. It was down the hall some distance, but it sounded bad. Voices raised in anger, screams, the sound of shattering glass. Blake's blue eyes opened, looking troubled. No, that would never do. Adam liked Blake relaxed and smiling. He quickly moved away, going to the radio set up in the barber shop, and turned it on. There. Now the sound of violence outside was drowned out largely by the music, and Blake relaxed again.

Now that the matting was gone, Adam could finally get his fingers through Blake's hair. The extra care had made it silky soft. He smiled. Blake's hair looked like, well, like someone had hacked at it with a scissors. But it was like brushing his fingers through silk. Adam gathered it up and wrung out water. Then he attacked it with a towel. "Ok, sit up and back to the chair!"

"Yessir!" The big inmate loomed over Adam, which took the towel almost out of his reach. But Blake was rubbing at his head with the towel now, and by the time he'd climbed back into the barber chair, his hair was once again an unruly mess. At least it was drier. Blake tossed the towel aside and settled in, relaxing.