17 Part 12

I woke up early on Christmas Eve and decided to go into town and just walk around. Even though it was a very small town, everyone always went all out decorating for Christmas. I stopped in at the diner and had breakfast, a few cups of coffee, then started walking down the main street. I saw several people I knew, stopping to talk to each of them for a few minutes. I window shopped for a while, then decided to go to Van Buren's to get a haircut. Mr. V, as everyone called him, had been cutting hair in our town for over thirty years, he had cut my hair since I was a toddler. Lately, he had slowed down, hiring two other barbers to help him part-time. As I opened the door to walk in, I saw the place was packed. Mr. V looked up from his customer, his face lighting up upon recognizing me. He waved me to come in immediately.

"It's ok Mr. V, I can come back when you're not so busy.", I said, thanking him.

"No, no Brian. You come right in, we will squeeze you in.", he said, shaking my hand.

He turned to all of the men, their ages varied from teenager to senior citizen, and addressed them as if they were all old friends.

"I think you all know who this is. If you don't know, get out.", he said laughing hysterically.

Everyone in the shop roared in laughter, as most of them waved a warm hello to me as I sat in the only chair open. As soon as Mr. V finished with the customer he had in his chair, he motioned for me to come over and sit down. I tried to refuse, pointing to all of the people who had been sitting there waiting, but most of them motioned for me to go ahead. I sat down in the chair, as Mr. V quickly wrapped the white cover around me and secured it to my neck. He stepped around in front of me with clippers in his hand.

"So Brian, you didn't see that you made the wall of fame ?", he said, pointing to the main wall.

I scanned through the maze of pictures he had accumulated through the years, he was an avid football fan, his memorabilia collection was impressive. Finally, about mid-wall I noticed a large 11 x 16 photo that had to be taken during the Virginia game. It was the hit I had made on the wide receiver reverse causing the fumble. The picture was phenomenal, both of us were off the ground, the ball hovering in the air over us.

"Wow Mr. V, where did you get that ?", I asked.

"Your old Coach brought that in for me, he had it framed as well. When you get to the pros, it will be one of the highlights of my collection.", he beamed.

"Well I hope I get there Mr. V, I will try not to let you down.", I answered.

For the next few minutes, I was bombarded with questions about our team, what I thought our chances were of beating Ohio for the National Championship. Everyone was very nice and wished me luck in the big game. Mr. V had finished up, cleaned me off, and removed the wrap allowing me to stand up. I reached into my wallet and handed him a twenty-dollar bill, he pushed my hand away.

"I don't want money, I want a favor from you.", he said.

"I'll try Mr. V, what can I do for you ?", I asked.

"I want you to autograph that for me.", he said, pointing to my picture on the wall.

"No problem Mr. V, I would be happy to do it.", I answered.

The old man bolted over to where the large photo was hanging on the wall. He snatched it down quickly, turned it over, and turned the clips that held the backing in place. He fished out the photo and walked back over to me extending it proudly. One of the other barbers grabbed a black sharpie marker from the drawer and handed it to me. I stared at the photo for a second thinking of what to write. I inscribed the photo neatly, making sure not to mess it up.

To Mr. V, Thanks for everything.

Brian Stevens # 99

I handed the photo back to him, he was grinning from ear to ear. He wrapped his arms around me giving me a big hug. He started replacing the photo back into the frame. He finished, turned and hung it back in its place on the wall. He turned back to me as I was about to walk out and shook my hand wishing me a Merry Christmas.

I headed back towards my vehicle, then headed home. It was close to three o'clock by that time, I needed to get ready for the party. I arrived home, immediately taking a shower and getting dressed for the party. I was ready about an hour early, so I sat down and watched a bit of TV. I had always tried to bring some sort of item from the past season to Mr. Timmons, he had an office in his home which was wall-to-wall football memorabilia, but I had forgotten to bring anything from school. Suddenly it struck me, that I had three of my first-year jerseys hanging in my closet. Every year, you were given two home jerseys and two away jerseys. If they were still intact at the end of the year, you were allowed to keep them, give them away, they were yours. I went to my closet and found one of my white home jerseys hanging in there. I pulled it out and placed it in a plastic bag. I watched TV for about an hour more, then left for the party.