Chapter 34. Pop's Barber Shop

"This should be the place."

Stopping at the door of a slightly dated shop...

Ryan gauged the barbershop in front of him, comparing his vague memories to the place.

"Hey, kid, this isn't a place for someone of your skin colour to be."

A kind old black man in a straw hat walked past Ryan's back to the door of the barbershop, "Although Harlem is a lot better than it used to be, there's still a high chance that an Asian like you could be mugged walking down the road, especially by punks who have nothing better to do."

"I've seen some."

At that, Ryan couldn't help but nod back with the expression of someone who had been there.

He did meet the punks the old man was talking about, but the end result was slightly different from what the other man was saying. Instead of the punks robbing him, he managed to rob the punks.

"Really now?"

The old man turned to look at Ryan, looking at the scruffy appearance of his sweatshirt and sneakers.

"I'm sorry, son. I'm sorry that happened to you in Harlem." The old man obviously misunderstood something and comforted Ryan, "But that's life, isn't it? You can't always have a smooth ride, and it's the occasional setback that makes you grateful when happiness comes your way."

After a lecture full of chicken soup for the soul, the old man turned around and took out his keys to open the shop door.

After a pause, he turned again and extended an invitation to Ryan, who was standing in the doorway of the shop: "Well, son, come on in. Although I can't change what happened to you, I can at least change your hairstyle. And of course, free of charge."

Although the contact wasn't what Ryan had expected, he naturally went along with the old man's invitation to step inside the barbershop since the other man had invited him.

"I don't normally cut hair for free, so at least in Pop's Barbershop, you're already in the same league as Ali and Jordan now."

Pointing to the piece of paper taped to the wall, the old man turned his head to Ryan and joked.

Looking in the direction of the old man's finger, Ryan saw a number of names like Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela and Richard Roundtree, all prominent figures among the black population, printed on the paper.

After letting Ryan sit in front of the mirror in the barbershop, the old man turned around and pulled back the curtains and switched on the TV to the basketball game before walking up behind Ryan and checking out his long hair, "Say, kid, what kind of haircut do you want? Just to be clear, I've cut countless people's hair, but this is the first time I've done it for an Asian."

Sitting in the barbershop chair, Ryan suddenly felt a little uneasy when he heard the words of the old man.

Although the face he was wearing now wasn't his own, if the haircut was bad, it would affect the image of his character.

"How about just a simple hair wash?"

Thinking about it, Ryan couldn't help but ask the old man carefully.

"..."

Standing behind and silently looking at Ryan for a while, the old man suddenly clapped his hands and laughed out loud a few times, then shook his head, "Haha, I was kidding. Trust Pop's handiwork. I will give you a cool haircut that will make all the girls swoon."

Hearing the old man say that, Ryan's heart didn't ease but panicked a little more.

　　...

"Hey, Henry."

Walking into the barbershop with his chessboard in hand, Bobby Fish, a regular customer with a goatee, looked up and looked at Ryan sitting in the shop, getting a haircut.

While there were quite a few Asians in New York, it was still a rare thing to see one in Harlem. Especially a new face that had never been spotted before, and in a barbershop with such obviously black presence as Henry Hunt, Pop's place.

This was because, in general, the different communities have their own areas of activity.

"Hey, Bobby." While holding scissors, cutting hair, and circling Ryan, the older man answered.

"Have you heard?" Setting the board in his hand at the barbershop front entrance, near the window, Bobby then turned to Henry and asked.

"What?"

"Martin and the others got their asses handed to them."

In front of the mirror in the barbershop, Ryan raised an eyebrow when he heard this. If he remembered correctly, it looked like one of the black men he had beaten up earlier was called Martin.

"Really?" Turning Ryan's chair and adjusting it to another direction to cut his hair conveniently, the old man named Henry shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't surprised, "I already told Martin and the others they shouldn't go too far. Sooner or later, there will be consequences. Too bad they never listen to me."

"Times are different, Henry. You're getting old." Casually picking up a pawn, Bobby retorted.

"Rules never get old because rules are rules."

It was obvious that the old man didn't agree with the idea.

"Well, you're always right, Henry." With a shrug, Bobby placed the pawn on the chessboard.

"That's because I've made enough mistakes in my life."

"Hey, Pop! "

A young Puerto Rican man walked into the barbershop.

"Chico, you're late." Looking up at the clock on the wall, Henry turned to the young man.

"Sorry, Pop."

"Go on, get changed."

"You are always so softhearted, Henry."

"I've been cruel for most of my life and even went to prison for it."

Although it was only a passing conversation, Ryan still picked up on a little of the conversation between the two men in the barbershop.

Obviously, the old man was also a man with a past.

"Pop, I need a ..."

The barber shop owned by the old man was obviously a popular one, as it had clearly only opened in the morning and was already being frequented by a number of customers.

Ryan was sitting in the barber's chair, looking at his hair getting shorter and shorter, when he heard a slightly noisy clatter from behind him.

Then, a black man with a wobbly walk was seen coming over to Ryan, who was having his hair cut in Pop's hands and looking at the guy in the chair who was very different from the people in the shop.

"Holy shit, this is how it is now? You actually let one in the barbershop ..."

"Ehem... Shameek, you know the rules, no swearing in Pop's." Hendry said as he pointed to the swear jar on the desk.

"I know, but Pop, isn't this too strange? A yellow ... Asian, cutting his hair in your shop?!"

"What's so strange about that, Shameek? It's been how many years since black people were liberated? A brother even became president. Why can't Pop's Barbershop have Asians in it? "

"Pop's right, Connie's Chinese restaurant is the best proof."

"Luke, you're late."

"Pop, you know, I haven't been getting enough sleep recently."

...

-:Binge:-

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