Higher Education Interlude By krys Nine year old Christopher DeSoto woke up early. He knew that his sister was still asleep in the same tent that he was in. He got out of his sleeping bag and wandered out side. John Gage was up too. He had started the fire and coffee. Now he was getting his shaving kit to go down to the river and shave. Chris followed Johnny down. Neither said anything. Johnny squatted down by the river and wet his wash cloth he then sat and soaped the cloth. Chris again copied Johnny. Neither talking or even really looking at each other. Then after Johnny washed his face, he shook his can of shaving cream. Putting a small amount into his hand he lathered his jaw and chin. He had decided that he would grow a mustache for his vacation. "You forgot your lip." Young Chris said. "I want to grow a mustache." Johnny replied. "Oh," Chris thought for a moment. "You don't have a lot of whiskers like Dad does." "Nope, I don't. I never have." Johnny sat crossed legged on the ground. He held his safty razor in his right hand and his mirror in his left. "Why?" Chris moved closer and mimmicked Johnny's pose. He pantomimed Johnny's movements. "Because of my heritage." Johnny slowly started shaving, first doing his left cheek starting up at his sideburns and working his way down. He then flick the soap and whiskers off in the river. "What's that?" Chris asked as he too did what Johnny was doing. "That's like, you take after your dad, you have blond hair and blue eyes, like your dad, you'll also have a heavy beard like your father, but that's a long way off. I on the other hand, take after my Mother's side of the family, I have darker skin and almost no beard, in fact I don't HAVE to shave everyday, if I didn't want to." Johnny had finished with the left side of his jaw and had worked his way over to the right. He looked out the corner of his eye and tried not to show that he saw what Chris was doing. "Oh, so when I grow up, I'll look like Dad does on the weekends?" Chris too had moved to the right side of his face. "Yup." Johnny then lifted his head to do the neck. He did the strokes slow and smooth so that Chris could copy him. "Wow, I wish I was going to be like you though. I don't want to have to shave so much." Chris knew that his father sometimes shaved twice a day. "Nah, you don't. When you grow up and start shaving, you'll be glad you're like your dad. You'll be proud." Johnny finished then wiped his face off on a towel. He then handed the towel to Chris, who wiped his own face. "How old were you when you started shaving?" Chris asked as they stood up. "Since I was about fourteen, I guess. I started growing a mustache then." Johnny slung his towel over his shoulder and led the way back to the camp site. "You ready for breakfast?" "You bet! I'll wake up Jenny." Chris then headed into the tent he was sharing with his sister. ------------- Roy came out of their tent, "What did you talk about?" "Shaving." Johnny said as he started making pancakes. |