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"Oh, damn him." Jo marched into Laurie's hotel room.
"You'll pound your shoes through the floorboards if you keep it up," Laurie said, sympathetic in a slightly amused way. Seeing Jo fired up was usually pleasurable in its own right.
"He thinks he's such a hero, does he? Because it would be dishonorable to waste such 'lovely' hair, never mind if I need him to do it to feed my family."
Laurie dug around for any drink he could offer; Jo looked like he needed it.
Jo tugged at the end of his long curls. "My hair is anything but lovely to me." He huffed. "I hate people like that. They think they have the right to dictate a stranger's body just because they believe one to be a girl and that's justification enough. Now, the ship leaves tomorrow, and all the barbers will surely have finished working for today."
"I have shears, you know."
Jo looked up. "You think I could do a convincing enough job?"
"No. But I bet I could."
"And why you over me?"
"Because I can see better, for one thing. I've had the barber cut my hair regularly for all my life for another, and, need I remind you of the time you burned Meg's hair off?"
Jo scowled, but realized he really had no means to argue. He softened. "Will you, Teddy?"
And that's how they ended up on the secluded balcony, and Jo sitting with a bathroom towel wrapped around his neck and Laurie pensively eyeing up Jo's hair.
"Does staring at me really make you a more competent barber?"
"Perhaps."
"And perhaps you are only taking advantage. You know I don't like to be ogled. Be quick, before we attract any onlookers."
"You were the one who wanted to do it out here."
"I would feel guilty if the housekeeper had to clean up the bathroom."
"I could leave a large tip."
"I hope you do that anyway. Now, really, get on with it."
"Alright. But if it comes out unsightly, it will be on your lack of patience instead of my conscience."
He made the first snip, and finding it oddly enjoyable, like unraveling a loose threat from a garment, his hesitation quickly disappeared.
Jo could not help but think he was now being too quick about this.
"There will be other haircuts; don't stake your entire heart on this one."
"That's easy for you to say. This one is especially important."
"That's why I'm being careful!"
Still, as Jo's head began to feel lighter, his nerves gradually shifted to excitement.
Finally, Laurie handed him a hand mirror.
A sense of Deja Vu ensued. Jo's hair had been cut once. Then, too, was he filled with that bursting, wonderful feeling. But then he went home, and everyone reacted the way they did. Especially Marmie, her face did not display just shock, but true grieving.
Jo's short hair was only to be temporary then, although he would subtly trim it by a centimeter for every two it would grow. His euphoria was smothered.
Not now. His hair would never be long again. He would live and die this way, he swore it.
Later, when he got a good look in the mirror, he would notice all the uneven pieces, or that one sideburn was thinner than the other. This would earn Laurie a teasing, but really Jo didn't mind. Laurie was right; Jo would have all his life to try again.