by Anthony Miele

Created on: February 23, 2009   Last Updated: February 24, 2009

I never thought about life that much as a young boy, only 'bout the good things and such. My daddy would be around sometimes, but mostly it was just Chuck and I. Chuck was your all-American boy, with ocean blue eyes and that touch of 'hundred karat gold in his hair. As for me, I was the scrawny type who did more lookin' than talkin'. Chuck's daddy had owned a barbershop in West Virginia, not too far from where I had resided. We'd always be at that barbershop, 'specially durin' the summer days. I recall one summer, though, bein' the summer that would change some of my thinkin' on life.

Playin' marbles with my best friend, Chuck was by far my greatest enjoyment, that summer. On those warm evenin's outside the barbershop, it seemed the sun never wanted to go down. It made me think the days were made longer just for us. I can still recollect the orange glow reflectin' off 'the marbles and onto the wooded deck. You could feel the warmest breeze blowin' through your hair and, haha, at times movin' them marbles a bit. Chuck and I never seemed to care who'd win anyways. All we'd care about was if his daddy, Mr.C, was goin' t' turn the porch light on when it finally became dark out.

After mom passed, Daddy drank more and more that summer, so I in turn spent more time at the barbershop. When you'd walk in, the scent of baborsol would sting your nostrils, but yet with a pleasant smell that had made you feel at comfort. I never did quite understand how somethin' could be "painfully good", but you must consider, I was only eight years old. Chuck and I would see new people everyday and noticed the "regular's" here and there. Whenever you'd hear the bell's on the door from a customer comin' in, it reminded you 'how wonderful Christmas used to be. What a great feelin' that gave me, indeed.

After my Daddy had started drinkin', he didn't give much mind to what I was doin'. Seein' I could get all the free haircuts and lollipops a boy could ask for, I didn't seem to mind the absence of him. I had believed my father to be a good man, and bein' that I was born a Christian; I had respected and loved him. He would stumble in every once in awhile to get his haircut and he'd always have new marbles to give Chuck and I. In spite of him kicking our old ones by accident while he was drunk, we'd humbly accept the shiny new spheres from him every time.

One day, after summer had passed and the last automn leaves had fallen, I'd went to the 'shop to play with Chuck like always. I noticed that

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