Coffee Bean, across from the Westside Pavilion, is the scene of this story. She sits in Bean's patio sipping a Mocha. On the side of the building sits a barber shop. I peer inside and see a lady cutting a ladies hair.
Back in the day, my parents took us to the then drive-in to see a open air movie. I didn't care much for the film, but enjoyed buying cracker jacks at the candy counter. It was fun sitting in the back seat of my Dad Harry's brand new Packard. Now it is a large inside shopping center with a movie theater.
Across Pico hides a small barber shop. I had a two month growth of hair and felt uneasy removing my cap. My ex girlfriend Gloria told me that "the two things a women looks at in a man: his head and then his shoes.
I open the door of the little old barber shop. A sweet faced blond lady works on her patrons hair. Her hands scrub, polish, cut and color the vestiges of old age. This dam is a few years older than Father Time. old age from this dam a few years older than time.
"Where is Max?...Oh... back Friday. Do you cut hair and how much?"
"I charge 25 dollars but Max only charges 18."
"Well that is a bit steep for one who only two months ago was homeless."
I returned to my daughter who was submerged into her drink. Like all good Jewish fathers, sometimes she needs a coach for life's directions.
"Dad, I never got you a Father's Day gift. Let me buy you that haircut."
Well the next thing I know I am having my hair cut by the lovely lady from Mexico. She is reshaping my head with all sorts of shavers and other contraptions. I asked Chattel where she had been born.
"I lived in a city just outside Mexico. My grandparents lived in the big city. With a permit, we came here in the 70's for school. school. I went to University High and later Santa Monica City College. That is where I learned to cut hair."
All-awhile, my daughter huddled in the corner laughing and reading a book. I looked at the mirror but didn't need to, since Chattel played with my head like it was a Stradivarius violin. Why she made me look better than...than Robert Redford.
I gave her a twenty and told her to keep the change, and that I would return. My daughter, her dog Oscar and I walked up the street a bit before returning. She seemed happy to have bought me a hair cut -- although she demanded that I pay her back.
"Dad, let's go to Santa Monica. I wish to feel the wind and take in the shops."
I parked a block west of the Santa Monica new library. I covered my head and face with suntan lotion, and began to walk up the street where the police were collecting data from an earlier accident. I turned around and wondered why my daughter had not followed me. She crossed Santa Monica Blvd and screamed that she would be at Goodwill for a few seconds.
"I wish to throw away my old clothes and begin a new life."
..I sat on a ledge next to Philz Coffee and took in the walkers in front of me. Everyone stepped with a hop and a special flare. A few leggy ladies appeared to be on a runway showing off the latest fashion.
It was colorful to say the least. Even the homeless had a bounce in their step. And why not? It was September First, with the first smell of fall on the way. The sky was a radiant blue and little white clouds smiling down on us. The breeze was just enough to clean the souls.
Then I saw what life is all about remove herself from the Thrift Shop. I placed her new clothes inside my trunk and we continued to walk toward the Third Street Mall of hidden treasures. I have never seen so many people of different shapes and sizes. Rebecca saw a Gypsy.
"Dad is it worth five dollars to have her read my palm."
"Go for it."
I watched a violin player yearn for a few dollars and men passing out samples of perfumes and other items. She had a smirk on her face.
"Dad she told me exactly where I have been. She knew the last three years were hollow ones, but told me that the next three would be bright if only I would remove the past and start anew."
We returned to my car where a lady tried in vain to get her shapely legs inside here large black SUV. I have never seen such lovely legs.I drove Rebecca home and took off for Gelson's in Century City, before returning on the busy 405 and Huntington Beach.
Nuts and Bolts: With the Jewish New Year approaching while Rabbis practice blowing into their Shofars , it is time to remove the old scuffed up tennis balls with fresh new ones that bounce. And why not begin the year by leasing a boat and bringing the lost souls from the wars in Arabia to our lands. Was it only a few years ago when we forgot the millions of Jews and Catholics who had been incinerated by Hitler. Why not now, eh?
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