Chapter 1
My mom always said a buzzcut is the best hairstyle any girl could have.
“Clean, low–maintenance, and it won’t attract boys,” was her constant refrain.
From childhood through my teens, I walked around with a completely shaved head, enduring strange looks from literally everyone I encountered.
After high school graduation, I finally put my foot down–threatening something drastic just to win
the right to grow my hair out.
But the night before college move–in day, my mom snuck into my room while I was sound asleep and shaved my head completely bald. Again.
A blood–curdling scream echoed through the bathroom that morning.
I clutched my freshly shaved scalp–now an ashy gray stubble–and lost it completely, screaming like
a lunatic.
Mom stormed out of the kitchen, spatula in hand, and kicked me hard in the lower back without
warning.
“What the hell are you screaming about? It’s the crack of dawn–you trying to wake up the whole damn neighborhood?”
The kick sent me stumbling forward, my stomach slamming against the edge of the sink.
I barely felt the pain. I whirled around, words spilling out in a frantic mess.
“Why can’t I have hair like a normal person? Is having hair suddenly a crime? Do I need to literally die before you’re happy?”
Mom just snorted.
“Go ahead and die then. Never seen a kid who threatens their own mother with suicide over something so stupid.”
Her flat, emotionless tone left me feeling like I’d punched a cloud. No impact.
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My Mother Shaved Me Bald on College Move–in Day
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Chapter 1
It reminded me of our last standoff. The razor blade had already broken my skin, just centimeters away from my artery. Only then did Mom reluctantly nod, agreeing that my hair would be my choice going forward.
I thought I’d finally won a battle on my eighteenth birthday.
All summer, I watched each new hair sprout with joy. I endured the maddening itch of new growth, daydreaming about college life ahead.
I was so happy, so fulfilled.
I actually believed my parents loved me. Maybe they just hadn’t realized how much my hair mattered to me. When confronted with my breakdown, they had finally compromised.
What a joke.
Mom never cared if I lived or died. She just wanted to give me hope first, then crush it with her own hands. All to reinforce her authority–to remind me I’d never escape her control.
Our argument brought Dad into the bathroom.
He froze when he saw my head, then frowned at Mom. “Didn’t we agree to let her grow it out? Why’d you shave it again?”
“So what if I did? It’s for her own good!” Mom fired back defiantly.
“You want her suffering in the heat with that messy mop in college? Remember how filthy she gets!
Her hair would stink in no time!”
Dad scratched his stubble, playing peacemaker as always.
“Alright, alright, enough drama. Your mom means well,” he muttered. “Hurry up and get ready–we’ve got a train to catch. Don’t forget you’re starting college today!”
“Means well? How exactly is this ‘meaning well“?”
Dad’s wishy–washy attitude felt like ice water dumped over my head.
I pointed at Mom’s perfectly maintained, glossy black hair. “I’m eighteen–a legal adult! Don’t I deserve to control my own hair? If being bald is so great, why isn’t SHE shaving HER head?”
SMACK.
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My Mother Shaved Me Bald on College Move–in Day
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Chapter 1
Mom’s hand cracked across my face.
“You ungrateful bitch! I’ve raised you for eighteen years! Fed you! Clothed you! And this is how you speak to me?”
‘I’ve always taught you that successful women get ahead on brains and ability–not hair! The second you get into that military academy, all you care about is your precious hair? You’re not interested in education–you just want to seduce men! Looking for some rich boyfriend so you don’t have to
work!”
Mom was getting more worked up, grabbing my college acceptance letter and threatening to tear it
“If that’s how it is, we’ll cancel everything! No college for you! Stay home where I can watch you! I don’t need to worry about you becoming some homewrecker and getting yourself killed!”
I scoffed internally. Not everyone is like you, Mom.
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