Fẹ́mi’s Hairline: A Short Story

Looking at his forlorn reflection in the bathroom mirror, Fẹ́mi sighed. With a brush in hand, he attempted to smooth over the few remaining coily hairs clinging for dear life along the side of his temples.

Fẹ́mi’s hair loss had started when he was in secondary school. He remembered the first morning he had felt the absence of thick curls along his mid scalp. He should have known this would happen, his dad had told him over many years that he too had started losing his hair in secondary school.

A larger than life afro was Fẹ́mi’s signature look back then. Effortlessly commanding attention among his friends, as the only one who defied the norm by not sporting the highly favoured low-cut shave with waves, he was at the top of his game.

The afro wasn’t as popular as it was these days. Back then, some boys had even gone as far as to chemically relax their hair so it would lay obediently in circular motion against their scalp.

Still looking in the mirror, Femi admired his jawline – strong and firm. His wife’s voice echoed in his mind, ‘babe, you’re a handsome  man with a equally tantalizing jawline and full beard, you’ll look good bald.’

After his last visit to the barber she’d even gone as far as to say, ‘I’ll love you with or without your hair’.

The barber had done an awesome job of attempting to give him the illusion of a decent hair line but looking closely it was clear that  his hair was on its last legs.

He thought about his dad who Fẹ́mi resembled.  At 65 years old, his dad was still a very good looking man. With a strong jawline and a rich beard that was now fully grey. Whenever they were out together people always complimented him.  

Looking at his reflection once more he sighed again and called his barber. With a slight shake to his voice he uttered the words his barber had known was coming.

“How far bro, there’s update o. I am ready to cut it all this time.”

Why I wrote this

I wrote this one for anyone out there who has been losing their hair and feels bad about it. Unfortunately, sometimes hair loss can be a part of aging.

It’s important to note that women too can lose their hair for numerous reasons including health issues, childbirth and so much more.

The older I get the more I realise that we all just have to learn to embrace the good, bad and ugly parts of aging. 

I’ll love to hear your thoughts about this. Can you relate with Femi’s experience? Can you understand his reluctance to finally shave his hair and accept being bald? I’ll love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Loved reading this? Feel free to read my other short stories and flash fiction pieces too.