November 7, 2021

#24: A Halloween ritual that I honestly cannot believe we were allowed to do.

There once existed a nexus in a kid’s life on Halloween: too old to ‘trick or treat’ and too young to drive and attend parties. Kids who found themselves here turned to a Halloween ritual that I honestly cannot believe we were allowed to do. Legions of kids, armed with cans of shaving cream, took to the streets in packs looking to find other shavers and attack. This was simply called “Shaving,” and even when I explain it to my students today, they look puzzled at what we use to do.

The following is a short vignette of this time in my life. In fact, I don’t even think this memory even happened, but elements of it did, and they’ve permeated in my mind all these years and gave way to this “truth.” (Reader, that’s the beauty of fiction.)

Thanks for reading.

–-

“I’m taking your little brother out as soon as we get home from school. Are you sure you don’t want to come trick or treating with us?” my mother asked with a frown. I know she wanted me to say yes, just one more day in the sun for us, but I couldn’t. I’m not a little kid anymore.

“No thanks, mom.” I smiled back at her. “I’m meeting up with my friends right after school and heading out.”

Frowning, my mother reached out and patted my thick black hair. “You’re growing up too fast. All of you are.”

I smiled back at her and shrugged my shoulders before leaving the kitchen. I made my way towards the garage, and as I got closer, the smell of burnt plastic made its way up my nostrils. Hovering above my father’s work bench was my older brother carefully inserting a pin into the spray apparatus of a shaving cream can.

“Why are you doing that?” I asked.

Without breaking his gaze from the pin, Craig said, “It helps make a better spray.”

His precision indicated that this was not his first rodeo. This was, in fact, Craig’s fourth year in a row going shaving. When he started doing this, I didn’t understand how he could choose this over “trick or treating.” Each year he’d come home without any candy but covered in shaving cream from head to toe, looking like a Ghostbuster after the encounter with the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. Eventually though, as my own friend’s interest in shaving grew, so did mine.

“Why don’t you grab one,” Craig said while motioning his chin towards the row of unburnt cans. “You’ll want to do some for yourself, too.”

I ran the pin under a flame, forcing my shaky hands to imitate his. Under his watch, I guided the pin into the front of the can. Initially, there was resistance from the nozzle, but as soon as I applied some pressure, the heat melted the plastic, and the force I was applying did the rest.

“Not bad!” Craig yelled while smacking my back.

Rubbing the spot where his hand just left, I asked, “What should I expect tomorrow?”

He grabbed two cans off the line and placed one in front of each of us. Smirking, he said, “Expect to run.”

Shivers ran down my spine.

“First-timers always get it the worse. The rest of us can just tell.” He looked back down at me, “You’ve all got that innocent look in your eyes.”

Beads of perspiration started to form on my forehead, and shivers shot up and down my spine. I didn’t want to be tracked, and I most certainly did not want to be covered in shaving cream from head to toe. I wondered, would my mom’s offer still stand?

My anxiety was only calmed by Craig’s soft pat on my back. “Don’t worry though.”

I looked up towards him.

“You’ve got something that I didn’t have when I started,” he shouted.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You’ve got an older brother!” he exclaimed.

“So, you’ll protect me?” I asked hopefully.

Craig dropped his pin and can and grabbed his sides in laughter. “I didn’t say that.” With my anxious reprieve now over, this Halloween seemed bleak.

He handed me another can of shaving cream and started to make progress on another one for himself. Looking back over at me, Craig smirked and said, “Though, I’ll make sure you don’t get it too bad.”

“Thanks,” I said smiling up at him.

The two of us continued preparing our cans over the next hour. While I didn’t know exactly what to expect tomorrow, I was glad to know I had him.