Wow! We are really getting close now. Here’s another tidbit about Vasily:
10. His long hair started as part of his rebellion as a teenager.
As you might have guessed, Vasily’s relationship with his parents grew more complicated the closer he got to his high school graduation; the greater the pressure on him to conform to their idealized version of a Southern California teenager, the more he sought out ways to express himself. His hair became a flashpoint, with his mother distraught that it would ruin his chances of becoming a model (which would be news to the likes of Fabio) and his father threatening to shave it off.
For once, Vasily’s amazingly congested scheduled worked against his parents, for other than the quick run in to get a small trim every month or so, there was simply not enough time for the teen to do anything else. One of the few arguments he managed to score with them dealt with whether his parents wanted him to spend the time in the pool, or in the salon; fame might come with the former, he pointed out, whereas the latter… not so much.
They didn’t bother him about again after that.