The two men in this story are involved in a life-and-death struggle. However, the conflict between the barber and Captain Torres never comes to the surface, even in their conversation. In the shop, there is no physical violence, no use of knives or pistols. What is the conflict? What creates the tension?

The conflict is whether to kill the captain while he was getting himself shaved.

The tension arose when the barber, who is an informer for the rebels, got the captain as his customer. The captain was responsible for the deaths of many of the rebels.

Explanation:

In the story Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Tellez, a Captain went to a barbershop to get a shave. And though the characters of the captain and the barber did not have any personal enmity between them, there seemed to be a tension in between the two. This is evident when we read further in the story.

Captain Torres was a rough and evil man who was proud of his acts such as killing the rebels. When asked further about his work, he proudly admitted to how he killed the captured rebels, and was also admittedly proud of his achievement. The barber, on the other hand, was an informer for the rebels and thus, the internal struggle while shaving the man's beard. This conflict arose when the barber knew his customer was responsible for the death of his fellow rebels, thus giving him ideas on ways to kill the man who seemingly doesn't know much about. He knows he can easily slit his throat and kill him, but he also did not want blood in his hands. So, he decided against inflicting any harm on the captain.

The tension was created by their opposing sides, one being a supporter of the rebels trying to topple the captain of his job while the captain was working to get rid of the rebels.