by J. Dillard
I had done large designs before, but I’d never tried anything as small as Miss Vicky’s stars.
“You really shocked everyone with that big reveal at the end. It’s nice to see when a family is so close,” Jenny finished.
Now I was wondering if I should have begged for Vanessa and Justin to come with us. Our family act was so good, it had gotten us on TV!
“Before our judges reveal the grand-prize winner, our audience award goes to Eduardo Santiago!”
Eduardo and his model hugged, and then they threw their hands in the air.
“Do you want to know the winner of all the marbles, all the bragging rights, all the prize money, and a year’s worth of styling equipment from Smooth Cuts Razors?”
The crowd screamed, “Yeah!” and cheered.
Jenny took an envelope from one of the judges. She opened it, pulled out a notecard, and smiled as she read it.
“The first place winner of this year’s Beauty Brothers Pro Barber Competition is . . . Miss Vicky!”
Miss Vicky and her sister hugged, and the crowd went completely wild.
Miss Vicky deserved to win. I sure couldn’t have cut stars that small into the back of my sister’s head. And I didn’t even know how to use a curling iron. Vanessa would never let me try that on her.
I wondered if any of these people would watch the Junior Showcase next. Would they cheer for my work as loudly?
CHAPTER 9
Junior Barber Showcase
“Let’s go, J.D.,” Ms. Tabitha said. “We don’t have much time before your demo starts.”
I suddenly wasn’t feeling very ready. I asked Tabitha if I should change clothes or think of a catchphrase about being from Meridian or call my sister for advice.
“Don’t be nervous,” Tabitha said. “You’re just here to show what you already know. You and your skills were chosen for a reason.”
I tugged at my blazer and followed Mom and Tabitha. When we got to the stage where I’d left my clippers, Isabel Is Incredible was already there. Her hair tools were arranged on her station. She stood straight, like a toy soldier, staring at the mostly empty seats in the audience. I didn’t even try to talk this time. Instead, I looked around for Mikey.
He was nowhere to be found! What would I do now?
“Tabitha,” I said, “I can’t find my hair model. He was supposed to meet me here.”
Tabitha explained that she could put in a call on the loudspeaker, but if he wasn’t ready in five minutes, I’d have to use the model she originally chose for my demo.
Tabitha picked up the walkie-talkie clipped to her waist and asked to speak to the sound department. A few moments later, I heard:
“Mikey, please report to Main Stage Two, right next to the Smooth Cuts Razors Super Experience booth. J.D. the Kid Barber is waiting for you.”
It was so loud. If Mikey and his dad were still around, there was no way they wouldn’t hear. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath.
But after a couple minutes, Tabitha tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, “I’m sorry, J.D. You’ll have to use our model, just like Isabel. We can’t wait any longer.”
I was disappointed.
Even though I had already cut my friends’ hair, cut hair in front of everyone in my town, and even cut hair on YouTube, after seeing what I saw today, I knew I’d have to step it up. This wasn’t Meridian—it was Atlanta. Nobody knew about me or what I’d already done. I’d have to show them. But more importantly, I’d have to show myself.
Isabel’s hair model was in her barber chair. It was a little boy who had bald spots on his head, but I could tell it wasn’t on purpose. My hair model was a boy who looked about ten years old, and he had around three inches of hair on his head. He wore a Li’l Eazy Breezy concert T-shirt. He was taller than me, but Tabitha had thought to give me a step stool to stand on.
Before we got started, we were asked to check our tools and make sure that everything was working. Then Jenny, who hosted the adult competition, came out and started talking.
“Hello, everyone! Today we have a very special showcase featuring two talented children with growing followings on social media.”
The audience seats finally started to fill up.
“First, Isabel Is Incredible has her own YouTube channel, where she specializes in wigs, extensions, and man units. This girl is really special!”
Isabel’s face lit up when Jenny walked over to her.
“Hi, Isabel, can you tell us more about yourself?” Jenny asked.
Isabel nodded. “I’m Isabel Is Incredible from Los Angeles, California. I’ve been in the entertainment industry since I was six months old. I was a baby model!” she said.
“And who taught you about these fabulous hairstyles you’ve learned?”
“My mom is a celebrity stylist,” Isabel said. “I learned everything I know from her.”
“So, is she in the crowd with us today?” Jenny asked.
“No, she’s traveling with a famous singer. She does her ponytail,” Isabel said. “Today it’s just me, my dad, and my assistant.”
The crowd clapped and laughed. Being a celebrity stylist sounded amazing. Could I be a celebrity barber?
Jenny explained that Isabel’s model was a boy who had something called alopecia.
“In case you don’t know, alopecia is an autoimmune disease that causes hair to fall out in patches. There are medical treatments you can try, but there are professionals like Isabel Is Incredible who can make you feel confident in the meantime with hair pieces,” Jenny said. ”How did you come to this work specifically, Isabel?”
“Well, my cousin in high school has alopecia, and he asked for my help,” Isabel replied.
Isabel went to work on her model. When she was finished, Jenny walked over to her with the microphone.
“Please, Isabel, tell the audience how you completed this look.”
“I put some holding spray onto the spots where my client is missing hair,” Isabel said. “When it was dry, I shook the hair fibers onto the spots.” She held up what looked like a saltshaker full of hair. “Then I cut it all around into a nice, even style,” she finished.
The crowd sighed, gasped, and awwed.
Isabel handed her model a mirror, and the kid’s face turned into one giant smile. Some people wiped tears out of their eyes! This is what made what we did so special—we helped people feel good inside with the work we did on the outside.
Next thing I knew, Jenny was standing beside me with a microphone in my face.
“Now we have Mr. J.D. the Kid Barber! Where are you from, young man?”
“Meridian, Mississippi,” I said.
“Is this your first time in Atlanta?”
“No, ma’am,” I said. “I’ve passed through on my way to my uncle’s house in North Carolina, and my dad lives here.”
“And who is with you in the crowd today? And how did you learn how to cut hair at such a young age?”
“It’s just me and my mom today. My dad is working,” I said. “I practiced on my little brother, Justin, first. Then I cut my own hair. My friends liked what I did, so I started working on their hair, too. I won a barber competition that got me a chair in a barbershop.”
I hoped that made me sound cool.
“What will you be demonstrating for us today?”
“I’m going to fade my model’s hair all around and then add a design,” I said.
I still hadn’t decided what to cut into my model’s head. I was just about to ask him what he wanted when suddenly the crowd started to roar.
“That’s Li’l Eazy Breezy!” I heard a man yell out.
There were screams and lots of people turning and pointing and whipping out their cell phones.
Li’l Eazy Breezy made his way to the front row with his security guard.
“Li’l Eazy Breezy is in the building!” Jenny yelled out. The DJ behind her immediately started playing his new song. Lots of people got up and did the moves from his viral video.
“I know we have our guest of the hour in our midst, but let’s turn our attention back to our little stars onstage.”
Now I knew what I was going to do to stand out. I would cut Li’l Eazy Breezy’s face into my client’s head! It was easy to see that he was a fan.
But first, I needed to ask my mom for her phone. I motioned for her to come to the side of the stage. She looked confused, but she met me anyway.
“Mom, can I please use your phone to do my haircut idea?”
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“Mom, please trust me!”
My mom entered her passcode and handed me her iPhone. I quickly googled a photo of Li’l Eazy Breezy, took a screenshot, and walked back to my station. I placed the phone on the table so I could see the image.
To cut Li’l Eazy Breezy’s face into my client’s head, I had to pick out his hair, fade it all around, and leave some extra hair where I planned to start my design. Going to that hair design class ended up coming in handy!
Li’l Eazy Breezy almost always had dark shades covering his eyes. He wore them even now, indoors. He also had on a large gold chain, a white T-shirt covered by a black track jacket, skinny jeans, and a pair of Air Dior sneakers. The only reason I knew about those shoes was because of Jordan. He told me they cost thousands of dollars! It was impossible to imagine ever spending that much on sneakers unless they made me fly.
Li’l Eazy Breezy’s famous 360 waves were covered by a black baseball cap that had his name on it. If I could get his waves right in my model’s head, I was sure I could get the attention of the crowd.
My clippers buzzed to life, and I forgot about Jenny, Isabel Is Incredible, Li’l Eazy Breezy, the audience, and all the noise around me. Time moves fast when I’m in the zone. Just as I finished the face design on my client’s head, I heard a familiar voice from the side of the stage.
“Go, J.D.! That’s my son, for sure!”
It was Dad!
I was glad that I had already finished my design, because I was sure I would have shaved a hole in my model’s head if I’d seen Dad sooner. I had gotten to the part where I was using Colorful Kris’s pencils to color in my design. I traced the waves with a black pencil to make them stand out and outlined Breezy’s chain with the gold pencil. I did my best to hide what I was doing from the crowd.
“Clippers down!” I heard Jenny yell out. “Let’s see what our junior stylist has done.”
I wasn’t sure if my haircut could make anybody cry, but it might make them smile. I liked what I had done.
I spun my model around for dramatic effect, revealing my Li’l Eazy Breezy design. I gave my model a mirror, and he seemed excited. He kept pointing to his shirt and then his head. The crowd oohed, awwed, and clapped.
The DJ started playing a Li’l Eazy Breezy song again, and Jenny had to take control of the crowd one more time.
“That’s our showcase! Brought to you by Smooth Cuts Razors! Please visit their booth to see all the tools these fabulous kids used today. Remember, you can only get today’s special prices exclusively at this year’s trade show.”
Before we left the stage, Jenny gave us each a gift bag and said, “Either one of you could do my hair any time!” She spun around on her heels and disappeared onto the expo floor.
I put the gift bag down without looking inside and ran offstage.
“Dad!” I said, crashing into him.
I was too big to pick up now, but Dad lifted me and swung me around anyway.
“I thought you weren’t going to be able to come today,” I told him.
“Well, I tried my hardest to leave early,” he said. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up if I couldn’t get away, and I wanted you to think about your performance first and not me.”
I hadn’t seen Dad in almost a year. Even though I talked on the phone with him a lot, my heart was still racing with excitement. He didn’t look too different from when we last met up. I had so much to tell him about my day so far. And finally, he got to see me work in person!
Tabitha walked up to us after a few minutes. She must’ve read my mind, because she asked if we wanted to go out to eat. That sounded perfect after such a busy day. My grandmother had told me I needed to try the food in Atlanta, which she said was almost as good as hers. I hoped she was right.
CHAPTER 10
Li’l Eazy Breezy Up Close
“You did great up there, J.D.,” Tabitha said. “What did you think of your son’s performance, Mr. Jones? It’s nice that you could join us.”
Dad was a taller version of me. He was slim with broad shoulders, and he wore a bald head and a groomed beard with a few flecks of gray poking out.
Tabitha led us up a few steps into a room that looked like a smaller version of the ballroom we had eaten in the day before.
The food was set out just like it was in my favorite restaurant in town, the New Meridian Buffet. There wasn’t quite as much food, but the fruits, veggies, hamburgers, fries, and chicken sandwiches looked just as good.
“I’ll be back to pick you up in an hour,” Tabitha said before leaving the three of us alone. There were a few people sitting at different tables in the room, but it still felt pretty empty.
I called my dad on the phone whenever I wanted, but it had been a long time since the three of us were in the same room together.
“So what else did you do today, son?” my dad asked.
“Well, after breakfast, I walked the floor, got some hair art pencils from one of my favorite barbers, took a class on hair design, and watched the adult barber battle,” I said.
“Wow, you even fit school in there. You’re just like your mom,” he said.
“It hasn’t been all work. We’ve had fun, too, right, J.D.?” Mom replied. She sipped her coffee and winked at me.
“Yeah,” I said. “Mom even got a makeover!”
We all laughed, and suddenly I wished Vanessa and Justin could be here, too.
Out of the three of us, I was probably the closest to my dad. We had the same name and looked so much alike. Although my parents never spoke about why they broke up, I think Vanessa could remember more about when we all lived together than Justin and I could.
I asked Mom for her phone again.
“J.D., we didn’t come here for screen time,” she said. “We came to have an experience and to celebrate you.”
I explained that I didn’t want to play a game or check Instagram. I wanted to take a photo of us having lunch to show to Vanessa and Justin later. Both Mom and Dad seemed to like the idea.
Mom stretched out her arm with her phone in hand so we could take a selfie. I held up some fries, and Dad puffed his cheeks out like they were full of marbles.
“I just bought a house in College Park, right by the airport. Now you can stay with me whenever you want.”
“Wow, that’s so cool, Dad! Is there a bedroom for each of us, or will we have to share?”
Dad laughed.
“Well, the house has three bedrooms, so if you want to sleep by yourselves, I guess I can just stay on the couch!”
Dad asked me about school and how I felt about going into the fourth grade in the fall. I told him I was doing great in math and with my art because being a barber helped me practice both. I told him how many books I’d read so far over the summer—24. Dad said I should join him on one of his jobs when I was ready to solve grown-up math problems.
I had been to work with Mom, but never with my dad. I hoped I’d be able to go soon.
An hour went by quickly. Before we knew it, Tabitha came through the door. She looked even more excited than usual, but I wasn’t sure why. My big events were over. The only other thing I
was looking forward to was Li’l Eazy Breezy’s performance at the end of the day.
“J.D., I have a special message for you and your parents,” she said.
I leaned in close, wondering what it could be. Had I won some kind of prize after all?
“It’s from Li’l Eazy Breezy’s manager, Hot Sauce.”
“Hot who?” my mom asked. My family wasn’t into nicknames. The only reason I went by J.D. was because my dad had the same name, and I liked J.D. better than Junior.
“What is this all about?” Dad asked.
“Hot Sauce wants to know if J.D. is available at six p.m. to meet Li’l Eazy Breezy in his greenroom in the conference center,” Tabitha said.
I was so shocked, I almost didn’t hear the next part.
“He needs his hair cleaned up before the show at nine, and he was impressed by your demo.”
CHAPTER 11
Hot Sauce
“Yes!” I screamed out, not waiting for my parents to give an answer.
Tabitha giggled. “I’d be thrilled, too, J.D., but unfortunately, until you turn eighteen, these types of decisions are for your parents to make,” she said.
Being a kid felt really unfair sometimes.
“Well, J.D. doesn’t have anything major left on his agenda,” Mom said. “Though didn’t you want to go to Natural Hair Maintenance at six, like you mentioned earlier?”
“I’ll skip it!” I said immediately.
“We had planned to attend the musical performance as audience members,” Mom said to Tabitha. “J.D.’s done working for the day.”
Back home, our important decisions were made by my mom, Granddad, and Grandma. They had decided together that I could come to Atlanta in the first place. I wondered if I should suggest that we call my grandparents now.
“This is up to your mom, son,” my dad said. “But if I may, it seems like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
