by J. Dillard
I looked at Mom and pleaded with my eyes.
“We’re here to have experiences,” she said. “If this experience would mean a lot to you, J.D., then we’ll support you.”
I got out of my seat and jumped up and down while hugging my mom. She seemed so relaxed. I wondered if she’d want to have more experiences together back home, too.
After that was settled, Tabitha walked us to the bottom of the escalator that led to the skywalk that connected the conference center to the hotel.
She put visitor passes around our necks that said greenroom—li’l eazy breezy vip.
“Will you be joining as well, Mr. Jones?”
“I sure would like to,” he said. “What do you think, J.D.?”
I nodded and looked at my mom, who nodded, too.
Tabitha pushed a button to call the elevator and said she would meet us in the lobby in about an hour to escort us.
* * *
• • •
When we got to the greenroom, we were greeted by a humongous man with a mini Afro with twists dressed in all black. His shirt said security.
Tabitha told us to show him our visitor passes.
The security guard looked at our passes closely, just like I did when I examined someone’s hairline after I was done with a cut.
“You’re all good,” he said without changing his facial expression.
Then he knocked and opened the door. That’s when Tabitha left and said she’d see us at the show.
I had only been in one greenroom before. When my sister, Vanessa, and I entered a video contest at a local TV station and won, we were invited to do an interview on set. The greenroom had some snacks, but it looked nothing like this! This was even cooler than Jordan’s house.
The first thing I noticed was the giant TV—a curved seventy-inch.
“Mom,” I whispered. “Can we take a picture of the TV?”
“No, J.D., it’s rude,” she replied.
Music played in the background. I could tell it was Li’l Eazy Breezy, but it was a song I’d never heard before.
My waves are 360 out of 365.
My waves keep spinning, gonna make sure they shine.
They call me Li’l Breezy ’cuz I’m cool as a fan.
My rhymes keep ya’ll jumpin, like grease in a fryin’ pan.
“You like that, huh?” a man who wasn’t much taller than Li’l Eazy Breezy said as he approached us. He was wearing a diamond encrusted Cuban link chain over a short sleeve shirt buttoned all the way to the top. His white Air Force 1s popped against the rest of his black-on-black outfit. The only other piece of jewelry he had on was a big watch.
“I’m Hot Sauce,” he said.
He had long locs that went past his shoulders.
“Hi, um, Mr. Hot Sauce,” my mom said, sticking out her hand.
“Please, just Hot Sauce,” he said, shaking my dad’s hand next. “You must be J.D.’s dad. You look alike.
“J.D., we saw you do your thing onstage today. And then your model tagged us on a picture he posted of the design you cut into his head. Li’l Eazy Breezy knew you’d be the best choice to touch him up for his set tonight,” Hot Sauce said. “His regular barber isn’t going to make it to the show on time.”
Before, all I wanted was a photo with Li’l Eazy Breezy to show my friends. Now, I was going to be his barber for the night.
“J.D., let me introduce you to Li’l Eazy Breezy,” Hot Sauce said. “You two can talk while us grown folks have some coffee.” He motioned to a large granite table with stools under it.
Hot Sauce walked me over to the couch where Li’l Eazy Breezy was playing video games. He was wearing a pair of socks with Nike slides, oversized basketball shorts, a tank top, and a black do-rag. I realized this was the first time I’d seen his eyes!
I sat next to him on the couch, which was so big, I almost got sucked into the cushions. My legs didn’t even hit the ground. I got a closer look at his console. It was the newest PlayStation!
“Yo, man, what’s up?” Li’l Eazy Breezy said.
“Wow, how’d you get that?” I said, pointing to the PlayStation. “Even my friend Jordan, who always gets the newest stuff, doesn’t have it yet.”
“PlayStation gifted it to me. All I had to do was post about it on Instagram,” Li’l Eazy Breezy said as if it were nothing. “Do you want something to eat or drink? They hooked us up with everything. We have pizza, cookies, candy, hot chocolate, Capri Sun. . . .”
“Capri Sun sounds pretty good. Can I have one?” I asked.
“Sure, we have Strawberry Kiwi. You cool with that?”
“That’s my favorite!” I said.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Before he got up, he tossed me the remote. “You can put the TV on ESPN or something,” he said.
I thought about the questions I wanted to ask him. What did it feel like to be famous? What was his favorite part about making music? When did he start performing? Did he ever feel like he couldn’t make his own decisions because he was just a kid? What was the next thing he wanted to do? But when he came back, my first question was something else.
“Is Hot Sauce related to you?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I know he has a weird name, but he’s been called that since he was a kid. He’s my mom’s favorite brother, so she trusts him to manage me.”
I nodded, and Li’l Eazy Breezy handed me a Capri Sun. I pushed the straw into the pouch and took a big drink. I sipped so fast, I got a brain freeze.
“Did my uncle straighten everything out for you to touch me up before the show?” Li’l Eazy Breezy asked.
“I think so,” I said.
“How’d you get so good at cutting hair?”
“Well, my mom gave me a bad haircut at the start of third grade, and I got made fun of a lot. I didn’t have the cash to go to a barber, so I practiced cutting my baby brother Justin’s hair. Then I started doing my own hair, then my friends’. I got so good, I cut hair at the barbershop for a little bit,” I told him.
“Really? Aren’t you eight? Can you work at a shop?”
“They let me do it,” I said. “The owner was losing customers, but we decided to work together. It was cool because I got to cut grown-up hair sometimes, too, and now I want to learn hairdressing. My sister is good at it,” I said.
“So you have a sister and a brother. Any other kids in your family?” he asked.
I shook my head. “But our friends come over a lot, so the house is always full.”
“Oh, word? I’m an only child,” he said. “Growing up, I always thought it would have been cool to have siblings to play with.”
I looked around the room. All the people there were adults. I wondered how often Li’l Eazy Breezy got to spend time with kids his own age. I bet he never got to play on a peewee football team like me.
“So, where are you from, again?” he asked.
“Meridian, Mississippi. It’s about an hour and a half from Jackson,” I said.
Li’l Eazy Breezy took a sip of his drink.
“Oh, I’ve never been there,” he said. “But I’m on the road every weekend, so I’m sure we’ll stop through Mississippi soon.”
I thought about how badly my ears had popped on the plane ride. Li’l Eazy Breezy was probably used to it.
We heard the stools scrape across the floor as Hot Sauce and my parents got up.
“We got the details of your payment for this haircut figured out, young man,” Hot Sauce said. He explained that my mom negotiated a fee for my work. “Another deal closed! That’s why they call me Hot Sauce! I make it so spicy!” Hot Sauce did a little jig as he said that.
I looked over at Li’l Eazy Breezy, who sunk down into the couch and covered his face with his shirt. I’m sure this wasn’t the first time his uncle had embarrassed him.
“Should he cut my hair now, Unc?” Li’l Eazy Breezy asked. “I gotta be ready for the sound check soon.”
That was music to my ears. Almost nothing made me as happy as cutting a new client’s hair, and now I had a famous one. For tonight, I was a celebrity barber!
CHAPTER 12
J.D., the Kid Celebrity Barber
Between my own tools and the goodies I got in my gift bag from earlier, I had everything on me that I needed to do Li’l Eazy Breezy’s hair.
Hot Sauce had set up an area for us with a chair, a mirror, a cape, and neck strips.
“Now, the look for the show is a two all around with a neck taper and a very sharp edge. And make sure his shape-up is really sharp. You’ll need extra sheen because we’re going to be filming this, and there will be lots of close-ups of his hair,” Hot Sauce explained.
Even though I knew Hot Sauce was in charge, I thought back to what I’d learned in Londen Brown’s class about getting input from my clients. Even Henry Jr., my old boss at Hart and Son, had always told me, “Cut what the client wants. At the end of the day, they are the ones who are going to have to wear the haircut.”
I was sure Li’l Eazy Breezy had some ideas of his own.
When Hot Sauce walked away to take a call, I turned to Li’l Eazy Breezy.
“Is there anything else you want?” I asked.
“Hot Sauce likes one thing, but I always wanted to change up my look,” he said. “My producer wrote me a song called ‘360 Waves,’ though, so I guess I can’t change it now.”
I thought for a second.
“Well, maybe we can still add something without messing up what Hot Sauce wants.” I had some ideas!
I put a neck strip on Li’l Eazy Breezy and draped the barber cape around him.
My heart started to race. I couldn’t make a mistake. This wasn’t my baby brother or even my friend Jordan, who would let me experiment with his cuts for fun. Li’l Eazy Breezy was famous, and everyone at the show and everyone following him online would see.
That’s when I remembered: Li’l Eazy Breezy and Hot Sauce chose me. That means they trusted me.
Before I got started, I asked if my mom or dad could take some pictures of me working. Like Dad said, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
“Sure, J.D.,” Li’l Eazy Breezy said. “But I have to approve the pics if you’re going to post them.”
Mom grabbed her phone to help me out.
First, I put on a pair of rubber gloves. Next, I inspected Li’l Eazy Breezy’s hair up close.
I pulled out my comb and combed through it so I could see exactly how much I had to cut down. I grabbed my clippers and put my 1-½ guard on and began to cut with the grain of the hair. There wasn’t that much to cut, so I was done with that part pretty fast. I started to taper the back of the neck real sharp, just like Hot Sauce had asked. Next, I pulled out my trimmer and sketched out my surprise design. I traced out the numbers 3-6-0 and even added the little degree symbol. I remembered it from a geometry lesson Granddad had given me over the summer. It looked so cool!
I put a face shield over Li’l Eazy Breezy and misted holding spray all over his head. Now it was nice and shiny. Then I edged him up and perfected the design. I took out a wave pomade and rubbed it through his hair. I reached for the wave brush that was on the little side table. And just like magic, his waves began to spin. For the final touch, I took blue, gray, and white colored pencils from my Colorful Kris set. I wanted to match the design to Li’l Eazy Breezy’s Air Diors.
Mom took one last photo of the back of Li’l Eazy Breezy’s head before I was done.
Li’l Eazy Breezy looked a bit worried.
“Hey, J.D., I heard some extra buzzing. What did you do to my head? I hope I don’t have to do my show in a hat tonight,” he said.
Hot Sauce came back after his call. When he saw what I did to Li’l Eazy Breezy, he did another jig. Li’l Eazy Breezy looked embarrassed again.
“Nephew, wait till you see what J.D. did. This boy is the truth.”
I smiled and looked at my parents. They both had grins on their faces.
“You definitely put some spice on it!” Hot Sauce said.
CHAPTER 13
Showtime!
As we were getting ready to leave for the show, I thought about what had just happened. Coming to Atlanta for the hair expo had made my dreams come true!
“Hey, where are ya’ll headed?” Li’l Eazy Breezy asked.
“Well, I think we’re headed to your show,” Mom said. “Tabitha texted me to say that she’s waiting for us by the concert floor so she can take us to our seats.”
“Aw, Unc, can’t they roll with us a little while longer?” Li’l Eazy Breezy asked. “They can watch the show from backstage.”
“Would you like that?” Hot Sauce asked us. “I guess he doesn’t get too much time around kids his age.”
He turned to Li’l Eazy Breezy and added, “You’re probably tired of your old Uncle, huh?”
Li’l Eazy Breezy laughed.
“The last show I saw from backstage was Dru Hill back when their lead singer was Sisqó!” Mom said. She got a dreamy look in her eyes. “I’ll never forget it, and I bet you won’t forget this, J.D.”
I nodded so hard, I thought my head would fall off. I wanted to see the show from backstage!
“Big James, what do you think?” she asked my dad. “Should I text Tabitha?” It was nice to see them work together.
“What good would it do to start turning down opportunities now?” he said, and laughed.
* * *
• • •
We went backstage while the stagehands, sound people, and emcee, who was Jenny again, put out a bunch of microphones and tested the sound level of the music. There was a DJ in a dark T-shirt and shades with a set of headphones on and his computer open.
“Why don’t you folks grab some snacks? There’s plenty of food out,” Hot Sauce said.
There was fruit, veggies, little ham and cheese sandwiches, and a bunch of other stuff. There was an ice bucket full of water bottles and a coffee machine. But the best part was the ice bucket full of Strawberry Kiwi Capri Suns!
Both me and Li’l Eazy Breezy made a beeline for that bucket.
“Oh, c’mon, Nephew! You need to drink water so your voice doesn’t crack on stage,” Hot Sauce said as he tried to hand a bottle to Li’l Eazy Breezy.
Mom poured a cup of coffee for herself, and Dad grabbed a water bottle. Hot Sauce didn’t touch a thing. He was too busy managing.
After the sound check, a lady wearing headphones and holding a clipboard shouted, “Five minutes to showtime!”
Hot Sauce walked over and stared at Li’l Eazy Breezy like a drill sergeant. My friend Xavier had a dad in the military, and he used to make that face, too.
“Who are you?” Hot Sauce yelled.
“I’m Breezy!” Li’l Eazy Breezy said.
“Who are you?”
“The hottest kid rapper in the game!”
Hot Sauce and Li’l Eazy Breezy pounded their chests, and Li’l Eazy Breezy jumped up onstage. He waited there, bouncing like a boxer, while Jenny introduced him. Then he ran out to his hit song. Two girls and a boy danced beside him.
It was so weird to see this regular kid transform into a pro in an instant. I wondered if that’s what I looked like when I worked.
After the song was finished, Li’l Eazy Breezy shouted to the DJ.
“Yo, DJ Turn Up. Cut the track!” he said.
“I got something very special for everyone here at the Beauty Brothers Hair Expo. First, shout out to Beauty Brothers and Smooth Cuts Razors for inviting me! I love ya’ll so much that I’m going to debut my new record, 360, for everyone here tonight. Wave your phones in the air and record if you want to. Light ’em up, light ’em up!” Li’l Eazy Bre
ezy said.
Li’l Eazy Breezy signaled to DJ Turn Up, and he jumped up and down as his new song came on.
Three more dancers joined the stage and started hyping up the crowd.
“Mom, we’ve got to call Vanessa!” I said.
I hoped my grandparents let her stay up. It was only 8:30 p.m. back in Meridian. I’m sure Justin was already asleep, but he was only three years old and wouldn’t care as much. I needed to show Vanessa that I was backstage at Li’l Eazy Breezy’s show.
Mom called my grandparents’ house phone, and Vanessa picked up immediately.
It was hard to hear, but I just yelled, “Vanessa, listen to this! It’s Li’l Eazy Breezy!”
I managed to hear Vanessa say, “FaceTime” and “Jessyka.” I guess our friend was sleeping over.
We hung up, and Mom FaceTimed Jessyka.
The girls popped up, and I turned the phone toward the stage just as Li’l Eazy Breezy’s latest song was winding down. That’s when the most amazing thing happened.
“Big up to J.D. the Kid Barber for keeping my waves spinning today and for this dope sketch in the back!” Li’l Eazy Breezy turned around, and the sketch I had done flashed on the big screen above the stage.
Vanessa and Jessyka looked so excited. I didn’t know what to say.
Just like Mom predicted, this was a day I would never forget: my first concert, my first hair show, and my first celebrity client.
CHAPTER 14
Meridian on the Map
The next day, Dad came back to the hotel to say goodbye. We had one final program, a fancy brunch with the real-life Beauty Brothers, Smooth Cuts executives, and Tabitha. All the famous barbers, stylists, and nail technicians—like Colorful Kris, Londen Brown, and Ally Mann—were there, too. I got served pancakes, a biscuit, and a bowl of fruit, but the food still wasn’t as good as Grandma’s.
After we finished eating, Mom said we needed to start heading to the airport. There was another day of the hair show, but I wasn’t scheduled to do anything else. It was time to get back to Meridian.