by J. Dillard
A few hours later, when the sun started to go down and everybody went home, I retreated to my bedroom. I had lucked out because my sister shared a room with Mom, and my brother Justin preferred my grandparents’ room. I usually fell asleep pretty fast, but tonight my mind was racing. I knew that I wanted to join Vanessa and that I wanted a break from Hart and Son. But how was Henry Jr. going to take it?
When he threatened to shut down my bedroom barbershop last year, I imagined pouring blue Gatorade into the canisters he used to sanitize his hair tools.
If I told him I wanted to quit, would he use his neck strips to tie me to his chair so I couldn’t leave?
Since I wasn’t going to fall asleep anytime soon, I brought out my art pencils and a pad of paper. Drawing was something I did when I was excited, nervous, happy, sad, or angry. Tonight, I decided to think of what my YouTube name could be. I’d need something catchy so people would know what I do.
SCISSOR MAN
BARBER BOY
J.D. THE AMAZING BARBER BOY
J.D. THE KID BARBER ✓
That was it!
Maybe it was time for the rest of the world outside of Meridian to find out about J.D. the Kid Barber.
CHAPTER 3
Poof
Every Saturday, I’d do my morning chores, catch a couple of cartoons, and head to Hart and Son.
My family had taught me to always be on time. We had so many people, jobs, schools, and activities to keep track of and only one car, so if someone was late, it threw everything off. When I went to work at Hart and Son, I was always there five minutes before noon.
Hart and Son was owned by Henry Sr. and Henry Jr. Henry Sr. was a tall, skinny old man, maybe older than the Earth. He always reminded me of a tall blade of grass with square oversized glasses, a small, neat Afro, and cargo pants held up high with a belt. He worked early in the morning and would finish at noon on the dot so I could take over his chair. He cut mostly older clientele who he had known for years. Henry Jr. was shorter and rounder than his dad. He had offered me a job after I beat him in the Great Barber Battle.
“Have a good day, J.D.!” Henry Sr. said as he patted my head on the way out the door.
At the barbershop, people talked A LOT about sports. Meridian didn’t have any pro sports teams. In fact, the whole state of Mississippi didn’t have any. So folks in town always pulled for the closest option. Since it was summer, there was nothing more exciting to talk about than baseball.
“The Braves are in first place again!” I heard Mr. Thomas say. He’s one of Henry Jr.’s regulars.
“Eh, they never get past the first round of the playoffs anyway,” Henry Jr. replied. “I’m just waiting for my Saints to start back up.”
I wanted to play little league baseball, too. But unlike peewee football, you had to pay for your equipment, and Mom had been on a budget when we first moved in with my grandparents and she became a full-time student again.
Henry Jr. was responsible for keeping the shop going during the day until it closed at seven. On a good Saturday, I would average around ten haircuts depending on what styles people wanted. A simple fade or Caesar cost seven dollars and fifty cents for a kid and fifteen dollars for an adult. But more and more, people wanted complicated styles with color, dreads, and designs. I knew how to cut designs, and I charged more for that. My designs would look great on YouTube.
My last client of the day was a kid named Kelsey. Kelsey was about to start high school. I knew who he was because he played rec football. In Meridian, there were lots of open fields, and spontaneous games of football with kids of all ages would just pop up. I liked playing against big kids because it made me better.
“Hey, Kelsey, what’s up man? What do you want to do today?” I asked him.
“I want a number two, even all over,” he told me, pointing at the numbered chart of hairstyles on the wall.
Kelsey had big waves in his hair. So all I had to do was put a size two guard on the clippers and cut in the direction his hair laid down.
As I brushed the hair off Kelsey’s cape, I knew my shift would be over soon and I’d have to talk to Henry Jr. I started to wonder if maybe I was making a mistake by leaving.
One of the things I liked most about working at Hart and Son was that Henry Jr. didn’t treat me like a little kid. That would be hard to give up.
“Hey, J.D., are you going to have time to meet up at the field this summer?” Kelsey asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Well, I hope so, after I get out of Vacation Bible School next week! But my Saturdays are kinda full now that I work here,” I told him.
“Aw, man, that’s too bad,” Kelsey said.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with making money!” Henry Jr. had been listening to us. “J.D. is already ahead of most kids his age.”
He came over and clapped my shoulder with his hand.
“Boy, J.D., you are my first and best employee,” Henry Jr. said as Kelsey put on his backpack and got ready to leave.
“All these years it was just me and my dad. So many of my barbershop owner friends in other cities tell me horror stories about how they hire folks and then the next weekend they are just gone, poof!”
I thought about what I had to say to Henry Jr. today. I’d be another poof to him soon.
“That’s right, now,” Mr. Thomas said. “These days, it’s hard to find good help!”
Now my stomach started to ache.
“With these new apps and websites and things, it’s like any barber can just promote themselves without having to work in a shop,” Henry Jr. said.
I felt a lump in my throat. Could Henry Jr. read my mind?
I had forgotten about Kelsey when I heard a quarter land in my tip jar. “Thanks for the cut,” Kelsey said. “Maybe I’ll see you around this summer at the field, maybe not!”
As Henry Jr. finished up with Mr. Thomas, I cleaned up my area. I’ve got this, I told myself.
After Henry Jr. locked the door and started counting his money, he spoke up.
“It seems like something is on your mind, J.D.,” he said. “You usually talk more when you’re working.”
“Yes, sir,” I told him.
“Well, what is it?”
I turned over my tip jar and put the day’s earnings in my pocket.
“Let me guess,” he started. “I bet you want to be outside with your friends this summer, don’t you? I know I did when I was a kid.”
Maybe Henry Jr. COULD read my mind!
“Yeah, it’s something like that,” I replied.
Henry Jr. went on to tell me how much fun he used to have in the summers as a kid in Meridian— hunting, fishing, and finding swimming holes.
“If you want to take the summer off to play with your friends, I’ll understand,” he said.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t just want to poof, disappear.”
Henry Jr. stopped sweeping up the hair around his chair and looked me in the eye.
“There will always be a chair here for you if you want to come back in the fall,” he said.
“Thanks, Henry Jr.!” I told him. “I learn so much from you. You’re an amazing barber and a cool guy.” I paused as a worry came into my head. “Are you still going to be able to make enough money, though?”
“Little man, the shop has been here for over fifty years, and you’ve helped us bring in more people,” Henry Jr. said with a laugh. “You go enjoy your summer.”
And just like that, my schedule had opened up. It was time to try a new adventure.
CHAPTER 4
Kidz Cutz and Nailz
The official end of school marked the beginning of Evans Summer School, which included a full week of Vacation Bible School.
Even though our schedules changed during the summer months, we ate breakfast together every da
y. My grandma’s breakfasts were my favorite, especially her eggs and toast, grits, and bacon. There would always be a pot of coffee for her and Granddad.
Then, we would break off into our routines. Granddad dropped Mom at the mayor’s office, Justin went to the rec center with Grandma, and Granddad would return quickly to make sure someone was with us during the day while we did our weekly assignments. He didn’t leave for work—selling burial insurance around town—until the late afternoon. He used to run a JCPenney, but after he had a heart attack, he switched careers.
“We’re all going to die, right?” he’d say when anyone asked about his work.
When Granddad was in charge, he always tried to ambush us to see if he could catch us away from our books. He’d hide behind a wall and pop out with questions about whatever subject we were studying.
“Hey, kids! So . . . what’s the answer to question four on page twenty of your Social Studies workbook! Do you know? Ten seconds to answer or no ice cream after dinner!” Granddad said that morning with a smile on his face.
Vanessa and I were at the kitchen table going over the Mississippi facts. I hadn’t told her yet that I had quit Henry Jr.’s for the summer and wanted to learn how to make videos on YouTube with her instead. But first, one of us had to answer Granddad’s question.
“Granddad, the answer is the mockingbird. That is the state bird,” I said as he counted down to one.
“Great job, kids. You’ll both get an extra scoop of ice cream tonight,” he said before walking back to the living room to finish watching the local news.
“Okay, Vanessa,” I said. “Let’s talk about YouTube.”
Vanessa didn’t even look up from Granddad’s homemade workbook.
I noticed she had a briefcase with her. It looked exactly like the one Mom got as a present when she started her new job.
“Where did that come from?” I asked her.
“Granddad got it on sale at JCPenney. It’s going out of business, so it was cheap,” she said.
First she copied me with doing hair, and now she was copying Mom? I bet tomorrow she would have on a full suit!
“You haven’t said anything about YouTube until now,” she continued. “And since you haven’t given me an answer, I got started without you.”
“Wait, what?” I said. Maybe I shouldn’t have quit Hart and Son so fast.
“I’ll show you later on the computer,” she said.
When we finished that day, we gave our workbooks to Granddad, who checked our answers.
“Okay, you two, good work. You’re free to go outside and play,” he said.
“Can we use the computer instead?” I asked. “Vanessa is going to show me something.”
Granddad sighed.
“I knew this thing would be the end of you wanting to go outside! You can stay on it for exactly one hour,” he said.
Vanessa went straight to YouTube to show me the video she said she’d already uploaded.
The video was titled “TWO ZIGZAG CORNROWS AND THE BEST NAIL POLISH MONEY CAN BUY.” I could see the date was last Saturday, so Vanessa had filmed it when I was out of the house working at Hart and Son! She knew she wasn’t supposed to go into my room without me being there. I thought about telling her that her video title was too long.
She pressed play and the first voice I heard was hers.
VANESSA: Hi, welcome to Kidz Cutz and Nailz.
VANESSA: I’m Vanessa, and I do hair! You don’t know me yet, but I’m going to be all over the internet soon. Just watch.
JESSYKA: And my name’s Jessyka. I do nails! And camerawork. And editing. And peewee football. And track. And tae kwon do!
VANESSA: Jessyka!
JESSYKA: What? I do a lot!
VANESSA: Anyway, this is our model, Lisa. Wave hello, Lisa!
[Lisa waves]
VANESSA: So, if you’re looking for a cute weekend look—stylish hair and unique nails—you’re going to want to save this video.
VANESSA: Today, we’ll be showing you how to do two big zigzag cornrows with matching bobos on the end! After that, we’re going to try the best store nail polish money can buy!
Then the video cut to a musical intro. Vanessa sang the first part. Vanessa was a great singer. Much better than me when I sing in the church choir sometimes. I wonder what else I don’t know about my sister. In the two years she was alive before me, what did she do? She was alone at first, no Justin and no me. Just imagine only three people in a house—her, my dad, and Mom. Maybe she played basketball on a baby hoop or drew pictures all the time, too?
Vanessa narrated the rest of the video, and Jessyka’s camerawork was solid, showing the back of Lisa’s hair as Vanessa finished. The ending shot showed the three girls in a row, with Jessyka doing Lisa’s nails while Vanessa did Lisa’s hair. I had to admit, it looked cool. Vanessa had gotten better at doing braids. For summer, she had cornrowed the front of her hair and pulled the rest of it into a large puff.
VANESSA: And that’s how it’s done!
VANESSA: We’ll see you next week, when we’ll share new techniques and tips.
JESSYKA: Remember, we’re all NATURAL at this salon!
VANESSA: If you liked this video, let us know by turning on your notifications and hitting that subscribe button below. [Vanessa points downward so it lines up with the thumbs-up button on YouTube.]
VANESSA AND JESSYKA: Byeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Jessyka was good at YouTube. I just knew it was her idea to get a shot of herself throwing a cheap bottle of nail polish in the trash before zooming in on the good ones.
“What do we do with TRASH?” Jessyka had said. “We put it in the GARBAGE!”
Vanessa was good, too. Even Lisa, who just sat there like a mannequin. It had to be hard to sit still for so long. That’s why I was a little afraid to do girl hair.
Part of me was still mad that Vanessa had used the name for my bedroom barbershop and just added “and nails.” She kept copying me! And the girls had also used my room, cape, hair supplies, and barber chair!
But a bigger part of me was impressed.
They had added a bunch of hashtags under the video, like: #YouTubeKids #KidzCutz #HairSalon #KidsHair #KidsNails #KidStylist #KidNailTech #NailPolish #HairGel #JrMasterBarber #KidsHairstyles #Hairstylist #KidHairstylist #NaturalHairstyles #GirlsRuleBoysDrool. They already knew that hashtags help people find videos.
I was ready to join until I looked at the views.
“Vanessa, this was great, but you only have fifty-three views,” I said. That was a long way from the other kids she had shown me at Mom’s party. “You want me to quit Henry’s so you can use up my stuff, and no one is even going to watch these things?”
“Calm down, J.D.,’’ she said. “I’ll get more views, you’ll see!”
Vanessa grabbed a pair of sparkling gold sunglasses from her briefcase and put them on even though we were inside.
“Are you in or out?”
I was already in; I just hadn’t told her. So I finally did.
“I’m in.”
Vanessa’s mouth broke into a wide smile. I don’t know what I expected would happen—maybe that confetti and balloons would fall to the floor as soon as I’d said “I’m in”? But instead, Vanessa told me some details she had left out of her pitch.
“Good. You know, these videos will make sure I get accepted into the Junior Business Scholars in sixth grade next year!”
“What is Junior Business Scholars?” I asked.
Vanessa reached for her briefcase, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to me.
I read it in silence.
CALLING ALL FUTURE BUSINESS LEADERS!
Marigold Middle School’s inaugural Junior Business Scholars program is for incoming sixth graders interested in starting a business and learning about entrepreneur
ship. Local business leaders will mentor a group of ten students throughout the fall semester. Students will learn how to turn their idea into a business plan, how to market it, and how to assess profit and loss. To apply, students must submit a new business idea that includes at least one employee. Turn in proposals to Principal Yip, at [email protected] by July 1! Only ten students admitted per semester.
“So your business idea is to start a kid’s hair salon just like I did?” I asked.
Vanessa scrunched up her face at me.
“No, not exactly. I’m going to become a hair influencer. People will view my videos and copy my hairstyles. It’s all online,” she said.
We stood there without saying anything for a minute. Finally, Vanessa took off her sunglasses and looked at me, eye to eye.
“Mom has a job, Granddad has his own business, Grandma teaches ceramics classes, and you work, too,” she said. “I’m the only one without a job. Justin doesn’t count.”
“But how can you make money from that?” I asked her.
“Do you think all those YouTube kids I showed you at the party are working for free? Views equal money! Together, little brother, we’re going to be rich and famous, and we’re going to help people all over the world feel good about their hair.”
I kinda felt tricked. Vanessa needed to do this for school.
But one thing I knew about Vanessa was that she accomplished anything she set her mind to. Whether this was for school or not, she’d take it far. Especially if we worked together.
CHAPTER 5
Vacation Bible School
“I can’t wait to show you the new activities we have planned this year,” Grandma said about Vacation Bible School. She was one of the instructors there. She even took time off from the rec center to devote to teaching the Bible to kids. Grandma knew more about the Bible than even Pastor Harris, I thought.
Vacation Bible School was in our normal church, Won’t He Do It Missionary Baptist Church. I think the only reason they called it “vacation” bible school was because it was during summer. But it was mostly the same as the bible study we had during the school year. We’d eat breakfast, then split up by age groups and get a lesson on either the New Testament or the Old Testament. We had a brief recess, lunch, and then more lessons on the Bible.