Page 28 of For the Love of City
“Dang, I hadn’t thought of it like that.”
“Nobody does because no one wants to think that those spun cotton white powdered wigs were anything but white. But name a white person whose hair does that naturally. I will gladly wait.” We laughed again and I could see her relax more and more.
“Been stealing our style forever.” I reached over and we high-fived one another and I knew we were going to be locked in.
“Probably since the dawn of time, and then went back and hid the evidence. I’ve had an uptick in clients that need this service, which is why I provide it.”
With traction alopecia being such an immense problem in our community thanks to the styles of the late 90s and early aughts I looked for a solution that would help. Of course, wigs were right there, but a run-of-the-mill track sewn with a closure attached didn’t speak to me. So I researched the best hair and the best non-chemical procedures that were being done. I didn’t just watch YouTube tutorials; I was over in the hair capitals of the world: Xuchang China and Karnataka India. Did folks look at me funny? Yes. Did I give two fucks? Hell no. And the connections I made years ago because of my fearlessness were still serving me to this day. I didn’t have a middleman when I wanted something and I ordered enough inventory to fill a warehouse. Corey was telling me I needed to branch out, but if I added another iron in the fire his was gonna get put out. And I wasn’t ready for that yet.
“Are wigs all that you do?” She took a sip of her drink for the first time and I was glad she was finally relaxing.
“No. For those who don’t want a fully custom unit, I have other methods to help you feel confident. There’s always something that can match your natural texture so you don’t have heat damage or chemical damage trying to texture match. We can make a unit that will mold to your hair and be custom fit without any tracks.”
“You mean all lace?” Her eyes clouded slightly like she was concerned and I had to clear up how I worked.
“There are multiple options, from silicon to a full lace wig. It will have hand tied edges that are custom to where your previous hairline reached if it has thinned out. There is a built-in band for reinforcement so you don’t have to worry about tearing or shifting once the unit is placed. I will only provide glue-less options for clients so that there is no danger of your edges being affected. The solution that you want for your hair is in your hands. I’m here to advise you of what I think will work and talk to you about your history, but everything is up to you. I’m not going to sell you on something I don’t think you need. The blessings I have in my life are far too abundant for me to block more from coming because of greed.
“What can you do for me today?”
Her eyes were watery and I knew it was the anxiety of having someone see her without her armor. I had been blessed with a head of natural hair and I would rock whatever bundles I felt like. I knew that when your confidence took a hit, it was hard to come back from it. I was going to do everything I could to give her that swagger back because she was a beautiful woman.
“Today we will do a scalp analysis, I will wash your hair and take note of what I think you need. We will talk about your diet and I will probably send you off to get your lab work done.”
“All of that?”
She was as surprised as most clients normally were when I discussed everything that went into my service. I wasn’t just acut and color stylist. We were going into every aspect of hair care to ensure we were not only correcting the problem but that we were eradicating the root issue.
“I’d much rather discuss whether your issue can be solved with diet and treating you from the inside out than me to simply put a ten thousand dollar band aid on the problem.”
“When you put it like that…”
“Men have been saying that toupees were medical devices for years while women, especially Black women, were shunned for it. Said we were trying to be white for not wearing our hair texture when no one had our hair texture. Those days are long gone. We will take raw, single drawn hair all from one to two donors depending on what it is you need style and lengthwise and then custom process the hair in order to achieve your texture. Then depending on whether you want a full lace or partial lace we will hand tie each hair onto a cap that’s designed off of a mold of your head. It’s part science and a lot of art in order to achieve the most natural look for you.”
“And you have a package that comes with that?”
“The membership is thirty thousand for the year. That includes one unit, maintenance and styling and treatment of your natural hair. I have many celebrity artists who will have their specific stylist maintain their unit and some who send it in to me for service even if they can’t physically come to my chair. Not to toot my own horn but I’m damn good at what I do. And when you’re a full-time client we can track the growth and progress of your hair health so that you know exactly if I’m making a difference.”
“Maybe we can start with the analysis and go from there.”
“That’s a good suggestion. Figuring out the condition of your hair is the best thing you can do in order to determine how you want to treat it. So come, let’s get you settled in so you can enjoy getting your scalp scrubbed.”
My subscription clients were always treated to a head spa with each visit. They weren’t paying me the kind of money they were not to be pampered when they saw me.
“So, take off the hat?” That nervousness was back and I understood she was showing me parts of herself that other people rarely saw.
“It’s like a trust fall: take off the hat and know I got you. So what would you like to do?”
COREY
I WAS REGRETTING the idea that we needed to hold open auditions for talent. Never wanting to be a nigga to leave a stone unturned, I thought this would be a good way to see some people and maybe find a diamond in the rough. We ain’t want to do no reality TV show type shit. I wasn’t on theAmerican IdolorMaking the Bandtype of time. Lyric said we needed to record it to show how we started and the kinda work we put in to get where we would end up. Call me old school but I was never the nigga to put shit I did on film. Too many chances for some shit to bite you in the ass later.
Since we were all going to be splitting our time between Georgia and Texas, we had offices set up in both places. Lyrie handled a lot of the heavy lifting with Texas while Trav did a lot for Georgia. Despite the city being as big as it was, none of us wanted to have offices in the middle of everything. A dipped off spot was better for people being able to reach it without having to deal with as much traffic. Even being just north of Atlanta wasn’t going to eliminate it, but it cut down on our travel time, which was key for all of us.
Trav and I were in the meeting room that was going to double as the audition space. The few people we had on staff at this location were getting the acts organized so that we didn’t have a crazy long day. Me and Travis both needed to go see Priest and pay our respects. His wife was set to have a baby in the next few months and despite him not wanting it, we had a gift for the young king.
“When you and Porsha gone stop playing around and tell that spoiled ass girl about y’all?” Trav put his blunt out and relaxed deeper onto the large sofa in my office. His ass was the main one saying he didn’t need an office because he was going to be constantly on the road scouting, but he had no issue with laying up in mine. Little did he know his was almost done because Lyric and I knew he was full of shit. The idea of being corporate was something that scared the hell out of all of us. Him more than me and Lyrie. I had time to come to peace with the transition out of the game because I was locked up. Lyric was doing the music shit and had to take a step back so she didn’t get caught up. But Trav had stayed deep in the game and even though I was involved from inside, he held shit down for all of us. So I understood the challenge he was facing with starting a new chapter.
“I’m surprised your snake ass ain’t said shit about it yet.”
