Down, But Never Out

By Jayda Badman

A gripping version of events unfolds as globally known Barber, Jay Adams allows us into his world and lets us in on what happens on the other side of the barber chair...
I sold drug's from the age 11 and had no school education. I was involved in multiple stabbings and gang violence from 13. I had a lucky break at 14 learning to become a barber, a trade that kept my head above water many times in my future. All these string of events led me down a path to multiple business ventures, 2 beautiful kids and a wedding in Vegas...Nothing lasts forever though. After getting married and stuck in a rut at 25, I found myself on the other side of the world in Melbourne, trying to make amends for previously putting my wife and kids through a hellacious event. A year later, after separating from my family and nearly committing suicide, I appeared on an MMA TV show in Sydney, met and trained with UFC Stars and lost 25kgs in weight. After my second love broke up and learning some hard lessons in life, I created my own TV Show LBMTV that was televised in 2016. Things were going great...I met my third love in Melbourne the same year and we lived the high life in the sun. We'd be sipping champagne, driving fast cars and earning more than we could spend, until one day, in January 2017, it all came crashing down. I found myself back at rock bottom losing everything I ever had...Ready to commit suicide for the second time in my life, drunk in Phoenix, Arizona I had a sudden realization on what this thing we call life is all about...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jayda Badman
• Release date: Sep 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370417995

Jayda Badman

Jaydabadman My name is Jay Adams I’m 28 from London, UK. From the age of 11 I’ve been involved in gangs, stabbings and drug related violence, became a barber at 14, moved alone to Spain at 16, opened my own business at 19, had 2 kids by the age of 22, got married at 24, moved to Australia and lost everything in my entire life which led to getting divorced at 25, appeared on an MMA TV show in Sydney at 26, created my own barber reality TV show in Melbourne at 27 and then lost everything again after being extradited from Australia at 28. Crazy right... and you Wouldn’t believe me if I told you I started writing this book in Oslo, Norway! It’s fair to say I have had a few life experiences so here I am to share them with you. In my blog The London Barber Movement you will find everything to do with the barber industry, men’s health and well-being, fitness, fashion and inspiration... Please enjoy and share our story.

Book preview

DOWN BUT NEVER OUT

BY JAYDABADMAN

To my two beautiful kids,

Charlie Taylor Harris and Reggie Jay Harris.

‘It’s been a long ride but we made it in the end. Never give up boys’

Love Daddy Boss.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELEVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

INTRODUCTION

My Grandad is the most honest man on this planet. He told me that one day I would either be a millionaire or spend a life sentence bars. By me writing this book and you sharing what I am about to tell you will result in one of them predictions coming true.

Life is a funny thing. 99% of us have been born into a society where guidelines are set on how we are supposed to our lives in a correct manor. We are taught a right way to do things and a wrong way not to do things. The general rule of thumb goes something like this, we are born into a loving family, we attend school and learn life skills. We then go to further education such as a college or possibly start a job in a trade. During this time, we would have met a partner and thought about buying a house and having kids. We live our 9 – 5, go on holidays and then retire, finally dying old and happy with a good reflection on life. That’s absolutely great.

Now, why 99%? there is still 1% missing. What happens to those fuckers?

Well, I’m about to tell you firsthand about my journey, an insight into the 1% and how your guidelines of society, well they didn’t really go to plan for me.

From the age of 11, I’ve been involved in gangs, stabbings, and drug related violence. I learned a very valuable skill at 14, which in turn, funded an unplanned extended holiday to Spain at 16. The holiday didn’t last long and I came back to England after getting on the wrong side of Moroccan drug dealers after a few months. Later that year, I was welcomed to parenthood and had my first son at 17. I know I had to make a bit of clean money, so I opened my own barber shop business at the ripe old age of 19. After a few years of ups and downs, I welcomed my second son into the world at the age of 22. I live life in the fast lane. I married their mother in Las Vegas at 24, before I moved to Australia later that year to change our lives and Holy Fuck did I do that.

I broke up with my ex-wife, lost my whole entire life and separated from my family at 25 years old. I wasn’t kept down under for long, excuse the pun, bouncing back losing 25kgs in weight and appearing on an MMA TV show in Sydney at 26. After fucking that up due to greed on my part, I decided to return to Melbourne and created my own Barber reality TV show, The London Barber Movement at 27.

8 months later, splitting with my second love and onto my third, I lost everything again. This time was even better than last, I found myself being extradited from Australia after being grassed up to immigration about an ongoing visa issue. Leaving to visit my kids in the UK at the age of 28 I found myself traveling to 12 countries in 5 months.

OI I know this all sounds a bit crazy, it fucking was. But listen this life I lead is normal to me. What is normal? The one-million-dollar question 99% of you already know… but listen up. I’m about to indulge you in the remaining 1%, a firsthand free for all account into the remainder of society that walks this earth and plays this game called life…

CHAPTER ONE

Age 11 - Start As You Mean To Go On.

Life is a beautiful thing for some, but for me, it wasn’t always a pretty picture. When you’re a kid you don’t have much control over things, but when you hit double digits, say around 10 or 11 and you live on a rough council estate, you can do what the fuck you want. Once a wise man told me life is as hard as you make it. In the first years of double digits, I did a good job at making mine very difficult. My closest family to this day still don’t even know what I was up to as a kid. I was great at it then and still a great master at hiding my emotions to this day.

It started when I was 11 years old, playing football down the local park like all the other council kids were. In the beginning, I was no different to you; everyone in my area was brought up in a broken home, that’s never been my excuse for the way I turned out. All the families in my area never had a lot of money to buy nice things, cars, phones, houses etc. Council estates in England generally mean 2 things where I’m from; either the people who live in them were on low incomes or the most likely answer scamming the government benefit system.

Having no money in your family on my estate also meant 2 things.

One you went without and struggled or two you found something to make your money to have luxuries in your life. Typically, this meant selling drugs.

At the age of 11, this is where my life took a turn and led me on a path of destruction. It was a normal day, I was playing football down the park with Rav. Rav was an Indian kid who was my best pal since primary school that lived in the next street from me. Gaz, a friend of Rav’s that lived in a nicer part of the estate was the only one of us who could afford a football and goalie gloves to play football with and was always with us. Gaz was a good kid, we got on well but we were never best friends or anything like that. We only hung out when Rav was about, that might have something to do with this one time I stabbed Gaz in the arm down corner shop with a nail file? I think it was for not stealing from the shop I actually can't remember…

Anyways, we were all walking to the wreck (local park), me and Rav had just ‘knocked’ for Gaz as we had nothing to do and wanted to play football. We walked past the flats opposite the wreck and heard shouting from the window. I looked at Ravi with an inquisitive look on my face. What the fucks going on there?

Rav responded in shady manor Bruv that’s Mad Michaels yard, he’s crazy Bruv. You don’t wanna fuck with him he sells all the drugs round here. Rav knew all the gossip in the area. He had 2 older brothers, Sunny and Deepak that knew a few naughty people and always told Rav at home who was who and what was what.

I laughed as we were walking past the block kicking the ball up the wall. Something came over me, the cheeky little prick that I was made the most stupid move I possibly could. FUCK YOU MIKE I shouted over the noise trying to be a smartarse. Gaz and Rav looked at me with a sight of disbelief on their face. With that Mad Mike emerged and unfortunately locked eyes on me and registered a mental image of who I was. WAIT TILL I CATCH YOU, YOU LITTLE CUNTS.

Gaz had already run miles ahead, Gaz was a quiet lad, there was no need for him to hang about with 2 monsters like me a Rav. A good kid came from a sensible hard-working family, Gaz always had nice things and never caused any trouble. I think he hung about with me and Rav because we were cool kids. No-one really fucked with us and everyone knew us whether they were in the older or younger groups in the area.

BRUV YOUR CRAZY both the boys told me as we arrived at the park out of breath laughing.

We thought nothing of it, when we got to the park we had our usual game of football, normally heads and volleys followed by bum slaps for the loser, then made our way home.

Little did I know that this ‘Mad Michael’ got the name Mad Mike in the area for one simple reason. A young kid called Darryl had done something like what I did that day, he made abusive noises outside the block and back chatted Mike. Mike then portrayed to leave the block to get in his car, with an axe, then chase Darryl into the park on the field and try and run him over. No one since then had made abusive noises outside the block. Except for dickhead here.

A few weeks went past, every time I went past Mikes block to play football or smoke at the wreck I was always wary. Being 11 and knowing you fucked up and the stories I had heard about Darryl, I’d always be scared that this cunt was gonna come out with an axe and chase me in his car. I was tense as a mother fucker every time I walked past the block. Rav would occasionally get me making a joke, as we walked past he’d say he saw Mike looking out his window and he was coming down. Which obviously led me to shit myself and run as fast as I could down the street. It was scary, but at the same time I thrived off the adrenaline and being chased. I love living on the edge and I don’t know why, but I used to stupidly think I was safe because I was a kid and if I ever got caught nothing bad would happen. I was a kid. They were the adults, nothing bad could happen, right? … Unfortunately, this was not the case when Mad Michael finally came into the equation.

It was a Thursday in the school holidays, a group of us was hanging about outside the block smoking and older kids drinking and showing off their pocket knives. At that time, it was becoming the in thing to carry a knife with you when you were out as a protection weapon. It had been about 6 weeks since I gobbed off to MIKE and thought he’d probably forgot about what I said previously. This was my first lesson in life that is still true to this day, bad people never forget bad things.

I was with Rav and a few other boys from the area, older and younger than myself. I was talking about football and the new premier league football album that had just come out and how I wanted it. Seeing all the other kids with the cards and album gave me my first bit of hunger to want something I couldn’t have because I never had any money. Gassing on about Chelsea to Peter who supported Spurs, I heard this Mancunian accent shout from above. Aye lad, Get up here now. I shit myself… who me? I replied.

get up here now before I come down there and smash your fucking head in

Everyone went silent. An older kid named Tobias said in an arrogant manor, laughing at me. BRUV YOU BEST GET UP THERE INIT, IF MIKE COMES DOWN YOUR FUCKED RUDEBOY! I looked at Rav and we both thought the same thing. I better fucking go.

I started walking towards the steps, I knew Mike lived at Flat 72 everyone did. Rav started walking with me but I told him to go back, it was my trouble, not his.

I made my way cowering up to the blocks steps and arrived at number 72. I remember thinking shit what have I done, I’m dead this cunt is gonna kill me. I looked down at the letter box and then rolled my vision up to the busted rusty number 72 on the door. Before I even got the chance to knock the door, shaking like a shitting dog, it opened and I was dragged into the flat by the scruff of my neck.

What you doing lad? Who the fuck are you? What do you think you’re doing in my flat? You think you can just come in here?

I kept quiet, this was my first time under interrogation where I believed saying nothing whatsoever, would be better than dribbling out shit and getting into trouble.

What’s your fucking name? and without hesitation and against my initial action, I dribbled out my name, holding back tears of fear and a lump in my throat.

What were you doing shouting outside my place the other week? I said nothing again and caught a slap round the head like a bitch. it wasn’t me I said still trying not to shake.

look here you little prick, lad I see you outside here all the time with them dick heads…Who are they?

Mike proceeded to interrogate me and find out who the boys were outside, all 20 so of them. He asked me if they smoked weed and if they had money and if I wanted to make some money. Ten minutes prior to being interrogated I was discussing with Peter about his football cards and album and how I had no money for one. Of course, I wanted money who didn’t? I told Mike that I wanted money and what did I have