Lenondre King

FIQWS 10113

Note

This is a work of nonfiction that includes a story of an individual whose experiences has impacted his sense of self. Whether or not I was able to ask particular person to use their story, I changed details that made said person unidentifiable.

Prologue

He’s been in pain. He’s had this pain in his heart since. He was 5’10 four years ago, and now he’s 6’3. Growing physically is one thing, but sharpening the mind, honing skills so mistakes can’t be repeated again and again, could take years, decades, and maybe forever. He’s always reminded by his family, the church, and his friends to always think of the bright side of things, but they never seemed to understand one thing. There are always two sides to a coin.

Heads, Tails…In, Out…Up…Down, you tell HIM. There’s always going to be bad things that come out of the human experience, and this story is none other than one of those things. “It was a mistake!”, I said to him that day. But I’m getting ahead of myself because, I too am a part of the

human experience.

Chapter 6

The motto of “Dedicated to Excellence” is owned by none other than the most prestigious

African American dominant high school in Brooklyn, New York. That is Medgar Evers College Preparatory School. Their outstanding collaborative efforts of getting young men and women of color a solid education proves the excellency of their motto alone. Academically, this institution is rivalled by no other school in its area. But everything else…yeah. They suck at sports, the students rarely have any motivation to form clubs, and faculty can be rude as hell. As a result, students may find themselves alone, as on social media other “rival” high schools seem to have their students engaged with activities and events that promote interactive and collaborative learning. This is what I thought entering the school in sixth grade, and still stand by it today.

Chapter 8

You would think a 60-degree day, with heavy rain is a bad day to play basketball, but everyone in Medgar says otherwise, since there’s not much to do in the area anyways. Most kids go to M.S 61’s park since, it’s the closest one in the area, and our school didn’t have a gym, nor auditorium to hang out in. However, this park was the most dangerous one in the area as it was in the heart of Crown Heights. Back then we use to call it “Crime Heights” as there were gangs stationed on every block. As you walked to school, the bus, the train they were everywhere. Imagine doing this for seven years, 6^th to 12^th grade. Us going to school here, everything seemed slow paced, like a routine. You felt like you were stuck in the same never-ending cycle.

 

All of his friends had left the park to go home, but his friend and another stayed back to get some shots up. He already knew in his mind it was a bad decision to stay knowing he would have would to go back to school by myself, since he has to have his mom pick him up. He was drenched in rain, ultimately deciding to leave. It felt like a walk of shame since he knew he would get in trouble once he gets home because, in accordance to his mom he was supposedly in tutoring. Well, after following him for three blocks my friends and I finally decided to surprise him.

 

“What’s up!” he said to me with utmost enthusiasm as we hadn’t seen each other in a long time. My friends didn’t really look as intrigued as I did but looked as if they were scoping the scene for any casualties.  My friends started questioning him asking, “Where are you going?”

“You got a cellphone I can borrow?” and “Why are you on this block?” After the intensive interview it was pretty obvious what was going to happen next. It took him a while to comprehend the situation, but after 20 seconds, his face become pale, face began sweating, legs started shaking as if he’s been walking for hours and stuttering every time he spoke. They began searching for his bag and he started crying as everyone on the sidewalk turned a blind eye. He began to cry as he was never prepared for this type of situation. In my mind however, I knew I had to do something because, he is my friends. “Yo guys what are you doing, we could do this to the next kid” — then one of them searching the bag proceeded to punch me with the heaviest fist saying, “I don’t care”. Next, they raided his sweater and paints pockets, finally finding his phone.

I wanted them to stop, but I knew we didn’t have the power to do anything. They asked him for his password, and he gave them it without hesitation. After the two thieves ran away, they asked me to go with them, but I decided not to as my friend looked so depressed and traumatized. He wouldn’t even say a word to me on the way back to school.

Chapter 12

I’ve come to two realizations these past four years in high school. First, his struggle that he had to deal with that molded his mentality. Second, the courage he’s assembled since the incident to be able to appreciate the mystery behind his entire being. The fact that he didn’t remain introverted since the incident, portrays the beauty of remembering the past. It gives an insight into his strong, persistent character, illustrating his ability to walk tall.

Epilogue

Sometimes I wonder of the day I’ll meet him again. It’s been seven years since we’ve conversated, but not due to any implication in friendships, but to give space for me to grow as a character in my own narrative. It would be great to mimic a guy of such high stature, as right now he’s acquired his medical degree in the accelerated program of Sophie Davis Biomedical, but playing the sidekick in someone else’s story isn’t the right role for me, as I’ve learned in the past. I want to direct my life, the way I want it, and maybe in the future our paths will cross once again. Yet that may be just a dream.