It was summer, and the sun was starting to hang low in the sky. We were all at the park hanging out. We had layed claim on an old bench right by the basketball courts. It was really more of a playground, than a park, with old rusted swings, the basketball court, with its bent netless rims, and patches of grass fighting through the concrete.
There was Reggie, leaning back with his arms stretched out on the bench like he owned the world, which to hear him talk, he did. Next to him was Dee, who had just about the nicest smile in the world. On the other side was Tanya, dressed up in her best blue Sunday dress, even though it was a Thursday. She just liked to dress up, whether she was going to church, or just going around the neighborhood.
Sitting on the rail behind them were Marcus and Leon, brothers, with Leon being the oldest, and the quiet one. Marcus, to hear him talk, was the better looking of the two. The two of them were real jokesters, and would have people cracking up with their witty comments. Then there was Big Ray. He really wasn’t all that big, in fact, he was sort of skinny. He was the peacekeeper. Anytime there was some kind of conflict between people, Ray would always get them to settle down, and talk it out.
Finally there’s me, Kenny, sitting on the end of the bench next to Tanya. I was the youngest in the group, just by a year though. Everyone else was going into the eighth grade in the fall, and I was going into the 7th. My first year in Junior High.
The evening was like so many other summer evenings. Guys playing on the basketball court, people walking up and down the street. Some people would be out sitting in front of their homes, some with speakers at the windows, blaring some Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, or Jackson 5. Cars riding up and down the street. Kids playing baseball in the alley. That old guy we secretly referred to as Pencil Pimp, in his white Cadillac, with all of the flags and decals on it, cruising up and down the street about twenty times.
“Man,” Reggie said, “y’all don’t even know. When I make it, I’m gonna get me a Cadillac. Bright red with black leather seats, and white walls, and I’m gonna cruise down the street just like Pencil Pimp.” Dee smirked. “Please. You don’t even have bus money half the time.” Everyone started laughing, and even Reggie couldn’t suppress a grin as he rolled his eyes at her.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tanya chimed in. “You’re gonna make it, Reggie. We’re all gonna make it. I know we are. One day when we’re all old and everything, we’re gonna look back and remember all of us sitting here thinking about what we’re gonna be one day.”
That was the thing about those days. The thought that anything was possible. Nobody had money. Not really. Everybody’s parent’s worked long hours. The bills stacked up sometimes, and as it is sometimes with families, there were times when the refrigerator didn’t stay full for long. Sitting there in the park though, none of that mattered. What mattered was the friendship. The thought that no matter what, we were going to stand up for each other.
I piped up, “When I get big, I’m gonna be better than Earl The Pearl.” who was my favorite basketball player. Marcus laughed, lightly punching me in the arm. “Man, you can’t even touch the bottom of the net yet. Keep working on it though. You will.”
The evening wore on and the trash talk and jokes flowed easy. The street lights flickered on as the sky darkened. “Remember last summer at the park when they took all of us to the wrestling matches at the auditorium?” Big Ray said excitedly. “Man, that was something.” Everyone voiced their agreement, except Tanya, who didn’t go because she didn’t like wrestling. “The Crusher against Mad Dog Vashon.” Reggie piped in. “Blood was everywhere, and Kenny got so excited he spilled his popcorn all over that man sitting in front of us.” How could I forget that.
That memory set everyone off again, with their laughter drowning out the sounds of the playground around them. As the laughter died down, a quiet came over the group. Pencil Pimp cruised by for the twentieth time. Behind us, you could hear the pounding of the basketball, and tennis shoes, as the hoopers still ran up and down the court even under darkening conditions.
Each one of the us quietly thought of the reality that lay ahead of us. My dad’s union had gone on strike….again. Big Ray’s older brother was in jail. Marcus and Leon’s father drank too much. He was cool when he was sober, but when he drank, he was mad at the whole world. Tanya’s mom was hard on her because she didn’t want Tanya to end up like her cousin, who had made some bad choices in life, and was now paying the price. Dee’s mom worked long hours, and depended on Dee to take care of her two younger brothers and sister when she was gone, which was a lot. Reggie, well as good of a front as he put up, he was worried that he would never measure up. That he would be a failure. He was scared that he would end up just being another one of those guys hanging out on 38th street.
We all sat there quietly, in our thoughts, checking out the night activity going on in the block. One day, this would all be gone. Everything that made our neighborhood, a neighborhood. The corner stores, the record shop, the youth center, the small businesses, schools. Everything. Everything that made our neighborhood our home. We didn’t know that then though. We thought it would go on forever.
After of few minutes, Marcus and Leon stood up. “Well, we’re out. Gotta be heading home.” Marcus said, wondering what state their dad would be in when they got home. Everyone agreed, it was time to head home. Tomorrow, they would be back. Same time, same place. It was summer.
The years went by and they all eventually went their separate ways with college, work, families, careers, and even grandchildren. They all often thought about their days of just hanging out together. I would often tell my grandchildren about those good old days. My pastor at church would always begin a sermon by saying, “If I could title this sermon, I’d call it…” I often wondered how I would title those days, if I could. It came to me one day. It was a song by Erykah Badu. “Back In The Day When Things Were Cool.” Yeah.