Tasha from the block, my first crush.. I remember you. Long hair (I know it wasn’t yours but it was still sexy). We played outside from flower pot to flower pot.. I remember you. My first kiss.. Dark skin Myesha with the bucktooth, I remember you. The first time I had that bulge in my pants that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.. I remember you… Your mother was fat and smelled a little tart, but her food still was good. Myesha I remember you.. April, the first time my genitals went to the Promised Land. I remember you.. Little robust around the waist, braids to the back, the white house on the corner of Dumont, I remember you.. In the park on that red house, it was cold outside but warm in you, I remember you.. The first kid I robbed at 13; I don’t know your name but I took that chain, I remember you. Junior High School 211, my first taste of the gang culture, I remember you. Wearing red and flag, before blood or crypt, I remember you.. Us beating up on dudes that lived in private houses just because we lived in the projects, I remember you.. My girlfriend in Junior High, Bianca, I remember you… I got kicked out that school for you. It wasn’t my fault you didn’t want him anymore and you wanted me, Bianca I remember you.. IS 390 in front of Albany, I remember you. Grown men out in front of the school drinking 40s and talking to 14 year old girls, I remember you. Living with my cousin wearing discount store clothes, I remember you. Big Group, my little big brother, I remember you. when it was just me and you against the world, I remember you. We played with matchbooks and hair rollers and had the best time of our lives, I remember you. East New York, Cypress Hills I remember you. Crack sold in the park, kid thrown off the roof, I remember you. Crazy BoBo, I remember you. I had to be 10 years old when you bought that big gun to my house, I remember you. Caught stealing from City Line, me my brother and two other kids, I remember you. My mother pregnant with Eunique so she couldn’t beat us, I remember you. My cousin Marzette beating us for the City Line heist telling us it was going to hurt her more than us (Bull Shit), I remember you. My big sister Shannon, I remember you. Taking us to Betsy Head, Brownsville’s dirty pool, I remember you. Those Saturday afternoons taking us to Empire skating rink, I remember you. Mommy working and you having to be the mother, I remember you. Shannon, you remember being caught stealing at A&S, getting your ass whooped, I remember that too. My grandmother, Amorie Nichols, I remember you. You taught me truth above all, you taught about being true to myself is the most important thing. You taught me how to gamble (pitty pat and the table stakes is $25) rest in peace, I will always remember you. My aunt Alisha, I remember you. When my mother passed you took custody of us. I remember you. Sorry for the hard times we gave you, we were just young boys acting up in school, I remember you. The cold dinners in the summer time, tuna fish sandwiches, and deviled eggs, I remember you. The fact that you didn’t’ take no shit from nobody, I remember you. My mother, Leola Pate, I remember you, the realest person I ever met, my foundation, my heart, my passion, my all comes from you. I remember you. That ass whooping coming out of a warm bath, I remember you. Hiding the belt and getting the extension cord, I remember you. You saying you were raising men and women and nothing in between, I remember you. You will forever have my love, rest in peace Mommy, I remember you. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I grew up on St. John’s between New York and Nostrand, I remember you. R.I.P. my aunt Catholine, I remember you. R.I.P. Donald, I remember you. Mellie, I remember you. Victor, Tootie and Starr, T-Rock, Book, Nike Boy, Rashonda, Tasha, Keewana, Pop, The Primos, my cousin Bobby, Borif, R.I.P Brandon, The Twins (both sets), St. John’s in general I remember you..
