There were these black kids hanging out on the street everyday outside the G.O. compound in the Dominican Republic. And they'd just mill around like there's nothing to do, Ariel and his friends drinkin' tequila, Luis David showing off on his lil moped of a bike, Pedro and his buddies playing Betilla (Vitilla) with bottlecaps, and some of the smaller kids just milling around. You could tell some of them were gonna grow up to be Ariel or Luis David, but some of the kids were also pretty innocent. During la siesta Kerri and I and sometimes Emily or Emma would pop out of our American sanctuary onto these foreign streets just to hang and mill around with the Dominicans.
There was this amazing day that I woke up and just knew the sun was gonna be shining for the entire day, cuz the sky was clear and the heat was killer. Then we came back to the G.O. compound for lunch and it started pissing rain. It started raining as hard as it does in the Bay Area, and then got WORSE. Like, I thought tubs were being poured on me.
Anyway, this americano que no vive aquí told me to get out of the rain, and that I could get tetnus from the concrete and polution being smeltered all over me cuz of the water. So I went back into the shelter of the G.O. compound, where all the "white people" were watching. And these Dominicans, they start rapping in SPANISH. Which is awesome, so I take NikiVel's sandals and get back out there, trying to figure out what's goin' on, what they're sayin'.
And they're beatboxing, and laying more and more beats onto the beat someone started, and as the layers build, someone starts rapping on top of it in Spanish. And I'm just like yo, this is so freakin' sick I wish I rapped more. AND THEN:
The Dominican twin starts SIX STEPPING, and I was like YO, I KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. YA, I KNOW SOME BREAKDANCING SOME. And someone tries a Nike, and I'm like YO, I'MA PIKE -- that's a type of freeze. And that's just how the story goes.
As Teresa likes to put it, she knew I wasn't stupid enough to try a backflip on the concrete and especially in the rain. I wasn't that stupid nope, nope, he's not that ... oh yes he is that stupid.
I tried it -- and just BARELY survived. Haha.
After that, I went back to the Guy's Dorm and these two kids, maybe 9 or 10, followed me in the rain. And they were coming in but I felt real bad cuz the dorms weren't ours so I told 'em esta casa es de G.O. ministries no es nuestra casa. And they asked me if I was gonna be around. And I told 'em voy a ir a la iglesia de Medina el domingo and told 'em about el béisbol after morning at church. Then they left.
And as it kept on pouring tubs outside and I took my first hot shower that week -- and I thought about that one song:
Oh I feel like dancing, it's foolishness I know
But when the world has seen the light
They will dance for joy like we're dancing now.
Every siesta after that, kids off the street would call out to me, even kids I dint really know in person. And they'd call out Jackie!
Or Chino. Dean the Chino.
next: Sixer's Jersey, HMB in a Convertible, Movie Scripts and Blogging
No comments:
Post a Comment