Ascent

Anytown, USA - January 20, 2009

The cell smelled like urine and stale vomit. The boy becoming a man stood at the bars awaiting his release from the County Jail that had been his home for the past two days. Samuel was wrongly jailed for loitering in a white neighborhood. When he entered the facility, the Cracker from Texas was President, today his nation had a young new Commander partially of African ancestry who promised change. Samuel had only heard, read, and saw on video Dr. Martin Luther King, but his parents, both educators, were in DC on the historic day when the "I have a Dream" speech was delivered live. They only hoped back then that they would see this day, but never expected it so soon.

He left the jail alone, parents both at work, probably watching the historic inauguration with their students. George and Esther Brown, both decedents from slaves knew that Sammy would be released today, but Samuel didn't want them to pick him up, so instead of calling them on their cell to retrieve him he walked out the front door alone, like so many other wrongly and rightly incarcerated young black men.

Samuel lived the experience written about so often. Black boy in white neighborhood must be up to no good, so the police profiled and arrested him without incident. Samuel was an honors student, a senior in high school. George and Esther wondered why it took two days for his release, they tried relentlessly to get him out, but the process takes time, even with bail. Sammie was simply at a corner on his bike waiting for a friend of his who lived there. The weather was cold so he was wearing a hoodie. A black teenager in a white neighborhood stood out and a frightened citizen called it in. It was so bizarre that a black nerd could drive someone to call the police simply based on skin color. So it was, so it is, so it must change.

The boy walked out of the inner city precinct and disappeared into the mass of people navigating the urban streets like schools of fish in the ocean. Samuel was not aware of the three men following him; one in front, one behind, and one beside. They new he was heading to the bus that would take him to his suburban home. The streets were especially crowded as it was lunch hour and the boy walked with the city attitude needed to survive. Samuel was as well versed in the nature of the street as he was in the nature of biology. A street smart nerd he was, who would become a doctor someday.

He boarded the bus, and the trio joined, disbursing within. Samuel was unaware of his entourage as he took a seat somewhere in the middle. The bus began to move, rocking from side to side as it entered the traffic, plume of black smoke exhaled from the exhaust burping a cloud of diesel discharge. Samuel cherished his freedom from incarceration, another story he would someday tell his grandchildren of how things used to be. But today was the turning point, the day that black Americans had hope, freedom, and no more excuses.

The bus finally stopped at his neighborhood. Samuel departed and was quickly flanked by his followers. A chill ran down his spine as he simultaneously realized he was being followed and recognized one of the faces. It was that of the arresting officer, but now he was in street clothes. Samuel walked faster in an attempt to displace the unwanted company. His heart pounded in his throat as he broke into a sprint. Like the Jews, he would not walk without a fight into the gas chambers as he did a few days earlier into the squad car. Those bastards were not going to take him twice.

Now he was on his turf, and he twisted and turned through the streets toppling carts as he passed the grocery store in a vane attempt to stop his chasers. No such luck. Mrs. Porter watched in disbelief as she saw Samuel run towards her. "Call my parents!" he helled as he passed by, the police turned thugs in pursuit, one of them knocking the elderly to the ground. She lay there disregarding the soon to be emerging bruises, took out her cell, and dialed the number for Mr. Brown. The school he taught at about a half a mile away, seemed across the universe from his boy in need. "George, there are some white men chasing Sammie!" she hollered.

"Where?" he replied.

"Forest and Abernathy, heading south," Ms. Potter informed.

"I'll be right there." George disconnected the call, shoved the flip phone in his trouser pocket and ran from his class, not taking the time to inform his class. They, along with the entire school and millions of students across the country were watching the historic inaugural ceremony. They barely noticed the missing educator. In an effort to conserve energy, money, and get exercise, George rode his bike faithfully each day. He quickly unlocked the chain and jumped on the commuter style bike. George pedaled as fast as he could towards Forest Street.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Potter was being helped to her feet by a stranger and Samuel disappeared into the distance with his attackers in tow. Mrs. Potter thought one more call was in order. She had no idea that Sammie's assailants were police. Mrs. Potter used her cell again, this time to call 911 and report the incident. "Hurry, they are almost to Sunset Avenue."

Then Samuel made a would be fatal error. His father was twelve block away on Forest heading in his direction, a squad car was twenty blocks away on Sunset, heading towards Forest. Samuel appeared to escape safety by turning right into an unmarked non-descript alley. Samuel knew this alley well. It was where his bully adversaries would loiter when skipping school. He only hoped that they would be his protectors on this day.

Just as hoped there they were smoking cigarettes and passing a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, the crack consumed before noon. "Yo Sammie!" one boy shouted, "slow up boy," he said while holding his jewels in a vane attempt to keep his over sized North Poles up, the plaid boxers the only material covering his butt. James was getting ready to harass the nerd that he was best friends with in pre-school, the two taking different forks in the road in middle school. Then the three white men entered the den. They looked around at the dozen or so young black boys to men. The police officers had planned to scare Samuel into not testifying at the internal hearing for profiling the boy when they falsely arrested him.

Two of the three had been immediately suspended when Samuel's father made a fuss at the precinct. The third officer was not involved in the original arrest, but he slandered the boy by telling Samuel "get in that cell Nigger!". Mr. George Brown was an eloquent orator and he used his words well to intimidate the lieutenant at the precinct. Although it took two days to free the boy, the arresting officers were immediately relieved of duty the evening of the incident.

James changed his focus from Samuel to the three intruders. They were in plain clothes, no badges, but guns in shoulder holsters under their jackets. They turned to depart the way they came in, when the cave closed in with three you black men folded in behind them. Samuel recoiled to a corner of the alley and watched James court try and convict the three officers. Each and every gang member was holding and quickly brandished their hardware. James walked to the first first of three to enter the alley. "What you want with my man Sammie you cracker?"

"We are police officers," he stated as if that was a card to be freed.

"Show me your badge," responded James.

"We're off duty, we don't have them on us." He began to sweat. He had never been in a position like this without a badge to hide behind. "This is not your matter, your pal Samuel escaped and we just happened across him. Just let us have him and we will be on our way."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah."

By this time Mr. Brown had reached the intersection of the alley and saw the three gang bangers at the entrance. Usually he would have ridden over to the other side of the street, but Sammie was not in sight, he had a feeling his boy may be in the alley. He swung his right leg up and over the rear wheel and dismounted the bike, leaning it against the wall. He peeked in and saw Sammie against a corner and the three out of place white men as the trial began.

"Dis' is my court, and witness my jury around you." He approached the three officers and one by one reached in and removed their weapons from beneath their coats. "The accused are not allowed to have weapons," he explained. James tossed them to a corner, still holding his jeans up, this time by the over sized belt buckle. This was more formal than casually holding his crotch. They had company after all.

"Do you know what day this is?"

The three accused looked at each other, then to James and shook their heads.

"Today is the day a Nigga' takes the White House. One of our boys has made it there. Not as a gangsta', not as football hero, not as rapper, but as an educated man. He got himself educated like my boy Sammie here," pointing to Samuel who was starting to appear from the corner feeling a bit less threatened. "I have been blind all my life. Blinded by da' colors of my gang. Blinded by da' bling of my heroes. Blinded, because I just could not see it. But now I sees. It ain't da' pieces, or da' crack, or da' rhymes. It's about da' brains. "

James kept pontificating as the patrol cruiser arrived. His guards at street ran in both directions and the car entered the alley while Mr. Brown stood back by his bicycle. Half of the group disbursed quickly as they had done many times before, while the others stood their ground supporting James. The trial had come to an end before it ever got started.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands over your heads,"commanded uniformed officers. All the members obliged save James, who was not carrying , but refused to raise his hands. "you too nigger with the corn rows, raise your hands!" he demanded of James who acquiesced, but first reached back behind his over sized jeans to adjust the waist over his butt to keep them from sliding to the street.

The second patrolman thought he was reaching for a weapon and discharged his standard police issue .38 three times directly into the the chest of James. The bullets ripped through his flesh as easily as his shirt and blood splatter sprayed the three off duty cops as the medium build gang leader fell backwards, toppling down on Samuel, who broke his fall as they both hit the pavement.

"Oh my God," screamed George Brown. He had been on the streets long enough to know not to make any sudden moves, so he waited with his heart in his throat pounding like the beats of drums. Both patrolmen ran to James, the rest of the gang evaporated, as did the three off duty cops, but not before George got a good look at them. The images of the men who chased Sammie were forever embedded in his mind.

Samuel squirmed out from under James to allow the officers to evaluate him. One touching his neck, while the other radioed for an ambulance. It seemed safe for George to sprint to his son since there were only five people left in this recently crowded alley.George hugged Sammie tight then kissed him on the lips as he had done many times before, this time it did not bother the boy.

Just then Samuel felt his leg being kicked, it was James. He was not dead, and Samuel left his fathers embrace and knelt down at James' head, crimson life oozing from the corner of the gang leaders mouth. Then the dying gang banger whispered his last words to the scholarly boy,"Ascend from 'dis place Sam, don't be like me. Don't let any other brother be like me. I see my whole life now, and it was stupid shit. If I can change my whole life with one word, let it be Ascend." And then a guttural gurgling sound was audible to Samuel, and he knew his childhood friend was gone.

"Ascend my friend," he said to the corpse, hoping his soul could hear. "I swear to you this day, I will work hard to help others ascend in life, as you could only do in death." James' soul heard those words, and then was gone.