Set in the year 2005 in the projects of Harlem, Ny. A Deeper Love In Him is the story of Joel Ray (J.R.) A subtle eleven year old Harlem native who's dreams is of finding his true potential in life. Along his journey he meets Marlo, a no good boxer...
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It was exactly 10:45pm that Monday night. June was ending so it was very warm outside but still, a bit of wind lingered, cooling me off as I played my own self in ball that night in Rucker park. I was drenched in so much sweat I took off my T-shirt and hung it over the fence, hoping it'll dry off a little. It was late, so there wasn't a soul in the park at this hour but me and maybe a couple of fiends. It was pretty much dark out side. The 5 dim lights on the basketball court, one of them flickering, was the only bit of light left now. When I wasn't shooting skelly with my homies i was here, in Rucker. I liked coming over to the park during this time. Main reason because I couldn't come out this late on a school night but being that it was summer Vacation, time and curfews didn't seem to matter. Another reason was, I was adventurous, you know? Harlem was like an entirely different world durning the night time. The sun saved a lot of people in this neighborhood, while the moon, like the grim reaper. Dark coat and pale white face, took many souls. You couldn't even imagine the evilness that took place at night. The neighbor that you thought was a wholesome church going Christian during the day, was out here messing around in some unholy shit after hours. I even saw Andre, our local mail man a couple nights ago coping crack from Pete, one of the most arrogant drug dealers over here on the west side of Harlem. The mail man and my mother was really close, being that she worked for the board of education and all. Every time he'd see her he'd have something to say, especially to me.
"Ms. Ray, you are just getting more and more beautiful each time I see you. Dang girl! A ray of sunshine you are indeed."
"Why thank you Andre, it is always a pleasure to see you working hard" my mother would say, the sun coating her golden colored eyes.
Already hypnotized by my moms grace, he'd try to break the spell by changing the subject...
"And oh, uh, y'all better be behaving ' y'all selves and respecting y'all's momma"
He'd say, looking from Bria to me.
"Especially you, young man.."
He was staring at me with contempt. Standing at ease with his arms crossed like he was some authority figure or something. An authority figure trying to be a father figure, that didn't sit too well with me so I never had any respect for the dude.
"You don't wanna end up out here like one of these knuckleheads now, do ya'?"
When he said that, I knew he was referring to the crowd I chose to hang around.
He didn't seem to like me and my friends too much because we used to play pranks on him every time he entered the projects. We figured since he was the one responsible for delivering our report cards to our houses, he'll be the one to suffer the consequences. Around last summer, Megan and I almost risked getting 2nd degree burn from the scolding hot water we filled a few water balloons with. We were going to get Andre good this time. He snitched out Megan by telling her step dad, that she ran out of the Deli without paying for her hero sandwich and chips. Megan's step daddy, Luther, a Tall and linky tanned skinned man with hands the size of baseball mitts. Luther spoke with a high pitched "Little Ritchard" voice (the musician from the early 1950's) Even when he wasn't yelling at anybody, he was yelling. Luther was a serious woman beater so you can just imagine how badly Megan got hit after pulling a stunt like that. Anyway, we snuck up to my roof a week after that incident and Balms Away, we lit his ass up with so many balloons he was screaming mercy.
"All you little heathens are gonna end up on the streets or in prison one day if you keep up this behavior, you just watch!" He'd say, shaking his finger in the air, making his way on to the next building. Now look where his black ass is. Right here. On the street. After work hours.
The alarm on my sports watch went off just as I was dribbling the ball. I took a shot. I made it in.
"11:30" I said under my breath, looking down at my watch.
Suddenly a voice I did not recognize cracked through the air like a whip.
"Good enough time to take ya' behind in the crib before they start shooting more than hoops out here"
Swiftly I turned around but before I could get a glimpse of the mans face, he was slowly walking out of the court with nothing but sweatpants and and white air forces on. A pair of boxing gloves hung solid around his neck. His bald head reflecting the badly lit court lights. He stood about 6 feet tall but somehow he looked smaller from my window whenever I saw him outside. His dark skin gave him a lowkey demeanor so naturally no one payed any attention to him - other than me - and he liked it that way. And through it all his face was still a mystery to me. There was only one thing I was clearly. The boxing gloves.
"Ayo' wait up!" I shouted across the court, both hands cupped around my mouth.
Stopping in his tracks, standing about twenty feet away from me.
