The Kick Back

Simple Moments

The walk home from Water's Edge was a breath of fresh air. Everything was put into perspective the moment I accepted everything. My feet stopped dragging and depression was no longer lurking. All I wanted to do was enjoy my last few days in Oakland. I had my home boy Mike who was more than down to get into "stupid shit"...as we called it. Whenever Mike and I got together there was never a dull moment. Moving to Michigan made me miss Mike like hell. No one never understood why Mike and I were so close, shit we never understood why things were they were between us. One thing is for sure we never questioned things. We were thankful to have each other. Even though Alonzo, Antonio, and Carlos were homies, mike considered me one of the homies as well.

Since I had stepped foot in Oakland Mike had been going through a lot. Mike wasn't the type of guy to be down and depressed, he was more of the type to let shit roll off his back. He had been dealing with father coming in and out of his life, Priscilla ended things with him so she could be with her "girlfriend", and the friendship's he with the homies were ending. If anyone need to smile and enjoy the moment it was Mike. Walking up to his front Porch Mike sat on the steps smoking his cigarette. Sitting next to him I pushed his shoulder. "Why are you up so late?" taking the last pull from his cigarette before flicking it into the yard, mike looked over at me. "I was sitting up waiting on you to come back. I had to make sure you were alright before I laid down for the night." Mike was overprotective at times, but I appreciated it. "Don't worry about me. You know I'm going to be alright out here." Pushing my head Mike looked as if he was happy to see me. The feelings were mutual. We needed a good laugh and I knew just how to put a smile on his face.

Mike was in the middle of running his mouth when I went into the house. Quietly creeping past his mother I went straight for the kitchen. Grabbing the biggest pot in the cabinet, filling it with cold water. Standing in the door way as Mike continued to run his mouth I ran outside and pour the pot of cold water on Mike's head. Shock fell over Mike as he stood up screaming like a female. Laughing I struck out running the middle of the street. Running in front of the neighbor's fence, Mike had run to his backyard grabbing the water hose. Spraying across the yard Mike managed to reach out and grab my arm spraying me down with water. Yelling to the top of my lungs, I seen gabby run out the house. Running back inside she hurried and ran down the street with a bucket of water. Throwing the bucket of water on mike, gabby pulled me away from Mike's grip. Laughing we ran onto her porch.

Antonio ran outside in a panic. "Gabby what the hell is going on?" Looking over at Antonio I struck out running. Gabby followed behind me as we ran into their backyard turning on the water hose. Gabby jumped in front of the door as Antonio tried opening the door. Running up behind him I managed to spray Antonio in the face. Trying to run off the porch, Mike ran up behind gabby and grabbed the hose. Antonio and I laughed so hard we could barely stand.

Mike, Gabby, and Antonio and I played for hours. We even sat outside talking about life and laughing. For the first time in a long time we all enjoyed the moment and forgot about our problems. Life had finally given us a moment to laugh and we took full advantage of that. Mike decided to call it a night and gabby was soon to follow. Looking up at the sky the stars had my full attention. "Antonio you better be getting home. Get you some dry clothes before you get sick." I watched as he made his way back home. My heart raced as he made his way home. Smiling in from ear to ear I made my way inside the house to call it a night.