IRREDEEMABLE

IRREDEEMABLE/ Seventeen

IRREDEEMABLE/ Seventeen

(Katelyn)

                             Ashley had returned from the trip to his aunt during the Thanksgiving holiday…he told me how he had this other aunt, who he hadn’t ever met because she wasn’t fond of his mother- and how they had this all out discussion, which led to them trying to patch things up. He told me about his newfound cousin, Jaleeah, who he thought was cool…I was happy that he was able to have such a positive breakthrough with the rest of his family- especially after previous conversations we would have. I used to tell him about me going to visit my grandmother(my mother’s mother), and how she would spoil me- and Ashley would never say anything about his extended family. One day, I finally asked him about it and after a while(of me constantly badgering him about it), he finally told me…I felt bad that both his parents’ familes had taken that type stance about their relationship. After that, I made a mental note not to bring up anything about my trips to my grandmothers’ anymore- I didn’t want to amplify Ashley’s desire(and frustrations) to connect with his.

                             Christmas came, and Ashley had gotten me a replica of his varsity jacket. I gave him a digital frame- complete with pics of me, so that he would always be able to have my picture to look at in his room. Both our families had gotten together for dinner, and to top the holiday off- Ashley’s  father had tickets to a Knicks game…I was finally going to see what Ashley passionately enjoyed so much. It was fun- the seats weren’t courtside, but they were close enough…my dad had accompanied us, but he wore some regular clothes. I had on a long sleeve orange Knicks tee that Ashley had bought me; his father wore an old Knicks jersey that had the name “Ewing” on the back. Ashley had on a long sleeve orange tee(like mine), with a blue short-sleeve Knicks tee on top. He had even worn his Knicks colored Adidas, as he and his dad cheered, yelled, and jumped in their seats. I had seen Ashley happy, but never THIS happy- as the game came to the halftime mark.

                             The Knicks won, and Ashley and his father talked about it on the trip home.

                             “Carmelo was on fire!” Ashley raved. “See, that’s how I’m gonna be when I get to the Knicks…Imma straight roast dudes, forreal,”

                             His father chuckled…on the trip home, I had fallen asleep on Ashley. At one point, I had moved around, hearing a bit of a convo between his father and mine.

                             “Had you and Marilyn heard from UConn’s Engineering department, about Katelyn’s application?”

                             “Not yet. I know how bad Katelyn wants to go to Connecticut…and I can say I’m very impressed with some of her cad designs. She’s very creative,”

                             “Aside from the fact that she and Ashley want to stay together,”- they both chuckled at that point.

                             “So Kevin…do you really think that Ashley has what it takes, to become a basketball player at the next level? I mean, I know he’s good- God, that boy is beyond good…but getting into the NBA is a whole ‘nother beast altogether,”

                             “I think Ashley is very aware of that fact…which is why he applies himself every day. I can’t be too hard on him for some of the other things he does, because he’s hard on himself. He knows if he doesn’t keep his grades up, not only will he not get the scholarship, but we’ll pull him from basketball in a minute…he knows we value his education- moreso than a basketball scholarship. We can pay his way through college- he just wants the scholarship. He knows he could just give up and become a computer programmer…but it’s been a dream of his, to play basketball. That’s what we do as parents- make tough sacrifices, so that our children can attempt to pursue their dreams,”