Before I Black

LANGSTON REIGNS

"Noooo! Not my baby! Lawd nooo!" The screams are those of a woman in peril. "Mam, I'm gonna have to ask you to step back so that we can do our jobs," the doctor replies. "I gotta see my baby! My baby! I need my baby!" Her desperation has only now just begun. The doctor continues to plead, "mam please! I'm sorry about your lost, but we have to do our job!" The doctor has seen scenes like this many times before, over the years his compassion has worn thin, to say the least. The lady, an African-American woman in her late thirties, continues frantically, "no Lord don't so me like this!" The doctor, who has now been joined by a team of three surgeons, forces her into the hall before closing and locking the door. "Lady please!"

In the hallway she takes a seat on the bench, rocking back and forth, sobbing loudly. Her cries eventually grow strong enough to travel through the entire hospital. They are tears that a mother should never have to cry. After about ten of the longest minutes of her life, her tears slowly begin to come to a halt, a final submission to the heartache. She sits and waits, rocking still. A couple of the surgeons open the door, causing her to leap to her feet and sprint in their direction. "Is he ali--." Before she can reach them to finish her question, the surgeons bend the corner and are down the hall.

"Mom!" What turns out to be her eldest son has spotted her from down the hall. He proceeds to sprint over before asking her, "is everything ok?" "It's Kaleb!" she screams in a panic. Her son, beginning to sense the seriousness of the situation asks, "is everything ok, what's going on?" His mother, who has began to pant heavily again, continues, "my baby! No lawd, not my baby!" Her son, now realizing that she's talking about his younger brother, places his arms around his mother, knowing that she needs his support more than ever.

Kaleb Blackman is a 12 year old, on the verge of entering the 8th grade, yet by all accounts he is the most popular kid in the entire school, Langston Reigns Middle School. His friends Kenny and Kedric Knox, or the Knox Twins, or "Twin 1" and "Twin 2," are both already 8th graders, who like Kaleb, excel in the social arena. After all, their father is the head football coach. Kenny plays quarterback, Kedric is his favorite target, and Kaleb, as the only 7th grader on the A Team, picks up all of the scraps, and he's really good at it! Ironically, together they are effectively known throughout the school as "BlacKKK," or, "the Black KKK," Kenny, Kedric, and Kaleb."

I know, I know, kids most definitely shouldn't develop monikers associated with an organization dedicated to bringing death and disenfranchisement to an entire populous of people, especially their own, but on the field, that's exactly what they were, devastating. In their last game, against Johannesburg, they won 52-0 after the referees ultimately decided to stop the game, and it was only in the third quarter! Not to mention that it was the game to go to the championship round. Kenny threw five touchdowns, and ran for two more, with four of them going to Kedric and another one to Kaleb. Kaleb's touchdown dash up the sideline seemed to rock the entire stadium more than any other play though, because as with most things, Kaleb was the youngest person on the entire field, but he was exceptional.

After the game, the three of them walk home together, a custom they've developed since they've been on their latest winning streak, which now sits at 12 games. Usually they are accompanied by a group of at least three or four other kids. As I stated before, they were the 'Crème de la Crème,' of Langston Reigns, and as of their latest victory, they would reign for at least another week.

"Hey kid, you ran like yo daddy's Challenger out there tonight bro," spews Kedric. Kenny is confused by his brother's compliment, not really sure what he means. "My daddy?" he asks. "Hell yeah bro, seems like he was calling your number all night long!" "Man I called my number all night long!" Kenny retorts. The three of them all begin to laugh. Kedric then begins to focus his attention on Kaleb, "but this dude here, he was the talk of the entire game!" "My n*gga for real!" chimes in Kenny. "I mean c'mon, the n*gga was zigging and zagging, some of the sickest cuts ever!" adds Kedric. "Straight up n*gga, you sure you just twelve?" Kenny's question can actually be used to describe Kaleb's life in a vacuum, people's reaction to most of the things that he does. Like seriously, the kid was playing 7th grade B Team in basketball as a 6th grader, and starting! All three of them are pretty big stuff for their ages though, ranging from Kedric's 5'5 to the wiry 5'8 frame of Kenny.