Street Smart

Chapter 103: Sam

    I got to the basketball courts just in time. Benny was ready with his guitar and luckily was able to bring his mom's camera, which was a nice canon that would work perfectly. Joe and Greg had also leant their fathers camera and had tripods we could use. It was really incredible to see the amount of support that everyone was giving Benny. He needs it right now. It just goes to show how amazing these guys are. They're real.

    The day was absolutely perfect to shoot a video. The basketball court was empty of people, besides us, though there were some kids playing on the soccer field down the ways. Everyone helped me set up the cameras at different angles around the center of the court where Benny would play his guitar for the song. Honestly, my stomach was freaking out with butterflies. They're all counting on me to create something amazing for Benny, but I'm not sure I can.

    "Ready?" I asked Benny who was dressed up nicely in jeans and a baseball-style t-shirt that had navy blue sleeves. I think the thing that stuck out to me the most — more than how attractive he was — was the dog tag that hung around his neck. It wasn't just decoration or something to make him look cool. It was extremely meaningful, and something he doesn't often talk about. It was his father's ID tag from when he was a soldier. He was wearing it while he died, and now Benny wears it everyday to keep the memory alive. For all the stuff Benny goes through, I don't know how he does it. I mean, if my dad died...I don't know what I'd do.

    "Yeah, so how is this going to work?" Benny smiled.

    "You can just stand in the center and performed the song. Then we'll get the other shots."

    He smiled and jogged off to the center. I watched for a moment, then got my camera and began to film Benny's simple serenade of his new song.

    "You can push

    and you can pull.

    You can tear me apart

    and try to rip out my soul

    One beating heart

    against the other.

    Contradictory

    What's your intent, brother?"

    Immediately, he poured every ounce of emotion he had inside him into the song, and it was beautiful to witness. I know I keep saying that, but there really isn't another word to describe it. Everything was just beautiful about the whole scenario. He was all soul. Like an actor, he was powerfully in character.

    "I was standing strong,

    soaring to my own theme song.

    You had your weapons

    Now, tell me, why make me the felon?

    You had it all and so did I,

    but you just wanted to hear me cry."

    As I maneuvered around the court, trying the get the best angles, tears welled up behind my eyes. He is stronger. Benny has withheld so much crap in his short life. He's not even out of high school and he already had to be the head of the home and deal with low life idiots like McCarthy. Sometimes, I don't understand how life works. I mean, who gets to decide who gets it all and who doesn't? I know that everything is supposed to happen for a reason and that a bit of good challenge is necessary to push and evolve as an individual, but it doesn't seem right that those with everything get to try and ruin it for those who've lost so much and can't have it all.

    "I'm flying free,

    proud to be

    the one who stayed together,

    the one to be true forever.

    You can start a war,

    but I won't be fighting back.

    I am stronger than that."   

    Tears fell. And I wasn't even embarrassed. Looking around at the guys, we all felt the pain drifting in the air, being released from Benny. What caught my attention was the stronger sense of recovery. Defiance. It wasn't a song about being the victim. It was a song about falling and getting back up. It was a song like no other.

    "But I felt my wings sway

    Your path seemed the only way

    falling through the sky

    wounded

    by a guy

    not understanding why."

    His trust was so evident and heartwarming. An artist is only an artist if they can reveal their message, and Benny had certainly done that. I'll be the first to say, this kid's getting a Grammy one day. And I'll be cheering the loudest when he does.

    "Slipping to my grave

    I was brave,

    but here I am,

    forgetting savior, all in pain.

    I was flying free,

    proud to be

    the one who stayed together,

    the one to be true forever.

    You can start a war,

    but I won't be fighting back.

    I am stronger than that."

    I knew that Benny was singing about something so different than my own problems, but his confidence in being stronger really left a mark on me. The world we live in is so full of insecure people sinking to others levels that sometimes I even start falling too. When the world is trashing your hopes and dreams, how do you find strength? Well, I guess in Benny's words, you just keep fighting back. I'll do that. Fight my mother until there's nothing left of me, because either way, that's my fate. I'd rather go down as a soldier than a bystander.

    "Through the clouds,

    clarity was found.

    So, right now, I'd like to thank you

    cause I realize I'm not the victim at all.

    Lay your weapons down.

    End the war.

    They won't help you fight anymore.

    They won't get you that crown.

    Quit trying to fight the pain.

    Take a step back.

    Take a deep breath.

    We are stronger than this."

    And just when I thought the song couldn't get any better, Benny proved me wrong. Looking into his eyes, he seemed so passionate about it all. McCarthy's going to feel like an idiot when he sees this. He picked the wrong victim. And so will my mom.

    "Don't you see

    It's good to be flying free,

    proud to be,

    the one who stayed together,

    the one to be true forever.

    Not for the act.

    Without a contract.

    A war won't get you the satisfaction

    you so eagerly want to attract.

    Can't you see?

    We are stronger than that."