Twenty-Some Years Later....

If I had the chance I would go back in time to about 23 years ago to Battle Creek, Michigan. I would be a senior in high school, Co-captain of the girls Softball team and probably working on some project for art class. During lunch time there was ALWAYS something going on. We had open campus so we could leave the school grounds for lunch. My freshman and sophomore years I was always off campus but my Senior year I would hang out in the court yard and listen to the Rap battles or watch the break dancing competitions

Alot of the time I would spend kickin it with my friends walking the halls.

On those days when we would walke the halls I would spend it looking for a guy named Adonis. We had an interesting sort of friendship. From what I remember, he was always saying "girl, u crazy!" or calling me insane. We were ALWAYS laughing! 'donis use to roll mad and deep with his boy, Chris. If you found one, you found the other. Me and my sister used to say... " when they get married they're wives aren't going to put up with 2 husbands cuz them two boys are connected." There were very few times you would see one without the other.

I had a "thing" for 'Donis since the tenth grade. I thought he had a thing for me too, but I was never REALLY sure. Ok maybe I was sure a couple of times but they really were fleeting moments of surety. He always kept me guessing. Anyway there was always "that tension" between us but it was never acted on. Maybe that's what kept things fun. There were times when he Chris and I would hang out and be rollin deep. Then there were times when I wouldnt see him for months. Such is the life of high school I guess.

Senior year became really weird. It was like one day we sort of disconnected. He would probably tell you differently but I felt disconnected. I'd see him and there would maybe be some quick eye contact but not much else.

I would love to have played out one of my favorite day dreams: See him walking toward me down the empty hallway: with just me and him, grab his hand and pull him into one of the broom closet and kiss him until his legs went weak. And then just leave him in their wondering "what just happened" as I skipped off to my next class. Maybe it's a good thing I never found him in the hall by himself or at lunch time.



There were a couple of times I saw him laughing and chillin with the pretty girls in the hall. I did NOT belong to that crowd, I was pretty rough and rough around the edges. Girl Jock. I put my efforts into my softball stats and art in my senior year and Adonis sort of disappeared. He took Chris with him, cuz, you know, they were always together.



Sometime after high school when I did see him he was dating someone. He did not look happy at all. He wasn't laughing and I rarely saw him without a smile or laugh. It was always kind of sad to see him that way. After that time I left the state to go to college in Rexburg, Idaho. (yeah, long story.) But came home that summer.

The summers in BC were pretty fun to me. The Worlds Longest Breakfast table would happen during the summer time and Also the International Hot air Balloon fest, with it's various fairs and carnivals. I can remember being on a chase team and following the hot air balloons until they landed and also serving at the breakfast table and performing during the international festivals.

One day I went to one of the carnivals with some friends.

I noticed a familiar stature a little way off in the distance.

He stood tall and strong
Sexy
Stoic
Eyes: distant.
Stance: defensive
He wore a black Kangol, black muscle shirt with arms chocolate brown and RIPPED.

I made my way over to him. It had been a couple years since I'd seen him and I wanted them chocolate arms around me. I don't recall the converstaion. But I recall the feeling around the conversation. And I didn't recognize the stranger in front of me.

So much for broom closet kisses and turtledoves flying over head in heart shaped patterns.


That was the last time I layed eyes on that boy. I went back to college in the fall. After my 2nd year of college I lived in NJ. I came back home to Michigan for about 7 months and might have seen him once but didn't make an effort to acknowledge it. This time when I left Battle Creek, I never went back. That was about 23 years ago I've been back to hang with the family in Albion, Jackson, Detroit and Saginaw. But never really went back to Battle Creek.

Over the years I have thought about 'Donis. I always remembered that laugh of his quickly followed by the memory of that hard man at the carnival who seemed mad at the world and void of feeling. Always sort of bittersweet in wondering what happened and "what would have happened if...."

*sigh*

A few days ago my friend Brooklyn hooked me up to a website called Facebook. It's like internet crack or something, totally addicting. On this website you can have a page and find all your friends from the years and family members and play games with them and blah blah blah. I was setting up my page and decided to do the High School friend search. I put in my high school and the year of graduation. Out of my Graduating class of over 600 people only 3 had profiles on this web site. Guess who one of them was? Yeah, the boy. Flashes of broom closet kisses ran through my mind and I just sort of smiled and then continued to set up my page. I didn't feel the need to really contact him. The next day the voices thundering in my head kept chanting
"Adonis! Adonis! Adonis!"
They wouldn't shut up or go away. So I clicked on his profile and sent a little note. Not expecting much in return.
It turns out I guess he's been mad at me for 20 years for leaving.
GEEZE WHO KNEW! (Apparently Chris new. They're still boyz after all this time. I think that's pretty cool)
I guess they wanted to know where the heck I went.
"we thought you went to Uganda or Botswana to be a missionary swingin on vines naked in the jungle with the natives"
Well being A Mormon I can see where he got the Missionary part. And Maybe he got Utah and Uganda mixed up but Utah is where I've been for 18 of those years.
" The SMILE :)"


Anyway here it is Twenty-some years later and guess who I been chillin with for about the last week? Yeah, the boy. The best part is he has his laugh back. I love it! And I hope it never goes away.

Now where the heck is Chris?

Ps: In all fairness, this is HIS side of the story :) http://lefthandedinmyrightmind.blogspot.com/2008/02/second-time-around.html