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The Life that Found Me
by
D. Sekou
Amir was a freshman in college; he had dreams of obtaining his bachelors degree
in business in two more years. He thought after receiving his bachelors it would
be another year or so for his MBA. Being that Amir held a few jobs during middle
and high school he developed a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Everyone in his
hometown neighborhood was sure he would be a success, as long as his brother
didn’t bring him down.
Now, Amir and Akil were always tight and even piggybacked on one another’s
strengths. Being identical twins Amir would sometimes take Akil’s test; however
Akil was a lot better with his hands. Since no one could tell them apart when
their heads were shaved they always wore a baldhead during midterms or finals.
They shared lockers and would purposely leave their ids in the locker. There was
of course one obvious difference only a mother would know, one of Akil eyes was
lighter that the other and Amir had a brownish color to his hair.
Akil had a knack for not choosing the best of friends. This landed Amir in more
than his share of fights, being he fought his on battles and some mistaken
identity ones as well. Those always occurred when he was on a date. Both
brothers could hold their own resulting from years of sparing with one another
as youngsters. Since Akil waited until the last minute to try and take his
SAT’s, he actually had to take them, because at test time Amir was out of town
on a school trip. This resulted in Akil not getting accepted at Raleigh College,
a distinguished black college in the area. Out of frustration and disappointment
in his score he unadvisedly enlisted in the army, without telling anyone. When
he didn’t report for his physical for basic training they came knocking.
For about a week and a half after Akil left Amir was still depressed how things
went down with his brother. He had wished he could’ve done something. It seemed
like every time Akil would call Amir was working, so it was about a month since
they spoke. In all their life they’d never gone more than about three or four
days without speaking. There was so much Amir wanted to tell his brother, like
one of Akil’s old girlfriends ran up on him calling him Akil. Also, T. Rich
(Tony Richardson) from high school got busted selling drugs. At the time Amir
was unaware how this would impact the Ofari brothers (Amir & Akil). What was so
amazing about T. Rich being arrested is it appeared that he had so much in his
favor coming from a low upper class family, he would be the third generation of
old money, and was headed to a big world-renowned university. But now, that is a
dream unfulfilled.
The time came for Amir to head off to college and it was still two weeks before
Akil graduated from basic training. Although, they had since spoken, Amir wanted
to hangout with his brother before starting school. It didn’t happen. Amir
started school and had undergone some slight freshman hazing but he didn’t
mention it to anyone. The first two weeks of college flew by for him, because he
was focused on his brother.
Amir attended the graduation and noticed a slight change in his brother; his
confidence had risen, he wasn’t as playful, and everyone was calling him Ofari.
He thought that was cool since he’d been in college everyone called him AO (ayo).
After the graduation the brothers hung out all night getting re-acquainted.
Ofari had taken a week of leave and it was no surprise when he showed up at
Raleigh College (RC) on Tuesday to spend the rest of his time with his brother.
Amir was under the assumption that Akil would arrive around 1 or 2 pm when he
had no classes. However, Akil arrived around 10am when Amir was in class. Since
Amir was cool with security they waved Akil on campus and made some corny joke.
Akil smiled and headed for his brothers dorm.
Akil was side tracked when Charles, an upper classman flagged him down. Some
words were exchanged which lead to threats being exchanged. Akil said, “you
don’t know me!” then he drove off. Once he arrived in front of the dorm. He saw
3 ladies walking over, so he stepped to them and they planned to meet later that
evening.
By the time Amir got out of class Kris, another freshman ran up to him and told
him that he heard about his run in with Charles. Amir was surprised, and then he
realized his brother must be around. Kris let him know that he was with him. The
action was already in progress, two upper classmen had jumped Akil while
Charles, other upper classmen, and freshman looked on. Amir and Kris ran through
the crowd it wasn’t long before Charles jumped in. the dorm director and
security showed up shortly writing everyone up. Amir or Kris wasn’t hazed any
more but the tension continued to build. (add more about Akil’s leave and the
brothers hanging out)
In the meantime, Akil was making the best of the military life and running
through women. Amir had asked him to save some of his money for future plans.
Akil had become a true player and was saving a paycheck per month. Their dad
worked long and hard for 25 years so when he was asked to resign it shocked the
entire family. Right then, Amir’s attitude changed toward school, also his
definition of success.
As Amir continued through college he began to question a lot of things. Mainly,
he wondered was it all worth the time, struggle, and commitment especially
considering what happened to his father. He began to develop a stronger desire
to have his own. Things were looking up for Akil; he had been receiving more
recognition than anyone on his base. By doing special assignments, he received a
lot of awards. The talks among the officers were if you want something done call
Ofari. In three years he moved up pretty fast in rank, Akil was always careful
not to burn any bridges. Or change how he act towards anyone. Then he got the
news, they were transferring him to Ft Cobb. At first, Akil was frustrated and
even a little angry at the change, but he remembered Amir always told him to
take advantage of every opportunity. When Akil learned the base location he
became very excited. Ft Cobb was only about an hour and a half from RC (Raleigh
College). As he saw it the Ofari Brothers would spend a lot more time together,
and could wait to share the news with Amir.
After receiving the news, Amir was not as excited as Akil thought he should be
about the transfer. “Akil, I’m really excited but there is something you should
know.” Akil didn’t speak, ‘cause he knew wherever his brother started with ‘it’s
something you should know’ it’s never good. “It’s nothing bad, trust me.” Now
Akil was confused. “Well, it’s good that you’ll be that close, but…well… there
is… there is this girl...” “What”, Akil said, “I know you ain’t gonna let no…”
“Wait!” Amir yelled, “before you go there let me finish, ‘cause she ain’t no
bitch and nigga you an uncle now.”
Akil just shook his head, “and you the one always preaching to me.” Amir just
looked at his brother and said, “that’s why I couldn’t tell you. we were safe
but the condom broke.” They both laughed because that wasn’t the first time one
of them had broken a rubber. Akil, looked at his brother and shook his head
again, then he smiled and said, “don’t sweat it you might be an uncle too.” Then
he just laughed, which turned into a smile calling her name, “Louisa Maria
Torres.” Amir just looked at him wondering why he never heard anything about no
kid. “man, I don’t even know if she even had a kid, which is the sad part. She
mentioned it, we discussed it, a month and a half later she was transferred. I
don’t even know where. Every so often, when I have down time I think about her
and whether she had twins, just one child, or if she was just testing me. Later,
I found out she was transferred because Marcella (this sister that liked me)
trapped her one night and punched her.” Louisa was latino and since they where
in an area, on a base with very few brothers a lot of the sisters didn’t care
for anybody else taking any eligible brothers. The funny thing is most of the
brothers had two to three sisters they were seeing.
Amir told his brother he needed to track her down, because this was something
not to be taken lightly. Also, that his child would need a daddy as well as a
father. The way he saw it is that anyone could be a father but you earn the
title of dad or daddy by putting in time. If she were in fact pregnant the child
would be about 10 months old.
About four months after the transfer, the strangest thing happened to Amir. He
was suppose to meet Akil in the gym on base, but Akil was late. After he
explained to the desk clerk he was allowed access to the gym. Amir started bench
pressing and when he looked up all he saw was pecan tan legs which he traced
with his eyes all the way up the 5’11” Latin frame to beautiful sexy lips,
gorgeous smile, button nose, big bright eyes, and black hair almost shoulder
length. He asked, “may I help you?” Louisa looked down at him and noticed
something different about him. “How can I help you?” Amir asked again. “You
acting like you don’t remember me. Why is that?” she asked. Amir was silent,
really at a loss for words, because he didn’t recognize her. “Okay, well I got
something for you. Meet me at the door, you don’t even have to come outside,
unless you want to”, Louisa replied. Amir nodded in agreement as he nervously
got up from the bench and followed Louisa to the door. As she made her way
through the door she said, “Jalil Pedro Ofari, stop writing on the wall.” Amir’s
mouth dropped, “Louisa! I’m glad to see you, but let me explain. I’m the uncle,
not the father. My name is Amir and Akil was looking for you. Exactly how long
I’m unsure but at least the last six months, I’m sure.” She looked at him, and
then smiled, “I knew it was something different, but I thought it was just the
hair. Your brother talked about you all the time, but he told me you wouldn’t
understand. Look at you, the proud uncle.” “A lot has changed, but Akil should
be here shortly. Maybe we could all go for a bite to eat.” “That sounds good”,
Louisa said. “No let me hold my nephew,” Amir said with a big smile on his face.
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