To Be Announced

My Twenty one year old Nephew , Ghengis was helping me tie my tie as I put on my shirt and vest. In a few minutes I would be getting married to Jennifer Smith.

''Mann Unc...I sure wish you had of put me on, when you was slanging...I'd have a whole lot more
dough in my pockets than I have now." he joked.

"Just be glad I didn't....You wasn't built for that game...It wasn't me and it definitely aint you...You been up under your mama most of your life....You couldn't have handled these streets...You'd of wound up in jail or worse." I said.

"You never know Unc....I'm pretty good with math...Maybe I didn't have to be on no corner runnin up to no car...I coulda been like you, behind the scenes..with a crew workin for me ,reportin to me."
he laughed.

"Ghenghis , that's not even funny..Nothin to joke about....You still have to manage that crew , make sure aint nobody short, nobody stealin and make an example of somebody if they do...You might have woulda had to have killed your boy...Would you really have wanted to be in that position? Aint nothing glamorous about bein no gangsta...Always worried about whether somebody is gonna put a bullet in your head or whether you're gonna get knocked by the cops...
Believe me, I sleep a lot better now than I did then. " I said.

"That's cause you got a fine honey out the deal to sleep with..hahahahahahahaha.....At least you kept that car..The bimmer is phatttt! ...Remember when you took me to Vegas that time? The time you bought it?" he laughed.

"Yeah...Wasn't one of my better moves..." I said.

"It's all good....Maybe when I graduate ...I'll get a high payin job and still be able to get me a bimmer." he laughed...

"Everything aint about money Neph.." I said.

His college education was being bankrolled by some of the money I had made by ill gotten means. When I got out of the game...I wanted to do something good with the "blood" money I had in my possession...So I paid for my nephew to go to Temple University for the full four years. I was also paying Chris and Chess for his apartment and his books. I was keeping my foot
squarely up his narrow behind and making sure that he was keeping his grades up..

He talked a lot of junk...but he basically is a good kid...He's been on the deans list a few times....
He's my older (by ten years) sister's only son.... Nine years seperate me and him. I wisely kept him away from the game and all of my associates in that world...Like I said...He wasn't built for the streets.

He got me to thinkin though....There are a lot of young cats like him out there that are impressionable and that are being lost to the streets....They need someone, someone like me who's been there to be able to talk to them and steer them clear of that street life... Someone that they will listen to...It was just a thought....

As we finished putting our tuxes on there came a knock at the door....It was Donald Smooth. He was dressed to the nines...

''Heyy Brother...Today is the big day huh?" he said.

"Yes sirrr.." I laughed. I had a paper bag....I motioned for him to step outside the room...

"Genghis...Go on downstairs and make sure everything is tight." I said.

''Alright unc...I'm on it." said my nephew as he left.

"Your son?" asked Donald Smooth...

"Son? Nah..That's my nephew...My sister's kid." I said.

"Hey Basil...you are home free kid...I got it from a good authority that Geechie Dan will no longer be bothering you.....or anyone else for that matter...hahahahahahaha." he laughed.

"Word?" I said.

"Yeah...He got into it with some New York playa and he took a one way ride in the bay." said Donald Smooth.

"Here man...Thanks for this...but I won't be needin it anymore." I said handing him the bag. It contained the .38 smokeless he had given me to defend myself.

"You sure?" he asked.

"I'm sure....I don't think I'll ever need it again...but if I do...I know where to find you." I said.

"For sure brother." he said and we embraced....

"Now go get some of them good things we talked about." he said.

II-

Jenny looked lovely walking down the aisle towards me.......Anita Jenkins, Cherish and three other girls were the bridesmaids.... Chance Howard, Paris ,Blake and Downtown Rob Brown were
my groomsmen...and my main man, Chess was my best man...Chris Thompson and Donald Smooth were out there in the audience as was Kevin Morris, Sepia, Ms. Mabel Jenkins, "88",
Clerow, Corabeth, Gus and many many others....Pastor Struthers married us.....It was a very beautiful and moving speech he gave about marriage and new beginnings...His new wife, Rita was there, looking at him and smiling....

"You see son...." he said to me after the wedding....

"If an old lech like me could change....Then anybody can...I know you used to be a drug dealer."
he said.

"You did?" I said incredulously....I had never told him or anyone in this church anything about my past..

"Oh yeah...yeah...you had that look, that swagger about you that said Playa, up and down...plus, I keep my ears to the wood...I hear just about everything going on...but look..that's who you were...not who you are.....God kept you alive for a purpose...." he said.

"Oh yeah...what purpose?" I asked.

"That's between you and him...he'll let you know....but he has protected you from harm so far." he laughed.

"That he has..." I laughed.

Epilouge-

Jenny and I came back from Blue Island and I quit my job on the trains.....I went to school full time and Jenny supported both of us with her money from her Nursing job at the hospital...I got an Associates degree and later a Bachelors in Public administration....I got a good job working at
a utility company.......Jenny's glad...It's taken a lot of the burden off of her purse...

I borrowed money from Chris and Chess and opened up a Youth Outreach center a year later...
This was my purpose...This is what God was saving me for....I recruited a number of old heads and some young bucks who like myself had been in the game and had give it up for something better....In the evenings we go around, we talk to cats on the corners...We go to the playgrounds..
We mediate disputes before they come to gunfire or blows...We encourage young men especially to do something with their lives......This brings me great pleasure...My way of giving back....

Oh yeah...I'm a Deacon at the church now too.....Jenny sometimes complains that she doesn't see
enough of me...I know.....but I've found my purpose...and I owe it all to my nephew ,Ghenghis...
His talk got me to thinkin about others...Saving other guys from these streets...It was the best way to honor my Contract with God!

For SLC!