Ordinary days in Seattle matched some of the days in my past; gloomy, dark, cold and gray. I attended a school a few blocks away from my house named Emerson elementary. I got transferred out of my kindergarten classroom because of my active behavior. Being talkative, playful, and independent. In my fresh kindergarten classroom I met my new found brother Cam. We looked alike being short kids, with tiny heads, brown faces, and long hair. I also met lifelong friends Keenan, Erin, and Kyianna. When I started meeting more people the dark days of my past started becoming distant.
My kindergarten days were during the mid 90's. A time when there were many social problems happening around the world. However back then we were advanced little kids. One ordinary day in my kindergarten class we were drawing pictures of people. I looked over at Cam's art, his stick figure person had breasts. I thought that was super funny so I drew breasts on my person too! Cam, Keenan and I sat at our baby table laughing. The humongous looking teacher approached us at our tiny table, looked down at us and said that we had to erase our drawings.
On a random day my uncle walked in my house. He said “Do you wanna play football?” I asked my Granny, she said that it was fine. My next life event was going to be playing little league football! The team I was about to play for was across town in the Central area (also known as the Central district) the name of the little league team was the Panthers. The Central district is walking distance from downtown Seattle it has a lot of hills, potholes, corner stores, community centers, city buses, churches and basketball courts; similar to the other side of town. The main street in the inner city is called Rainier avenue. This road is super long, it connects from the Central area of Seattle to the South side (also known as the South-end) On sunny days when the sky is clear, Mt. Rainier looks like it's literally sitting on the street.
When I finally arrived at Judkins park in the Central area. I noticed kids were scattered across the field. The color of brown faces with green grass made the park look beautiful. Before I got signed up on a team I had to make weight. Kids being placed on teams couldn’t be too light or too heavy. I was a skinny little six-year old. I possibly wouldn’t have been placed on a team if it wasn’t for the rocks that I stuffed in my pants pockets. I really wanted to play football so I made sure that I was going to weigh enough. When it was time for me to weigh in, I pulled my shirt over my bulging pockets, walked inside of the old rickety shed, and stepped on the scale. I was placed on a age group called the 89ers. This was the lowest level team a kid could play on, it was ideal for me at the time. That football season went by fast, I only remember a few of the games. However I do remember journey's back and fourth across town. There was a time after practice when my coach gave me a ride to my house in the South-end of town (in a area named Rainier beach). Some teammates and I were in the back of his truck, cruising down Rainier avenue. The chilly wind cooled the top of my head. The car we were rolling in stopped at a stoplight near a gas station. The area that we stopped in was a midpoint of the inner city. I looked around realizing the intense movement in the area. All sorts of ethnic people, city buses on the move and vehicle traffic. I was still unaware of the deeper context of the struggle. We continued driving on the busy main street then I realized that I had to use the bathroom. Rainier avenue seemed liked it stretched forever. It got to the point where I was hoping that my house would magically appear. I looked at my teammate who wasn't looking in my direction, I just had to pee! A little bit of urine trickled inside of my sports girdle, then I clenched my tiny bladder and held it for the rest of the trip to my house. A good thing about playing football for the Panthers was that I met friends that lived on the other side of town. The following year I played for a team near my house. The name of the team was called the Rainier Beach Vikings. Athletes on my new team called me a traitor but the reason was deeper than football: I would say the city of Seattle has four main sections the Central district, South-end, West Seattle, and the East side of Seattle. During the 90’s and early 2000’s the inner cities (Central, South, West) were active with culture, community, and sadly crime. When I got older I started realizing the problem between people from different sides of the city, this often makes parties, clubs, and events dangerous to attend around Seattle.
