The Team: For Donquel

lolol... That's what Grandma always called him. But I call him Donn, sort for Donnie. And that's not his real name either, lol.

If I'm gonna talk about me and Tariq, then I GOTTA talk about me and Donn; the relationship is much the same. When I was Tariq's age, he was my "big brother" and mentor; but technically Donn is my older cousin. He's been there for me since I was pint-sized, and to this day he's still with me.

Donn set several things in motion in my life. But the first thing he did was get on my friggin nerves, lol. I was kinda timid when I was little, and Donnie used to make sport of ruffin me up. Bad thing was, I couldn't even fight back; Donnie was like in high school playing football when I was still in elementary school wit some thick glasses. He used to pick on me, call me "nub" and "scrub", put me in tailspins and watch me stumble around the backyard... stuff big brothers are supposed to do, lol. Thru it all, I did become tougher. And it wasn't always all bad; sometimes I remember Donn teaching me stuff like how to catch a football, how to square out and run patterns and stuff. Speaking of football...

Donn was the one who first introduced me to video games, lol. I think the first whipping I got was in this old game for the NES, Tecmo Bowl. I didn't think it was possible to win that game. And I KNEW it was impossible to win against HIM, lol. But I kept trying and trying.

Then came the upgrade... Donn had a Nintendo, but then he got a Super Nintendo. And, though I was too young at the time, he reluctantly introduced me to my very first fighting game: Street Fighter II. That was the game that changed my life. I think I fought Donn for 3 years+, and I never remember beating him, lol. But I never gave up. And it's the same thing that's happening with Tariq and me right now; one day he'll think back too all these whippings and appreciate them, lol.

As I continued to grow in combat stature, as I was now addicted to fighting, I got my first taste of the real fights of life. I think it started around 1995, the golden year of my life, and the peak of the 90's in my opinion. I was in the 5th grade I think, and my cousin just got his first SUV, which he still drives today. It's a white Nissan Pathfinder. Of course, now that he had a new ride, I had to ride along right?

I remember one time my cousin put a CD in his car's player. It was the Soul Food Album from the Goodie Mob; not really meant for kids. But, like Tariq, my mind was able to process the messages I heard on the album, thru the profanity and all that. And whereas the world seemed so friendly before, I now realized that life would be a great challenge to meet. Especially for me, as the CD really brought the things I learned in my class to life; that racism was still alive and that young Black males should be alert to it.

From there, I got sensitive to music with messages. I would listen to my cousin's music and find all the "deep stuff" (deep was the best word I could use to describe it back then, lol). One day I told my cousin, "This OutKast album and this Goodie Mob album sound kinda alike." And my cousin told me about the Southern music conglomerate that I still subscribe to to this day: The Dungeon Family. It was like God used my cousin to take my mind out of the mainstream before I got sucked in and caught up, like the rest of these people I see. So I thank God for my cousin.

Through it all, I now see that my cousin's real strength is his love. He embodied for me the values that my family upheld. He was patient with me, made time for me, respected his elders in front of me... I can't remember Donn doing anything wrong in front of mesince I've known him. Not counting beating up little sisters, cuz that's what we big brothers do, lol.

So you see, over time the animosity I had toward my cousin as a kid... it faded. And now, he's one of my best friends. He's a source of a lot of my confidence. He calls me Vincenzo (a play off of my middle name) whenever he sees me. I don't see him all the time, cuz he's got a family to care for now. But nothing's changed: a heartbeat ago, my whole family went up to Tennessee for a funeral. I got to ride in an Expedition, sittin up front with my cousin while he was behind the wheel. As I sat in the passenger seat, Donn said, "I'm gonna need you to peep that rearview for me to help me switch lanes, aight Goose..." I asked, "Goose? Where did that come from?" And my cousin answered, "What, you never seen Top Gun? Goose was Mavericks' navigator..." I think I'll always remember that.

I still get overjoyed when I see that Pathfinder pull up in the yard. Thanx for everything Donn.

A ginger beer toast... All Love to the homie DonquelB-)

(Yeah, I need to hip you to this DGGJGB too, Mav, lol...)