Buddha, Fridays (1 of 2)

He jumped. 

We were just kidding. But there he went.  Could see it was a pretty long way down. That jump, left quite a big splash. We were smack talking, goading each other to strap on a pair. One second, he was there. Next, he wasn’t. Just like that. Brian, Rod, and I looked at each other in disbelief. He actually jumped. We looked down again. All we could see is his arms was flailing away.

Butterfly Buddha 
This was becoming more common. Buddha (Not his real name) was taking leaps in his personality at the time. Guess, he had enough.  We were all unaccustomed to this change in behavior. You see Buddha was becoming at this time. He was going through a change.

We balled often. It was a warm summer and we were playing at the school, earlier in the week. Buddha opened a can of whoop ass. Can’t say that it was surprising. Shocking, definitely. He has always been an intense person. Not as intense as my brother Kevin, but close. Seeing warrior mode in relatives is something I got used to. Kevin played with all heart and smarts. Kevin was the intimidator. Watching football, push back is common. Never saw push back come to blows on the blacktop before. This day was different.

Scorpios, Buddha and Allana
It appeared all the berating and unkind words was reaching whistle time. It’s been percolating for years. He is born at the time of Scorpio. It has been said, those born under this sign are very intense and have ability remake themselves. Allana (Not real name) was like this. Both are good-hearted people that went through some trying times. She had something taken from her. From the moment I met, her personality was recapturing what was stolen. Allana was the person I was thinking when Buddha finally decided he had enough.

Time to Be A Giver
Buddha was looking to re-take something that was his. Throughout his younger days, he took a lot of grief. Looking back, his receiving days were over. It was time for him to be a giver. Those growing up with him were amazed at this time of reclamation. All I could think of was watching an angry sleeping elephant wake up.

Rumble in the Jungle
On this day, we found ourselves playing with these loud, boisterous self-proclaimed ballers. Think boxer, Floyd Mayweather. They were good and seemed to enjoy smack talking. This team jelled and they were winning by intimidation. It was our turn.  This game was heightening in intensity.

The player that Buddha was covering was tall and had attitude, the enforcer. Getting in people’s faces trying to get them out of their game was his modus operandi. There was lots of jawing. After a layup, the player, let’s call him Mouth, bumped chest with my cousin, saying, “You can’t cover me.”

Mount Vesuvius
He let this one go. It was common for him. However, one could see he was seething. He played harder and made a couple of plays that made the Mouth look bad.  The Mouth was getting chewed out by his teammates for his play. Play got rougher as the score was tighter. Head games were returned. Poor play was now destroying the Mouth’s confidence. He gave a hard foul to Buddha expecting no response. Buddha was taking it. Closed lip, focused on just winning the game. This was his style.

All of sudden. Buddha was throwing hands. Never saw it before. I was agog. Buddha was in actual fist fight. It was both slow and a blur simultaneously. We were all taken back by Buddha’s berserker rage. It was. . .I don’t know. Jaw-dropping?

Chris Tucker, Fridays
In a sense, it was relieving. In another sense it was disturbing to watch. Won’t describe the graphic savagery. It makes me uneasy. Wish the visuals weren’t in the cortex. Someone with such a good heart and calm demeanor exploding like that. Imagine Ghandi transforming into an angry demon pit bull/ hellhound mix. Think Animal Channel on Steroids. (Chris Tucker, Friday YouTube on the next post)

If you are boxing fan, remember the match between British fighter Hatton and Filipino Champion Manny Pacquiao. Buddha threw a picture perfect shot. When I saw the Mouth's jaw explode one way, while the rest of his body face stayed stationery. It was a car accident to the Mouth's face.Whew. Got to close my eyes on that one.

I am disturbed and uneasily proud. All I could do is shudder and  shake my head.  Not pretty.

All the cousins were stunned. Buddha. . .we never thought it wasn’t in his nature.We were wrong.

Lucky, we had the group wherewithal to not let things escalate too much with the Mouth’s friends and teammates. Brian threw down someone. Mike, did the same. I held my guy down and said, Let it go. Rod, I think, pulled Buddha off the Mouth. Honestly, this part was a blur. We left. I do remember the Mouth wasn’t saying anything anymore. He couldn’t.

From that moment, things for Buddha changed. (Continued Buddha, 2 of 2)