Buddha: "Yeah, it says. . ." (2 of 2)

Buddha Friday 1 of 2 Link

Where Did He Go?
Back to the Jump story. You know how time slows at moments. This was one of those times. Saw Buddha’s hands in the dark pool of mountain river water. Didn’t know how deep the water was. Only thing I could remember is that Jason didn’t know how to swim. His arms were flailing away. Why in the fuck did he jump? This gung ho personality change was going to get him killed. Not knowing how deep the pool and looking at the Rod and Brian it was clear this could get ugly real fast.

Lifeguard Lesson
Looking back. I was lucky my girlfriend Shelle at the time had a lifeguard sister, Kristy. She explained, “At times, the best way to save someone is to push them away. Because if a panicked man grabbed you, he could drown the both of you. Don’t know why this nugget of information would come to mind. But it did. Funny, it came to me when I was flying in the air. 

It's Deep
Next thing I remember was my how dark it was in the drink. Don’t remember touching the bottom so I know it was deeper than 10 feet.

Could feel his feet at my head and the only thought was push him away. “Keeping pushing. Don’t let him grab you. Keep pushing until you get some footing.” This was all I was thinking. Life gets real simple at times.

Floaties
Remember the scene in the Titanic. Right after the ship hit the iceberg. All those people climbing over each other in the freezing water, using the other passengers as floaties. This was the imagery coming to mind as I pushed. There are moments when time slows. Like that first kiss, that first car accident, that time when she said, “Yes.” This was one of those times.

More Relieved
Felt the rocks at my feet and wash of relief came over. He can stand up now. We got to the shore and his face was calm. Like it was no big deal. Took my cue from this. Thought about blasting him on how stupid this was. His risk taking behavior could have gotten us both killed. Then I remember, we dared each other.

Thankful
Never did lecture him. It’s like grabbing the child who was playing in traffic. You are more relieved that he is alive than mad for him not using his Grey matter. Adrenalin does that to people. I remember rolling my eyes, hunching my shoulders and just smiling. Looking up at Rod and Brian for what seemed forever. Buddha said, “Jump.” Shook my head. They were smart and decided to go the long way.
 

I was thankful for being there. Buddha’s jump was admirable. Not smart, too. Still, there was a lesson in this. Sometimes we need to do that. Jump. If we never jumped, if we never threw caution to the wind, if we never got in the scuffle, we would not exorcise these inner gremlins. We would never grow.

Disclaimer
Before going further, it must be said. Don't jump down a waterfall if you can’t swim. Don't throw down in a basketball fight, either. What I’m saying is that it is a choice. It's an adventure. Sometimes the choices we make will make us sick. We must give up who we are in order to become who we need to be.





Text Messages

Rod took the long way

Found that picture of that waterfall he jumped into some many years ago. Sent it to him yesterday. He put it on the background for his laptop. Buddha text-ed me, “Thank you. . .hopefully, it tells me something.” I smiled and responded back, “Yeah it says, Take swimming lessons.”  

Truth is, I love him. He reminded me that there are worse thing than dying. The picture reminds me that sometimes we need to take that leap of faith. Literally.

At times, we are guardian angels. At other times, we need guardian angels. It is our duty to pay it forward. It can come in the form life-guarding 101 lecture. It can be a jump in the drink. It can be de-escalating a fisticuffs. Remember you are the Big Smile’s gift to yourself. . .And others. It is your choice what you do with these presents. 

Chris Tucker, Friday YouTube

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)