Never Give Up!

As a hobby of mine, I enjoy creative writing and the art of expressing one’s imagination.  The other day I sat down and began to think back on my childhood and I used a little bit of my imagination to create a short story, part fact, part fiction. This story was created as a “bedtime” story for my nephews in hopes that they’ll get the message of “Never Giving Up”. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime. The life behind bars is a very hard life, a life majority of people will never live but for my brother Kendal Mclaurin, this proved to be the only life he knew. Growing up in the inner city of Newark we all had it rough but my mother Ms.Ligon did her best had making life for her three sons a little easier.  Working two and three jobs for years and years, my mother really never had a lot of time to spend quality time with us but her hard work, effort and dedication made up for the missed time. With the absence of a father figure life seemed to become pretty lonely for us but we each found solace in different things. My little brother found his in sports and being an athletic freak of nature. I myself found solace in school and becoming a scholar, unfortunately Kendal leaned to the streets and the violence and negativity that come along with being into the streets. At the age of thirteen Kendal entered into the street life and since that day, nothing has been the same with him.

Kendal ran into his first serious issue as a junior in High school. Kendal was caught breaking into a teacher’s car which was parked directly in front of the school. The immediate reaction to hearing this news was, “Wow how can this dude be so dumb?”. Because it was his first offense as a Juvenile Kendal only served a few weeks in the Essex County Juvenile House then was released on house arrest. Although Kendal was confined to the house because of the house arrest monitor locked on his ankle, he still managed to find his way into even more trouble.

He would sneak outside to be with his friends, as they smoke marijuana and drank liquor while they were all under age. My mother would never know this because she worked from the sun up to the sun down. All of Kendal’s late night rendezvous came to a halt, when he was arrested with two of his friends for breaking and entering into a local grocery store.  After being arrested, Kendal realized that he had really messed up and there was no turning back from that point. He knew that he had disappointed my mother yet again and this time there was no making up he could do. Because he was 17 and this had been his third arrest in two months, Kendal was waived up as an adult and he was sentenced to three years in Northern State Correctional facility. This was a huge blow to my family because although he was committing these criminal acts, he was still my older brother and he was going to be missing from my life at a time when I needed an older male guidance the most.

While incarcerated, Kendal began to think about life very differently. He realized that the things he was doing out in the streets were either going to get him locked away for the rest of his life or murdered. He began to read the autobiography of Malcolm X and from our weekly phone conversations I noticed the change in his mindset right away. Instead of asking me about the girls at my school, he began to ask me about the professors I had and the subjects we covered in classes. It was very strange at first but I was excited to know that my brother cared for what I loved. He also shared with me the fact that he had began to work out and play basketball again. “ I talked to Coach Mo(his high school coach) today, I let him know I was back in the gym getting shots up and that I’m going to college when I get out of here”, he playfully said to me one day as we spoke.  Although I knew he was playing, I still encouraged him to chase his dreams and never give up hope.  He took heed to the things I said and he worked his tail off while incarcerated; he obtained his GED and was a three time MVP of the inmate basketball league which was ran every winter. His statistics in the league was phenomenal he averaged 45 points per game, 12 rebounds and 14 assists while leading his team to a championship each year he was there.

Upon his release for prison, Kendal enrolled into our local community college Essex County College (ECC) with aspirations of one day joining the basketball team they had.  All it took was for one practice and the coach instantly fell in love with my brother’s abilities. My brother became the starter for ECC that season leading the school to its very first conference championship. Kendal averages for the year were 36 points per game, 11 rebounds and seven assists. These fantastic numbers gained the attention of major Division 1 programs across the nation but when Hall of fame Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski sat in my living room in hopes of recruiting my brother, I knew he had found his “calling card”.  The look on my mother’s face was priceless and I was proud that it was because of my brother, who had caused so much hurt in heart before.

Kendal enrolled into Duke University in the fall of 2005 and became the starter there as well. He led the Duke Blue Devils to the national championship game where they unfortunately lost to their in-state rivals the North Carolina Tar Heels. Despite losing in the Final game, Kendal had a stellar year. He averaged 28 points per game, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, which are unheard of numbers for a transfer recruit to the Duke program. His play throughout the year was so dominant, that many mock draft boards had him projected in the top 5 picks in that year’s NBA Draft. Coming from the inner city of Newark New Jersey, Kendal did not think twice about entering into the draft, all he wanted to do was take his family out of the projects. Before draft night, Kendal and I had a very deep conversation and out of his 22 years of living I can honestly admit I’ve never seen him cry up into this point. “You made it Big brother, you really made it”, I said in a very joyous state. “No Bro, We made it. If it wasn’t for you I probably wouldn’t have strived to be as great as I am now, you mom and Z are my motivation and diving force. Thank you little brother.” he replied back. But when I looked up I noticed it was tears falling from his cheek as he hugged me and from that point on I knew he finally realized that no matter how rough life may seem, just keep fighting and never give up and you’ll see a brighter future.

The next day was the Draft and we were all nervous as if we were getting drafted. Kendal was the calmest out of us all, as if he knew the outcome of that day. “ With the Number one pick in 2005 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks have selected, 6’4 Shooting Guard, out of Duke University, Kendal Mclaurin”, the commissioner read. As my brother went up to the podium to receive his Team hat and jersey, I sat there emotionless. I couldn’t believe that my brother really was the number one overall draft pick, from three time felon to NBA star were the thoughts circulating in my brain. As I watched the smile on his face as he took his picture with the commissioner, I realized that dreams do come true and with hard work and dedication you can turn any nightmare situation to a dream/fantasy. My brother is living proof of that.