every cat, at least once in their life, has had the experience of
being with a woman like nicole robinson.
it was the second semester in my junior year of high school.
summer was hovering like a stick-up kid around the corner.
class was the last thing on my mind. mostly it was all about
hanging out, getting lifted and having fun. then we went to
catch the bus to jamaica avenue to get home. and to do it all
over again.
to catch the bus, we had to walk under the long island
expressway one block up. imagine at least sixty black kids
walking in a predominately white neighborhood....in sweltering
heat at 2 in the afternoon. on this day, a friday, i was just
looking to get home and play some ball. luckily, i got a seat
before it was too crowded. it was a good one too, that lone seat
next to the back door where you had extra leg room. so i sat there
while my partners went to the back. most of the girls had on the
requisite summer outfit.....tight jeans, 54'11's and tight t-shirts.
there were some who wore those dresses(you know the ones), the
brown ones with the slits up the thighs. i sat and took it all in.
enter nicole robinson.
she was a southside jamaica queens girl all the way. sweet
as a pitcher of cherry kool-aid but if you pissed her off......
explosive like m-80's in glass bottles.nicole had a skin tone
that made me think of the lemon meringue filling in my aunt
daphne's pie every thanksgiving in the bronx. hair that was
the color of rich honey and ended just above her shoulders.
eyes that were that shade of night before a riot broke out. she
had a body that made you throw out all of your nudie books
that you were collecting...and a behind that made blue jeans
cry until they were stonewashed out. she was getting on the bus
and heading to the back. i always used to hear LL Cool J's
"pink cookies and a plastic bag"...the remix version...every time
she walked by me. and nicole never really spoke to me...not once.
today, however, would be different.
she stopped in front of me.
and asked to sit down. what could i say?
"yeah, cool."
so nicole sat on my lap and got comfortable. the most-sought
after girl in the school sitting on my lap. and all i could do was
keep cool. because i knew that sooner or later, i would be
standing at attention. she turned to me and asked if she was
heavy. i told her no and she smiled at me. it was part smirk and
part sugar-coated sincerity. it felt as if i was her man...and damn
if i didn't feel like the man too! we talked all the way down to
jamaica avenue. as we left, she gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"be good...i'll see you tomorrow!" another one of those soft
grins and she was gone. my boys were dumbfounded. they couldn't
believe it all. word got around and soon, other girls started
being more and more friendly. nicole and i did speak more and more
after that. i got to know her for the beautiful soul she is. and
i got to learn that i didn't need to be an ass to be liked and
respected. nicole was the person in high school that gave me the
affirmation that i was special. and if i ever bump into her again,
i would thank her.
but i'd also see if she was single........
2.5.03
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