his name is lamount and he's my little cousin. i was there when he was born and i've made a point of being in his life despite the fact that his father (my first cousin) hasn't seen him since he was a toddler. he's now eleven years old.
every now and again he spends the night at my house and we play video games until the wee hours of the morning. last time he stopped by, we played madden '05, nba live '05, ssx 3, tekken tag-team, and ncaa football 2005 from around 8 p.m. until around 4 a.m. i'm getting tired just thinking about it. he beat me most of the time, but that's because he had created either a super team or a super player who couldn't be defeated. i tried to tell him he wasn't learning how to beat his opponents with strategy because he had the unstoppable teams. needless to say, he didn't really give a damn what i was saying. he just liked the fact that he was whupping me for a change.
it's so funny, cuz my ego was taking a bashing. on the one hand, i didn't want to lose to this kid. on the other hand, he was so happy after each win. a few times when he tried to talk trash i had to laugh, cuz he's still a kid so he doesn't really know what "talking trash" is.
there are times when i look at him and feel his vulnerability as a black boy growing up in america. it's at those times when i want to hold him close and tell him nobody will ever hurt him or treat him wrong because his big cousin has his back. then i realize all i can do is hope he develops the strength necessary to fight against any weapon held against him. i love him as if he were my own son. i don't think it's even possible to love another person in the world more than i love lamount.
that little boy is gonna grow up and change the world for the better. he's already brightened my world just by being in it.
in the meanwhile, i've gotta take him to the batting cage, cuz he struck out twice during this game and it looks like he hasn't developed the patience to wait for his pitch yet.
btw, his team won 6-3 and is undefeated so far.
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