Part 6 (1/2)

When ere in high school, Maurice and I would soo to my old elementary school and play basketball on its court We liked it because the hoops were ht feet tall We mi) and had dunk contests I liked how the nets were made of chain Each ju out Once I dunked so hard that the round Those were good tih school, Maurice and I would soo to my old elementary school and play basketball on its court We liked it because the hoops were ht feet tall We mi) and had dunk contests I liked how the nets were made of chain Each ju out Once I dunked so hard that the round Those were good tiround basketball during that time and we started a rivalry with Jeff Jones and Tim Sanders, two of the stars froame of 2-on-2 once

I found a book called The In-Your-Face Basketball Book, The In-Your-Face Basketball Book, which was all about playground basketball It had a section where they talked about all the good courts to play on around the country Instead of hunting for Bigfoot, I started to dreahways to play pickup ga shadows We played until the ball got too slick and then we cooled doith a Slurpee or a Big Gulp which was all about playground basketball It had a section where they talked about all the good courts to play on around the country Instead of hunting for Bigfoot, I started to dreahways to play pickup ga shadows We played until the ball got too slick and then we cooled doith a Slurpee or a Big Gulp

The one thing I didn't like about Maurice at the time was that he was a Lakers fan My favorite teah many postseason heartbreaks around that time Their chah They swept the Lakers in the finals and to celebrate, Mo

Echo

Maurice and I found a pile of discarded basketball jerseys at a sporting goods store on Clearwater Avenue We assumed they were from some small town school that we had never heard of-perhaps a school from Moses Lake or Wenatchee They said ECHO on the front, with the nuht were the coolest (he was 8, I was 21) found a pile of discarded basketball jerseys at a sporting goods store on Clearwater Avenue We assumed they were from some small town school that we had never heard of-perhaps a school from Moses Lake or Wenatchee They said ECHO on the front, with the nuht were the coolest (he was 8, I was 21)

As we rode the bus home (public transportation was new in the Tri-Cities at the tio with our new jerseys Instead of saying ”Echo,” ould say it was pronounced ”Ee-cho” It was decided that this was not the name of a school, but rather the name of another planet A planet that ere from, and a planet where everyone wore Converse shoes, because we had a stout devotion to Chuck Taylors We thought our enemy planet should be Lovetron, a fictional planet that backboard-shattering basketball star Darryl Dawkins often talked about On Lovetron, everyone wore Nikes We refused to wear Nikes In fact, to this day, I have never worn Nikes

We called ourselves the Duo of Doo out at this record store in Pasco called the Licorice Donut We used to buy all our records there This e were really into funk During the school year we'd even go ho out at this record store in Pasco called the Licorice Donut We used to buy all our records there This e were really into funk During the school year we'd even go home for lunch just to watch Video Soul Video Soul on the BET (Black Entertainment Television) station on the BET (Black Entertainment Television) station

Every ti different We bought our first hip-hop records there (Kurtis Blow, Grandar Hill and Def Jam releases) and later we'd have him special order punk rock for us too

Maurice and I took a Radio/TV class our junior and senior years of high school It was at the Vocational Center, where kids froh schools also came to take specialty classes Our class had a production roo the B-side instru pro out with these two black kids froh named Richie Rap and Ronnie Rhyme Richie dressed like 1984-era Michael Jackson with the red multizippered jacket and black parachute pants (also zippered irls after hiard He had a nice personality and his rap style was probably the suy He looked too old to be in school and had a slouch Heoff rhythed to record three or four songs during junior year

That su alley where they had a weekly break-dancing contest It was strange how being a DJin New Wave songs with hip-hop eventually cost us the job

Lionel Live

In 1984, my brother Mark drove Maurice and I across the state to see Lionel Richie at the Tacoma Dome We had an extra ticket so he went to the shoith us, even though he was a stoner and preferred Blue oyster Cult Tina Turner opened for hi coh I had seen a couple of bands in s concert” brother Mark drove Maurice and I across the state to see Lionel Richie at the Tacoma Dome We had an extra ticket so he went to the shoith us, even though he was a stoner and preferred Blue oyster Cult Tina Turner opened for hi coh I had seen a couple of bands in s concert”

About halfway through Lionel's aweso along, cheering, and shouting ”We love you, Lionel!” between the songs When Lionel played the old Commodores tune ”Brick House”a religious awakening

When we got back to Kennewick, Mark wore his Lionel Richie T-shi+rt unflinchingly Maybe it was the power of pot, but I'd like to think it was the power of soul

Big Momma's

My first job after I turned sixteen was at a fa Momma's I was hired as a dishwasher/busboy but was promoted to waiter within a week after the waitress quit There was a s room with a bar in the back Most of the time it was just the bartender, the cook, and ot sohter, as a year older than est breasts I've ever seen on a teenager But she was really bossy and spoiled and I enjoyed seeing herat someone after I turned sixteen was at a fa Momma's I was hired as a dishwasher/busboy but was promoted to waiter within a week after the waitress quit There was a s room with a bar in the back Most of the time it was just the bartender, the cook, and ot sohter, as a year older than est breasts I've ever seen on a teenager But she was really bossy and spoiled and I enjoyed seeing herat someone

There was also a really nice waitress named Deanna as nineteen and treated everyone like she was theirout with Jiy hair, a big nose, and a perpetual five o'clock shadow He must have been ten or twenty years older than Deanna We had a cassette player in the kitchen and we took turns playing roups like Caht Star and Jih, Jah, and they lived together in a cluttered aparth school They invited me over to their place a few times and Deanna even set me up on a blind date with one of her friends The friend was cute, like Valerie Bertinelli, and I was thrilled e chose to go to a haunted house That rab my arm or even hold my hand Of course, that's exactly what happened, but I probably blew any chances with her when I tried to kiss her later in the 7-Eleven parking lot

One ofMomma's was Joan, a frizzy-haired bartender ould sneak into the kitchen several tiest chunk of Roquefort out of the blue cheese dressing I thought it was gross at first, mainly put off by the stink, but I learned to love it soon enough Each night I worked with Joan turned into a blue cheese fishi+ng battle

By the suh school, I was dressing a little ely than most Tri-Citians I would wear double-breasted dress jackets that Mom sewed for s, and shi+ny broaches The boss eventually calledtoo far, and without giving ht, I tried to feel good about not having a job but I ended up on Mo

I wouldn't say I had a prostitute obsession, but when I was sixteen-just old enough to drive my Chevy Malibu-Maurice and I would cruise around east Pasco, looking at any cheap hooker the streets had to offer We did so in silence, an unspoken pull tohat our shetto” The first few tiinations coloring in details about every abandoned building and the discarded pieces of torn clothing that littered the cracked sidewalks in front of theh to wonder aloud about how ed for their services We'd pull over and ask them sometimes, careful to strike some sort of balance between businesslike firirls hu us touch their breasts We must have looked out of place on those streets, two puberty-wracked white boys-me with my pimples and braces, Maurice with his red hair and freckles Both of us were still reluctant virgins posing as street-smart kids I had a prostitute obsession, but when I was sixteen-just old enough to drive my Chevy Malibu-Maurice and I would cruise around east Pasco, looking at any cheap hooker the streets had to offer We did so in silence, an unspoken pull tohat our shetto” The first few tiinations coloring in details about every abandoned building and the discarded pieces of torn clothing that littered the cracked sidewalks in front of theh to wonder aloud about how ed for their services We'd pull over and ask them sometimes, careful to strike some sort of balance between businesslike firirls hu us touch their breasts We must have looked out of place on those streets, two puberty-wracked white boys-me with my pimples and braces, Maurice with his red hair and freckles Both of us were still reluctant virgins posing as street-sht e actually let two of the girls in my car They wanted a ride to a hotel that was on the other side of the tunnel that separated Pasco from east Pasco Maurice and I listened in on their conversation during the ten-arettes, and carrying guns When we let them out, they walked to our s and kissed us like ere their pi Moht in tips, which I carelessly spent at the record store I hadn't had a girlfriend yet-in fact, I had barely kissed a girl But I was eager to have sex and had, coincidentally, been training for such an event for at least two years,vibrator, ti the seconds it took for me to ejaculate, like soirlfriends I was shy and anxious and probably a little gross But the prostitutes were hardly out of ue Most were not pretty at all and actually rather unhealthy looking If they were better looking, they probably would have been working in Seattle or Portland or even Spokane That's what I came to reason Still, they o or two I wasn't picky I was desperate

My sexual yearning came in two dominant fantasies: One was ros by the likes of Lionel Richie, Peabo Bryson, and Luther Vandross and I criedif I could ever experience the depth of love in theirabout happiness or heartbreak, I felt that happiness or heartbreak, minus the actual presence of a fe As in, fucking anything that et the picture

I began forsaking Maurice and going out by -out friend at the tiet off work and call hi ho on hiinity I hit the gloo at a steady twenty miles per hour There was no one out I stopped at a taco stand and ate so with nerves That's when I saw her, co around a corner a block away I jumped back in the car and drove over For some reason, I couldn't just walk down there I had to have soetaway The car would uarded and safe