Then I had a terrible fight for 2 hours.
so i went out for my run. not expecting much better. ran my warm up and ended up at the track to run my 150s. There were a couple people at the track. the regular black guy i always see gave me a big smile and a wave and gladly moved to lane 2, the grandma power walking, and this overweight ghetto white lady with a little boy running around. I was not happy. Little kids at tracks just piss me off. they are always annoying and acting a fool when i'm trying to get my workout done. Well this little boy was no different. I started my running drills and he was right beside me asking me questions and pretending there was some electric shock thing [not exactly sure because i was in my own world at this time]. But this little boy was different. I didn't get instantly mad or annoyed. So i started my 150s and he tried to run after me but gave up shortly. Every time I would run by where he was playing in the grass he would look at me with wide eyes. On #7 he jumped out in front of my on the track. i yelled to watch out extremely loud and rather harsh just out of natural reaction. Well his mom let loose and started screaming at him and didn't stop the rest of my workout. I finished my 150s and started my cool down stretches and he stood about 20 feet away from me looking at me because if he took another step closer his mom would start screaming at him from across the track. So i made my way up to him and asked if that was his mommy and he replied yes. So i said: "how about you go tell her that i said it's ok if you come play with me and then run back over" So of course he sprinted across the field and sprinted even faster back with the look of indescribable joy on his face. Once his mom made it back around to us i apologized for screaming and tried to explain to her how it came out before i knew it and she proceeded to tell me how he deserved it and i had every right to scream at him. the look on the little boys face crushed me. she scolded him again and he just stared at her with hatred in his eyes.. he looked at me and i whispered yes ma'am and he reluctantly said it to his mom.
He played coach as i finished my stretches and did my lunges and push ups. I asked him questions about his young life and he opened up to me like he was waiting anxiously for someone to care. He told me how his dad had abused his mom and burned her with an iron and then instructed this 5 year old to go put more water in the iron so he could keep burning his mom and my eyes filled up with tears. he told me how they had to sneak away in the middle of the night and how he had to move schools and missed his friends. I just encouraged him about making new ones and that everything was going to be ok. He has gone through more in his young life than I have in 19 years. we continued to play coach/athlete and then he wanted to race like he has "seen on tv" so he knelt down at the line on his knees and stuck his hands out in front of him. I showed him where to put his thump and pointer finger on the line and how to put one knee down and one foot in front of him and how to stick his "booty" in the air when i said "sseeetttt". He loved every second of it and so did i. It started getting dark so we raced on last time, holding hands so he could "run faster" with me pulling him, back to his mom. my heart broke giving his little hand over to hers but when she looked me in the eyes, smiled and said thank you my time invested in that little boy meant more than anything i've experienced thus far.
I thank jesus so much for giving me this opportunity to make a small difference in a little boys life. That little boy made me see things in a whole new way!
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