The year is nineteen ninety two in Brooklyn New York I am at school P.S. 152 it’s a normal day for everyone except for this one kid. His name is Dwayne, Dewayne Is from Africa his mom and him are refugees escaping horrible conditions in the mother land that took the life of his father. I would like to say that life is better for them but I can’t, Dewayne and his mom live in the ghetto trying to survive on section 8 benefits they both speak little to no English. Needless to say it is hard for them to adapt. Dwayne happens to be suffering internally after witnessing the horrors he’s seen in his homeland.
They left Africa in order to find a better life in American. It is sad to say that they did not get the fair shot that was promised to every one who comes to America. Dwayne’s mom could not work legitimately without knowing how to speak English instead she worked as a dishwasher in Italian restaurant in the city, she endures racial slurs and mistreatment without really understanding what is going on. She toughs it out and continues to earn two dollars an hour on a ten hour shift washing mountains of dishes in a restaurant she will never be able to sit and eat in.
As for Dwayne the government got him into public school and I can’t say things are going well for him. He is a bright young man he excelled in math but struggles in the other subjects due to the language barrier. But that is not what makes his life difficult. A group of boys in the school follow this one knuckle head named Damian. Damian is the younger brother of a well known gangster in Brooklyn at the time. Damian used that popularity and fear to get many people with him and make them attack Dwayne on a regular basis.
Dwayne was subject to so much bulling, he didn’t know how to speak English so they beat him up. His clothes we second hand, colorful and late 70’s fashion. Which made the girls pick on him and laugh then the guys would throw spitballs at him. Dwayne’s only solace was when he was in class where no one could harm him. When the school bell rang for lunch and we all had to go out to the yard for recess he dreaded process because he knew what awaits him.
One day Dwayne was humiliated by Damian and the rest of his crew beyond the limits of just bulling a child. Damian was trying to empress his little girlfriend and the team he assembled stripped Dwayne of his clothes leaving him in his under wear. Dwayne was humiliated but he did not cry or run in shame. He just looked at Damien and nodded his head. The next day Damian and his friends were in for a little surprise.
Before recess Dwayne sharpened about eight pencils until their points were extremely thin. When he encountered Damian and his crew he attacked them and ran. They followed him in to a secluded hallway that was very narrow. Damian was in front and he was furious he rushed towards Dwayne with a closed fist in order to hit him. The punch missed Dwayne ducked down reached in his socks where he hid the pencils and stabbed Damian twice in the chest and once on the back of the neck.
When Damian’s friends saw blood on Damian and Dwayne wailing on him they got scared and ran away leaving Damian behind. Dwayne kept on punching and kicking Damian until one of Damien’s crew members came back with the gym teacher Mr. Croix who broke up the fight only to see that Damian was in the feeble position crying and bleeding on the floor.
Mr. Croix takes Dwayne to the assistant principal’s office and has him wait while the one member of Damien’s entourage gives his version of the story. Since Dwayne could not speak English the administrative staff only had one side of the story and they ran with it. Dwayne was then placed in a special class isolated from others for a while then we never saw him again. The aftermath of the fight got Dwayne suspended from school. No one really knows what happen to him. But many stories are told about him and where he is now.
Last I heard he was a stick up kid robbing drug dealers to survive. Another story has him in Rikers Island locked up while another similar story has him stabbed to death by Damien’s older brother during his bid. All I know that this is a hard life and no one should take any good they have for granted. As for me I am the watcher never to interfere as the play of life unveils itself.

This is based on a true story Thanks for reading.