I will be giving this tribute for the life of Taiwo "Rap Brown" Mckenzie.


Life can be cruel at times. Especially when you are least expecting it to hit you.

My usual inquisitive ways caught me enraptured in someone’s telephone conversation. An all too familiar name had been the victim of a gruesome act. I don’t know about anybody else but I only know one person in the whole world named Taiwo. So of course I had to faas! That is how I found out.

Taiwo was a tall, friendly, sometimes quiet lover of basketball and rap music. I had the pleasure to have known him from in my teens. We went to Campion together and have been in the same class since first form. I admit it now guys but I had a slight crush on him. And NO! The fruits of that tree never came into season.

We grew together through the ages from being almost the same height to him drinking too much milk one summer and shooting way past the rest of us. I don’t know if he was fooled by this sudden spur in height but he suddenly thought he could roll with the big guys. In a rift that developed between the 3rd and 5th formers, I will never forget the day when Taiwo came ready for war. His weapon of choice was a rolling pin and I wondered to myself who he was planning to flatten (all puns intended!).

I remember the days when he sat in the girls bathroom on a Friday evening and I corn-rowed his hair for the weekend. It was soft like a brand new carpet and gold like the sun. And at that time in upper 6th he hadn’t had a cut in 2 years! No one would have ever known because he kept it well patted down and neat.

High school came and went and we never really lost touch. Although we did not necessarily call each other I @ least knew his phone # was always available to me. Or, I could always sign in to MSN and locate Rap Brown in my friends’ list!

The last time I had seen him was in Burger King a few weeks before it all happened. We were making arrangements for the guys to link up. As usual I would be the only girl but I still looked forward to it.

The link-up is now but it isn’t how we expected it to be. He is not here. He has left us. It was so sudden that I am sure none of us knew how to react. I do not want for us to remember him lying there. I would rather us remember that smile he had, that passion for music, that interest in b-ball, and his heart that was made of gold.

Goodbye my old friend. I pray that you will be happy and blessed on the other side of the rainbow. Sorry for not seeing you to your last journey. See you when I see u on the other side. My memories of you I will keep in a box and we can share them then. Till then, it's goodbye for now.

In the lyrics of the late, great Tupac Shakur:

And When I'm Gone, Just Carry On, Don't Mourn
Rejoice Every Time You Hear The Sound Of My Voice
Just Know That I'm Looking Down On You Smiling
And I Didn't Feel A Thing, So Baby Don't Feel No Pain
Just Smile Back...

The wee hours of Tuesday morning, in bed, on the phone with a new suitor being lulled to sleep.

One Please call me!
Two please call me!
Three please call me!

"A who di hell a badda mi so late?" I wondered.
Now "Please Call Me" is a sort of code that is sent when someone does not have enough funds to originate a call from their prepaid phone. What could be so important that the codes were coming in back to back?

Finally, a call was waiting. Someone actually had funds to contact me.

"Nickiesha mi naave much credit but nuh come a school till 1 o' clock tomorrow an wear white shirt and blue jeans cause we a strike! We a strike fi poor living conditions pan di hostel and pop dung facilities!".

I was ecstatic! I instantly supported the cause even though I did not live on campus. I did not even think about the facilities part as a commuting student. I was just happy for the chance to "dress up" for school and in light of the fact that I had a presentation due which I was not prepared for, I presently ended the call with a grin!

As it turns out a meeting was held with the necessary authorities to highlight the concerns and see how best they can be addressed.Blah Blah Blah...cause we all know the expected turn around time which will probably bear fruit long after I leave the institution.

I am just thankful that for the rest of the week I will not be restricted to uniform! Freedom mi seh!

But now his life has been crushed! He's been murdered.

I am sitting at work. I was listening to the fellow beside me mumble and all I caught was a familiar name: Taiwo. I looked, I stared. I questioned him.
"Yuh know Taiwo?"
"Yes. From RE TV."
"Well mi know him longer than that. We go high school together"
"Can't believe the man dead star!"
"Wa u jus seh? Eh"

And then there were tears!

I cried. I cried for my mother. I cried for Marlon. I cried for Rush. I cried for Taiwo. I cried for a year marred by death.

And then I started to have memories. I wasn't a tomboy but I tended to hang around the boys alot. Taiwo was one such boy and I had a high school crush on him. I know he felt the same way about me at one point but we never ever mentioned it, never addressed it in any way, never acted on it. EVER!

I ask myself now if it is appropriate to be thinking that way. To be thinking about the crush I had more than 10 years ago now that he is gone.

I will be attending his funeral. I have to pay my respects. I will be crushed to see a crush, crushed.

I could go on and on typing dat same word. Y? That's all that has been in the weather report for the past month. Can you imagine 4 weeks of constant rain? Everyday frigging day! Not a light due either! Heavy rains! Torrential rains!

Jamaican tropical climate is such that we do have rain but there is always the Sun to go with the Sand and the Sea. Mi cyaan tell wen laas mi get likke sunshine inna mi life. 24/7 rain, rain, rain!

Don't get me wrong. I do not mind the rain but it's better when it pours while I am on the inside. Sheltered. Warm. And that was not the case on Thursday morning.

So my cousin left me in Half-Way-Tree as usual and I would have to bus it to Cross Roads. No problem. As I boarded the bus the rain start to tear. I lifted mine eyes unto the Lord for he saved me from the showers, but it seems as though I had sinned cause as the bus reach a Cross Road an mi fi come off. Wooosh. Rain come dung! Fava chicken a gaa school.

Mi decide fi dip inna di 2 week washload fi get some tings clean an make use of the fighting sun this morning. As di fus load start quail pon di line. Drizzle, drizzle and u know di res. Mi jus lock up di house an wrap up an go sleep! Wanda if tomorrow will bring sun? Cause mi nuh like see dutty clothes!

This rain is mighty expensive. It a go cost everybody a pretty penny if and when it tap! House a wash whey. Cars a get wrecked. Di road dem mash up. Suppose oonu see di big crater dem whe form inna di road?. Drap inna one a dat u might haffi swim out! A cyaan tek it at all!

Rain coulda when deal likkkle more mi nah lie, I enjoyed miself a Mas Camp last week Saturday. Mello Vibes was jus right. Although mi expensive an dear hairstyle wash out, I pardy hardy! LOL!

And that my devoted readers, could be the reason why di flu is upon me!

Hurricane season need fi micase an done now man. It a mash up mi bizniz! Mi waa back mi sunny wedda!