Wednesday, September 23, 2009

E.K.

EK was in his teens, a young man with a promising life ahead of him. He came from a middle class family and went to a decent school, he was a basketball star and he was at least a little popular... Or so the story goes.

I only met EK after the Accident.

The story goes like this... EK was jumped by a couple of guys and beaten in the head with a baseball bat. EK survived, his mental capacity however did not. EK is now a child in a man's body. EK's brother, while EK was recovering, found the guys that beat him and exacted revenge. He is now in jail for a really long time.

So EK's parents grew to despise their son and EK just ended up roaming the streets talking to everyone. A few times in his life, he fell in with the wrong crowd, pimps and drug dealers would use him to carry money or mule for them because the cops would never arrest EK and because he was big, strong, loyal and above all not very smart.

Evert now and again, I see EK when I'm driving or walking my dogs and he just comes up and talk to me about random stuff.

"Hey Muchacho you ever been to Compton?"
"No EK, I've never been there... have you?"
"No... it's bad in Compton."
"I know it is EK."
"Hey Muchacho... why is it bad in Compton?"
"People get shot EK, people have no money."
"Why don't people have money in Compton?"
"I'm not sure EK, you should ask them if you go."
"I will ask them when I go... but I'm not going to go. It's bad in Compton."

And so the story goes with EK.
This guys is probably the deepest thinker I know and I'm not even kidding. His innocent childlike reasoning has taken me aback many times with his insanely existential questions about human nature and the goodness of people and with his faith that the city he roams will protect him and provide for him.

So while some see EK and cross the street because they don't want to have a 2 hours conversation and others see him and feel pit; I look at EK and I see the person he is inside: a good man, with a good heart, without an once of malice inside him. He's happy and as I've always said: It's better to be happy and ignorant than be miserable and smart.








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3 comments:

Charlie Bravo said...

We are all a litlle like little E.K., I guess.
At least, those of us who talk to the E.K.s of the land, and who do not mind being stopped and yanked off our daily goings by someone like E.K.
Those of us who do, has met several baseball bats in our lives, maybe of the moral kind in addition to the wooden ones or the nice aluminum -mall-sold- variety.
That we phisically survived the encounters, doesn't mean that we are in one piece. I least I am not.
Say hi to E.K. in my name. One day we will sit with him on a garden fence or something, just to see the cars pass by.

Muchacho Enfermo said...

I will make sure to pass on your greetings to E.K. next time I see him.
I also failed to mention that a lot of people avoid him because it's so hard to not have your heart broken everytime you hear him speak.

Charlie Bravo said...

we are heartbroken heartbreakers.