Peace, Friendship, Non-Violence, Tolerance; these are all positive virtues that Mercury supports. When students think about and act in accordance with these virtues, they make our school and the world a better place. It is in this spirit, that Mercury sponsored the ” Express Peace” Contest. The following is one of the winning entries:
By Karima Walker
The crowd was going wild as they all waited upon the arrival of the world’s newest R&B singer, and song writer Mr. Smooth. Mr. Smooth had it all, the fame, the money and not to mention the ladies. Everyone wanted to be just like Mr. Smooth. Little did people know it wasn’t always smooth for this singer. He had a troubled childhood.
Jamal Erin wind Wright was the least popular boy in High School and no one wanted to be around him. No one liked Jamal because he always smelled like fish and he hardly ever brushed his teeth so his teeth slowly began to turn yellow. People would always make fun of Jamal. Often times when the lights in the class room would go out one of the kids would shout, “Hey Jamal, smile! Maybe your teeth will light up the room “This made the whole class laughed.
Each day Jamal would go home crying, thinking about how much his life sucked and how he just wanted to die. Jamal thought of many ways of killing himself, but each time he tried it was a complete failure. One time Jamal even tried taking loads of pills, but before he could his little sister came flying in slamming the bathroom door open, scaring him. Jamal got so scared that the pills fell right out of his hand and went straight down the sink drain. Jamal got fed up and thought that he was so worthless because he couldn’t even kill himself. To clear his mind he began to watch T.V.
When he reached for the remote, it slipped out of his hands and rolled under his bed. Jamal searched underneath his bed and his hand hit something hard. He took a look to see what it was and notice a small box he hadn’t seen since his mother had died. Seeing the box brought back old memories for Jamal, he remembered all the fun times he and his mother had had. They did all sorts of things together, from playing at the park when he was little, to even singing karaoke every Tuesday night. Jamal would never admit it, but he missed singing with his mom. Opening the box he saw all the items he had stored to remind him of her. There in the box laid his mother’s old hair brush, her lucky pin she would wear to church every Saturday, and a notebook. Jamal didn’t remember his mother having a note book, so he opened it. The note book was not his mother’s after all, it was his. Scribbled inside were a bunch of words, but not just any words, these were words that made up songs. Jamal forgot he use to love making up songs. This was his way of cooling down after getting picked on at school. His mother would always tell him that he was a wonderful singer and a wonderful song writer. Flipping through the pages, he came across a song he wrote when he was little, he cracked a smile. The song read:
“My mommy is so wonderful
so wonderful to me
she smells like candy
such a wonderful treat”
Jamal forgot all about his notebook and all the fun times he used to spend writing in it. “Jamal it’s time to go to bed,” his dad yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Jamal turned off the lights, shoved his book under his pillow and went to bed.
The next day at school, nothing had really changed, except that there was a new girl in school, and her name was Rebecca. Rebecca was a very beautiful girl with long flowing hair and eyes sparkling like a shining star .Time had passed and Rebecca and Jamal soon became close friends. Jamal and Rebecca did everything you could think of together; they were the best of friends. Kids at school soon began to make fun of the relationship Jamal and Rebecca had. Rumors went around that Rebecca was only being nice to Jamal because she knew he had no friends and only felt bad for him, but Jamal knew that wasn’t true. He knew that Rebecca had a heart and that her heart was pure. Rebecca only saw the beauty Jamal had within which others could not see. People often judge others based on appearances and it is only with the heart that one can see rightly” (A.E.Q). Rebecca never judged Jamal based on his looks, but by the person he was inside, and it is only with the eyes of the heart that one can see someone true beauty.
One day when Rebecca was at Jamal’s house searching through his stuff she came across his notebook. “What is this?” she asked.
” Oh nothing.” Jamal replied. But, by the sound of his voice and the twitch in his eyes, she knew that he was lying.
“Oh come on, we’re friends aren’t we? We shouldn’t keep anything from each other.”
” All, all right then” Jamal said, giving in. Then he began to sing one of his songs to her. Tears began to roll down Rebecca’s cheeks as Jamal sang to her.
” It was that bad, huh?” he asked.
“No, far from it, that was beautiful” Rebecca said smiling, wiping the tears from her face. Jamal smiled back.
“But why do you hide it?” she began “Why don’t your show everyone what you can do?” Jamal stood there confused; he never really thought that his singing would amount to anything.
” I mean with your talent you could even be famous!” A wide smile spread across Rebecca’s face and Jamal knew she had to be up to something, and whatever it was he had to go along.
Everyday after school Rebecca would help Jamal practice his songs, and when they thought that he was ready they would sign up for sing offs. Every sing off Jamal entered he would come in 1st place and there beside him, every step of the way was Rebecca.
Years passed and Jamal finally got signed by a record producer, right after he finished High School he would start recording. Graduation day came and Jamal and Rebecca said their last good bye as they went their separate ways. Seeing Rebecca go, left an ache in Jamal’s heart after all Rebecca was his only friend. Rebecca pushed him to success and without her none of this would have happened. Even though Jamal was sad to see her go he knew that good friends never say good bye, it was more like see you in a few.
It is always good to have a friend who knows you inside and out. A friend who is always there to lend you words of encouragement when you need it. So when you have a friend like that don’t let them go!