rodney on dubs…(cont. of 10/13)

[about two hours into sitting and chatting it up with rich]

we’re going on an hour in a half to two hours sitting next to rich, close to midnight.  i remember thinking to myself – it’s peaceful, not a car in sight, no birds chirping, no one talking except for us, no squirrels running about, and the only sound was of the big fan that was attached to the industrial building that occasionally turned off and on.  well, at least i thought everything was quiet and peaceful…spoke to soon.  immediately after thinking these things there was a faint sound that grew in volume every second.  literally, about ten seconds after the initial discovery (i sound like i just landed on plymouth rock…my bad) the sound became clearer.  as i was pondering what it may be i finally recognized it was the sound of music.  it wasn’t music coming from heaven accompanied by angels and cherubim’s playing some classical, beethoven style music.  this music was raw, loud, it got so loud that my heart began pacing at a rapid pace.  now, twenty seconds after the ‘initial discovery’ the music got loud enough to make the birds take flight, squirrels run down from the tree, and the homeless slowly moving around trying to block out the sound out.  

fyi- i was born with ears…i know everyone is born with ears but mine are different, different not because i’m korean.  ever since i was a child i was always asked ”how’d you hear that?” i remember times when i’d be sitting in my house, with my brothers steven and sammy, and i would say “dad’s home” and they would look at me thinking that i was looney because they didn’t hear anything.  and minutes later the garage would open or we would see a brief reflection of headlights on our living room wall.  i don’t wanna sound as if i’m boasting but ’i got good hearin’ (say this with a country accent)…God blessed me with good ears but poor vision…if i was an animal i’d be a ganges river dolphin, small beady eyes but great hearing.

i could hear where the music was coming from so i waited impatiently towards that direction waiting for first sight (i had glasses on).  my heart was racing like usain bolt on the 100m dash because this music was thumping.  if i had a glass of water the water would make ripples like t-rex did in the first jarassic park.  this wasn’t just hip hop music either, it was music that was saying ’parental advisor is advised’ and i’m (the music) gonna teach you some new vocabulary words that would make mike tyson cry…okay i may have embellished a little bit but that’s what i was thinking at the time.  finally, i met my match and i was a witness to what i heard all this time by actually seeing where it was coming from.  things got worse for me when i became this witness because all the movies i’ve seen, the music i’ve listened to, and the stories i have heard slowly began making a slide show, powerpoint presentation, in my head.  this car was ’creepin’ not ’creeping’ but ‘creepin’ (as voddie baucham would say).  it was a shiny, white, limo tint windows, late 90′s bmw coupe.  and my eyes were fixed on ever rotation of the twenty inche ’dubs’ (wheels) while my ears could hear every syllable in each word of the rap song.  honestly, i felt like this precise moment in time could have been a scene in ’menace to society’ and i would be the asian package store owner who got shot but in a parking lot (just being honest).  i wanted what everyone else would want…i wanted to see the car drive by and disappear behind the suntrust building with the music slowly fading away to the point of nothingness.  for the birds to fly back to their respective branches, the squirrels scurry back onto a tree, and for the people around me to lay their heads back down.  let’s just say that all these things that i wished would happen fell short of the finish line and by this time my adams apple felt like the size of a grapefruit, i was so nervous it was hard to swallow.  have you ever had those moments?  next thing you know the after-market led headlights were reflecting off the building with the giant fan, which was to the right of where i was sitting.  i took one look at eunjin and i’m not sure how long he was looking at me but we made eye contact at first glance.  then i looked to the man i felt most comfortable being with at this time, rich, and he was looking at the car with a grin on his face.  the grin was not the expression i was looking for, it wasn’t bad, but totally unexpected…fortunate because if i saw straight terror on his face i would have most likely done my best to imitate usain bolt in the 200.  i was frozen, everyone sat still until we noticed the car turn again and find rest in the middle of the parking lot.  now, i did what every man and woman would do at this point…i prayed hard in my head as i turned my head so that i did not seem as if i was staring.  place yourself in our shoes – we are sitting indian style roughly twenty feet from this vehicle, the windows were down at this point, i felt like i was sitting in the first row of a nwa concert, the engine is still running, the lights are still on, and i see the silhouette of a man sitting in the driver seat.  i do not think it is necessary to express what i was going through at this time.  whatever you are thinking and feeling right now would be a good indicator of where i’m coming from.  i will tell you that it felt like mid december because i was ‘friggin’ scared’ not ‘freaking scared’ but ‘friggin’ (as enoch chang would say) and chills ran through my body.  at this point, i think i saw the birds, that were to proud to evacuate, fall out of the trees being held by the squirrels as if they to were praying, and everyone who at one time was sleeping are now sitting up.  i tried to figure out how the heck i could get out of this one and through this paranoia the best thing to do was close my eyes.  my rational thinking, or lack there of, advised me to close my eyes not the way dorothy did chanting ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home’…no…close my eyes because if i can’t see him maybe he can’t see me.

i think this was going on in my head:

[voice of george clinton, from tupac's track "can't see me"]

the blind stares
of a million pairs of eyes
lookin’ hard but won’t realize
that they will never see
the t
(you can’t see me)
(see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil)
(you won’t see me)
(first see me, now ya don’t)
(wanna see me, but ya won’t)
(come to see me, but ya can’t)
(ooohhh, you can’t see me)
(you can’t see me)
(right between your very eyes, you’ll never realize)
(right before your very eyes, you won’t even realize)
(visualize what you can’t see)

back…

next thing you know, the door swings open and i can’t help but take a peak.  i’m blinded by the chrome from his twenty-inch rims as i was squinting over to his direction.  this man places one boot on the concrete, then the next, puts a hand on the door and eases his way out of the car.  he had a collared shirt on, jeans-not baggy, black male, looked to be around his late 30′s early 40′s, with corn rolls.  this man had the body frame of a middle linebacker, he wasn’t quite that tall but he was thick.  i made sure to remind myself not to make direct eye contact with him but to keep an eye on him (i’m asian which means my peripheral vision is fantastic).  everything i described about the car is still in play (music, lights, etc.).  this man slowly walks around the back side of his car to the passenger side door.  he slowly opens the door…recap-my heart feels like what the buzzer sounds like on q100 ‘beat the buzzer’ before the contestants say stop.  he bends over reaching for something while taking his time and finally pulls out………………………………….stacks of boxes, roughly between 5-6 boxes and lays them on top of his shiny white bmw.  i’m thinking “what the heck?” and as i’m squinting through my glasses i am trying to figure out what the boxes were because they looked familiar…i’m curious.  now, i’m looking so hard that i don’t even care if i’m being nosy or intentional.  with all these mixed up feelings stirring up within my heart these words dropped my jaw to the point it was being held up by the concrete. 

“pizza’s here!  get up!  pizza’s here!  come get some food!”

shortly after these words i also remembered what my friend rich said,

“hey (forgot the name he used) get up! get up! you got your wish! pizza is here!” (in a gentle voice leaning over to the man sleeping in the lot beside him)

i couldn’t believe what was taking place right before my eyes.  my feelings and thoughts have never made a complete 180 as fast as it did at this moment.  i looked over at eunjin and he had this smile on his face and we were short of words.  we couldn’t even speak, we sat there in aww of this man trying to figure out if this was really happening.  he soon left the side of his car and began walking around touching people on the shoulder as they remained laying and said, (in a soft and gentle voice) “hey, get up the pizzaman is here, come get some food”.  as he made his way around the entire parking lot people were forming a line next to the passenger side door while waiting on the ‘pizzaman’ to return.  he flipped open the first box and began giving a slice to each person.  then eunjin and i jumped up grabbed the bags of apples and walked over to the car.  we asked if we could pass out apples and offered our help and he responded with a smile.  everyone received with gratitude and did not take or ask for more than what was given.  after the last slice was gone and two empty plastic bags, once filled with apples, we introduced ourselves to this man.  it didn’t matter who we were at this time, all we wanted was to meet this man in front of us and get his name.  his name is pastor rodney…yes i said pastor rodney.  he told us that he’s been doing this for the past fifteen years (this meaning bringing food to the homeless)…the past fifteen years?  are you serious sir?  amazing!!! but he pointed down to his arm and said, “i haven’t been able to do it as much these days” he raised his right arm and we noticed a bandage.  pastor rodney said “i hurt my arm some time ago and it’s been slowing me down lately”.  we talked for 10 to 15 minutes, we got his cell number and he was back in the car vanishing from our sight.  this time i didn’t want the music to fade away into the night, i wanted it to be here as it was before amongst us for bringing so much joy into my heart; not the music but his act of love.  

pastor rodney has service on saturday afternoons at woodruff park where he provides a message and food for the homeless that attend.  

PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD! 

 

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