A Tale of Two Cousins
East Cleveland in the late 80s was a time period that saw the white population dwindle, Reagan reform, and the emergence of crack to an already poverty stricken region. Out of the cocaine culture came the necessity of the black market and the bitter sweet economics of the street.
Born Mondwel C Gibson, the older of two children, a young VLez was brought up, seemingly untouched by the pitfalls of his environment. The son of a beautician, VLezs mother worked to afford the chances and educational opportunities that tend to allude so many black youth. As a child, VLez excelled in school and gravitated towards the arts and math. But these things failed in comparison to the world outside his bedroom window. And none was a more shining example of this world than his older cousin James JC Maddox. James being older, had been forced to grow up faster in an ever changing East Cleveland climate, and introduced VLez firsthand the spoils of fast money. Moving from East Cleveland to Warrensville, VLezs mother sought to further her childrens education. The minimal economic difference between the two cities provided an easy transition. VLez still excelled in academics and garnering attention from his teachers, was moved into accelerated learning classes. While no more than 20 minutes away, James was garnering a reputation and a status of his own. A constant charmer and a hood favorite, James had been prone to make money out of less than perfect situations. Though morally he knew the implications of what he did, he always did so with a resounding smile.
Two cousins seemingly miles apart in lifestyle, could not be closer in actuality. The two boys both without fathers, within the same age group, had been raised in a very close family. James was the older brother Mondwel never had, and Mondwel was the younger brother James never had. It was in 1995, that these things would come to a heading. VLez mother had moved her children again in hopes of educational empowerment to the predominantly white neighborhood of Twinsburg. Their two-bedroom apartment was just meager enough to sustain them, but the culture shock coupled with adjusting to an even more accelerated learning program took its toll on the young mind. For 4 years VLez found himself unable to catch up in his classes unwilling to perform at the level he had been accustomed to. Disenfranchised with school and unmotivated to do anything about it. Frustrated youth became anger, which carried into his home life. After many a conflict and argument VLez left home at the age of 17 and returned back to East Cleveland, living with his grandmother. Wanting nothing more than to follow in Jamess footsteps, Vlez took his baby steps on the corners where JCs name was well-known. In no time at all, the word of his cousins dabblings got back to James. Furious, James lashed out at his younger cousin. Mondwel was to be among the first in his family to have the opportunity to go further and James knew it. James presented VLez with an ultimatum, Go back to school or else
Forever stubborn, VLez took James advice, and enrolled at Akron University, but spent more time in the East Cleveland classroom than he ever did in the college classroom. The frustrations of the past, an uncertainty of a future, and his increasingly morally bankrupt behavior, left him with a lot to let out. He found initially that by writing, he could alleviate some of the stresses that plagued him. How does a person with so many opportunities cope with a life without options?
Dont he know he can only go as high as he fell?- Common
Still the return of East Clevelands prodigal son would be put off for some time, because in August of 2001, James JC Maddox was laid to rest as a result of suicide. The once tight knit family was to be torn apart as a result. The community off of Shaw and Hayden, would forever have a hole where once stood the boy with the easy-going smile. Lost in grief, lost in mourning, and lost in life, filled with anger and the education to express it, VLez found his way home for good. James had wanted him to be everything he couldnt be, but some boys are lost without their fathers while other are lost without their brothers.
