P, you ask how such a nice day go wrong..well, Ima tell you....




I used to be a teenager...ONCE UPON A TIME. My kids really dont believe that fairy tale but its true.



Rewind the tape a little bit....Thursday night, my oldest son's girlfriend called and asked if her best friend, Markie, could come to Jalil's bbq. Markie?? NEVER heard her even talk about a Markie....never heard my son speak about a Markie....so I told her I didnt want her to come because I didnt want anyone there that I didnt know. End of story, right? Wrong. One of Okoye's friends was allowed to come to the bbq and his mother, N, called, hyperventilating because she found out some info from her ex husband about their son and she was digesting it. So I'm telling N to breathe and all the things that a friend tells you when your world just blew up and then N said 'I just cant imagine Markie.....' Yeah. Markie. So I told her what I thought what was up. Okoye's friend, C, lives by Okoye's girlfriend and now......... allofadayum sudden the girlfriends are best friends! Righhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht. I told N that I knew that C was going to ask to spend the night but that wasnt going to happen. I wasnt going to allow that to happen. Score one for the old mama...





At least that is what I thought.




C did ask if he could spend the night to which I said no. I gloated inwardly...until. My azz feel asleep.




At 2:13am, I woke up. My heart was beating and I couldnt figure out why I woke up so suddenly. I looked towards my door and I see two rather tall figures moving slowly down the hall....wtf??? I looked at the clock and then I layed perfectly still and tried to look through my lids and I heard that one step, we all have it, the step on the stairs with the creak. Then silence. I knew wtf was going on. I layed for about 2 more minutes and then I slowly got up so I wouldnt make any noise. Went to the first room and opened the door. Nothing. Went to the other bedroom. No one. The rest of the house was completely black so I headed downstairs and checked the front door. It was unlocked. Went down the stairs into the family room and walked over to the patio door and it was unlocked.





My loveable trustworthy perfect sons had snook out at 2 in the morning. I instantly felt my ears get hot so I turned around and positioned my flat butt on the stairs so that if they came in the front door OR the patio door... I'd be the first thing they seen: A mama with flames coming out of her nose. After about 10 minutes, I'd realized they were coming right back so I threw on some pants and some flipflops and hopped in the car. I drove over to Okoye's girlfriend's house were both cars were there so I turned around and went over to my friend, N's, house. Every light in her basement was on so I called her cell phone and it went to voice mail. I drove around her circle drive and came across another one of Okoye's friends house but all the lights were off in the house. I drove home not knowing exactly how to handle this.



I got home...paced...thought then finally called Okoye's cell phone. Went to voice mail (big surprise there). I said that if I didnt not get a call in one minute, he'd better answer my phone next time I called or I was going to call the police and have his azz picked up. It was 3:26am. 3:28, I called and it went to voicemail again. I was ready to ride and knock on every dayum door in the neighborhood. I got about a quarter of a mile when I ran into all four boys running down the street. When I threw on the brakes, I could tell that they thought for sure I was the cops. They just stopped and it looked like a face off. Finally my oldest boy walked a couple feet and knew it was me. Everyone followed. Slowly they all climbed into the car....



Needless to say I"ve come short of beating the hell out of everyone. Each one I checked like a horse to see if I smelled cigarette smoke, alcohol or weed. I know they were embarrassed but at this point, I'm sure I looked like the devil itself, I was that angry. Sad. And majorly disappointed. They weren't crazy enough to ask me to stop.



I've had some major disppointments but this...this just blows my mind. My kids are not perfect by any means. Peer pressure is alive and well but I thought they knew better. I've told them over and over again how badly this could have ended. Four boys running down the street. At 3 in the morning. That's bad. But lets face it. 4 teenage black boys running down the street at 3 in the morning...dangerous. Just now I remember my son....when I pulled up next to him, he pulled his hand out of his hoodie and in his hand was his black cell phone in it. Too me, I know what it is....to a cop, at 3 in the morning...it looks like a handgun....he could be dead. My nephew, whose 6'3, and 17 years old... how much trouble could he be in with 3 minors when we have a curfew of 12 midnight? My other nephew who is 11...3 in the morning. He would have went to the juvenile center along with my two sons. Everyone's future could have been turned around like THAT. All because they got bored. Wanted to try something fun. The last weekend of summer vacation. My son is in loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. A whole bunch of stupid reason's.....



urgh



My punishment was no cell phone for either of them, limited internet usage (school) and they can not go anywhere. When their father found out...he came over an cleaned house. Xbox is gone, 360 is gone, dvd players are gone, mp3 players...gone. Anything fun...gone. He said he might give it all back to them as a Christmas presents.



My mind goes crazy with the whatifs and I am thankful that it was not worse than what it could be. My job, as a parent, is to not let it get worse than it has been.