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Different, But the Same
"As I turned around I just felt it! I knew that the ball was right
there!" Dawud exclaimed as he held an imaginary football tucked
into his side, as if he were going to run it in for a game winning touch
down. Which is exactly what he had done and hour ago. It was what a
reporter was asking him to describe now. The reporter, who was now paying only partial attention, looked up and asked, "What was that?" "He said, praise God." John chimed in. John was Dawud's friend, buddy and teammate. They had lived across the street from one another as long as they could remember. Very early in their friendship they discovered that they liked a lot of the same things. They both liked watching the movie "Remember the Titans." Which they watched over and over again, both claiming it was THE best football movie ever made. They liked the same jokes, the same hobbies and even dreamed of owning the same type of car. The reporter looked up, suddenly interested again, "Well, how do you know that?" he questioned John. "I grew up with Dawud! He lives right across the street from me." John said with a wide smile. John had moved into the neighborhood when he and Dawud were only five years old. Dawud loved this! Finally a boy in a neighborhood full of nothing but girls! The two became fast friends. In the beginning it was a little tough, John did not always remember to take off his shoes when entering Dawud's house. And once, the first time, when John's family had been invited to come over for a barbeque his father brought a case of beer. This is what John's father always did. In his circle of friends it was considered a nice gesture to bring alcohol to cook outs. The whole incident could have been rather embarrassing, but both Dawud's parents and John's parents worked it out quickly. After that whenever there was a cookout at Dawud's, or even at John's, there was nothing but soda pop. |