Now here’s my story of how I could have gone from being a lucky teenager to a dead one. I was 12 years old in 6th grade when the Air Jordan XII originally came out. At that time I was lucky enough to get uptowns from my mother so I didn’t try to ask her for Jordans even though I wanted them. Moving forward to high school I quickly realized I needed to step up my game in the sneaker department. My aunt told me about an after school program that would pay me to learn. I quickly signed up and found out I would get paid $100 dollars every two weeks. I was excited and because of this I now was buying Jordans every month, fresh!
As I became a senior I knew about every sneaker spot in Queens. I lived in Jamaica so the “Ave” was about 10 minutes from me. One day I found out that a spot in “the colliseum” was releasing the Air Jordan Retro 12 “Playoff’s” months before the official release. Everyone knew that they were coming out on February 14th for Valentine’s Day in 2004, but very few knew that some places already had them. So I quickly started saving and purchased them and ended up buying them in November 2003.
I was so happy, the first one in all of NYC to be wearing the Air Jordan XII colorway that eluded me so many years ago. I went home and showed everyone, my younger sister and my mother who was proud of me. I was on the basketball team so I had practice at 7 a.m. the next day, and as I lay in bed I started to think about my friends and how they will be amazed when they see I got these shoes so early. I wake up at 5:30 to shower and get ready but with all my excitement I doubt I slept much. As I reach for the box, I take out the famous shoes and put them on.
I didn’t tie them tight because I wear my Jordans very loose. As I walk out the door with MP3 player in hand I take a look at the time, its 6:15. On my way to the E train I stopped to turn on my MP3 player, I then see two guys walking towards my direction and stop in front of me. One of them was my height, about 5′4, and the other was a towering 5′11. I tried to move to the side, but it was too late. The shorter of the two says, “Oh man nice sneakers, where did you get them?”
I immediately got the feeling this wasn’t your regular “stop me on the street to ask me where I got my kicks” question. I told him on the Ave and quickly I tried to step away. As I did, he pulled out a knife and said, “Give them to me now!” The place where I was standing is filled with factories and people around so I ran. I took five steps and my right shoe came off due to how I had it laced. They quickly picked it up, got to me and the bigger of the two threw me onto a fence.
I didn’t fight back because I knew the knife could have ended my life. So I did as they said and took off my other shoe. The hardest part was that I was getting robbed for the one pair of sneakers that I worked so hard for, and it was only two blocks away from my house. All those months of saving filled with anticipation and excitement was now lost. The robbers were disgustingly happy and giddy as if they were taking candy from a baby. I was in my socks, and people around were staring but no one helped.
After they took my shoes the shorter guy had the sass to ask me if I wanted his “Tims.” They were a beat up pair of brown suede 6-inch construction style boots. I didn’t say anything though I just stood there in anger and frustration, no words could have explained how I felt. I headed back home in just my socks trying to fight off the cold and hold back my tears. That short two block walk was the longest of my life, but I finally made it to my house.
My younger sister asked me what happened and I just sat on the couch speechless. She then looked at my feet and saw my dirty socks, which explained it all. I didn’t bother to make a police report because I knew that would lead to nowhere. I never thought to myself that I’d come close to death and get robbed for my sneakers, but it happened. Now this didn’t mean I was going to stop buying them, not at all. But that morning I had a feeling that didn’t leave me for months. Every time I put on a pair I just felt weird.
I know there are people getting killed for a particular pair every so often which is very unfortunate, but I felt lucky to be alive. My mother felt so bad she bought me another pair when they officially released. I was very grateful and I no longer cared if I was the first to have them or the last, I was just happy to have them. All I cared about was being alive to see another day and getting to have the chance to lace up and shoot my jumpshot and hear the net swoosh for a long many years to come.
Thank you for taking the time out and reading my story, a true story that has made me believe that life is a blessing and you cannot take it for granted. I have about 25 Jordans to this day and am very careful where I walk, learning from my past experience. To every reader, remember we are fortunate to have what we have but our lives are only one so be careful. Thank you Sole Collector!
http://solecollector.com/shoes/nike-shoes/jordan-shoes/shoes/jordan/my-shoes-my-story-readers-archive-pick-for-jan-2009/