How did I find this crazy guy? Well I have known him for 3 decades. We lost touch for 2 of them. Why? cuz we were stupid kids who took things way too seriously.....and probably cuz we are artists were way too sensitive. Though we didn't know it at the time.
Marble Hill Kids! I lived in Building 4. He lived.......OVER THERE as we would say in Building 6. Building 5 was the divide for the us & them .....hahahaha There's Afro Boy my friend & I use to say. Cuz Man did he have a FRO on him.
Well as Teens things changed...And due to some things that we now chose to move on from, I stopped speaking to A- FRO Boy.
So now it's August 29, 2007, His name pops in my head. Not as Afro Boy, Not As Alexie F., but as the name his Mother gave him.
I typed ALEXIE FIGUEROA in the Myspace friend search bar & pressed search. Up pops 3 accounts. 2 w/out pix & one private page w/ a guy standing in front of a very cool house. It looks like him I thought. But his Afro is gone. Hahaha…I was curious. So I sent a note thinking. A)…he won’t remember me or B) he won’t answer. So I said the obvious…..” Did you use to live in Marble Hill?”
The strangest thing about learning about the past is that as children, we never touch on the important stuff. I learn that he was writing as a child….just like me, he jammed to Rock music…..just like me, he was club hopping……..just like me, and he fought artistic demons…….just like me. And he was only 2 buildings away spinning vinyl in his room.
I asked Alexie….That’s Alexie F to you…hahahaha……. If he would insert a passage in my book. He would randomly write stuff & send it via Myspace to me & I was like THIS SHIT IS GOOD. “is it published I would” He’d say “ nah ma,,,,,i just came up with that out my head” So why was I then surprised when he told me to take out a pen & paper & he just spit out what he was feeling @ that moment for my book. He said “i want page 67,,,,,the year i was born” Makes sense to me.
I have been calling Alexie my creative guru since Nov. 2007. He was one of 3 people who forced me into releasing my poems to the public.
Yeah, He’s a trip….Yeah….He’s stubborn….but w/out that…..What is my Priority? would not exist. The words would be in my journal till my dying day.
So next time you contact this cat tell him thank you……..If he asks you “Y”……Tell him……..”for being you”
