Nightshift

Tomorrow is never promised. Many of us take that for granted, especially people in "the Bubble." Silky isn't a guy I would identify as a Bubblee given the way he lead his life. His attempt to maximize each day showed evidence of a man who believed sincerely that his time on earth was borrowed. He was a human energizer bunny. With the exception of his time spent sleeping, Silky was either working a part-time job or doing homework.

I became a witness to Silky's tireless work ethic a few years ago when he came to basketbally tryouts. That year, I literally made drills up along the way to get guys to quit. Thirty people showed up. Silky was one of four guys left standing.  The impressive part about his show of physical endurance was how he kept in shape during the off-season despite a very busy work schedule. When I asked Silky what he did during the summer to prepare for my vaunted conditioning run (11 fullcourt sprints in a minute) he replied simply, "I jog three miles to work everyday."

With time I learned there was a lot going on with Silky. I noticed on every form he completed for us, he'd leave off his social security number. When I asked Silky about that, he confessed about his undocumented status here. He explained how driving back and forth to campus was stressful because he didn't have a Driver's License. Despite this hardship, and the fact that he worked forty minutes from school, Silky managed to pull off 3 As, an A-, and a B+ in six classes.  Eventually, he stopped playing ball because getting a car to drive was so difficult for him.

The last time I saw Silky which was this summer, we had a great conversation. He was off to a four-year college after completing his Associate's Degree here.

Silky: I'm going to major in Criminal Justice. It would be nice to join the Coast Guard someday.
Me: Really? The Coast Guard?
Silky: Yeh. Once I get my papers straight I'm going to enlist. The adventure sounds cool to me.
Me: Lemme guess. You're one of these guys who loves rollercoasters and stuff.
Silky: How'd you know?!?!
Me: Just a wild guess.
Silky: lol.. Rollercoasters are nothing! That's kid's stuff. Someday I'd love to jump out of a plane!
Me: You couldnt pay me enough to do that! You're nuts!
Silky: haha.. Yeh. I guess you could call me a thrill seeker.

Three months after that conversation, Silky was killed in a single car accident when he lost control of his car on the highway.