Don’t Let Your Dreams Bite You - written by Alfred (a short story for kids)

Once upon a time in the city of New York there lived a 13 year old African American boy named Edmond Brown. He loved Rap Music dearly and succeeded in making everyone except his Mum refer to him as Emcee Spit – Fire. Emcee Spit-Fire loved Rap Music more than anything or anyone including God despite the fact that he was raised in the church. He loved the type of Rap Music songs where African Americans were always ranting about shooting other African Americans : that you don’t wanna mess with me kind of music – that kind of music where it’s forbidden to refer to a female using the word ‘Lady’, you must refer to her by using the ‘B’ word. He loved that kind of music MTV calls mainstream hip hop that has parental advisory on its CD covers.

Emcee Spit – Fireknew that as a boy who was in Church every Sunday morning; he shouldn’t be listening to this kind of music but he loved Rap Music more than he loved Jesus and he knew it. He even loved his favourite rappers more that he loved Jesus and unlike other people in his shoes, he didn’t try to deny it. He picked obeying the words of rappers in music CDs over obeying the words of Jesus in the Holy Bible. It was clear who his heart loved more.

Emcee Spit - Fire wanted to be a famous rap star today not someday; more than anything. Everyone in school said he could rap. Everyone except his Mum who heard him rap said that he got real talent. Many said that it would be best he got a record deal now that he is 13 years old so people will get a accustomed to seeing his music videos now and that by the time he’s 20 he would be swimming in cheese and probably be the biggest rap star ever plus he would be a veteran rapper at 20.

Emcee Spit – Fire taught about it lots of times and each time it looked beautiful and much better to become a celebrity rapper at 13 not 30.

Even though Emcee Spit – Fire was only 13, he started hanging out with other aspiring rappers that were in their 20’s and often 30’s.

They treated him like a little kid and sometimes got their kicks from belittling him.

Emcee Spit – Fire didn’t mind. As far as he was concerned he was concerned he was paying his dues. He was suffering now, and someday soon he would reap the fruit of his suffering when he goes on tour with them and appears on TV with them. He would roll with them and get famous with them. Then he will leave them and go solo in style. After all that’s what a lot of famous musicians today did. Then he would no more have to put up with them. Although sometimes he couldn’t tell if he was a member of their rap group or not, they allowed him to do some gigs with them sometimes.At 1st he refused to perform at really worldly parties. He didn’t truly like that world but at the bottom of his heart it kinda appealed to him. He was still a Sunday Morning Church-Goer and he found himself rededicating and rededicating his life to Christ and returning to his normal life as soon as he left the church building every Sunday. He wasn’t telling Jesus he would leave secular Rap Music behind – he just loved it too much. But everytime he was in church and felt the presence of God he felt he was not right with God and felt like rededicating his life to him. He knew that what God really wanted from him was for him to let go of secular Rap Music but he just loved secular hip hop too much – Jesus was asking of too much from him.

With time Emcee Spit – Fire started getting more comfortable with compromising. He started going to do gigs with the group, at college parties that even the host considered too adult for collect students. 

Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum spent all her time on her knees praying for her son. He was only 13 but he was more rebellious than most 18 year olds. He was already too wild for her to control but to him he was a cool, kind and gentle dude whose mother did not understand and was trying to pull back.

As time went on Emcee Spit – Fire became more and more respected with the group. His rhymes had improved a lot. The jokes he cracked when he hung out with them no longer sounded childish. His clothing choices were now more mature and stylish. His opinions even began to matter with the group.

By now all of his friends were in their 20’s and 30’s (he no longer kept any friends his own agecause he felt they were too childish for him). Soon Emcee Spit – Fire’s 20 to 30 year old friends treated him like he was their age mateeven though they knew he was only 13. Sadly, they kept nothing from him. They censored nothing when he was around them and they encouraged him to let go to his inhibitions which translates as don’t be afraid to do the bad things that you want to do. Just do it.

Even though Emcee Spit – Fire was barely beginning Junior High; all the kids in Junior High and Senior High feared him and respected him because of the kind of people he hung with. Nobody dared mess with him and he was too cool to even look at any them. When he was walking through the school hallway it was like Emperor Napoleon walking back from a victorious campaign.

Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum kept praying for her son – praying and praying that the stranger who lives with her – the stranger who came out of her womb, would become her son once more.

Emcee Spit – Fire soon discovered that the aspiring rapper group he rolled with was also a street gang. They told him yea! That they were a gang but gang to them is not what it means to others. That gang just means brothers - they are a brotherhood and they want him to be officially part of the brotherhood. They told him that being in a gang is nothing like what people say it is. That he has been rolling with them for months now, he’s seen how they do, everything is cool. It’s just that they want him now to be one of them.

Emcee Spit – Fire agreed and did the initiation. Soon he was holding up liquor stores, doing drive-bys and selling drugs on the street.

It’s funny, one dayhe was just a kid who wanted to be a super star, now he was a kid doing everything a fully grown criminal in the ghetto does.

It wasn’t long before Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum received a call that her 13 year old son was in a comma, he had been the target of a drive-by shooting by a rival gang and the Doctor didn’t think that her son would make it. She should hurry and get to the hospital.

Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum was in tears, heartbroken and totally down cast. Her son was all the family she had. She loved him dearly. He had defiled her every word. Now she was going to lose him forever.

Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum just couldn’t take it, but if she was going to go down she would go down kicking and screaming. She won’t let the devil win. She won’t let the devil take her son away.

She practically stormed into her Pastor’s home and dragged him with her to the hospital.

As the Pastor saw Emcee Spit – Fire lying in a comma on the hospital bed, his heart was overwhelmed with compassion and he politely asked everyone to leave the room especially the medical staff. He was going to say a prayer of faith - A prayerfor Emcee Spit- Fire’s life.

26 minutes into the prayer, Emcee Spit – Fire’s eyes popped open. He was still tired and attached to all the medical gismos but apart from that he was perfectly alright.

The Pastor called everyone back into the room. The Doctors and Nurses where surprised. Emcee Spit – Fire’s Mum felt like she was flying without wings – Her joy could not be contained.

Emcee Spit – Fire apologized over and over again to his Mum. In tears he told her how much he loved her and how right she had been all along. He had practically almost died for disobeying his Mum.

His dream of being a secular Rap Music super star at the age of 13 had gotten him into this predicament. He dreamt the wrong dream and went about achieving it the wrong way.

Emcee Spit – Fire told his Mum that he was going to leave Rap Music alone; break all his CDs and never listen to another Rap Music track in his life but his Mum told him that what he needs to leave is secular Rap Music that he can still listen to gospel Hip Hop, in fact she wanted him to listen to gospel Rap Music. She said she goggled some and after watching their videos she bought him some gospel rap albums. She said she liked it that it was very positive and she would like him to listen to it.

Emcee Spit – Fire agreed with what his mother said. He also stopped people from calling him Emcee Spit – Fire and went back to his original name: Edmond Brown.

Edmond stopped hanging out with the gang and anyone from his former crowd. He became more active in the teenagers group in church and only made friends with true followers of Jesus. His grades starting improving and his life started getting brighter.

Edmond had learnt a very important lesson, be careful about what you dream of becoming because dreams could grow teeth and then they could bite you.  

THE END.