Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Shared Moments



There are moments shared by friends that no one else except for them will ever understand.

This is the case with my mom and my aunt Nora. Sometime back in the 80’s they saw “ I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” a parody of blaxploitation flicks that were really popular when they were in grade school. Thanks to cable running the hell outta this movie back in the day Ma and Nora know the movie word for word. I don’t even pretend to know what it is about this movie that makes those two women lose it but let's put it this way my younger siblings and cousins have never seen this flick yet can act out Nora and Ma's favorite scenes (see end of post). Like I said before this is something they share so not everyone else gets it. Outsiders don’t understand why my mother is reduced to tears when Nora in her best Chris Rock imitation yells out “How much for one rib?” in the middle of Kennedy Fried Chicken or why Nora totally loses it when ma launches into the, “my bitch better have my money” speech whenever she sees the Avon Lady delivering products.


It had been years since they'd seen the movie so you can imagine how hyper the two of them got when ma found it playing on cable not too long ago. Nora was preparing dinner when ma called with the news. By the time Nora was able to pry the remote loose from her husband's hand the movie was in the middle of Nora's favorite scene. Ma and Nora were rolling as they watched together. Uncle Hassan was all lost. He had no clue as to why they found that scene so funny. I tried to explain the appeal of it for mom and Nora but he was clueless.

He finally understood when mom reminded him of “their” moment. Fifteen years ago when my uncle arrived first arrived in New York he spoke very little English. My then teen aged uncle Chino decided to teach Hassan slang. Imagine ‘hood talk with a thick Egyptian accent…it is my friends the funniest thing you’ll ever hear. Months went by and uncle Hassan proved to be an excellent student talking as if he came straight outta the 'hood. This proved to be too funny on my uncle Chino’s 18th birthday when Hassan whipped out his birthday gift to Chino. As he held out the bottle of expensive men’s cologne he announced at the top of his voice, “Shino these ease fur dee beaches” the party seemed to stop and all eyes focused on Hassan. They were all in shock no one had ever heard him talk so much English much less slang. No one knew how to react and then all of a sudden you hear my mom's familiar cackle. The woman laughed until she cried. When mom reminded Hassan about that moment and he immediately started laughing and turned to tell his brother and his mother about it…they didn’t find it funny at all as a matter of fact they stared at him as if he were the village idiot. He turned and looked at me and said, "They have no sense of humor." which of course sent me into fits of laugher see it’s all about shared moments. This one’s for ma and Nora…


“My bitch better have my money/Through rain, sleet, or snow/My whore better have my money/Not half, not some, but all my cash/'Cause if she don't,/I'm gonna put my foot dead in her ass.”

Labels: family, friends, memories

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