He Said It

Kenneth and Kelvin were not always close. They were only a year apart, with Kelvin being the senior. They argued like cats and dogs all the time. The few times it got physical, their mom let them know that it will not be tolerated, and they were punished accordingly. Competition came along with the fighting.  Kelvin was quite the gymnast. He could do back flips, cartwheels, handstands, and contort his body all kinds of ways. When Kenneth noticed the praise that Kelvin was getting, and he started to feel the sensation of jealousy. He got their mom’s attention. He took off running, did a cartwheel, and he tried to do a back flip. Kenneth landed on his back, then he let out a loud moan. A few seconds passed, then smiles turned upside down. Kenneth was rushed to the hospital. He suffered a mild concussion. During his recovery, Kenneth vowed to learn how to do a back flip, and he did. That was a happy time for him

Although Kenneth wasn’t the athletic type, he never gave up until he figured something out, and that is one thing Kelvin admired about his little brother. Kenneth gave Kelvin pep talks all the time. For example, Kelvin was quite the ladies man, but it was Kenneth who encouraged him to talk to girls because he had a fear of rejection. Sometimes, he had to play the middle man, but it worked. Anyway, they both went to the same high school and during PE class, the track coach noticed how fast Kelvin can run. He approached Kelvin and asked him to come to track practice after school. After telling him that he wasn’t interested, Kelvin went on about his school day. Later in the evening, as it was getting close to bedtime, Kelvin told Kenneth what was happened. Kenneth told him that even if he felt that track wasn’t for him, just go to one practice and the day feeling accomplished.

The next day, Kelvin went to track practice. After warming up, the coach separated the teams into groups of four to do 100-meter sprints. Kelvin was grouped with the second fastest runner in the school. Kelvin won the first race. That got the coach’s attention. After racing for a second time, Kelvin won again. The coach’s heart rate is slightly elevated at this point. To tickle his fancy, he switched Kelvin to the group with the fastest runner in the school. He won that race as well. Now the coach is beside himself. Kelvin finished the practice, like he said he would, but he didn’t want to join the team because he didn’t feel worthy. The coach kept trying to convince him to join. Kelvin told him that he will give it some thought over the weekend and give him an answer on Monday.

Later in the evening, Kelvin bussed through the front door with a huge grin on his face. He told his mom the awesome day he had at school. He told her the whole deal about the track team but wasn’t sure if he would join or not. Mom said, “if something make you smile this hard and feel this good, take it in and embrace it while you can.” “Ok mom,” Kelvin replied as he ran to find Kenneth.

“Hey man. I saw you kick ass at track practice today. Good job.” Kenneth said with a smile on his face.

Kelvin had a dumbfounded look on had a dumbfounded look on his face. Kenneth laughed and Kelvin followed suit.

“Aye lil bro, I’m about to hop in the shower, then head to bed.”

“Ok. Tomorrow morning about 10ish, meet me at the bookstore downtown”

“The bookstore?”

“Yeah Kelvin, the bookstore.”

Kelvin nodded his head and went on about his business.

The next morning, Kelvin made it downtown to the Marshfield Bookstore. He looked inside and Kenneth was already there. He waived for Kelvin to come in. At first, they sat down at a table and had a long talk about the direction Kelvin wanted to take with his life. He said that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to college after he graduate because he have a fear of failure. He explained to Kenneth that it’s not like high school. It’s tougher and more disciplined. It takes time that I may not have the mental strength to give them.

“Follow me,” Kenneth said.

They went to the self-help aisle of the bookstore.     

“Look around and see if something grabs your attention.”

Kelvin paced the self-help aisle because he had no idea about the notion of self-help in book form. He had it in his head that people should know how to help themselves already. At the same time, he was intrigued because there were hundreds, upon hundreds, of these types of books. They had books about how to become successful at making friends to how to become a millionaire. The first book he picked up was about how to turn an asshole into an angel. He read a page the back of the book and put it down. He browsed a little more and stopped. He saw a book that made him giggle on the inside. He looked around for Kenneth, but he wasn’t there. He didn’t think much of it because it’s not uncommon for him to just take off without telling anyone. His focus was back to the book that caught his attention. It was The Little Engine That Could. He looked at the illustrations and thought that the blue engine was pretty cool, since blue was his favorite color. He opened it up and began to read. One page turned to two. Two pages turned to four. Four pages turned into twenty-three. After realizing he read half the book, he made the decision to buy it.

As Kelvin waited for the bus, he called Kenneth.

“Guess what?”

“What?” Kenneth responded.

“I bought a book?”

“Hold up. YOU bought a book!”

“Yeah man.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you. You might laugh at me.”

“I always laugh at you. What book did you get Kelvin?”

“The Little Engine That Could”

“Kenneth. Why did you get quiet on me?”

“I felt like I had to cough. Seriously Kelvin, I’m proud of you. I want you to read that book and apply it. Whether it’s for anything relating to school or something personal. I want you to join the track team. You were at your best out there. I don’t want to any excuses from you. I want you to be that little engine that could.”