I recently had the pleasure of seeing my close friend Emil at his school while visiting New York City. In both of our times in college so far, I had never stopped by because of the extremely upsetting fact that his school, despite being named “Manhattan University,” was actually located in the Bronx. However, Emil had recently made the two-hour trip involving two trains and a cab ride to visit me in Connecticut, so I began to feel some guilt about my inability to take a train to the next borough over. Better late than never, I guess.
I begrudgingly got off the final stop of the 1 train and walked to one of the campus Buildings. I was greeted by Emil and surprised to see my other friends, Margaret and Bella, with him. After we all exchanged hellos, I asked if there was anything I could eat nearby. They told me they had planned to hit the dining hall after a thrift store. We walked a couple of blocks, and the large academic buildings shrank into familiar duplex houses with families out front. Their campus was really odd to me because of this. It was like any other college campus in the north east, just noclipped into the lower 200s of the Bronx. I can’t imagine what it would be like to just be in New York in between classes.
At the thrift store, we played with toy cars and tried on dumb shit until we got bored. At that point, we decided to walk back up to the campus.
The Manhattan University Dining Hall (Referred to in the shorthand (although I was never told what the “longhand” was, as “locks”) was an experience like no other. Entering the building, I was overwhelmed with a dry heat and the smell of melting cheese. I walked through the food options and frowned at the counters crusted over with dried sauces. Noticing my expression, Emil reassured me that Fridays were always the worst. We ate protein bowls, and I was introduced to some more folks. Most were studying Biomed like Emil, and we bonded over NASCAR. Our meals were completed with “Mighty Mini” ice cream sandwiches.
The rest of the day was spent with more walking around in the Bronx until we could no longer. I took the hour-long train ride back to my home, but not before letting the words “W links, I’ll pull up again tomorrow” fall out of my mouth a little too easily. By the time I got home, I kicked myself for making such a promise.
It was fine, though, because I woke up the next morning to a text from Emil about a school fair where a band would be performing. When I asked which one, I was surprised not only to learn that Jadakiss would be performing at his school, but also that he had apparently given up his rap career to start a band. A band successful enough to get large gigs at places like Manhattan University. The last time I heard someone talk about Jadakiss was when I still wet the bed. I was excited to see what he had been up to since then. “A band named Jadakiss”. Wow. I couldn’t contain myself. Just like old times.
I changed my sheets, jumped on the train, and excitedly got off the final stop of the one train, and this time I had a bicycle with me. I spent some time riding around Van Cortlandt Park while waiting for Emil to meet me. We walked back up to the campus main lawn, which was riddled with carnival attractions overnight. I met some more of Emil’s friends, one of whom did not know how to ride a bicycle. So after we got tired of the amusements, we decided to teach him how. We then spent some time climbing rocks and chatting.
That night was the concert I had gotten so excited for. I had so many questions: What kind of music was he making? Was it actually any good? Did Emil even know who Jadakiss was? However, I quickly realized that none of these questions mattered as soon as he came out and started rapping. There was no band. Only those same songs I used to hear on the radio. I looked over to find Emil, but he had disappeared into the crowd by then.
After an extremely short set and a couple of “Stay in school, y’all”s, Jadakiss was off, and so was I. I bid Emil and my new friends farewell and took the train back home for another hour. It wasn’t that bad that time, though. I hope to return to Manhattan University soon.
This is awesum…