Pain, Love, and War: Part One | Teen Ink

Pain, Love, and War: Part One

May 8, 2015
By TakeoffYRN BRONZE, Lynchburg, Virginia
TakeoffYRN BRONZE, Lynchburg, Virginia
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Pain, Love, and War: Part One
Intro:

Chapter One: Growing Up
It is the year of 1870 when Dwayne Johnson was born. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in Compton, California. Dwayne is the oldest of five siblings. His mother Ashley Johnson is a wonderful mother to Dwayne and his siblings. Their neighbors were always loud on the weekends and always fighting over something stupid like a card game. Dwayne’s father Tommy Johnson is a good man. He works two jobs and he provides food, clothes, and other good things for the family. When Dwayne turned five in 1875, his father left out of his life. Without a father to look up to, Dwayne thought he wouldn’t be anybody when he gets older. Now that his mother is a single parent, she has a hard time providing for her kids just like their father did. This is the story of how Dwayne Johnson went from having Love, Pain, and War in his life.

Chapter Two: School Days
In 1885 when Dwayne turned fifteen, his mother Ashley died of a heart attack in her sleep. At the funeral, Dwayne was crying plenty of tears. His grandmother told him he had to live with her until he goes to college. When Dwayne got to his grandmother’s house, he never imagined how big it is. It was so big that it has eight bedrooms, five bathrooms, two kitchens, a den, a full basement, and a big living room with a big screen TV. His grandmother told him that he had to go to a new middle school now that he lives in Chicago, Illinois. The next morning Dwayne got up, ate breakfast, and went to school. During school, Dwayne saw a lot of eighth graders. He wonders will he ever meet any friends. During lunch Dwayne met a guy named Carlos. Carlos is kind of a trouble maker and he gets suspended for fighting and trash talking his teachers. Carlos and Dwayne became best friends. Carlos told Dwayne that when he gets suspended it will be the best thing that ever happens to him. When Dwayne got to class, he sat at his desk and talked to his classmates. When his teacher came in the room and started teaching, Dwayne continued talking. His teacher told him if he keeps talking she will send him to the office and he’ll get a referral. One of the male students in the class got up and said something smart to Dwayne. Even though Dwayne comes from a rough family when he heard those words, he punched the student so hard in his face that it knocked him out for three minutes. A police officer came in the room, put handcuffs on his wrists, and took him to an alternative school until his behavior gets better.
Chapter Three: Pain
When Dwayne turned sixteen in the year of 1886, he got released from alternative school for good behavior. When he started high school, he started misbehaving by hanging out with the wrong group of people. Him and his friends created a group and called their selves the “Black Aces”. In the group it was just African Americans. The group had about fifteen or more students. It was Dwayne, Carlos, Tony, Chris, Josh, and Quavo. Quavo’s real name was Quavious. Those six students were the evilest of them all. There are a lot of other groups with different races. It is so much pain in their groups that if you wanted to join, you will either have to get shot in your arm or get jumped by all of the people in the group. Although Dwayne and Carlos are the group leaders, they still have to obey the group’s rules. At lunch Dwayne and Carlos always skip and go outside to smoke weed. They never got caught because they found a good hiding spot to smoke. Half the time when Carlos is not in school Dwayne will go to the spot and smoke by himself. Dwayne thought if he keeps smoking he will get lung cancer and die so he didn’t smoke for a month. That was a good lesson for Dwayne because he could’ve died from lung cancer and end up like his mother. Finally Dwayne realized that if he ends up dying like his mother, he’ll never get married and live a happy life.
Chapter Four: Basketball Season
In 1888 when Dwayne turned seventeen he left the life of being a so called gang member to being a positive student in his junior year of high school. The basketball coach of the high school came up to Dwayne and asked him have he ever played basketball. Dwayne told him no but he would love to play for the team. Dwayne also told the coach that he was 6’2 inches tall. When Coach Kendrick heard those words he knew Dwayne was tall enough for the team. Coach Kendrick told Dwayne to come to basketball practice after school to see how good he is. Dwayne was so happy to hear the news that he went to class and started working hard, waiting for the final bell to ring. After the bell rung, Dwayne rushed to the gym, changed into his shorts, and started practicing. He was doing such a great job that coach Kendrick told him he had a starting shooting guard position for him to play. Dwayne was so happy that he gave the coach a high five and shot and made a three point shot. Dwayne is now off to make a great person he wanted to be. He only wishes his mother was here to see him succeed in his life. Dwayne wonders if play basketball, will he ever go to college and get drafted to the NBA. He also thought that if he makes it to the NBA and gets paid a lot of money he’ll look out for his family.


Chapter Five: Playing Basketball 
When basketball season started, Dwayne began to play the best he ever played. Coach Kendrick told the team the season is about to start and he wants the team to play their best and win the regional championship. When the first game started Dwayne was excited. The team they are going against has good defensive players. That didn’t matter because all Dwayne has to do is draw fouls. After tip off the team point guard passed Dwayne the ball and Dwayne made his first three pointer of the season. He was really excited to make that shot. His goals are to get twenty or more points the whole season. During the second quarter, Dwayne had fifteen points, three blocks, two steals, and five rebounds. When Dwayne looked in the crowd, he saw scouts from different colleges. The colleges were Virginia Tech, Duke University, Kansas State, Ohio State, and BYU. Dwayne now realizes he has to play his very best to get a scholarship to play for a college team. In the fourth quarter, Dwayne has twenty-three points, ten assists, eight rebounds, and seven steals. 


The author's comments:

This story is about a young boy that grew up in Compton, California without a father figure who became a basketball player later in his life and went through "Pain, Love, and War."


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