Maxine

I happened to notice a girl in a light shade of blue
I happened to see her, the sight of her leaves me confused
She may not be you
But she looks just like you

"Maxine" John Legend

I love that song. If you haven't heard it, here's the link. In fact, when I first got the album, I listened to this song over and over. The girl in the following story's name is not Maxine, but we'll call her that to keep in the theme of the song. Besides, I learned my lesson last year using some one's real name. She found the old blog and read all about herself, so to avoid that happening we'll call her Maxine. Another real life crazy situation from Rashan's life.

I know all of you told me about hanging out at 4 in the morning, but I'm a midnight marauder. That's what I do. I can't sleep at night and I can't get up in the morning. So when I have to do stuff like go to the grocery store, chances are its gonna happen in the wee hours when most normal people are sleep. Tonight, I hit up the Kroger to replenish my chicken waings and ground turkey and almost lost my mind. I think I saw Maxine for the first time in 15 years. Matter of fact, I can tell you the last time I saw her. It was June 1992. The night of our high school graduation.

Maxine was the one. Even though she never felt me like that, I was hopelessly devoted to her. We were friends, and try as I might, I could never cross the friendship boundary. I used to get stuck in that zone a lot. I wasn't always the ruggedly handsome blogger you see now a days LOL. I was the chubby, quiet, eccentric, well lets just say what it was. I was a big nerd. Don't go feeling sorry for me, I liked who I was. I was a paradoxical figure. I could recite Big Daddy Kane lyrics one minute and in the next make a Herman Melville reference. (Bartleby the Scrivener was my shit.) But it didn't always translate well to others. I was a little off putting to some people and others just didn't know I existed. Such was high school, but Maxine got me. I mean, she was one of the few people that I consistently remained friendly with. And I carried a mean torch for her too going back to the middle school days when she had a curl and I rocked my first flat top.

Fast forward to tonight. I'm walking down the cereal aisle, looking for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, when I passed her. We gave each other the obligatory head nod and I thought to myself "She looks like someone I know." I couldn't place it so I kept it moving. I ran into her again in the meat department. I saw her out the corner of my eye, scrunching up her nose as she looked at a package of pork chops. That's when it hit me. Oh shit, Is that Maxine? I watched that wrinkle of her nose for 6 years. And I remember being weak when she flashed that smile that revealed that dimple on her left cheek. If she would just smile, I would know if it was her.

I didn't know if it was Maxine or not. She looked the same, albeit a little heavier than high school. But that's to be expected, that was 15 years ago. I flashed back to those days when she called me the Intelligent Hoodlum and I called her my Nubian Princess. I know it sounds corny now, but again, that was 15 years ago. Maxine was the first girl that made me go stalker. Even as I finally got a real girlfriend in 11th grade, she would have been dropped in a minute if Maxine was willing. And tonight, in a bit of serendipity, maybe I saw her again, in another city, 15 years later. I had to know. Was it her?

"Hey, Maxine?" I spoke...

She may not be you, but she looks just like you...