𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐑
Yaseer Nakim Rogers
25 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐥𝐝

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"Nasir, dick the fuck up an' stop being a crybaby." Yaseer said playfully to one of the young boys that regularly came to his recreation center. They had just finished their basketball tournament and the boy was whining about the fact that he didn't win.

"He mad ashit." One of the other kids laughed and others joined in.

"Stop dickeatin' pussy." Nasir mugged and everyone continued laughing at his annoyed face.

This was how all the boys at the center played around with each other. It was all love between everyone who came to the rec center and Nasir always made sure to tell them that there would be no beef inside of his center. As long as they came to the rec center, they were considered family.

"All y'all shut up an' take y'all ass home man." Yaseer shook his head and watched as all the boys ran towards the locker room to grab their things and head home. It was nearing dusk and he didn't want them out too late.

Yaseer began to pick up all of the basketballs and cones that were scattered around the gym floor, putting them away in the supply closet. Afterward, he went into the cafeteria before cleaning up leftover trash from dinner.

Yaseer owned a few recreation centers all around Philadelphia. Living in Philly for his entire life, he knew how rough the streets could be especially in the past couple years. The streets didn't spare anyone and he wanted better for the kids who had to grow up in all the chaos and violence.

His centers were huge and what some would call luxury. There was an indoor and outdoor basketball court, a lunchroom that provided three meals a day, a gym, a small daycare, a few classrooms and more. He wanted his centers to be inclusive for everybody. There were a lot of teen parents that showed up at his centers looking for help so that's why he had a daycare running in each one. He had classrooms for any of the kids who wanted to further their studies outside of their schools because he knew how messed up the public school system was in Philly.

When he came up with the idea to build recreation centers around the city, he had the youth in mind. As a young teenager, Yaseer got caught up in the streets heavy. He was doing things that no young child should have been doing, but he had to in order to survive. He didn't want that for the young children in his city. He knew he couldn't save them all, but he at least wanted to try.

"Bye Seer." Yaseer heard the group of boys call out to him as they walked outside of the locker room.

"Ard y'all be safe. Make sure y'all hit me up once y'all make it ta' the crib." Yaseer told them and they all nodded their heads before leaving. The kids that came to his center lived close enough, so the boys always walked him. He always had them walk home in groups just so that they could look out for each other and he made sure he checked in with them to see if they made it home safely.