The Reason You’re Wrong About Wearing Shoes in the House | Mathew Serback
I kept my Jordan’s strapped tight until my ankles were black and blue from the double knot in the laces. Those shoes were the only thing that helped me escape the parabola of poverty I carried with me throughout the house when we had no heat in the winter.
I was ready to get jumped for my Jump Man.
Oh, my – soulless shoes, worn through the middle, decayed like other idols I couldn’t abandon. It was only when I was in those Jordan’s that people paid attention to me.
What a bright future he’s going to have.
I didn’t exist beyond a pair of shoes, which my parents thought were a lifeboat that might get them out of the blocks and blocks of abandoned brick buildings, strip clubs, and dollar stores. I never lost the sense of irony that my Nike Airs took me to the clouds, but they’re also the reason I came back to Earth.
They laugh now when I tell them the banks around here have changed their names so many times I feel like the money is ashamed to be associated with us.
I wonder if they laugh when they see a kid in a pair of those Nike’s circling the park, hoping to make it to the court in time to yell, “I got next.”
I don’t laugh.
I hope. And I hope they do too.
About the Author:
Mathew Serback’s debut novel is available for purchase right now. He’s been published by Literary Orphans, After Happy Hour Review, GASHER, and many more. His favorite Disney movie is “Aladdin,” and he hopes you make assumptions about him based on that fact. Flying Carpets ARE real.