Ben

Not the rat that Michael Jackson played with as a kid.
Nope. My nephew Ben. He's almost 19.
I called my Mom, because it was her birthday yesterday, to my surprise:
"Hey."
"Hey Mom."
"No, it's Ben."
I was stunned. The fuck is he answering their phone? Then I got into a conversation with him for about 20 minutes.
This may not seem odd to anyone with relatives, but what seemed odd was...once he became a teen, he's said but two things to me. The other days were me attempting to text or call him to tell him how disappointed I am in how he decided against college and that he's been getting himself into trouble. Nothing that would land him in jail...yet. But...what irks me, is IF he were a Black kid, he would probably already be in jail. But since he's an half-Asian kid, most likely they think he's in college. Or at least trying to learn something.
It was also a strange conversation because it actually seemed like he was listening. Like an adult. We talked about really adult things. Like the sexual assault case out here in Los Angeles. I completely forgot that 19 year olds are adults now. Mostly because I recall him being that kid who pounded on the window of my Sherman Oaks apartment desperate to go swimming.
It was a really cool talk, and I hope to have more like it. He's a fascinating dude who cares very little to blow smoke up my ass. He seems so much more...mature than I was at his age. Maybe because I was so driven to make movies and have friends who were excited about life. I sincerely hope at some point ambition finds him. Or at leas enough to get out of the opioid ravaged city that I grew up in. For me, it was much more fun drinking in the park and dreaming and talking about life.