Every summer, the first thing I did when I reached Hamilton Mountain was run.
Not walk.
Run.
Straight down the hill to my cousin Nadine's house.
Because I already knew who would be waiting for me.
Fitzy.
He was a little younger than I was, but that never mattered.
The moment we found each other, the adventures began.
One day we'd climb the breadfruit tree looking for the biggest one we could find.
Breadfruit was everywhere during the season, and to us it was free food waiting to be picked.
We'd carry it back like two expert hunters.
Build a little fire.
Roast it until the skin turned black.
Then peel it open and eat it with nothing more than cooking oil and a little salt.
To this day, I don't care what anybody says.
That was one of the best meals in the world.
After lunch, the real competition started.
Fitzy and I were completely obsessed with kung fu movies.
Every chance we got, we'd watch Bruce Lee and every other martial arts hero we could find.
By the time the movie ended, we were convinced we knew kung fu ourselves.
There was just one problem.
We needed somewhere to fight.
Unfortunately, we chose the one place we weren't supposed to be.
My grandaunt's rose garden.
She loved those roses.
Babied them.
Protected them.
Everyone knew one rule.
Stay out of the rose garden.
Naturally, that's exactly where we decided to hold the greatest karate match in Jamaican history.
We kicked.
We blocked.
We shouted.
We were absolutely certain we were starring in our own martial arts movie.
Then it happened.
One wrong step.
One stumble.
Crack.
We landed right on one of my grandaunt's beautiful rose bushes.
I'll never forget the look on her face.
She wasn't just angry.
She was heartbroken.
She had spent so much time caring for those roses, and in one spectacular kung fu battle, Fitzy and I destroyed one of them.
I felt awful.
Not because we got caught.
Because I knew how much she loved that garden.
I don't think I ever went back into those roses again.
Funny how childhood works.
We thought we were becoming Bruce Lee.
Instead, we became the two children who lost the biggest karate fight of their lives to a rose bush.