Out of the other black guys in my dorm, one was from Kansas City.  He was from the Missouri side, but he loved sports like me.  We were on the same floor, so would meet up in our floor lobby to watch Sportscenter.  That’s how it started.  Now I’m not one of those big ‘I always knew we would be friends’ type of people, but sometimes there are moments that make it seem like you’re tied to a person. 

One Friday early in first semester, I was pulling out of the parking lot, changing the dial trying to find my favorite radio station.  All I heard next was “SPIKE!!!”  WHAMMO!!!  I straight ran this cat over with my car!!!

He was on his bike at the time (thankfully).  I wasn’t a complete jerk; I took him to the bike shop to get it fixed.  But yeah, that was one of those times you think, “I’m going to be friends with this cat…”

I am beyond terrible with names, so it’s not uncommon for me to give friends of mine nicknames.  One morning in particular I was starving and ready to get down to the cafeteria, Mrs. E’s.  I go across the floor to bang on this kid’s door; he’s still laying in his twin bed; rocking some hideous brown and white plaid pajamas.  His blanket wrapped up in his hands.  He’s been Linus to me ever since.

The inherent comedy of the bike incident was the perfect embodiment of our friendship.  I watched the OJ Simpson verdict from Linus’ dorm room.  The mood change from ‘here we go again’ to pure elation to celebrating past a bunch of pissed off future Republicans who were seeing the flaws in our justice system; that was a funny experience.  Out of the two of us, Linus was the first one to get a multi-page love letter.  Unfortunately, it came from his roommate, leading to this exchange I’ll never let him forget:

Me: (seeing him standing outside my door looking like a Vietnam Vet) What the hell is wrong with you?

Linus: (voice barely above a whisper) He loves me…

The second half of my freshmen year, I moved out of the dorm and into one of the scholarship halls.  I didn’t see Linus everyday anymore, but our friendship kept growing when I found another common bond: movies.  Linus, as it turns out, was a huge Star Wars fan, even more than me even.  They re-released the original trilogy when we were in college; me and Linus rolled to Ward Parkway to see the ‘new and improved’ version.  Don’t ask me why I did this, but when Darth Vader killed Obi-Wan, I leapt out of my seat and started running up and down the aisle like I was in shock.  It got a good chuckle out of Linus, but the cat whose chair I kept kicking…truth be told he should have taken me outside and whipped my ass.  It would be fitting a couple years down the line, for my farewell get-together with all the boys, we all went to see Episode I – the Phantom Menace.  It would be a very solid foundation that would be worth a lot down the line…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  It was my second semester of college, I moved across campus to the scholarship halls, setting myself up for something big…