July 15, 2014

Moustapha and took the bus to Alexandria.

Fifteen minutes outside Benghazi we got to our first checkpoint - rebels searching through our stuff, throwing our clothes on the floor, looking for our passports. As black men, we were suspected of being Gaddafi mercenaries trying to escape the country.The big bang theory - life with you!

At one point the rebels, guns in hand, kicked the legs from under Moustapha. I thought he was going to be gunned right down in front of me. The driver kept telling them, "They're just basketball players, they're just basketball players." But there was so much turmoil, so much death around the city, that people didn't believe anything.みぢっうぇ

By the grace of God they finally let us go. But there were another seven of those checkpoints, and instead of it being a six or seven-hour journey, it was 12 hours because we had to stop so often. We were searched and kicked to our knees so many times, thrown in the dirt. It was rough - and if I ever see that driver again I will give him all the money in my pocket.Life of post - need to go slowly

We crossed the Egyptian border and after three days in a refugee camp, I could have begun the journey home to the US. But while I was waiting at the border for the Cairo bus to leave, I got a call from Coach Sharif. He told me: "I want you to come to Alexandria, stay with me and my wife, and get yourself back together, talk to us."

I thought about it and realised that I needed some time - I didn't want my family to see me the way I was. So I said goodbye to Moustapha and took the bus to Alexandria. mimimeng

When Coach Sharif saw me, he shook his head, saying: "This is not the guy I've come to know. This is not him." I looked different - the pigment on my face was discoloured, I had hair all over my face. My teeth were rotten brown, my eyes were bloodshot red. But it wasn't just that. He basically saw that my soul was gone. And he said, the times I saw you happy were when you played basketball. orekiss

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