Melody: I have a son.
Darrel: I have a niece and nephew, 6 and 10. No, we’re not married. Boyfriend, ex-ish…
M: It’s kinda complicated.
D: Really. This interview is going to be interesting.
M: We’re open. Don’t worry.
D: She took my niece to a cheerleading competition down the street. But I guess it was over by the time we got there, right? So that was a bummer. Kinda hurt her feelings a little bit, so we came over here.
M: Yeah, they live in San Bernandino, so they’re going to be moving out here by the end of the year. So I was trying to get her to get a little comfortable with the area.
Well, I used to work at a third-party agency, like phone calls. But I’m going back to school. And on the side, I facepaint. I’m going back either in the medical field, or I’m thinking about pursuing makeup artistry. Well, I’ve always been pretty interested in painting and stuff like that, but … I had a recent conversation with someone, like just do something that you’re passionate about. So I love kids, I love painting, I love makeup, so why not?
D: Right now, I’m currently unemployed, but I’m going to school for General Ed. I’m trying to become a coach – a basketball coach. And I enjoy art also. I paint. I draw. I did photography also. And I like cars, so I guess that’s another hobby. Yeah, all over the place actually.
Well, when i was younger, I played basketball for elementary. I was pretty good, but I used to complain a lot. ‘Cause I played too much, and the coach never wanted to put me on the bench. But I was young – I didn’t know. I didn’t understand it.
And I didn’t have a father to push me, so you know, if I could give back to the kids, find somebody like me, and talk to them, then I’m like, it’s not because the coach doesn’t like you. It’s because you’re a pretty good player. Then it would probably benefit them better. I would like to see somebody succeed. Exactly like a role model. I could see somebody get to where I couldn’t get.
Just with basketball, I wish I would’ve like, continued to do basketball in high school, junior high, and all that. Could probably become professional. I play at the parks everyday. I try to get a lot of exercise in. I go on hikes, walks, and everything.
Besides basketball, I think I would’ve taken high school a little bit more serious. I kind of clowned around a lot, but I passed and graduated and everything. But I probably could’ve made the honor roll and all that other stuff if I put my effort into it. This is my niece by the way. She’s the one we were talking to you about cheerleading.
M: We’re just – we keep them for the weekend.
D: We’re staying here, they’re visiting, and we’re watching them right now. That’s her brother, the one with the white shirt. His name is DJ. Adam is the one with the backpack on.
M: Well, it’s our son. The one with the backpack. Adam.
D: We try to come out. We go out to parks. I take them to trails sometimes, like hiking. Just trying to go and see new things. We went to a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple?
M: No, a Hindu temple. It was just the three of us and my aunt. We try to get him to explore more.
D: Yeah, experience everything, have an open mind, and just … we’re really diverse and random.
We went to the same high school.
M: Kind of the same college, but I continued. And he went to a different college. [We met] in high school.
D: Through a mutual friend.
M: Let’s see. We started dating when we were like, seventeen. Sixteen?
D: Under the radar. Well, I didn’t have a lot of high school relationships. I had probably like, three? Two? But she was the serious…
M: And then um, we were together for a long time. It’s just like, just time and stuff, you know.
D: Being super young, and taking things super serious.
M: So now we’re just trying to figure things out. Kind of work on ourselves.
D: Sometimes relationships are overrated.
M: Yeah, right now I [think so too].
D: I think if you’re mature enough, then go for it. If you young, then you should probably try to like, step back a little bit.
M: Yeah, unless you’re fully taking everything else seriously.
D: You have no idea what’s in store for you when you’re young. Just ’cause, when you grow with a person, you know, and you start figuring out that this is not your complete – this is not you, completely, you’re going to have some disagreements. You’re going to go different ways. You’re not the same as you two were. There’s always some difficulties. And you don’t think about that. You think everything’s perfect in the beginning. And when you start getting to the serious part, start getting a little more, you know, disagreements, certain structures don’t cooperate with each other … and that’s when things get a little bit too stressful. So, that’s not good for a relationship. And y’all don’t have that understanding. And when you’re young, you don’t have to understand it. And you get stubborn. As you get older, you’re like, ‘Okay, I know what to expect. So I can take on a relationship.'”
Excerpt may be edited for clarity.