PROLOGUE
1989 – Tools
I remember the day Mundo told me how he got his nickname. It had to be in 1989 or 1990- it was 10th grade and we were sitting in the cafeteria at Bishop Loughlin[1].
Mundo looked up from his roast beef sandwich and decided it was the perfect moment to tell me his origin story.
“My mom was always going to name me Olmando, after her grandfather,” he started out. “And the second my father saw me, he looked at my mother and told her, ‘Voy a darle a este niño el mundo.’ And that was it. I was ‘Mundo.’”
I gave a half-smile. Doe was my best friend and I loved the guy, but he was such a self-absorbed show-off.
“You know what my father said, when I was born?” I asked. Of course, he didn’t but I was gonna tell him. “’ Voy a asegurarme de que mi hijo tenga las herramientas para construir el mundo que él quiera.’”
Mundo laughed and shook his head.
“And that right there, bro,” I said, “is the difference between you and me.”
I took a swig from my water bottle.
“That right there,” Mundo immediately shot back, “is how you ended up with the nickname Cabrón, Pierre.”
That was me, Pierre Dorvil Taveras.
Cabrón.
[1] Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School is a Roman Catholic college-prep school located at 357 Clermont Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
