Yesterday’s song was one that reminded me of my brother, and today’s is one for his kids, Angela and Mike. I bring you No Scrubs by nineties pop sensation TLC. Now, how does a song about a broke-ass muthafucka relate to two small children? Let’s just say that Uncle Nicky loved to do sing-alongs in the car when he was in charge of the kids. They were taught songs like Baby Got Back (classy, I know) and Rapper’s Delight (mmm hmmm), but my personal favorite memory with them as my tiny passengers was of this song; it came on the radio and I sang along, and little Mike leaned forward and said, in his tiny voice, 'Uncle Nicky, what’s a scrub?' Naturally, I answered by reciting the actual lyrics. I watched his reaction in the rear-view; he was simply like, 'oh.' Angela cracked up and then we all laughed. It’s one of my happiest memories of a not-so-happy time in all our lives, trying to find sunshine in constant clouds. I can no longer hear this song without picturing their beautiful, innocent baby-faces.
From the historical writing archive. Original date: December 7, 2019. Recovered from local source material; editorial review is still in progress.
