Who is popular today?

Overcome with grief and sorrow, 12 days after losing his 17-year-old son Zwade Alleyne, Nigel Alleyne struggled to come to terms with a world that no longer had his boy in it.
"Why allyuh do that boy? Why allyuh do that to my son, boy? Zwade, papa missing yuh," he cried out in anguish as he spoke at the funeral at Constantine Park in Macoya on May 27.
It was a place young Alleyne knew well, having played football regularly there, before a bullet to the head ended his life. During the funeral, he scored his final "goal" with the aid of his football teammates, friends and relatives.
[caption id="attachment_1157405" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Nigel Alleyne had to be supported as he spoke at the funeral for his murdered son Zwade Alleyne on Tuesday at Constantine Park in Macoya.[/caption]
"When you reach up there Zwade, don't let nobody sit down next to you, I coming and meet you. I don't want nobody come and sit down next to you. I have to be next to you every time I see you." Alleyne said he and Zwade shared a close relationship.
He recalled one of his final memories with his son was when he called him on May 9, moments before he wrote a CSEC examination. Zwade was a form five student and aspiring footballer at the Arima North Secondary School.
"If I was God, I would've just bring you back out of this coffin right now and hug you up."
As Alleyne ended his speech, he almost collapsed as relatives supported him physically while a chair was brought for him to sit in as he was also given some water to drink.
When he regained his strength, Alleyne walked over to Zwade’s coffin. He cried out once more: "Why Zwade? Why allyuh do that?" Seconds later, he fell onto the grass where he lay weeping for several minutes.
In contrast, Zwade’s mother Keisha Bethelmy, masked her grief with quiet strength. She was a constant figure, moving about to ensure everything ran smoothly during the funeral.
During her speech, she said, "Revenge belongs to God. Leave it in God's hands and let Him do His own judgement."
She too recalled her final memories of her youngest child, hours before he was fatally shot metres away from the front door of their home.
"He was sick whole week and the Saturday (May 10) I went Arima and bought a roti for him. He didn't eat whole week, was only liquids.
"When I reach home he take four bites and said the roti finish. He was still hungry and decided to make macaroni and cheese. When he put the water to boil, he put on some slow music." Bethelmy said she told him to dance with her.
[caption id="attachment_1157406" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Amir Bethelmy weeps over the coffin of his cousin Zwade Alleyne at the funeral on Tuesday at Constantine Park in Macoya.[/caption]
"We danced and I told him to come and spin me around so when he get a girlfriend, he'll know how to spin her around."
She said a short while after, his friends who would visit him everyday, came over to their house.
"His friends came and they were liming inside. If is not FIFA they playing, is they phone they on or dominoes or monopoly they playing. They were never street children to say they on the block. The block was my house."
She said after they ate, they went outside to take some breeze when gunmen came.
Police said that on May 10 around 10.52 pm, they responded to a report of a shooting at Building 12 in Maloney.
Witnesses said around 10.45 pm, Zwade and several teenagers were on the third floor when a group of gunmen shot at them from the southern side of the car park. The youths tried to duck, but Zwade was shot when he tried to get up.
He was warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex for five days. The bullet entered near his left ear and exited through the back of his skull. He was declared brain-dead by doctors and died at 4.15 pm on May 15.
[caption id="attachment_1157404" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Youths raise their hands in prayer during the funeral on Tuesday for murdered schoolboy and aspiring footballer Zwade Alleyne.[/caption]
He became the second student from Arima North Secondary to die to gun violence in the span of a month.
On April 15, Ezekiel Ramdialsingh, a former student and footballer was murdered.
He was gunned down after returning from a general election campaign meeting. He too had been liming with friends at a shop when a gunman approached and shot at them. He was metres away from his home.
Bethelmy shared a message to those involved in a life of crime, specifically those who took her son's life.
"To you young men who just come in the building and shooting up wild, wild...Lord have mercy on allyuh! I will plead for the young people to put down the guns. Please put down the guns." She said there were too many "senseless" murders in the country.
"We need to know what is love. Change guns into love. Love one another, we need it in this country. And parents, love your children. Stop encouraging them in wrong. Stop encouraging them to pick up a gun."
She also urged all politicians – Government and Opposition – to work together to put a stop to gun violence.
Apostle Justin Smith also delivered the sermon, called on youths attending the funeral to "be saved," as he prayed that they would not become another statistic.
Before the final viewing of Zwade’s body, his teammates, friends and family gathered to help him score his "final goal."
Forming two lines, they gently passed a football down the path which ended with Zwade in his casket which was positioned just in front of the goal. The ball was kicked and ricocheted off the casket into the goal. A cheer rang out.
 
The post Funderal in football park – Murdered teen ‘scores’ final goal appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.