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The microphone dangled from his right hand, a notebook perched in his left, the prose taking a minute to hit De’jon Benton’s tongue.

He was a thinker, not a rusher. And a sanctuary of creatives waited for him this August night, an artist development workshop the brainchild of Leila Steinberg, the founder of emotional-literacy foundation Aim4TheHeart and the first manager to one Tupac Shakur.

Participants, as required by Steinberg, must bring an artistic response to a particular topic for every workshop. And for two weeks, when he first showed up, Benton didn’t speak, Steinberg remembered. Not one word. No contribution. No discussion.

“Always hard with ballplayers,” Steinberg said, “because we have an impression that they’re not thinkers.”

But he came back. Always. So she figured there was something.

It hurts Regina Sherman to say, as a mother. But many simply never saw her son’s potential. Benton grew up with a stutter, taking speech classes through his time at Pittsburg High in the Bay Area, birthing a highly intentional and oft-deliberate approach to speaking. He had learning differences, his Pittsburg football coaches came to find, that sometimes necessitated explaining his assignments repeatedly. Sherman, herself, never anticipated Benton going to college for financial reasons, a largely single mother making ends meet on a nurse’s assistant’s salary.

But Benton was recruited by USC out of Pittsburg, and he has stuck out four tumultuous years as a Trojan to become a key piece of USC’s defensive line. He found himself, too, through lyricism and spoken-word, an outlet that’s grown since he first started putting pen to paper in high school.

When the 6-foot-1, 270-pound redshirt senior finally shared at the workshop, Benton gave an off-the-cuff, “Shakespearean” spoken-word performance, as Aim4TheHeart outreach director Louis King said, that blew the group away.

“I was like, ‘Oh, (expletive)’ … this kid’s mind is really special,” Steinberg said.

His second time sharing was written. And on the way from USC’s practice field, in the back of an Uber, Benton scratched a series of words out in his notebook, coming to stand in front of the group that night in black shorts adorned with a small USC logo. Pensive as ever.

Then launching into a story in spoken-word, voice deep and unwavering, of his journey, of heartbreak and blood spillage and a young man trying to make sense of chaos in the world around him.

***

I ask myself, he began, what would help me reach this potential?

In the eighth grade, Sherman got a call from one of Benton’s teachers, saying he was acting up in class. That was nothing new – the school rang her quite literally every single day about her son, Sherman emphasized – but the circumstances were. Somehow, he was goofing around, stood up on a chair, sat down and broke it.

Wait, how does he sit down and break a chair? Sherman questioned. “I don’t know,” she was told, “but he broke a chair.”

He was quiet, Sherman said, when he started at Antioch Middle School. One day, Benton called his mother at lunch. He didn’t usually call his mother at lunch.

“What’s wrong, son?” she asked, prying repeatedly beyond Benton’s one-word responses.

“I just don’t have any friends,” Sherman remembered her son saying, eventually. “I just feel alone, so I wanted to call you.”

It snapped her heart in two. She stayed with him on the phone for 30 minutes, until lunch was over.

“And then a few months later, he’s like, breaking chairs,” Sherman said. “So I guess he made friends.”

They lived in a part of Antioch, then, where there was absolutely no way Benton’s mother would let him walk home by himself. When Benton’s middle-school graduation rolled around, she got a call: He couldn’t get his cap and gown, because the school still hadn’t been paid back for the chair he broke.

She made $14 an hour. Barely had enough to pay rent. But Sherman made it work. Always did.

Things didn’t get easier in high school, when Pittsburg defensive line coach Isamu Falevai – also a school counselor – noticed, simply, that Benton was struggling. He grew into a unique on-field talent, a blend of speed and size Pittsburg had rarely seen; but academic issues persisted from middle school, Sherman telling Benton to get his grades up or she’d call his coaches to not let him play.

If you aren’t vested in these kids, Falevai said, you would think they’re lazy. Benton was not. You’d think they were just trying to skate by. Benton was not. He had extraordinary depth, as then-defensive coordinator Charlie Ramirez said. He just needed time. And eventually, his coaches worked with him and his teachers to set up an independent learning plan, seeing rapid growth in his grades in his junior and senior years.

Her son, Sherman said, never gave up on himself.

“It might take him a while to get there,” Sherman said, “but he always, he gets there.”

***

The endurance of a man’s heart, over time, becomes weak, Benton continued in August, pacing across the room. No longer willing to fight. Eyes no longer light.

In Benton’s sophomore year at Pittsburg, JV coaches started telling Falevai that the player was always late to practice. Or hanging out in the locker room. Or just not there. And eventually, Falevai realized there was a deeper reason here.

So the counselor sat him down one day, and told Benton he’d stay until he told him what was going on.

Benton’s father Dwayne, Falevai learned, lived in Stockton with his family, about an hour away. Every so often, he’d call his son for help, needing someone to watch Benton’s young half-sisters. So the kid would find a bus to Stockton, or a ride up there, or something, and his own life would grind to a halt.

They had a great relationship, Sherman said, Dwayne once a football player and rapper himself who’d take baby De’jon to spend entire weekends in a studio. Life for his father grew tough, though, Falevai learning at times he’d tell his son he had no electricity or running water. It left Benton thinking of his siblings, feeling helpless, Falevai said, so the son would drop everything at a moment’s notice.

“My pops,” Benton said after one USC practice in September, “he had the same ambitions as I have now. He’s done exactly what I’ve done.”

“I used to see light in his eyes,” Benton continued, referring to his own line of prose. “And now it’s more so, survival mode. And so that had put it into perspective for me.”

The endurance of man’s heart becomes weak.

During his junior year, Benton started writing. Always had loved reading, always asking his mom to buy him books, vocabulary expanding behind a diminishing stutter. It became an outlet, experimenting with spoken-word, experimenting with beats, an outlet he never quite made public – to even his own mother – until he began with Aim4TheHeart.

An outlet to understand, to express, through avoiding going down the wrong path in Pittsburg because he’d think of the look on his mother’s face, through his father’s journey and his own, through his own grasp on the very meaning of everything.

***

There are places on this planet that never reached its potential, Benton finished at the workshop, a room rapt. I will reach mine. I won’t be the victim of my own eye.

When the lineman first signed with USC, Falevai was excited. Also worried.

“He’s special,” Falevai tried to explain to USC coaches. “You just gotta be patient.”

And Benton still struggled at times, Falevai said, his first couple years as a Trojan, with timeliness. He played sparingly his first three seasons, and then the coaching staff that recruited him cycled out as Lincoln Riley took over, and conventional wisdom laid that he ought to transfer.

Benton relented. He chose to stick it out. Majoring in Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Change, he wanted a degree from USC, he’d tell Falevai, his mom pushing him to finish his education.

“De’jon, when we got here, I didn’t know if he was going to make it – I mean, I didn’t know if he was going to make the rigors of the program, the demands, the accountability,” Riley said, after the USC-Colorado game in late September.

Last year, Riley said, was up-and-down for Benton. A lot of tough love. But even as USC has brought in a slew of new faces on the line, Benton has earned major snaps against Colorado and Arizona, sixth on the team in tackles for loss and sacks.

“It’s funny, when you kind of get all your life in order, all of a sudden – his grades are good, he’s on time for stuff – he’s playing good ball,” Riley said.

For now, spoken-word, rap, poetry are all an outlet for Benton, Steinberg said. Just an outlet. Wants to leave it there, for him to focus on the now, seeing music or a book or public speaking stark in his future.

“He hasn’t even realized how powerful when he’s in front of a room,” Steinberg said. “He just has an electricity and a beauty about him.”

The world around him, it appears, is catching up to the potential he’s seen in himself. Potential that he wants to bring to a mic.

“It just made me have a different perspective,” Benton said, seeming to solve his own mind in real-time. “Football was also that second life, as you could say. When I played football, I didn’t just see football as football. I see football as life – like a mini-simulation of life itself.”

“Everything leading up to the moment in which I’m supposed to play, and if I’m ballin’ or if I’m (expletive) the bed, it was all because of actions and what led up to that,” Benton continued. “I go back to the days … like, ‘Damn, OK. If I get another breath for tomorrow’s day, I’ll change it.’”

A small, southern Illinois town is about to have its big debut, thanks to a couple of former "Real Housewives of New York City" reality television stars.

Beginning this weekend, Peacock and Bravo viewers will have the chance to tune into "Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake," a new reality show featuring Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps -- two glitzy Bravolebrities -- helping to revitalize Benton, a southern Illinois town about 300 miles outside of Chicago with a population of fewer than 7,000 people that was "devastated by the pandemic," a release says.

A trailer for the new series shows Morgan, once married to the great-grandson of J.P. Morgan and de Lesseps, the ex-wife of Count Alexandre de Lesseps, searching for famous "crappie fish" in Rend Lake with their bare hands, going mudding with monster trucks, attending the town's famed Testicle Festival and more.

In an interview with TODAY.com, the duo say they filmed in Benton for a month and a half, smack dab in the middle of summer.

"I call it 'The Sweat Lodge,' Morgan said, of the motel the pair were staying in and helping to refurbish. "There was no AC. We went down offseason, it was July."

In the interview, de Lesseps said that she'd "never been to this part of the country," and found the experience interesting. "We did so many things that we would never do," de Lesseps said. "Like, I caught a catfish with my bare hands."

Both Manhattanites also told TODAY.com that growing up in small towns helped prepare them for the experience.

"We lived all over the world, but we know what it’s like," de Lesseps said. "They were expecting us to come in and be these spoiled brats, and certainly our life has changed, but we are simple at heart when it comes to that."

"We were both charmed by all these people in this small town because they’re just such a lovely community," de Lesseps added.

Morgan told TODAY.com that she initially thought the duo was headed to the Windy City. "When they said we were going to Illinois, I was thinking Chicago," she said.

When the mission was over, it was time to get back to New York. "We made a lot of friends. It was hard to leave, but at the same time, we couldn’t wait to get back in our own beds, our own homes and gardens," Morgan said.

"Welcome to Crappie Lake" premieres on Bravo July 9.

This story has been updated.

Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan said a tearful goodbye to the town of Benton, Illinois on Sunday's season finale of Luann & Sonja: Welcome To Crappie Lake.

The reality stars made the small town better by putting in a children's playground, using their own money to fund an outdoor area at the dog shelter and hosting a cabaret show benefit.

'I'm Benton proud,' Sonja, 59, said. 'It could have been s*** show obviously. They're just really good people. Oh my god I'm so sad. I'm going to miss everybody.'

'I can't thank them enough especially for everything they have done at the motel,' Benton Motel owner Akesh Patel said after they left. 'I love them and you know I won't ever forget them. I'm done. I can't f***ing talk.'

As they drove out of town, Luann and Sonja saw the town had erected a billboard with their faces on it.

Season finale: Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan said a tearful goodbye to the town of Benton, Illinois on Sunday's season finale of Luann & Sonja: Welcome To Crappie Lake

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'Oh my God,' Sonja screamed. 'Fabulous. 'There is no place like Benton.'

Luann, 58, and Sonja, both from The Real Housewives of New York City, had agreed to go to Benton, a town with a population of 7,000, and spend six weeks working with the Benton City Council to help the small town bounce back after the pandemic.

When the season finale started, Luann and Sonja were both busy planning their looks for their final event the Benton Follies. Luann had Broadway director Richard Jay-Alexander, who had directed countless stars, fly in and help them at the last moment.

'B****es I'm in Benton!' Richard said. 'I am so happy to be here.'

Luann said in a confessional that she hoped Richard could help them polish the final song of the Benton Follies, which was her duet with Sonja. They had packed the audience selling more than 400 tickets to the event. Paula Abdul, 61, had flown in and was still in town working with the dance acts.

'Make it strong,' Paula instructed them in a rehearsal.

Luann and Sonja arrived at the empty theater three hours before show time.

'Let's take a moment to enjoy the grandiosity of what this show is going to be,' Luann said. 'Before my cabaret shows I loved to stand on the stage and take it all in before the audience gets here.'

She's proud: 'I'm Benton proud,' Sonja, 59, said. 'It could have been s*** show obviously. They're just really good people. Oh my god I'm so sad. I'm going to miss everybody'

Final song: Luann said in a confessional that she hoped Richard could help them polish the final song of the Benton Follies, which was her duet with Sonja

Dance coach: Paula Abdul, 61, had flown in and was still in town working with the dance acts

Cabaret experience: The Countess brought her cabaret experience to the Benton Follies

Richard showed up next to help with staging. Sonja insisted that Luann give the piano player her latest lyric changes.

'Stop being a bossy b****,' Luann said.

Luann worried about them getting through their song.

'It's the weakest link,' Luann said.

Richard stepped in between then to cut the tension and gave them stage direction.

'To have someone like Richard Jay come in and say let's remember you guys are friends,' Sonja said in a confessional. 'I know we have pressure on us but what's most important is where we are here together helping others.'

Right before the show started, Paula took her seat in the audience and told the crowd she was happy to be there. Next, Russell Jay Staglik, a TV producer from Benton, who brought Sonja and Luann to the town, took the stage.

'I am blown away by Sonja and Luann. They have done so much great stuff for this town,' Russell said.

Getting ready: Luann and Sonja got ready right before they came on stage

Luann and Sonja came out next, both dressed in white. Sonja said the last five weeks they spent in Benton had been amazing. The first act then walked out to sing the National Anthem, but there was no microphone so Luann rushed back to give her one.

'It's going to be that kind of show,' Luann said.

They introduced dance acts and drum groups who took that stage and entertained the crowds. One performer was an 86-year-old pianist.

'I'm surprised the show is going as well as it is,' Luann said. 'I'm just amazed at how the audience is receiving us.'

The final act of the show was Luann and Sonja's song about their time in Benton and all the people they met along the way.

'We love the motel Benton,' they sang. 'Where we first got our start. So happy we shared this time together you will always be in our hearts.'

They waved goodbye and said they loved Benton. The next day they packed up their belongings at the motel.

'I'm going to miss this little place,' Luann said.

Sonja re-sang their Benton theme song outside the motel but used her vibrator as a microphone. Luann said in a confessional that she had really grown to love the town and would miss the people.

'Sonja and Luann just brought a spark of energy and an encouragement that this town needed for us to believe that good things can happen here,' said Christian Drew, a cafe owner in town.

Dance routine: The Benton Follies included a dance routine by Sloan Dance Studio

Energy spark: 'Sonja and Luann just brought a spark of energy and an encouragement that this town needed for us to believe that good things can happen here,' said Christian Drew, a cafe owner in town

Killed it: The final act of the show was Luann and Sonja's song about their time in Benton and all the people they met along the way

Akesh, the Benton motel owner, told them to stop by the park before they left. When they got there they saw that the town had gathered to send them off.

Sonja started crying and told one of the women that she would return to help with future plantings.

'Who would have thought when we first got off the plane in Benton that these people would become our family,' Luann said.

Sonja and Luann starred on The Real Housewives Of New York City that was rebooted for season 14 with a new cast.

Sonja Morgan and Luann de Lesseps are putting their designer shoes on a shelf for something a little... muddier.

The Real Housewives of New York City alums have a Simple Life-style spinoff on the horizon in which they'll attempt to revive a tiny Midwestern town. Bravo dropped the first trailer for Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake on Monday, and it's safe to say both ladies are majorly out of their element.

The trailer introduces the town of Benton, Illinois — a farm community with a population of less than 7,000 people. Morgan, 59, and de Lesseps, 58, have one job: help rebuild the community after COVID and increase tourism. To do so, they dream up opportunities for the community, including building a park and hosting Christmas in July.

Unsurprisingly, though, much of the series makes hay of how these "Hollywood" women assimilate into small-town culture.

"Oh my God, we're gonna sweat like whore in church here," de Lesseps says upon touching down in Illinois.

Morgan chimes in, "Who do I have to f--- in this town to get a car?"

Things get really real when Morgan and de Lesseps get to the motel where they'll be staying for several weeks during filming.

"I'm not gonna blurt out WTF because that's what I'm thinking," Morgan says. Armed with bed bug spray, the two go to town renovating their room.

However excited both Morgan and de Lesseps seem for their jobs ahead, the town isn't convinced they'll make any difference.

"I think they're gonna be clueless on what it takes to build a playground," one man says.

And even more awaits the ladies when they head out on the town — from dive bars to the local Testicle Festival, where de Lesseps tastes the local cuisine and worries about having "testicle breath" for the rest of the evening.

There even seems to be the possibility of love on the horizon.

Morgan starts spending time with a man named Billy. "That's my kind of man," she says of the country boy. Meanwhile, de Lesseps bonds with a man with a ponytail beard. "I love it. It's a real goat-tee," she jokes. The man responds with goat noises — which de Lesseps gladly matches.

There's all kinds of party at the summer Christmas celebration, too. "She's bent over a couple of times and we saw the thongs," one woman says of the skimpy Santa suits the RHONY women chose to wear.

When things start going South, the women "pull out the big guns" — a visit from American Idol alum Paula Abdul. "How is it with the town being introduced to you two?" she asks.

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Luann and Sonja: Welcome to Crappie Lake will air its first two episodes July 9 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo. Once The Real Housewives of New York City's 14th season premieres on July 16, Crappie Lake will air at 10 p.m. ET.

There’s a Mexican restaurant moving into Benton territory, but they are no strangers to the area. It’s almost time for the Cinco de Mayo celebrations, so this news is timely. Don’t assume anything as you read on, because I almost need a family tree to tell you how this is going to happen.

There were a lot of local residents that were disappointed to hear that Carmelita’s Mexican restaurant would be leaving the property at 1415 Military Road. Long-time residents know the property. It used to be the Gulf gas station. The coffee company, 7 Brew, based in northwest Arkansas, bought the land. They currently have construction crews preparing it for a new structure. You can read that story here.

So what happens to Carmelita’s? Well, first, some background. Enter a face that’s familiar to the restaurant business in Arkansas and especially Benton. Oscar Valadez has been looking for a place to open – a home for his food since his other restaurant closed. Its name, coincidentally, was Cantina Cinco de Mayo. A fire caused their restaurant facility and an adjoining OYO Motel to become a total loss – completely unusable. After the fire department and insurance company were done investigating, the duo of buildings were leveled, and in September 2022, Benton’s new Olive Garden location opened there.

Valadez and his staff were devastated. But sometimes, from the ashes, something beautiful emerges. Oscar has been running a restaurant in Maumelle called El Charro. This new restaurant in Benton will be an additional location, bearing the same name and recipes. But let’s go back to Carmelita’s. Oscar said he bought their recipes as well, and so those dishes will be added to the list of options. There’s your answer to that question.

Don’t get distracted by the food pictures here, because I’m about to tell the location of the new place. You’ll currently find the new El Charro undergoing renovations at 1217 Ferguson Drive. The property, nestled between Key Elements consignment boutique and Pafford Ambulance, was formerly Riviera Maya, but that location closed. The locations in the Otter Creek and Midtown LR are still open.

Riviera Maya’s owners stated on April 3, 2023 via social media: “After 12 years of working and living alongside my cherished clients, to bring you our favorite recipes, it is with deep regret that I share with you the news that the Riviera Maya in Benton will close its doors on April 29, 2023. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your support and understanding as we navigate a new chapter in our lives for personal health reasons. We hope you’re still able to visit our extended family in the two Little Rock Restaurant locations to enjoy your favorite dishes. Warm regards, Angelica.”

Oscar said his plans are to open slowly. “We might serve 25 people in a night, so we can do it right. We have opened the patio in the back and cleaned it up. We will have margaritas and a full bar.”

I don’t know what “slowly” means to you, but Oscar said they plan to be open in two weeks. That’s soon!