Previously: By washin’ cars, I reach out, talkin’ with people. I find out who run the hood with the drugs.. I say to myself, Man, this car look like a doughboy (rich drug dealer) car. I get acquainted with him and ask him, “Who be selling crack?” After tryin’ out a sample of the guy’s product, I tell him, I give it a 7 out of 10. And I tell him, “Most dealers product don’t like yours do. With yours, when I drop it on a plate, dust come from it, like powder.” I go to share it with my homegirl and tell her, “I just met one of the DC supposed-to-be kingpin. His product ain’t really all that but I’m willin’ to share with you.” We got high and I told her I wanna go out and make some money. She told me be careful, don’t go gettin’ in trouble.
I was movin’ around, meetin’ more people, good and bad. There a certain direction I always went, and I see a lot of addicts, lookin’ like heroin, crack, alcohol users.
I was really curious. So I stopped one day and a guy asked me, “Can I help you. You need something?”
I say “Nah, I just stopped to see if there’s a hose so I can get some water in my carwash bucket.” I couldn’t tell him why I really stopped, which was to find out did they have crack in that area so I could get high. I didn’t know who he was.
It looked like a real rough area. For me bein’ the person I am and how I come up I wasn’t scared, I was just scared of my money getting taken.
If I tell him what I’m lookin’ for and I give him my money and he don’t come back, I’d be really mad. I overheard him tell another guy, “The dude might be an informer.” He didn’t know I overheard him—I got mad because I don’t like anyone callin’ me a law enforcement.
I told him, “Excuse me Home, can I talk to you for a minute?”
He said, “Sure. What’s up?”
I said, “Don’t think I’m police. I heard what you told your friend and that really low-graded me.”
He said, “Man I wasn’t talkin’ about you.”
I said, “C’mon I heard you say the dude with the bucket.”
He say, “Where you from?”
I say, “I’m from the Dirty South.”
He say, “What’s the Dirty South?”
I say, “I’m from New Orleans, man.”
While I’m talking to him, I see a lot of transactions goin’ on. Cars pullin’ up. Look like the type of women I’m lookin’ for.
He say, “You like her? I can hook you up if you wanna.”
I say, “No, I got a old lady.”
He say, “Where you stayin’ at?”
I say, “Over by the flagpole in the projects.”
He said, “How long you been around here?”
I say, “Man, you askin’ too many questions. That’s the thing the police be askin’.”
He say, “Big Easy, you don’t need to be that hard on me. I been locked up in the Fed with some of your homeboys.”
So that’s when I knew he was trying to persuade me to open up to him.
I told him, “If you think you know me, you know what I’m lookin’ for.”
He say, “No, you may be lookin’ for that girl with the shorts on.”
I say, “No I’m tryin to get a good connect.”
He say, “A good connect on what?”
I tell him, “Dope, heroin, or crack cocaine; it doesn’t matter.”
He say, “It look like you tryin’ to buy the city.”
I say, “No, I got a lot homeboys and girls tryin’ to get medicine. I’m tryin’ to be the man that get it for them.”
He say, “You got the man right here. I’m gonna call my man. He be here in 10 or 15 minutes.”
So I called my homeboys and girls told them, “I think I struck gold!”
But I didn’t stop to think where all this gold goin’ to lead me.
To be continued . . .
My book, “Still Standing: How an Ex-Con Found Salvation in the Floodwaters of Katrina” is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle form. I hope you will tell your friends about it. It also makes a great gift! If you like it, maybe you can write an Amazon review. Thank you!
