I would like to thank everyone who helped me go home to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I had a good time with my family.
I can’t hold this back. We went out to eat and it was an ALL-you-could-eat place. It was everything you would look to eat. And me not eating that good in a while, I was being big-eyed! It was fun, but I told them to get me out of there before I hurt myself. I was walking out the door still eating! The whole family was looking at me making jokes. I told them I don’t get to eat good food like this up here. My sister said, “Brother, we will come back before you leave.” The food was really good. If you ever go down there, go to Golden Dragon Buffet.
I saw a lot of my old friends too. I talked with them and told them about my new life, since they know me from the old hustlin’ days. When I showed them my book, “Still Standing,” they couldn’t believe it until they saw my picture inside. I told them I’m working on a new one, “My Life In Jail.”
My aunt couldn’t believe the book either. She said she never knew me from doin’ good. She was very proud of me and took me out to eat.
My family asked if I would come back and stay. Honest, New Orleans don’t look the same to me. I love seeing my family and friends. But I’m not looking to stay. I know what will happen: jail or die. It would be hard for me to get a job, and if that happened, I would go back to my old past.
“Brother, I understand you. Do what you think is best for you,” my sister told me. “I love you so much, I hope the best for you.”
We talked about my mother, if she could be here to see my new life. My little brother and I hooked up. I went over to his house a few times and ate with his family. He was glad to see me down there and I was happy to see him, too.
Honest, I would love to make this trip to see my family twice a year. I wish I could get the food from down there sent up here, too! What if New Orleans was just around the corner, like Arlington? What a dream.
Here, I have work. I don’t have the best job, but I’m working. It helps me to make it, day to day, and visiting the family helps me to make it too. I try my best to stay strong. Yes, times get hard for me. But I never let it take me back to my old days. Honest, I never thought a paper-selling job could help me to be a better man in life.
When I got back to work in D.C., a lady I know downtown told me she went down for Mardi Gras, too. She thought she passed me riding a bike while she was taking an Uber. And that’s how I was getting around the whole time! It’s a small world. I also met two new people visiting from D.C. while I was down there. They didn’t believe me when I said where I come from until I showed them my I.D. Then they each bought a copy of my book. They even invited me to go eat with them at a seafood place by the river, but I had to work on selling my book.
God’s got me in a good way to mingle with people like I do here. I even sold some books on the bus. It takes 26 hours to get down there, but it is nice to be able to get up and move during the trip. And it was a good opportunity to meet new people.
My old friends say they would like to come up here and see how things go. I told them it ain’t easy. You gotta stay out of the way and not think everyone you meet is your friend. Watch what you’re doing and watch who you’re with. Do that and you’ll make it here in some kind of way.
I’ve been makin’ it here for 12 years. It was hard at first, but God helped you to make it. Also my new family — my customers, Street Sense, especially Susan — it’s a whole new generation of people that support me.
I get homesick sometimes, but so does everybody. I feel it the most around the holidays when everyone is visiting their families. I don’t let it keep me down, just like I don’t let this crazy weather we’ve been having keep me down either!
Thanks to everyone who helped make the trip possible through GoFundMe, and also thanks to my good friend Thomas and his wife for all their help and for being by my side.
