The Enlightenment

         The Enlightenment

         Knowledge and its proper use can create victories and win battles. It also develops a conscious in the individual who has gained that knowledge. When you are exposed to truth it transcends the facts and the feelings that relate to your worlds paradigm.

          When Sam exposed the discipline of reading to me,and not just any old books, but literature that was all non fiction about the world in general. My first reaction to his talk about knowledge and its proper use was how are we going to get paid with what he was expressing. However,I continued to pay close attention,because I knew that there was truth in his words. It was like going on a journey when he begin to speak about the history of the black man. Never the less, it wasn't just that ,although the history was powerful enough. Sam spoke about how we,black men , behave right now . And not just drug dealers ,but black doctors or lawyers as well,with a particular type of mis education that has been inculcated in our minds at this point.

          The slaughtering and raping of our women in front of us through out the course of recent history had us summarily in paralysis when it came to our natural response to each other. I asked him what did he mean by natural response. He said that our natural response to one another had changed so much due to our circumstances that it has now been perceived as a normal way of inter acting with each other. And once we ,black men, had been taken out of our nature then normal is subject to interpretation ,which is usually not by us. He said that the only path that we could take if we were going to get out of the conditioning that we  were in was the trajectory of truth. For the direction of truth ,will supersedes facts that derive from non truths and can only hope to either, contain and validate our feelings toward our world  conditioning.

So I said” where are we going to get the actual truth from.”

“ Sam said the spirit of God”.

And then he gave me an example,he said '”if the truth is spoken in the ear of someone on the other side of the earth and then that truth is told to the next person then the next,until it reaches the other side of the world,then it will still ring true. But if one person alters the story just a little then it will be  a whole different story when it gets to the other side.”

Truth ,actual insight to deal with the way we accomplish our goals in life. We would talk about the individuals that came before us ,such as Malcolm X. Sam actually had some tapes of him speaking to congregations from 1959. I was very interested in what Sam was saying at this point.

          On this particular day we were at my brothers home in my room and while we are speaking my pager goes off and its Lonny, we have to go and bring some drugs to a customer. The irony and the contradiction in what I was doing now was beginning to loom. However, Sam was clear on what we had to do, he spoke about Darwin and the survival of the fitness theory,of which his work he had read. Sam said “B We have to stay on top of these savages they are weak and if we work hard and discipline ourselves then the spoils are for us”. Of course this was a contradiction but it appealed to my ears and justified my actions . Which were to Gain knowledge of the self ,stop drinking as much and exercise daily. This was all in the path of improvement for me and my life and with Sam down here to motivate me then that was half of the battle. The other half was me ,at that time ,wanting some kind of justification for pedaling the poison to my own people.

         I'm all for the type of new challenges that im embarking on personally with Sam here with me,however  I'm making the changes slowly . As we go out to bring the work to Lonny I'm smoking a joint,Sam is saying to me “Bond you don't need that” But I have him down here with me and I have my new car and I want to play my music and smoke seasimela ,and relax a little. Only because I know that now I have somebody down here to watch my back. He said” OK B,do what you want”. That's right and that's what I did. All off a sudden while we were driving I feel this bumpy type thud in the road . We had driven over something. I slowed down and then I looked in my rear view mirror and I see a white dog with a black Pirrelle tire track going across its back. I had Pirrelle tires on my Saab. I said” oh shit Sam I rolled over a dog”.  I was nice off of the sess and I was just sitting in the middle of the street . I could hear somebody calling out for the dog screaming ,”oh my dog “! I said to Sam “I'm going to get out and see if the dog is alright”. Sam said are you crazy we are done here in this town with drugs on us and your smoking sess man if you don't pull off Bond “ . At this point, I did what some  one who is high, off of weed, does, when things happen, I started laughing ,but then I pulled off. But that situation was enough to make me put down the marijuana for the rest of the time that Sam was down in VA with me. Sam started laughing too as we went on and served the customers that Lonny had waiting for us. Sam was real sharp back then and he definitely had a positive affect on me . Our partner ship and friendship just picked up where it left off from back in NY.

          While he was down we would go clothes shopping and we had fun with the  women. I know that it seems like a contradiction,but that was part of what we did. We worked out hard it the hotel gyms ,so now we stepped it up to hotels that would have suites. The business was growing so much that we got away from the studying part of being down together. Money has a way of doing that,taking your mind off of God.

         Now the biggest  concern that I had was constantly going up to NY to pick up coke. It was the most dangerous part of what we were doing back then. And it was becoming more difficult,because more hustlers were traveling back and forth than when I had started just two and a half years earlier . So I started to devise a way that I could get the drugs that I needed and not have to go all the way to NY. On one of my trips up to (re-up) I had ran into Drew and he was now in VA too, getting money from hustling,but in a different part ,around two hours away from where i was working. I said to him that

” maybe I could come and see him instead of going all the way to NY for the product that I needed”.

“ He said  I got no problem at all with the idea.”

Drew knew that I was a good earner and that I was going to make money for him and myself. So I made the appointment for the time and place ,then Sam and I drove up to get the weight from Drew. The only thing with Drew was that he wanted me to take some consignment work as well which cost more . He said that he was doing me the favor by selling me the work and me not having to go all the way to NY and that the least that I could do was to take the consignment and bring him  the extra profit back. Drew was my man and although I hesentently took the consignment, I was glad to do it for him. See now I was back in the network of all that was going on in NY ,but in directly through Drew . What you have to understand is , without my NY connections working well for  me,then my ability to get good product to VA and beat the quality and  prices of the other local hustles can't happen. And if I'm not leaps and bounds over all the competition, then I can't operate with the type of dominance that makes  me worth waiting for by my customers. Even when I'm running late or the other dealers are closer than I am. I established that with my dudes down in VA and they were able to make a good reputation and if they did their money right a good living off of me . Such as Ronda,she loved my quality product and I'm sure that she was making a good living out on the streets .She wound up quitting her job and getting her own place. Sam and I were happy for her. So while up in Richmond with Drew I made the deal that put he and I back into business together again. However Sam was there with me and Drew was glad to see him as well.

         While I was talking to Drew in Richmond I said to him “you know that I had a problem with the way those cowards went into my house “and that I wanted to know who was there when it happen and that I was going to step to them mother fuckers for that.” Drew said “Bond I gave the order for them to do that,them cats would have never did that if I didn't tell them to,you and I squashed it man please let it go we are doing this business now.” I looked at him ,thought about what the out come of me getting revenge at the moment ,verses the business that we were about to embark on would bring. To me the immediate peace was more important,I could find out who the cats were another time. But,more importantly, I didn't want to do anything to break the new amicable agreement that we had reached. So I decided to let it go. Drew and I shook hands and then we hugged. Drew saw my car, and complemented  me on it  as we walked out of his house and down to the street where I was parked. I said “thanks and that it wasn't really all that much.” Drew said “yes it is Bond you are doing good business and that's good it means something.” He told me to be careful and to call him in a week . So now the word is going to get back to NY that Bond and Sam are back together Down in VA getting money and holding it down together. I felt as if I made a full return to my old status, but even better than before because now I had full control over my own territory and with the total respectability of my peers things seem to be going well. But they say when things are going well that's the time to be most watch full.

         Now Sam and I get on interstate 64 heading back to Norfolk, a two hour ride. It was much better for me and less to be concerned about ,as far as having to stressed about police  .  When we get back down to the area that I control I turn my pager on and Sam's aunt had been calling and if shes calling that means the parole officer had either came by or called her house,because that's where he was a resident, officially. We called her back and she told him that the PO had called. It was ridiculous the way that they were on his back,that's what we thought anyway. This parole officer situation was going to be something that we would have to pay careful attention to ,but I said to Sam lets deal with it latter. He said reluctantly “alright Bond” . So in our incessant search to arrive to this ever illusive American dream of total wealth and independence we agreed that we need to find a fail safe process of getting the drugs back to our area in VA ,and from NY in general. Therefore,,Sam and I decide that we would need to find a courier girl .          

          So in order to do this we begin to go to the clubs in the area a lot more often. Especially on nights that not just  everybody came out to hang out ,like on Sunday nights. We knew that if the prospective girl was hanging out on a Sunday night then most likely she  would be unemployed and that worked out well for us.

          We would put on our silk shirts and Bally shoes,and silk paints too. And we would wear just enough jewelry for the level of attention that was needed to attract the kind of girl that would be needed for the job. We went to various clubs in the area , like the “Cotton club” in Hampton and a couple of clubs in Virginia Beach. But it seemed that the one club spot that brought the best prospects for our plans was in this place,ironically named, the “Big Apple”. Yes, The big Apple was this club in Norfolk and it was not even that big inside , it was really what we would call a sweat box. However, the kind of chicks that we wanted to choose from were usually in that spot.

On one of our nights there, the club was having a booty shaker contest going on when we arrived. But we didn't know that they were having it we just showed up on a Sunday night. So Sam and I get in the club and I see this one  dude that I knew from Virginia Beach ,that I met on the Amtrak coming from NY. He and I started talking on the train because he recognized me from some where around in the area. I wasn't really sure but on the train I just went along with it for I never wanted any problems when I was transporting, and back then, if you saw me on the train ,bus,or airplane  I was transporting drugs.

So I see this cat in the club that night and he is with his crew and they are showing Sam and I respect ,which is all that was important. So as we go through the club we see this girl in there ,she had a body that was the best looking in the entire place.  She had an hour glass figure with a very small waist line. Her hair was cut into a short style with part of it flowing to one side it was looking good,and she was wearing some striped spandex pants. She had some real big gold bamboo earrings on

         .Sam and I said to each other this girl is the one. Plus she could be the female that Sam could have down here to keep him occupied for a while ,for he had still ,not to long,just came home from jail ,doing a two year stretch. I was sure that we could get her ,because as soon as she saw that we were checking her out she started to throw and shake that ass  just a little bit more.

          Now the contest was about to start and the 1st place prize was 500.00 ,but I wanted her to win for the prestige and so she could feel good about herself. (I was the worst back then)And what I did, was go to my man from Virginia Beach and told him to have his crew  make noise when the emcee puts his hand over her head.

So then I went over to this girl  and said ” me and my man like the way that you move and that we are going to make  sure that you win the contest”

.She looked at me and smiled from ear to ear. So when the emcee put his had over her head, for the crowd to vote for her, I had those dudes get wild and go out of control .she won hands down and she was looking happy and shocked at the same time. Come to find out, when we got her outside she was just real high and had been drinking a whole lot in the club that night. She had a friend with her and they were driving an escort with a kit on it. The car was cute with New Jersey plates on it,I thought , even better. For if she wasn't from the immediate area then she would be beholding to us, more than just  financially. She would need us for almost everything. Keep in mind that this young lady was very attractive but clearly her insides were empty.

          So we got her, Sam introduced himself to her when we got outside we found out her name was Veronica I told her that my name was  Dave. Her girlfriend lived in Hampton and we followed them back out there that night. We stayed out there and got a hotel room. Veronica and her girlfriend  were cool Sam took Veronica  to a separate room and  took care of business. I told him not to deviate from the plan he said,

“Bond I got it”.

         Her girlfriend was just not my type, plus I had enough going on in different relationships.  We found out the details of what was going on in her life and she was a perfect candidate for what I was about to propose. The next morning came and I went to the room that they were in and I said to Veronica”

“ do you  want to make some money to be able to take care of your daughter”.

         I Found out that she had a daughter from her friend . She smiled and said what do I have to do. I told her to go to her friends house and that we would be out there to discuss the details when we got out there the next day .

She asked me was I serious and she said” please don't just not show up”.

“ I told her that we didn't have time to play games  and that we were very serious about our proposition”.

  When we left we could see that she was wide open . Now Sam and I had to work out the details of what we were going to offer this girl and how we were going to treat her. Since we already had lots of men under our control how hard could it be to control a woman. We decided to let her know the bare minimum of who we were and very few details of our lives. But at the same time making her feel at home around us and besides she was attractive and Sam had somebody to swing with for the time being. We would use her for a couple of the transport trips and she would go back to where she came from. It was logical enough for me and Sam agreed.

         So we were taking care of the business the next day and my pager starts going off, its Veronica I call her back but not right away. Finally I get around to calling her back and she is having an argument with her girlfriend in Hampton and she needs us to come out and help her. Now we are wondering if this chick is more a problem than she is going to be worth . However we go out there anyway. When we arrive to the apartment complex she is sitting outside and she looks frustrated. Sam and I get out of the car and approach her she ask us what's up . We say nothing whats going on with you? She starts expressing how her girlfriend is jealous of her and how she doesn't want to put up with her bullshit anymore. Now Veronica is from N J and so she has a little bit of swagga with her, style of dress and her word selection. We listen to her and we then listen to her girlfriend friend as we start feeling like the counselor between a married couple. So Sam said,

” man B if you want to forget about this girl we can do that”

But I reasoned that I was tired of taking the risk of going to NY, or anywhere else, for that matter to get drugs back down to this area. And that at this point im willing to try anything for a while to see if it will work out . So he said

” OK B its your call”.

So I told the girl Veronica to go in the house and get her things and come with us.

She said “OK”. Then she  turned and said

” y'all not going to kill me or nothing like that are you”.

I said” please ,come if you want or stay here”. She said

“ I'm just kidding Dave dam!”(with a big smile on her face ) .

I thought that she was cool enough that we could have her with us for a few days until we decided what to do with her long term. Plus I had some locale plans for jobs that I could have her do as well. When we took her with us,from Hampton and told her all that we wanted her to do for us, the transporting of the drugs she said that she was with it. I told her that I would ride with her on the first trip and show her how to travel the right way on the train or bus ,which ever way we decided to have her transport at the time . She said “OK” . She was good to look at and she listened to everything that I told her to do. Sam was cool with her for now ,but he wanted it to be strictly business with her as well. I told him that it was going to be hard making that happen  because he was sleeping with her, But I would make sure that she stayed on course with the business  and keep her emotions in check.

         

         

    Now I went from not having anyone at all down in VA with me to starting up a small crew .  It was good ,because now I had people to help me bag up the drugs, a job that I still to this day didn't like to do. But I did gain more of an appreciation of the work that was involved to get it done.  That was Veronica's first job for us helping bag up the drugs, it was still an all night job . I would get two rooms in the  hotels in Norfolk and have a room for mixing  the drugs and a room for us to stay in for the night . Now this was only  the case when I had to make packages for the workers. Now that I was getting  the additional product on consignment  , from Drew, I was  increasing my out lay on the streets . So  bagging up happened more often now,also I added two more workers who were friends of my cousin and they had another area in Portsmouth, Lincoln park where they would sell product for me Shaun and Eric were there names. I would front them an ounce of cocain and then they would have to take pieces from me . Pieces were quarter grams of cocain that I bagged up . I fronted 2,000  worth of pieces, at a time to them. So I would charge the dude Shaun 1,500 for the ounce and for the pieces 2,000 ,so he would see me with 3,500 every week . And sometimes even more depending on when he ran out of product.



          Also Ronda is bringing me between 3,000-4,000 a week as well and I still have my man Lonny whom I have to slow down ,because if I didn't he would sell all of my weight. And have me going back to NY or Richmond in a week . Basically , things are going well, everybody has a job Veronica is bagging up, taking good care of Sam and playing the position that I want her to . I'm feeling a lot more optimistic about business specifically and life in general. I'm making twice the money that I was earning before Sam got down here and he's only been down for about three months at this point. And this was definitely due to my connection back in with my friends and crew in NY . Now that I was involved with NY again sometimes I had to take trips to just bring money or just wire it when it was time for Drew to do business. So in essence I had a time schedule now,but that was fine too. I felt a since of loyalty ,I felt a since of belonging again ,which was important to me . See I was young ,I had fun ,but after while when you do this for some time a part of your being starts to fall away. And before you know it your doing things that you would have never  believed. There is a high that comes along with this and its so intoxicating that you don't even realize that  your under the influence. All you do know is that you have to press on.

         So now as part of what we do, on a daily bases, Sam has  convinced me not to eat any beef or pork. We exercise practically every day , we even  got Veronica doing the same thing too.  And I must say that immediately when I stopped eating that pork and beef I felt so much better. However, I get Sam to drink a beer with me every once in a while ,but no smoking weed or snorting cocain though. It was like a trade off for us, I did the things that would get me closer to a better me from his instruction and he would follow my lead on us earning this money in VA.

         But now part of the problem  that we were having  was Sam beginning to get tired of Veronica. He said “B we need to send her back to Hampton or NJ “ I was pissed off with him , because with her around things were a little easier for me. But Veronica and Sam were starting to argue and fight which was something that, at first ,I would laugh at ,but I realized that after Sam said he was tired of her then it would only get worst. I knew that eventually I would have to send her back , until I  needed her for a specific job of transporting.

          So I decided to take her out, without Sam around to get something to eat. While we were out at the restaurant, I explained to  her that we would be sending her back to Hampton. She wasn't surprised, she new that Sam was getting tired of her. She was with us for about 1 1\2 months, but Veronica and I had got close like a brother and sister kind of  closeness. But Sam was my brother,from another mother, and if he wanted her to leave then she had to go. I let her know that I was going to be in contact with her soon ,then tears started down her face and  she said in a strong ,playful voice “don't forget about me Dave.” I said that I wouldn't, then I said to her” are you kidding how can I forget about my sister” then I wiped her tears and she started to laugh . Her disappointed reaction, It was to be expected, I understood why she was feeling the way that she did. She wanted to be apart of the comradare,the family, and we treated her well and I didn't take advantage of her. I protected her. To go back to where she came from had to be hard , especially with  the shopping sprees,and money  that Sam and I had coming in , it was hard to leave it.and yes there were  risk involved,but at the time it seemed like the reward of being able to have control of your own destiny was worth it, Plus she saw that we were a part of a strong network of people that if something were to happen to one of us then there was going to have to be an answer for it. And that someone would come looking for us if we disappeared.

          However, I let her Know that I was definitely, going to come and get her for business in the near future. We finished our meal at Morrison s cafe and I took her back to the hotel room . She packed up her things and I took her back to Hampton. Sam was glad that she was gone he didn't give a dam. I had to go with my man Sam.

         In between all the deals that were being made, in my part of VA and where Drew was working,I get a call from an old friend that I went to high school with,her name was Dana. Dana was a girl that I was just friends with and quietly had a crush on ,but I never let her know. She and another girlfriend of ours were real cool in high school. The three of us use to cut classes,ride the bus from school, home  together,but this was outside of me being with my boys in school ,of course. It all seem to just work out well for all of us together,we had fun in high school. She use to talk to my man Luke when we were in high school ,but I didn't think that he could handle her. I just  hooked them up together because I couldn't talk to her ,she was my friend.

           Luke  runs into her and gives her my pager number and she pages me and I call the number back , I was like” who's this calling me”? I said on the phone. She said”you don't know who this is negro” I recognized the sass in her voice, I was like,” Dana! Wow! Whats up girl”! And I asked her what she had been up to. I had not spoken to her in about two years. She said,” not much and when are you coming to NY I want to see you”.I said well I should be coming up there soon but im not really sure.( At this point I am skeptical of anybody asking me when I'm traveling,and although I thought it would be nice to see Dana making a trip to NY just for her wasn't worth it for me). However,she was an old friend and plus she was a sister, so I said to her give me a number and I will call you when I get up there. I gave her an approximate day that I would be there and  said that if  she was available then we could meet up in Manhattan and that I would take her out to lunch. She was good with that ,but I sensed that there was something else that was on her mind that she wasn't  telling me on the phone,but I didn't really want to know what it was, at that time ,because I was extremely focused on my business. Responsibilities for me, were at an all time high at this point and I  wasn't  going to allow anybody or anything to distract me from my daily grind.

          About two weeks go by and  I'm ready to re-up on product,so I contact Drew and let him know that I'm ready to come and see him. He said OK no problem,but I was going to have to see his little brother though ,because he had to go and take care of some business . I said “no problem”.  Sam and I travel to Richmond and see Drew's brother there,its real  good seeing him. He asked about my little brother because they went to school together, I  told him that he was doing good.  I also see some other NY visitors of the female persuasion sitting, all sprawled out on the couch, in the living room, cranking from the coke that they  had the night before. A few of the broads from the section in  Roachdale in Queens where our old blvd was located. I knew who the girls were,  they knew who I was, they looked at me and said,

” oh shit is that's Bond”

while  trying to straightened their hair.

“I said yes its me whats good”.

They where surprised to see me and ,a little embarrassed. It didn't matter I showed them  basic love, nothing to over the top,in terms of affection,for they were playing themselves and they knew it . But they were having fun doing it. I went in the back room with Drew's little brother where the safe was, gave him the money that I had for Drew  and picked up my package. We talked about the fact, that the girls were in the next room, fending off of the cocain, all the way from NY.  I thought that it was ridiculous,he agreed with me .

          So as I leave the house in Richmond I hugged Sabrina,that was the girl's name,the one's who's name that I knew,and I left. I thought to myself “what a waste” she was a beautiful,catholic school, girl when she was younger .She still looked good but drugs don't take any prisoners. I got out off there and jumped into my Saab and went back to Norfolk. Richmond always seemed like a dead ghost town to me I didn't like spending time there. Now it was time for Sam to see his Parole Officer,so he had to be in NY and I used the opportunity to catch up with Dana.

         So I call Dana and met her in Manhattan  for lunch and guess what, she's pregnant ,she was  Another Catholic school girl ,early on in her school career. She looked good though and I was glad to see her. But that wasn't just  the only thing that she wanted to talk about. She told me that she had been out on the west coast for the past year or so ,living out there with a cousin of here's. Apparently, he was doing good out there in the drug game ,so what she wanted was for me to meet, or talk to her cousin,  he and I to discuss a deal, for him to move product on the east coast. In my mind I'm thinking” Dana and I are in this restaurant on fifth ave and I'm looking at her and we are sitting here ,catching up on each others life's and she hits me with this business”. I never even knew that she had a cousin on the west coast.

         She tells me who the father of her child is Paul ,which was no surprise to me and that they were not together at this point. It was a guy that we both went to high school with, so I knew him. However,I'm still bold ed over about the drug deal thing and if this girl is really who I think she is . Or is she some type of Fed or something ,I just didn't know what to think. All that I knew for sure was that I had more decisions to make  and that I had to go meet  Sam. I hugged and kissed Dana ,I told her that I would get back to her about the business proposition. I let her know that it was nice seeing her and that the pregnancy was making her ass fat ,and she never had an ass before, really at all.

         Now I go to meet up with Sam at his girlfriends house in Laurel ton and she doesn't want to let him go back to VA, but he is not trying to hear what she has to say about that. His girlfriend really didn't care for me that much back then ,I guess if I was here I wouldn't care much for me either. She had just got him home from being away for two years and she did take care of him. However,she also refused the help of all of us that offered it. I believe part of why she did the whole take care of him alone thing was to have that to hold over Sam's head when he got home. She could always bring that up in his face through the tears that she would cry. He definitely had a real soft spot in his heart for that girl and she knew it  all to well.

         Sam and I finally made our way to the city by cab and got on the Amtrak train heading to VA. When we sat down in our seats I started to tell him about my day with Dana Brown, he said Dana how is she doing? I said “she's pregnant”.

Sam” said word for real, who's the father “ . I told him that it was some kid from high school and that he was a nobody”. Sam was ,like ,OK cool.”

         Now when I told Sam all about where she had been, and the other business that she was talking about he was just as surprised as I was to hear it.  Sam wasn't as suspicious as I was when it came to business,I felt that if anything were to go wrong then all the responsibility would fall directly on me .This burden that put on my head and made me much more cautious of anybody,including Dana. But he was concerned about where this cousin of hers had come from. And he let me know that. I said so am I. After discussing it on the ride, We decided that we would at least talk to him and see what he had to say ,besides what could hurt with a conversation. We did think that if this turned out to be as lucrative as Dana made it seem, that it could be, then we would have found a new connect coming all the way from the west coast, and  no telling how far this could go.

          We needed another connect you can never have to many good connects in the drug game. The connection and NY was good,and I was loyal to Drew, in the sense of not allowing, the bond that we had forged together, with business,as well as, friendship to be broken, never again. But Drew himself would jump at the opportunity to establish a new ,quality ,drug connection. It was what we lived for back then. I also looked at it from the angle of ,if this proved to be as good as Dana said it was ,and this was based on the life style that she said she was living out in California, and back then people didn't lie and bullshit, about what they were doing in there personal lives,just for the sake of hearing themselves talk,at least not to me.  then I could eventually bring this connect to Drew. But if nothing else ,it  was always smart to have more than one source to getting product.

         Sam and I got back to VA and I turn on my pager as soon as I get to my brothers house,I see that my uncle had been paging me from Norfolk. My uncle Jack was an old school hustler from back in the day who had more customer than I could even begin to totally take care of . He would call me and throw some of his small customers  to me that wanted sixteenths of coke ,or eight balls of coke and he expected me to respond right away. It was a small price to pay for all the business that he was sending my way. But even he couldn't know when I was going out of town. So Sam and I put our bags down ,I picked up my 380.caliber pistol, that I carry with me, when I go out to handle business and off to Norfolk we go.

         We get to my uncle's in Norfolk and he starts in on me about me not getting back to him on the pages that he sent me. He goes in with all the hand gestures and how that's why we young boys can't make money like he use to ,type of talk.

“I said Unc,calm down I was out of town and I just got back ,I was taking care of business. I'm always taking care of business,Unc you know that”

My uncle said ,”then you awunt to let somebody know  when you going to be out of town,so I won't be lining all these people up for you. Your making me look bad nephew”

I apologized,while laughing at the same time,  my uncle was funny,but he did have those customers,though. And then I told him that I would let him know, in future, when I was leaving for NY. But I knew full well that I wasn't going to tell him when I was gonna travel, because I didn't ever tell anyone that. If you were not part of the transport process, with me then I didn't tell you when I was traveling.

         It was the same story with Lonny, he would be pissed that I would be gone and didn't let him know either,but he understood a little better than my uncle. But he did want to know, when I was leaving as well, what I told him was, that the best I could do is tell him when I'm getting low on product. He would have to figure it out from there. He said alright. And he still said the same thing about having customers lined up. I had to make it clear to these mother fuckers,”Look L, y'all bastards don't understand what the fuck I go through bring this good shit back down here,so just chill the fuck out and let me do this thing the way I'm doing it so that there wont be any problems, for you or  me”Because if I get busted coming back down here after I told your black ass that I was going up to NY then its going to be your ass that I will have stepped to.”          

         Lonny didn't ask me anymore about the times that I had to go and re-up for product. He just adjusted his people according to the time that he thought that I would be leaving,and that was a good idea.

         Now we have people calling from all over the area ,my product was of a very high quality,whenever I get back I hit the ground running. Sam is like “dam B we can't even get nothing to eat. When my pager goes off I don't move,when I first get back down to VA,for anything that isn't 300.00 dollars or more. As the night goes on the more each person had to spend to make me come out to see them. When I get back on my first day I would usually clock about 2,500 . Which I didn't like because it was mostly in weight. And I hadn't got the chance to bag up yet. The people that caught me in the first day would definitely get a treat,as far as quality was concerned.

         Sam and I are sitting at the table and I'm mixing  cocain,I say to him”yo somebody said to me that you were fucking around with Appolonia” then he said to me, “so what B somebody told me that you fucking Kim”.

We both started cracking up laughing ,right at that point, I realized that I had a friend for life and that nothing could come between us. People and forces had tried ,but none were successful. Yes,Sam's response  to my question was real and appropriate,he was someone that I could trust.

         We continued on our work out in the morning regiment,and the healthier kinds of foods in our diet is all that we would eat. During this time I lost about 15lbs and I  felt so much better physically. To tell you the truth I believed that I owed it all to Sam. But when I once said to him thanks for guiding me to discipline he said .Bond I wouldn't have come down here if I didn't believe that you would be receptive to the knowledge . He said don't thank me thank God because if you didn't have it in you to recognize that what I bring to you, was good for you, and to accept it for your life then it would have been nothing there. None of this would have worked.

         Then he said “Steve stepped to me just before he got killed and asked me to get down with him ,offered me a good deal ,gave me his number. “ You know that I had respect for Steve,Bond,  the whole Queens respected him. When I was out with my girl , I kept running into him  and every time that I would see him, I would tell him, that I was thinking about it”.You know,  he was pushing that red  Porsche and it was looking real good and he had the Jeep too , it was all very tempting. Even Drew was trying to get at me ,but  it just didn't feel right . But there was one thing that I knew ,and it was that they were not going to be receptive to the knowledge of self and of  God”. He said that there was one thing that the brothers did have respect for in jail and that was a knowledgeable brother. Yea ,they did have lots of fear of the dudes that were working out and getting real big physically,but the respect that was gotten from the knowledge of self and of God was revered more.

         I knew that it was a good thing that Sam had gone away ,because if he hadn't then he wouldn't have been exposed to the type of teaching that he was and I wouldn't have listened to anyone else . I bare witness to the transformation that had taken place in his life and it wasn't just physical,I felt fortunate that he was down here with me.

         A few days later Sam and I are in Norfolk,at my uncles house, and my pager is going off ,its beeping back to back ,blowing up my hip. It's Sam's Aunt. I said “yo its your aunt G, and she is beeping like crazy”

Sam said”let me call her back and find out whats going on”

He called her back and  she said that the  the dam Parole officer called the house to speak to him and since he wasn't there then she would be there in the morning . She also said that if you are not in the house when she gets here that she was going to violate your parole..

Sam was worried and I understood,but I told him no problem man, you just got to get your ass  on the next flight to NY. Sam had never been on an airplane before, so he was  scarred to death. I didn't know that he was afraid to fly until this moment. I said to him “yo you have to get on the plane ,if you don't you will be violated “

He said “I know Bond ,but I still don't want to get on it”

I told him that the flight was going to be so fast that he would hardly even realize that he had left the ground. He was trying to figure out others ways that he could travel and get there by the morning,but it was already around 7:00pm. We had to be sure that he was in the house getting out of the bed when that parole officer, chick, arrived. I said “stop playing games man and lets put your ass  on this plane”.

He finally said”OK”.

So I went up to my uncles house,made the reservation and we got in the car and jetted to the airport. I got him booked on an 8:45pm flight. Sam was real nervous,he said”Dam fucking parole officer”. I went up to the ticket counter and got the ticket for him.(yes back then you could do good shit like that)I gave him the ticket and slapped him five. I told him to call me when he got back up top,that's what we called NY.

         Now Sam was gone back to NY to take care of his parole situation,and I had the ever in creasing demand of customers  to deal with down in VA. It was non stop. But just as fast as and unexpected, I had developed a live in crew, was as quickly that they were all gone.