Drugs and overdoses.
Drugs were very normalized in my environment and, for as long as I could remember, my parents and everyone around me were smoking weed. When I was 10 or 11 years old, I remember going into the restroom at my dad’s house and noticing these broken balloons all around. When I'd ask my father what they were for, he'd say that he was trying to blow them up for me, but they kept bursting. Come to find out they were full of heroin that he was using. I started realizing this when I would go to my mom’s apartment in Skid Row and I’d seen my mom breaking up the same exact balloons, but these ones were full of heroin. I’d start to notice these differences in personality before and after my mom would use what was in those balloons. Then, when I’d go back home to my dad’s, I would start noticing these similar personality changes in him. In the morning he would be very angry and hostile. If he was angry he’d say he wasn't well yet - he was “sick”. Then, by the time I was done getting ready for school, he was very happy. These patterns were relating to these balloons and when he would use them.
During these times I was running away, I would also ride my bike to my cousin’s house in Alhambra, which was two cities over. It was a super positive environment there, completely opposite to my home life. My mom’s sister, Norma, added a lot of good things to my life. She and her husband, Michael, had two kids; Jeremy and Jennifer. One of my favorite camping experiences was going to the Azusa Canyons with them and dirt biking with my cousin Jeremy. My Uncle Michael restored classic cars and I would help him in the garage and we’d spend the weekends sanding down the cars, taking apart engines and rebuilding them. It inspired me to want to start my own garage one day. He was one of the greatest role models I've had. I looked up to my Uncle Michael. He was a very respectful, quiet and humble family man.
So, at one time in downtown LA on 7th and Spring Street there was this 1920’s style motel that you could rent by the week or month. When you walked in, it had cool marble flooring and big chandeliers. It was central for drugs, prostitution and everything in between. I remember going there one day to visit my mom but she wasn't there, three of her prostitute friends were in her room. At this time, I had already dabbled in smoking weed a little bit, (I was 11 at the time) but while I was there, these three prostitutes were smoking crack out of a glass pipe and I was looking at them with interest. They’re laughing at me, telling me I’m a kid and can't smoke this and I wouldn’t even be able to handle it if I tried. I convinced this one prostitute, Sandra, to let me take a hit. She puts this little white rock in the pipe, melts it with a lighter and puts the pipe to my lips. As she lights it I inhale, as I inhale I feel a rush of euphoria and it was an indescribable feeling that I really enjoyed. And that was the first time I ever smoked crack and thought to myself, maybe I wanna try this more often.
Around the time I was 13 and while my stepmother continued pushing me out of the house, I started standing up for myself. I remember this one time when I decided to steal $500 of welfare money and went to my mom’s house on Skid Row but she wasn’t there again. I had all of this money and wanted to party, so I convinced a couple of prostitutes to come with me and I rented a motel room back in my neighborhood in Highland Park. I rented the room for three days and used it to party, smoke drugs and mess around with these girls. I remember on day two of this bender, we were doing drugs with these girls and one of them overdoses on heroin and dies in the room right in front of me. Me being a kid, I ran, I just got out of there as soon as I could.
By this time I was actively living on the streets and bouncing around at a few of my friends' homes. I was also starting to get hooked on mixing weed and cocaine- we call ‘em P-Dogs and hanging out with my circle of friends even more. We were into graffiti, skateboarding, smoking weed and being mischievous.
This is when my life kinda begins and things start getting dangerous.
