WHAT JEWELRY STORE ?
Category: Life

Are you kidding me or what? Happy Monday to everybody, As usual I had a story in sequence, but I got a e-mail yesterday from an old friend, and a sign is a sign. I'm stoned to the gills, so lets go for a ride. The summer after High School, was my real apprenticeship into crime and how it works, yeah how it works. Growing up on Saturday's , you always went to Bergenline Avenue , SAL'S PIZZA, LEVY'S, SPORTING GOODS CARVEL, what a day,but you always walked by a Jewelry Store or two, one in particular didn't have a buzzer on the door..........interesting
I'd go in there from time to time, look and dream,hey wait a second , why dream, there ain't no buzzer on the fucking door, so I started small, you ask to look at a ring, the lady hands it to you and walks away, there would always be a double in there, I would clip it , then slip it in my pocket....BAM. Every week without fail , I would go get my ring, after about 3 rings, I got cocky.
One day, FERNIE , CONTY, HOLLOWAY, and myself went down to GILBERTO's CUBAN JOINT, for a BATIDO DE MAMEY, and a CUBAN SANDWICH, while there I figured , I should go to my favorite jewelry store, I ask to look at engagement rings, the lady hands em to me , this time I figure, why take 3 , take the whole fucking tray, I slip the tray under my shirt, and walk, thats right , WALK right out of this place, 30 DIAMOND RINGS, JULY of 82.
I took the rings to my boy, TOMMY KENNY, my WESTIE BUDDY, he got me 5 GRAND for the whole thing, I kicked up a GRAND to him, and went on with my life, never did I hear a word about it again.
The summer had come to and end, that nip was in the air, and most important, ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL, its gambling time, I'm a big shot, at the time , I was putting in bets with my HIGH SCHOOL DRIVING ED teacher , GEORGE McGRATH aka CAMEL BREATH, he smoked CAMEL UNFILTERED, his whole face was orange,but I loved him, he was good to us as kids, plus he took our action, everything you want from a teacher.
Here I am betting, no direction losing my ass off, I'm trying to bail out on a MONDAY, like half of AMERICA,its THE COWBOYS, STEELERS, lets bet the farm, and go to the GROUNDROUND in ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, they had great wings and if things got bad, you could always dine and dash. Anyway things got bad, as usual , I had the loser, what was iI going to do? I couldn't tell CAMEL BREATH to fuck off, so on the drive home, I thought of all my crime scenario's, I was down like 10 grand, CONTY suggested the JEWELRY STORE......WHAT JEWELRY STORE?
The Thursday after the MONDAY debacle , D_DAY, pay or play, I told CAMEL I would have cash no problem, what can I do? I called CONTY and had him pick me up with MARBLEHEAD aka TIMMY H. , we had a plan , there was a small case FILLED with gold chains and bracelets , my plan , to pick up the case and run out, pass it to CONTY, who was going to run up the hill, I would meet him up there, put the case in the trunk , and DRIVE MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!
We get down there , its a beautiful fall day, a great day for a robbery no guns , no yelling, just pure HEART and BALLS, we or I walk in, as clockwork the lady walks up ,ask if she can help, I tell her I'm here to pick up some bullshit thing, I give her a name , she turns her back, BAMM!
I pick up the case, turn, CONTY is holding the door open , like a doorman in a high rise, I run out pass it to him, we both run, I meet him at the top of the hill, he threw the case over the fence and it broke, I ask him where the rest of it is, he says its on the floor , but you could hear the cops, I jumped the fence and scooped up every last chain, the JEW in me.I ran in the car , slammed, the door and we took off, the jewelry was in the back seat, and it covered the WHOLE FLOOR, IT WAS A LOT OF FUCKING GOLD, the original plan was for the trunk, but it would not open. So were driving to my place(RUNNE'S HOUSE), were at a light , a COP pulls across from us at the same light, mysteriously, our trunk opens, the cop keeps driving, were home free
A couple a days go by, were walking around like MR.T, with gold chains on, spending money, doing blow, drinking, when I get a call at JOE & MARY's, he says his name is FRANK,
and he wants to talk to me,within minutes , he shows, with 2 other guys, I knew him, I knew his kids, he told me what I did took balls, but it would be in my best interest if I sold him the load for 10 grand, we had already made 5 grand each, and had 3/4 of the load, why would I do that?
I told him no, he told me to think about it, immediately, I went to HOLLOWAY'S father , he knew people in HOBOKEN who could help us, he did, it was over , we had to pay a little something , which we did, but we still had the cops, they were on us, I found out from my HIGH SCHOOL asst PRINCIPLE and a bad MOTHERFUCKER RAY DALTON, I booked to SARASOTA FLORIDA with my friend GARY HARTMAN, the same guy who e-mailed me yesterday.
While I was down there I heard that the cops were not on me anymore, the owner was a connected guy , and didn't want us caught because we would pay restitution, what 10 bucks a week,
If they didn't catch us he would get the insurance money, a BIG AMOUNT, I heard it was safe for me to come back, I did, but now I knew how IT WORKED, you gotta grease somebody sometimes.
That crime changed me, how people looked at me, how people felt about me, I moved out of the RUNNE house, I wasn't a punk anymore I had balls, that was the word on the street, what would I do with those balls??????? thanks for reading..............SEE YA!!!!!!!

1:50 PM - 8 Comments - 16 Kudos - Add Comment

WHERE"S THE COMEDOWN PACKAGE????????
Category: Life

What's crackin you filthy animals? Its Monday, I'm sittin here, smokin this COTTON CANDY DELUXE, tremendous, thank God for medical marijuana, my anxiety is gone, I got anxiety knowing ,I was going to be this fucking high, I gotta talk to the makers of this shit.
JOE and MARY's, was on Bergenline and 70something street across from HUDSON COUNTY PARK aka (JAMES J. BRADOCK PARK) . It was a OLD TIME bar, dark and musty, but the drinks were cheap, and most importantly, they served us, even then , the drinking age was 18, we were 15 and getting fucked up in there,they would ask if you had ID, if you said yes, fuck it, no let me see it ,or no bullshit. The joint was owned by this connected guy named GEORGE,the only time I saw a cop in there was one time in 83, a DETECTIVE walked in there to shake him down, about 2:30am on a SATURDAY night, GEORGE looked at him, and spit on his badge, told him to go fuck himself. GEORGE also lent out money , with a vig, it was great, you could be drinking, get a wild hair up your ass to go to NY CITY and party ,at 3:00am go to GEORGE and say , I NEED A NICKEL FOR SEVEN FIFTY, he would give you the 500.00 no questions asked, I still owe him 15 grand with interest,no just kidding, but I know , I still owe him.
One of My favorite JOE AND MARY"S stories, On Friday's we would go up there, RUNNE, CONTY, HOLLOWAY, FERNIE, RAGO, a great fucking crowd, we'd get fucked up, there was this janitor from the HIGH SCHOOL who would drink up there also, I would pick pocket him, he always had a pill container with these white pills, also valiums, it was great every FRIDAY like clockwork,we'd do coke , and at about 1:30am, he would stroll in, we'd call him "THE COMEDOWN PACKAGE", after about 45 minutes, I'd pick pocket him , and everyone had valium.
This one particular FRIDAY, he came in but guess what, NO VALIUM, but he had these white pills that looked like QUALUDES, in fact, I'll call em BABY QUALUDES and take them, but also give them out to my friends,we were having a good time so who care's , we took em.
All I remember , is waking up SUNDAY, and it was 5:30pm,I had slept like 30 hours straight, not to mention, I was sick, I mean SICK, puke, shit, everything,dizzy spells, sweats.
What can it be? Was it the Cheeseburger deluxe from the BERKSHIRE DINER, not a chance, it was those white pills, let me call around, everyone I called was SLEEPING, HOLY SHIT!!! By WEDNESDAY,the calls started to come in, those baby QUALUDES, were EPYLEPTIC seizure pills, I had friends who slept for a week, I wasn't popular for a while, but hey, I ain't no pharmacist.
The funny thing is I pickpocked him a couple more times, he never brought the V's again
Believe me , this bar wasn't CHEERS, nor did I want it to be. I stopped hanging around J&M"S in 84, but it still lives in my heart, Its funny, I never really liked big clubs or bars, I always liked dumps like that place..STRAIGHT AND TO THE POINT.THANKS FOR READING

12:19 PM - 10 Comments - 20 Kudos - Add Comment

IF YOU MAKE A PROMISE ......STICK TO IT
Category: Life

Again its Monday!!Again I'm stoned to the gills, ready to drop some crazy shit .Thank God , Kushmart replaced the MATTS OG, with the OUTTA SPACE OG, if they were smoking this ..REK", they would have crashed. Anyway , in the late 70's, early 80's, a couple of us crazy bastards would go to a bar called "MR. C's" in Union City to get drugs, it was across from REHMANS Funeral Parlor, on 19th and NEW YORK AVENUE, a real fucking dive, but thats were you went , when you wanted to pick up exotics, HEROIN,QUALLUDES, THC CRYSTAL, COCAINE, and since it was in UNION CITY, no one would know what you were up to. Everytime I went up there , I had a uneasy feeling, because of the shit that hung out there, or the anxiety of knowing your about to get twisted.
The last time I was in there, I got some THC CRYSTAL. It was so strong , I went home, did a line, put on BLACK SABBATH'S "MASTER OF REALITY", and I swear, I saw the DEVIL,that shit was so strong. shortly after that my mom had died, they brought her body to REHMANS, I remember walking out and seeing MR.C'S and thinking , that place was bad luck, the DEVIL, now my mom dying and thats the first place I see ,when I walk out of the morgue, FUCK THAT, I'll never go in there again, I remember specifically making a promise to myself and my mom , not to go there, I would continue to do drugs, not just from there.
Years later, 82 to be exact, we were seniors, it was the night of the senior awards, you know, most likely to suck dick and what not. I was hanging with, FERNIE BASASUTO, HOLLOWAY, GLEN CONTY, SABATINO, FUCKING TREMENDOUS. SAB'S dad had a liquor store behind GINO's on 48th street, between BERGENLINE AND KENNEDY BLVD., SABO had the keys , we went in and got a BIG bottle of JACK and 2 cases of MICHELOB nips (old school bitches), we went over to 143rd and AMSTERDAM and got a 8-BALL of PURO....ARE YOU KIDDING ME OR WHAT??????????
After a couple of drinks and QUALUDES and bumps and what not, we skipped the HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES, by the time we got back , it was over, my friends won no awards ,the only award we won was , MOST LIKELY TO SNORT AN 8-BALL!!! We were gone, what a shame, by the time we got there, it was time for a after party, the party was at "MR.C'S", are you nuts? Were from NORTH BERGEN, why are we going to this dump? Isn't there any place in N.B. to party?
I scratched my stitches in confusion, should I go? I never dug that place, but my friends were going, I was fucked up, FUCK THE PROMISE, besides , there are more drugs there.
From the time you walked in that place you knew it was a dive. I remember seeing the owner , that fucking cocksucker,he was dark, just like this place, I was fucked up , so time was moving in a weird way, I remember a fight broke out, tables were getting tipped over , drinks were flying, just pure bedlam, all of a sudden , I'm in a tussle, I'm getting hit, I start swinging, it was like black and white, lights blinking,I'm in a circle of violence, next thing you know, I'm pinned against the D.J. booth, the guy had a broken bottle, he was swinging it, he was ready to cut me, when BANG!!!!! the motherfucker gets hit from the side by a bulldozer, his name , RAGO!
We run out together, as we hit the street, cop cars everywhere, there were still people fighting, screaming, I remember , the guy had cut my leg,it was bleeding , a cop saw it and asked if I wanted to go to the hospital, I said no, at this point , I wanted to find my friends and get out of there,but before I could move , I looked up and saw REHMAN'S FUNERAL HOME, FUCK , FUCK, FUCK....THE PROMISE, I STOPPED in my tracks walked a little bit, got RAGO, got a cab and left.
The whole drive home, all I could remember, was the PROMISE I had made,even at that age , I got it, it all starts with little commitments, and when you don't stick to em,they backfire against you. When I started writing these stories, it was all a commitment thing, every Monday NO MATTER WHAT, the reason being,there was no reason, but writing these things is making me a better person, because its bringing back to my roots, plus I'm sticking to my promises. Thank you for reading, also thanks to the people who helped me with the events, you know who you are, THANK YOU..........SEE YA NEXT WEEK

2:18 PM - 5 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

MY WORST QUALITY..........REVENGE
Category: Life

What the fuck? Here I am, on a Monday, stoned to the gills, trying to figure this shit out, periods, coma's, spelling, I'm stoned.To boot ,I' gotta think of this shit, how it happened, contact the people involved, tell it , without insulting anyone. Anyway, no more MATTS 1 OG till November, what a calamity, but KUSHMART to the rescue, SNOOP OG, i this is the shit he smoked when he left DEATHROW .
Anyway I've always admired characters , who stick up for what they believe in, good or bad, it seems like a stupid quality, but early on , its good for the foundation of developement, and as you get older you learn to pick your battles, you can't save the world. When I was younger , in my full-time criminal days, my rep was , I had a lot of heart. Till this day , I'm very proud of that, because if you know me its true, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK,THEN OR NOW.
Back in 82,when I ran with RUNNE, RAGO, I would get Sony TRINITRONS cheap. I knew a guy , or I would rob them off trucks, there was a warehouse filled with them in NORTH BERGEN.
One particular Saturday night , I was in a pinch for blow, but I had a TRINITRON,I remembered this guy , CHRIS MULLICA, he sold blow, he had asked about a TV, I contacted him, he told me to bring it over. He bailed me out, so I gave it to him for a gram, a TRINITRON in a box, for a gram.
Anyway, we would do business from time to time,he dealt blow for some crazy people, THE LOPEZ'S, 2 brothers who were crazy, they sold TUMINOLS, , anyway, thats a whole different story.
One particular night, OZZY was at the Meadowlands, this was right after RANDY ROADS had died, Brad somebody, had replaced him, I had a TV, I contacted MULLICA, he told me to come down. When I got there, he said the deal had changed, it was no longer a gram, but a half of gram, he had me, this cocksucker, I agreed, what could I do.. That bothered me for months, he thought he was cute, I checked around, if I did something to him, he knew a lot of people, especially the LOPEZ'S, they never really liked me, they were spanish kids from a different cut.
Months went by, one particular Friday night in JUNE 82, I was hanging with Tommy RUSSO, we were drinking and what not , we had 20 bucks between us, and we were in MULLICA'S hood.
I went by, and asked for a twenty, he weighed out a nice one, I figured I'd forgive him, he makes a remark about a half of a gram , and laughs, I was burning with anger in those days ,at that time, I was dying to kill someone, the anger in my heart was rampant,but he had 2 other jerk offs there with him, he actually explained the story to them, I knew right there , this fucker was going down. I met RUSSO and told him the story, again he reminded me about the LOPEZ'S
You know what, I knew people, the LOPEZ'S were creepy motherfuckers, they had enemy's,
I'll take my chances, I waited about an hour, did the coke, and went back to MULLICA'S, I was going to kick down the door, but I would have to work in a rush, I knew he wasn't there, he also mentioned , he had just copped, why kill him, when I could hit him where it hurts .
I thought about how people always leave the bathroom window open , to let out the steam, I was right, I went in (in those days I could fit...cocksuckers!) went through the place, I found a 8-ball and about 140.00 dollars, I walked out, but I thought, he just copped, where's the loot????
I gave RUSSO what I had and went back in, I tore the place up, finally under the sink, in a tupperware......BANG THERE IT WAS..........COLUMBIA MOTHERFUCKERS, it was 1982 COKE WAS STILL COKE I ran out , I told RUSSO I had nothing, then at the top of the hill , I ripped out the TUPPERWARE, We looked in , and started laughing, I could still remember his face, we ran to RUNNE'S house, ripped out the scale, it was 24 grams of yellow flake, we did some, and walked to HUDSON COUNTY PARK.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME OR WHAT ??? We were up all weekend, we did coke in shifts. RUSSO disappeared after Saturday morning. I got home Saturday afternoon , slept till Sunday, and started all over again with CONTY, FERNIE BASASUTO, HOLLOWAY till Monday am
Tuesday, CONTY and myself are lifting at RUNNE'S , Mike RUNNE was there in the other room, when there's a knock on the door, it was MULLICA with his gorrila looking brother, I guess after I left MULLICA's that night, RUNNE was there after me to cop, he blames RUNNE, CONTY and I are in the other room howling, I rob the joint, RUNNE got the blame, RUNNE told him and his brother to go fuck themselves, came in the room and told us the story, we showed him what I had left, we all laughed, but days later , the LOPEZ'S started snooping, I found out RUSSO, had panicked, he went to friends of the LOPEZ'S, and told them , i had robbed the joint on my own, by that point the blow was gone, what could they do? By that time,I was friends with TOMMY KENNY, a old WESTIE, who I had met at Curt DeLORENZO'S house, he was my sponser at the time,I went to him, told him, I was covered. Till this day, whenever my name comes up in front of MULLICA, he always tells people the story, and how I set in back 2 grand, he got off easy, that cocksucker!!!!
Still till this day, FUCK HIM and LOPEZ'S and anyone else who fucked with me , I did a lot of drug rips, this one is a funny one in fact, as I was writing this just now, RUNNE called me and we had a good laugh. Today is 26 year anniversary of my greatest heist ever....your not ready yet
thanks for reading.........MUCH LOVE

1:58 PM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

THE SNEAKERS ARE IN THE DUMPSTER.....
Category: Life

What's up cocksuckers? If you had the Chargers, go fuck yourself, your probably the kiss of death anyway, me I'm sitting here on a Monday as usual, smoking the Famous MATTS 1 OG, the last batch of the harvest, this is the shit they give Puerto Ricans to stop shoplifting, at UCLA LAB STUDIES. I got my glass of COKE on ice,and I'm ready to drop knowledge. I was going to finish on the RAGO story , but it would have taken you off course, this last Saturday afternoon , I was watching something that had a burial scene, I got caught up in the moment, and started thinking about my moms burial , after the priest threw the dirt on the casket, thats when you realize ,that person is GONE, for me when I turned away their was a person there for me, her name was MARYANN BALZANO, she was CARMINE BALZANO's wife, but she was one of those women who had their own identity, she was my first neighborhood mom. I was talking to Pete Balzano aka Political PETE, on Sunday and he mentioned that Maryann , had just had a Birthday of sorts, and I remembered how I basically grew up in there home,a SPIC in a ITALIAN home in the 70's amazing I was always there, I knew everyone that walked in and out of that home, I did more shit out of that house than anywhere ,is was like my home , only the ITALIAN version of it. One of my deals was , I was tight with ALL the boys in the house 4 different brothers, I loved them each in a different way, my first wheelings and dealings in NEW JERSEY,was my RIDES with FRANKIE BALZANO, he was the oldest, if I was 12 , he was 17,on Saturdays , he would take Anthony and Me , to ENGLISHTOWN NEW JERSEY,the plan was , while he would shake down the vendors, and make drop offs and so on, a half a mile away,there was a converse outlet, he had someone on the inside who would put the irregular CONVERSE sneakers in the dumpster, myself and ANTHONY would pull out 30 pairs,from there we would go to the BINACA outlet and do the same. We would leave about at 10:00am and we'd get back at about 6:00pm. For our efforts Frankie would give us our cut, which was like 50%, it translates to about four hundred, split again , Anthony and I would walk with a duece, a good time and FRANKIE would always stop at some cool restaurant and he'd play great music, plus he would get us high and tell us story's about pussy, 30 years later it still sounds like fun,. After Anthony's death , Frankie and my bond got stronger, he had his own dillemas later on in life, but when ever he would see me , he would pull over and give me a hug .
Frankie scared me at times, he was scary, I had heard a lot of story's but he was always cool with me ,years later in 82' , things got weird between us, I was working at this joint OTTO'S in UNION CITY on 30th and NEW YORK AVENUE, the place was owned by TEDDY MARTUNIAK, he had played for the BULLS, but he was a drunk, my mom knew him and when she died, he offered me a job bartending,I was still in High School, Monday nights and Thursday mornings, , I was robbing the joint dry, during my shifts, and even when I didn't work, anytime I needed money after hours, I would go there and take a 50.00 out of the envelopes, fuck em . Frankie's sister in law was a manager there, she said something to Frankie, he calls me and tells me to stop, I keep stealing, thats what he taught me early on, He shows up one day and sits me down, he tells me this MARTUNIAK guy is paying these people, and its in my interest to stop robbing or quit or get a beating,I was frozen , the guy who taught me the ropes , the real ropes, not like a mutt, my family , threatens me, I was heartbroken, he even drove me to see his sister in law, and apologize. After that , I never saw FRANKIE again, I left NEW JERSEY, and I started to write this shit. The point being, is that ,how lucky was I , for the education I got, the chance to experience that culture and love, at the same time ,now , TODAY, I was talking to PETE, this morning about HIS family, like they were my own, JIMMY, PETE,FRANKIE, ANTHONY,they were all my brothers,even today, these are the stories that keep me alive , I started the morning with different intentions , but my heart took me some where else(not to mention the weed) Keep reading.......thank you..

1:14 PM - 3 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

THE LEGEND OF DARRIN RAGO 78-85
Category: Life

Happy Belated Labor Day!!!!Summer is over, who gives a shit? For me , the summer came to an end 25 years ago, since then, I haven't had a real summer, but I try. Sorry about being late with the blog, I have an excuse , its due to travel, but in a way, I'm happy I had the extra day, because the person , I'm talking about next, deserved that extra day of thought, they were so many good times , a lot of bad times, but I laugh at every story, he made an impact , so heavy in my life, his name is DARRIN RAGO. Again at a young age , GOD threw some curve balls my way,the most notable one was having no family, but he gave me strong friendships to keep me from snapping. RUNNE, BENDER, BALZANO, VILLANO, but this guy RAGO,he was different. I first met DARRIN in the 8th grade, McKinley was playing LINCOLN, if you know anything about the NORTH BERGEN school system, LINCOLN was a fucked up school, I guess they kept, slow or retarded or crazy kids either in the basement or on the 3rd floor..There was a rumor,they were bused to the game in chains (THEY JUST TOLD US THAT TO SCARE US) But when they walked in they were scary, there he was RAGO in the 8th grade with a black eye, and FERNIE BASURTO had a busted nose, and 2 black eyes from there previous game,we got along during the games, even then , they were pot heads. We met again our freshman year, thats when we started kicking it , we'd smoke dope, drink, rob beer trucks, go to NEW YORK CITY for concerts,but it was after my mom died, that RAGO and I connected, I guess he could feel my pain, but at the same time, his home was breaking apart,his parents got a divorce, his pain was unbearable, I COULD TELL. RAGO and I were the same kids in a way, are insecurities were the same,we both wanted to be normal kids, like on TV, green lawn, normal loving parents,BUT NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Life had thrown RAGO a curve ball, to kill the pain......DRUGS, ALCOHOL, WHATEVER
We started on the obvious, but the 80's were here, COKE, QUALLUDES, TUMINOLS ACID, we did it all, every nigh,t if we could .Then we had to pull crimes to maintain our fun,not habit. We were juniors in high school,we were banging it out every night, he had a car with no heat, in the winter, we called it the ice box, we would drive to RIDGEFIELD PARK, there was a SEARS there, they would have car stereos by the door. When we discovered them , there were about 50 stereos, WE STOLE EVERYONE, INCLUDING THE SAMPLES, What inspired me about RAGO was that even then , he was a man, we took some bust, he never said a WORD, in fact he'd motherfuck them. At the time we were creating headaches for a lot of people, no matter what, RAGO always had my back, whether I was right or wrong, a trait a lot of people don't even dream of possesing
My funniest crime with RAGO came OCTOBER of 81, our senior year in High School. There was a gas station , we had our eye on GEORGE AMOCO'S JOINT, it was 27 years ago, who cares?
I was in charge of getting a piece, after a couple of days , I couldn't get one, so I decided to go to PATHMARK on 75th and TONNELE and shoplift a toy gun, on the way out I got busted shoplifting the fake gun,the security guard had me on camera, they called the cops, they took a long time to get there, in the meantime I gave the chic a story about a boy who needed it , that was going to die or some shit and she let me go. The next night RAGO and I walked into the AMOCO to rob the joint, no gun , no weapon, just brute force and balls, as we walked in , the attendant had his money on the counter , because he was washing his hands, RAGO and I took the money , ran, and laughed the whole way. We could go on forever about these stories,you get it , RAGO and I were criminals, what does this mean to you? RAGO and I continued to run over the years, he was a tough son of a bitch. After we graduated , we moved on in a way, he continued to party although by this time he was bodybuilding so on and so forth, I was a full time criminal, so was he,I had gone To COLORADO MAY of 83, returned in 84, RAGO and I connected, but COKE was on both of our minds and systems along with a lot of other things, our energy had changed, we were not kids anymore, we were both knocking on the wrong door , with the wrong people, we had a problem over a coke deal, I owed, and he took there side, he hit me, the next day he came by and apologized , I could see the pain in his eyes, it had intensified, its the first time I wasn't mad at someone, first off , I was wrong, second , the same coke that had taken over me , had taken over him, the same bad fucking energy, we had no control. Shortly after that, JULY 85, I left for Colorado and didn't return till 91, In that period RAGO had gone through changes,gotten arrested, had hard times , but so did I,I had trails and tribulations, but RAGO was on my mind a lot,we had done some crazy shit , but nothing like when we hooked up in 94.I had written RAGO off as a friend, but he loved me ,and had always remembered our childhood.THE PAIN, WE WERE Connected by PAIN. Were going to finish up this story next week, when we raise the stakes, 91-94
when I found out what I was made of , but most important this fucking guy, and what he brought to the table, an honor among thieves that you do not find TODAY!!!!!!THANK YOU......SEE YA NEXT WEEK

8:50 AM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

WHERE’S SPANISH HARLEM?
Category: Life

Fucking Monday, again. I love it!! Been up since 3:45am,smoking this MATTS 1 OG, the new crop, the shit the CHINNEE were smoking in BE-JING, ARE YOU KIDDING ME OR WHAT!!!!!!! Anyway ever since I could remember, once a week , my mom and I would take a cab ride to Spanish Harlem to see a woman she would call "LA PRIMA" , aka ZORAIDA. My mom had told me stories about her, how Zori had lost her husband in CUBA during the FIDEL takeover. My mom said she had never really recovered from that, she lived on 170th and Audobon in a nice building, but her operation was run out of 113th and 5th Avenue, if you don't know, now you know. She sold smack and coke , remember this was the 70"s, you bought shit in buildings, on the third floor, all legit, everybody was in on it, The landlords , the lookouts, the Bodega, and of course, the local cops.
We'd walk up there like we ran the joint, my mom and I , I was like 7, but even then I knew what was going on, and besides she was very sweet to me, and always gave me a 20$, and in the long run , a 20$, is a 20$, she'd tell me stories about how she would take care of me when I was a little boy, and about my dad in CUBA,it was great, As time went on I wouldn't go , and she would still send a 20$. Over the years, she was always there for my mom, then in 79',my mom passed, and I saw her true colors. At the wake she swore to my mom , she would take care of me,
and she did,cash at first every week, 200.00, whatever I needed, by this time I had a job at RENDALL LUMBER, I was stealing with 3 hands, I was robbing houses, and I was dealing a little, ups, mescalin, weed whatever, and still ,I was taking her cash weekly. After a while I started asking her for blow, I told her I didn't do it , but I could sell it. It was the 80's by now, the neighborhood was a war zone, Spanish Harlem in full effect, all day long , you would see Jersey plates everywhere, kids coming over getting blow and everything else,I was getting it , bringing it over, cutting then , selling it, my own 100% profit operation,after a while I was going over there 3 times a week, it was such a bad hood, my friends wouldn't go with me , except maybe Runne or Rago. One day I realized what I was doing, I was taking advantage of this poor woman, I loved her, but she knew what I was doing, and one day she called my bluff, she said she couldn't do it anymore, by that time it was 83, I was out of high school, I was hustling, what did I care, I still loved her, but my visits to her were now every 3 months , instead of every 3 days.
For a while, between 83 to 85, I wouldn't even go over, just call, then I got in some trouble, and had to leave NORTH BERGEN, and started falling behind on my check in calls, shame grew over me,finally I grew balls, and placed a call to her, she was very upset with me, she said she had been robbed and beating , they broke her leg,, and now, there was no one there for her, I was ashamed,I hung up the phone, cried and never spoke to her again.
I think of Zori a lot these days, I think about how I let her down, I swore I would never let no one down again , especially in that way, if you think of all the things I learned from going over there, her loyalty to my mom, her fucking balls, her love, how to weigh a gram, and just the BASIC hustle, fucking amazing, OH AND THATS WHY I CHECK IN WITH THE PEOPLE I LOVE ALL THE TIME, THATS WERE I GOT THAT GIFT.......thank you for reading ,by the way, next MONDAYS BLOG.......will be out on TUESDAY....DUE TO TRAVEL.......

12:46 PM - 10 Comments - 14 Kudos - Add Comment

WHAT THE FUCK IS A NOTARY PUBLIC???PART 2
Current mood: 66
Category: 66 Life

What the fuck? Cocksuckers? I can't believe its August 18th already, Where did the time go? Thank God for KUSHMART, and this MATTS ! OG KUSH, I DON"T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT TIME . Anyway, I got my can of COKE (no ice cubes today)but I had a banana, to get the hemoglobins kicking. So , what the fuck was I talking about, Social Security, O.K. even at my young age at the time , I realized, I wasn't getting dick from S.S., so I remember my mom always talking about a PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE POLICY,my real dad, MANUEL DIAZ had gotten , she said she never cashed it in, because it belonged to me, something about a education, so I had MR.Bender, look into it for me, again there was the paper work bullshit,a couple of office visits, finally the day of reckoning, maybe these insurance people would give me a check, I didn't need the money at the time, but it would have been nice to have a cushion at a young age, to start my life without my parents and prepare for my education, not to mention , some dough to party with, it was 1980, I wasn't old enough to go to STUDIO 54, but I WANTED TO GET MY DICK SUCKED!!!!!!!
So with that in mind , I go to this PRUDENTIAL office, at the time , I think I had to go to NEWARK, ARE YOU KIDDING ME OR WHAT?????? I'm ready to pick up a check, I had all my paper work in order, me and MR. B all ready, we get in there,this time the guy is all smiles, he says he looked over everything, and there is a problem, DON"T ASK ABOUT A NOTARY, I"LL KILL YOU.
He says that at my fathers time of death, his death certificate was never signed off by the county coroner, without the signature, there is no DOUGH,REH, ME. PERIOD!!!!!
I left there in shock, I didn't have a answer, I contacted a woman, that was great friends with my mom, her name was Zoraida, she had grown up with my mom, and was close with her at the time of her death, I explained to her what had happened, she looked at me, took a breath , and told me a story I had heard , but not like this, In 1955, CUBANS flocked to MIAMI,but there was a little town in northern NEW JERSEY, called UNION CITY, were they did a lot of embroidery type work,this little town , put up a billboard in MIAMI, that spoke about opportunity's in the trade , so many CUBANS went to UNION CITY, to strengthen there trust, they had a CUBAN type of political set-up, my father was part of that . In February of 66, my dad O,D on heroin, they say he thought it was coke, did a blast , died period! Because of his position, they didn't mention it in the papers, they said it was a heart attack, the death certificate was never signed, my mom shipped him off to CUBA were he was buried. DEATH BY MISADVENTURE.
To make things worse, I tried to track down the county coroner at the time, he had died shortly after that,it broke my heart and spirit, first SS, now this, The anger, i had in me fueled my actions for the next 15 years, i ran hard, but I wasn't mad at society, I was mad at my parents for letting me down, thats who was responsible for this whole fucking disaster, for years I told this story for pity ,during a lot of coked up nights, I always blamed prudential, but did my parents let me down? Or was it preparing me for life. Today, I ain't mad at no one,life is a motherfucker!!!!
This one ,was a tough one to write, it was my family's dirty little secret, this is the end of this chapter, I'm about 16 at the time, from 16 to about 30, I ran hard , drugs, robberies, JEWISH lightning, no comedy , just pure madness, please keep reading, the next 6 MONDAY BLOGS ......WILL BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND....OLD SCHOOL , FUCK JOEY DIAZ...COCO
see ya next week , COCKSUCKERS!!!!

12:05 PM - 5 Comments - 10 Kudos - Add Comment

WHAT THE FUCK IS A NOTARY PUBLIC???? PART 1
Category: Life

What the fuck? I got a late start today, not cause its Monday, but because I been smoking this STICKY WICKED from KUSHMART since about 4:30am, and finally, I got my head together. I had to drink a can of coke on ice and a few biscotti's, but you gotta do , what ya gotta do cocksuckers. Again , thank you for the support on the blogs,if you been reading ,the last couple of weeks have been about great people that I was lucky to have in my life ,but the next story is a hard one because its about my family, and because in their life they tried to cut corners, their karma, carried over to me. When I was a kid , I had dreams and believe me , none of them included being a criminal, but sometimes life has a weird way of dealing with that, after the death of my mom, trust me it was bad,but not as bad as it could have been, I could ended up in a state run home, and GOD knows what happens in those places, but I ended up in THE BENDERS home, which was a great place, I had A/C, cable , stereos, good food,love, and freedom , which I abused, thats why I got kicked out.
But while I was with them, MR.BENDER, took me down to social security, to get money, its not a mooch program, its the dough, your parents kick into every month, I think combined at the time, they had to work 9 quarters, like 2 years or something, you go down, you do paper work, BAMM, every month you get a check, thats it,fuck it, where do I sign????????
Well ya gotta stand on line, then talk to some fucking guy, he gives you a date, then
you do paper work, then talk some more , than another date, and another old lady, she gives you a number, then more paper work, then after 6 months, I got my date with the main SOCIAL SECURITY GUY, not only that, they usually cut you a check that day for back bullshit, so lets go motherfucker. Finally, I take the 1 bus to JERSEY CITY in the dead of winter, you don't know what it is to stand on KENNEDY BLVD. in FEBRUARY in the A.M., with the wind blowing off THE HUDSON RIVER, its brutal, but , FUCK IT. I'm getting paid TODAY!!!!!!!!!!
I get down there, I walk in the joint, I'm ready,I get in the guys office, HUH? I don't see no check, I see a bunch of paper work , this cocksucker tells me , I need to get info from this place and that place, and mortgages, and affadavits, and sign, this and that,and go here and there,but the best, they wanted my mom's original birth certificate from CUBA, I'm a kid, , when do I find time to go there? But most important ......NO CHECK
I do everything, when I tell you everything , down to the letter, now 3 months later, same guy, I walk in , still no check, he tells me, the paper work was suspect, there I was accused of something,I didn't know what he was saying, I asked what he meant, he said the NOTARY PUBLIC I had used was under investigation , WHAT THE FUCK IS A NOTARY PUBLIC?
He told me I had to start from scratch, WHAT?? I remember walking out of there crushed, not because I had plans for the dough, but because the system had failed me. What did I have to do with a crooked notary, I was a kid and I needed help, it was just a couple of hundred a month, thats not the point, my mom had worked for the money, paid taxes, again, I WASN'T LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT, it was something beyond the handout, it was my belief system,the little I had ,
I knew at that moment, social security failed me then, it would definately fail me in the future
I'm not saying that moment turned me into a criminal,but it was my second dose of life's reality's, and I didn't like it, all that paper work for your money, whether its social security, unemployment, banks, all that paper work to get your money or better yet ...MY MOTHERFUCKING MONEY, I'll put down the pen and give a gun a try, that gets the money...doublequick!!!!
I don't want you to think I'm blaming anything or anybody for my actions, that would be wrong, the situation put a anger in my heart, that started a bad chain of events, thank you, next week is part 2, IT WILL BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND

12:37 PM - 8 Comments - 12 Kudos - Add Comment

WE’RE NOT BLOOD.........BUT HE IS MY BROTHER
Category: Life

Whats crackin cocksuckers? Its Monday morning, fuck the YMCA. I'm sittin here smokin STICKY WICKED O.G., and today ,I switched up to CANADA DRY Ginger Ale on the rocks!!!
Old school like a motherfucker. To be honest , I been sittin here like a momo for an hour, not cause I'm stoned , but because this situation has so much real emotion , I've been Laughing,and crying at the same time, thinking of were to start, there I was 16 years old, no parents ,no siblings, living with The Benders, broken inside., so many bad things had happened , what could be next, God sent an angel , his name....MIKE RUNNE,I know what your thinking, if you know MIKE, he ain't no angel,but he was for me,he was fearless,no muscles, no tattoos, no weapons, just plain old balls of steel, a quality I had seen before, but not in that sense, MIKE had character, HE STUCK UP FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN , NO MATTER WHAT. I was about to get thrown out of the Benders , cause of my drug use , and other things, I told Mike, not expecting anything, just in conversation, it was April of 81'
A few days later MIKE mentions to me that he spoke to his dad and he said I could live with them, I was blown away, I knew MIKE and his brother STEVE aka TOOTS, but I never expected this.
I still remember sitting down with them for dinner for the first time, it was amazing,as a family, they by no means were rich, but very proud, I lived there for free for months before Mr. Runns said to get a job, MIKE and I got a job at HARTZ MOUNTAIN as roofers, we quit after 3 days , the foreman was slipping on a roof, he needed help, he yelled he needed a hand , MIKE clapped, the guy fired us , we said fuck you , WE QUIT BITCH, no work , we were going to become criminals. We took over the basement ,it was crime central, people in and out at all hours of the night, and we'd get up and go to school, amazing, MIKE and I shared everything, I was a only child, I wasn't used to this, clothes, food, money,we took care of each other, don't get me wrong, we had our differences. MIKE at times is very cold blooded in a funny way, but he's always had compassion for me, In hindsight, MIKE took a lot of grief for me, and he took it like a man, he never flipped or turned, by any means, he was in for a penny in for a pound, a quality I picked up from him later, a true test of friendship. Mike and I did a lot of capers , and they always ended with a laugh, we were burglarizing this place on the second floor, since I'm not a climber, we sent MIKE (GLEN CONTY AND I). He gets up on the balcony, slides the door open, were down there cheering him on, the next thing you hear is..wwwwwweeeeeeeeeoooooouuuuu(CAT NOISES).
MIKE gets attacked by a cat, he's up there yelling and screaming, he comes to the balcony
throwing jewelry down with one hand, he's trying to rip the cat off his head with the other, he's saying he's coming down, were yelling , get the rest, he gets the cat off him , he goes back in more yelling and screaming,he comes to the balcony throws more shit down , then jumps.
We're driving home, he's pulling cat claws out of his head,saying how he wants a bigger cut , cause he got attacked. I got 100 more stories like that. The weird thing is MIKE'S family , became my family, Mrs. Runns, Mr, Runns, Bobby, Joanie, Ricky, Stevie, and Duke(THE DOG).
In October of 82, I got into some trouble, and left MIKES , without saying a word, I was ashamed, months later when I returned from hiding out, I saw Mike, all was cool , but not really, in his eyes, I had hurt him, in that moment,I realized how much MIKE loved me and how much I loved him, it changed my view on MIKE and more important, the true meaning of friendship.
MIKE and I continue to speak weekly, we still laugh a lot, but writing this made me realize, how much MIKE means to me, and how important he was to my life at that time and still today.
The bond we built was amazing. MIKE'S dad passed last year, I didn't know it would mess with me like it did, but it did, last November, Stevie, MIKE, and myself went to the grave, ate a Cuban sandwich, and smoked a joint, and told stories , it was great. Theres a part in The GODFATHER
after VITO gets shot ,when Sonny and Tom are having a argument, Tom says "he's as much of a father to me , as you or Mike" It was the same here. I don't know a lot of things, but I know this.....I would give up everything for MIKE, I know he would do the same for me. I wrote great blogs and bad blogs, this one is the most important to me,because it helps me explain the "GIFT"
of friendship,how it was taught to me......SEE YA NEXT WEEK COCKSUCKERS

4:39 AM - 6 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment