AND SO IT BEGINS - TWWW part 7

They came first for the Communists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.Then they came for the trade unionists,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews,and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.Then they came for meand by that time no one was left to speak up.
Believed to be quoted from by Pastor Martin Niemoeller


Morris sat in the waiting room. They were going to fly Stacey back for cremation. He was making the necessary phone calls. He found it curious how quickly things came together. The cremation would be the next morning. The service would take place the coming up Sunday. He was looking for numbers in his phone; did he tell the people he needed to about the service? Then his phone rang, Lance was calling again.

“Yes Lance.”

“I’m sorry Morris. I heard.”

(How’d the hell did you hear so fast) “Thanks.”

“So when you heading back?”

“I fly in this afternoon.”

“Can you come into my office tomorrow?”

“Lance I’ve had a really crappy day. I didn’t think I’d formally needed to ask for a few days off for bereavement.”

“You don’t,” Lance quickly answered, “It’s just for some paperwork. Of course I expect you to take time off.”

“Do you have any information on Walt? When I left he was in a pretty bad st…”

“He’s…huh, Walt passed away. He had bone cancer Morris; inoperable. It was just a matter of time.”

Morris thought, funny how Walt worked in a state of the art medical facility yet he couldn’t get any treatment for himself. No wonder he wanted to stick it to them in the end.

“Morris can you come in tomorrow around noon…Morris…Morris?”

SUGAR; the lonely woman's crack - Article 5

“Crack is whack” – Whitney Houston

It was one Sunday at midnight, so maybe it was Monday. The monkey was on my back and had been talking to me all night. I gave in. “What is open at this time”, I thought to myself. I got in my car and drove to an AM/PM mini market and gas station combination. I knew for a fact, they had the ice cream bar I was craving; chocolate on the outside, chocolate on the inside – I do not play.

It was a quick trip, in and out. I changed out of my house cloths and into my pajama’s, which I must admit there is little difference, and sat down to enjoy my treat.

As soon as I opened the box, I noticed a problem. Apparently, at some point the ice cream bar had melted completely and then froze again. It was a square frozen milky mess. The stick, the bar was to be held by, was completely enveloped in hodge podge of frozen brown stuff. I should have thrown the bar away. Instead I got a spoon, scraped away the frost-bite and dug in. My stomach began to gurgle and hum. I was assuming the bar had only melted and re-froze once. My taste buds told me I might be wrong. “What is this waxy film in my mouth?

HUSTLER FO REAL - Article 4

I am constantly amazed by the hustlers of the world. While my honest career efforts have been met with a sea of no’s and mocking, there is a population of people who by hook or by crook take the world by the balls. Hustler’s of the world stand up and take your places. I’m talking about the people who walk to the front of a long line saying, “You don’t mind do you? I just have one quick question.”

A hustler uses what they have. I have lived in my building for almost 3 years. My neighbor, lets call her Mary who has never asked my name, yet has asked me for the most ridiculous things like; telling me to decorate her windows by greeting me with a strings of Christmas lights and a chair with which to assist me in scaling the walls. She has asked me if I wanted to rent her cell phone for 3 months while she was out of the country. After only 2 weeks of living in the building, she asked for my work hours so I could take her to the airport as needed. She has an accent which fluctuates on thickness depending on her need. One day she came to me, with yet another ridiculous request. She was using the thicker accent on this day so she was barely understandable. She was talking really fast and my attempts to slow her down were ignored.

This is ‘the devil is in the details’ portion of the game. The idea is to move you so fast through something you say yes, without really understanding what you’re saying yes to. I told her “no, she was asking too much of me.” .She kept saying, “I don’t understand…I don’t understand”. I said, “Yes you do. You just don’t like what I’m saying.” It was like the wind got sucked out of her lungs. She threw her hands up and walked in her apartment. For the record, Mary has never approached me like that again. She did understand. Mary uses her age and her accent; positioning herself to seem helpless. Mary may be a lot of things, helpless is not one of them.

BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT - TWWW part 6

“When a person becomes a member of a certain gang they must kill a designated person in order to join said gang (blood in) and the only way out of the gang is to die (blood out)” as quoted from the Urban Dictionary.



Xavier never liked being driven around. He liked being at the helm plus he never really trusted anyone. He no longer had a choice. A driver came and picked him up in the morning and took him home after training was done. A small black sedan, blacked out windows and door locks controlled from the front seat. Divider glass separated him from the driver, who was never very talkative. One day he went to a warehouse where he was instructed how to build a gun and how to take one apart from a man whose arms were bigger than most women’s hips. They couldn’t rest at his sides; they simply suspended themselves midway in the air. Xavier wondered how his big fingers could handle the intricate mechanisms of a gun.

On this day Xavier was led into an empty office. Aside from the fluorescents above, the only light came from a small window which offered a lovely view of a brick wall. The room had the bare minimum; a desk, a chair and a phone. The attending agent gave him a pen and a notepad with a list of names and numbers. Over the past two weeks since he joined the agency, aside from his driver, everyone was a new face. This agent didn’t give his name, most of them didn’t. He had a wedding band on, he was asian and middle-aged. His deep voice suggested he should have been working in voice-over’s rather then working for them. He told Xavier he would be his instruction for the next week – vocal coaching. “You have no Mexican accent. I’m going to teach you how to get it back along with a few other dialects. With your coloring you can pass for a couple of nationalities. But first you have to make a few calls. You are to tell them to meet you at the date, time and place listed on page 1. Get as many as you can to show up. Call extension 19 if you have any questions. There’s a bathroom behind the door on your left and don’t leave this room. Understand?”

“Yes. Hey, am I going to see agent Romulus…”

“Yes, later.”

The man walked out. Xavier recognized all the names on the list. He let out a deep sigh. This was the beginning of his initiation. There were their names and numbers along with the names and numbers of family, girlfriends, wives…anyone and everyone they may or may not remotely speak to on a regular basis. He made his first call.

ALMOST LIKE NEW, BUT NOT QUITE - article 3

I was at a non-church church get together and a couple of the young ladies were talking about their purity rings. For you non-Christians; a purity ring is when girls and guys (hello to the Jonas Brothers) pledge their virginity to God until they get married. I know this may seem like a daft concept to some people but waiting til marriage has many benefits. For instance:

1. You’re being obedient to our Heavenly Father.
2. No STD’s (but not necessarily if you’re doing everything but…)
3. Avoiding bitterness
4. It makes you smarter (It’s a proven fact that keeping your legs closed keeps your eyes and ears open – therefore your idiot radar stays intact.
5. You have more time for hobbies.
6. You have closer friendships – because you’re not relying on some fool that’s never gonna be right anyway cause he’s a selfish, self-serving… (see #3)
7. You maintain a good sense of self worth.
8. Your credit score stays higher.
9. (@ youngsters and 30 year old guys staying in mom and dad’s basement. No I am not judging you) You have better relationships with your parents because you’re not always lying about where you’ve been and who you were with and why you don’t have the same cloths on you were wearing when you left this morning.
10. You avoid that deep gapping hole, you try to fill with food or more sex, which comes from giving yourself away to some moron that wouldn’t know a treasure even if someone smacked him across the face with gold deblumes. (see #3)

ARE YOU A TEAM PLAYER ?- TWWW part 5

There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Taken from Proverbs 6:16-19 (New International Version)

Xavier woke up in a small room. One interior window with smoked glass, probably 2-way he guessed. His first view was of the glazed concrete floor. The slight hum must have been the air conditioner. He looked up at the vents on each wall near the ceiling. There were two men standing in front of him, he himself was sitting, unrestrained, in the only chair. One man he recognized, he was the one who shot Raymond. The other was a white guy. Xavier noticed they both had dark suits on, the good kind; specifically tailored for each body. There was no way the black guy could buy anything off the rack. His jacket fit perfectly, from neck to shoulder and from shoulder the wrist. Xavier looked behind him, there was the door.

“I want to talk to my lawyer,” Xavier said. “Shut up”, the white guy replied. “I’m agent Percy Grimm and this is agent Romulus Perry. Xavier laughed, “Man…you serious? Agents Percy Grimm and Romulus Perry. That’s funny.”

“Our names are funny to you?” Romulus asked.

“Aren’t they funny to you?” Xavier answered still laughing. “So which of you is the good cop and which is the bad cop.

“What do you think?” Percy asked.

“Well, I’d say the brother is the bad guy, but that would be stereotypical”.

“Actually, we’re both the bad guy,” Percy said.

“I guess I'm screwed then right?. So when do I get my phone call?”

Romulus turned his back to say something to Percy. Xavier saw this has his chance, he was closest to the door; Romulus was like a tower, don’t try to fight with him, just knock him out with the chair. The supercuts salt and pepper guy was smaller, Xavier knew he could take him easy. They probably had guns in their waistband, maybe one at the ankle, but it takes a few seconds to get to that. The brotha’s a tall guy; it’ll take him a while to bend down to get his gun. ‘I can do this,’ he said pumping himself up. Xavier raised the chair over his head. Percy didn’t blink an eye. He spoke over his shoulder toward whoever was hiding behind the 2-way glass, “Now.”

PINK IS THE NEW BLACK - article #2

Recently, I was standing behind two young ladies in line. We were paying our entrance fee to get into the museum. The man behind the counter was extra attentive. He stood up to physically, and complete with plane landing gestures, direct the ladies to the exhibit. My turn came; I received very little eye contact, a forced smile and a very dry, “Go down the walkway, the elevator is out so take the stairs and it’s to the left.” “Thanks,” I said.
It turns out the ladies and I were going to the same exhibit. As I walked behind them, I noticed all the male attention they were getting. The men stopped in mid-stroll and said ‘hello’ as the ladies walked toward them, as opposed to after they had passed. Of course, there were the expected lingering glances to the ladies behinds. It must be nice I thought to myself. Please note; no attention was paid to my behind.
The cashier neglected to mention the stairs reached into the heavens. I stopped at the bottom of the 2+ story staircase. I looked up and contemplated if I really wanted to see this exhibit. After all, the children’s museum was open and it was on the ground level. This might be good, I can finger paint. I decided to put on my big girl panties; I took a deep breath, fully realizing it could be my last, and made my first step.
The young ladies were several steps ahead of me. They were giggling. Please note; I found their joy annoying. Oh and look...we passed yet another guy, offering them a full hearted greeting. I made it midway up the staircase, I paused to catch my breath. Then I saw what all the fuss was about.