A couple of years ago after my divorce, I said that I would look for somewhere to stay comfortably and be able to build back up my chips at the same time. My Ex-Wife is from hell, and my lil' man needs a place to lay his head and be given that firm, manly foundation to take him on in life. For you that don't know, divorce is mofo on finances and what-not and especially if you have kid involved. Imma do another story on how to live beneath your means and still live good. Well, I decided to move back to my old neighborhood, a lower-middle-class section of the city...y'know hard working folks that are really trying to make another day and hopefully see the light of day. I went back because I'm part of that, I know the community and the surroundings, and I could have a pretty comfortable existence and get my bearings together. Well to make a long story short. There was an apartment complex, that was damn near the best-kept secret in town. There are a couple of colleges around the way that served the well-to-do set, and for a long time the students lived here in lieu of having to follow dorm rules. Trust-fund-babies and the earthday crowd. Well y'know daddy and mommy wasnt going to have their precious little pumpkins living in squalor, so they made sure that things were taken care of, and none of the elements of the hood were present. Low-rent and really above basic amenities...I was like, aiight, I can dig it for a minute to get back on my feet. Well low-and-behold a few things changed this whole set-up like overnight....(1)Change in management,(2) Katrina, (3) The mayor shutting down a few of the public housing pj's in town (4) White Flight. Well, the apt's went down the toilet in a hurry, first with the upkeep, then with the demographic. As you can see by the photos, they are slow to do anything around here, and the wood is rotting and rain is coming through the ceiling of one of my neighbors apartments. I had a squirrel family living in my ceiling at one time, but I was like HELL NAW! It was crazy listening to them little paws scurrying back and forth all day. It takes an act of congress to get anything fixed around here. My apartment overlooks the pool, and when I first got it i was like...cool, a room with a view. I could smoke my blacks, have some libations and just chill....Well this summer it was a different story. The room with a view turned to be a damn tv set. COPS 24-7, Weed, loud kids, and everthing else that you can imagine. I saw two security guards get whooped...I was like whoa. I pulled up the crime report for my complex and all kind of shit been going on here...aggravated rapes, break-ins, armed robbery. I sure didnt know that I had moved into the projects!!! See what trips me out is that I CAN, and I AM changing my situation, but what about those that cannot, or don't want to? Are we to just turn the other way and let it go on? I talked to some of the people and they didn't want to make no waves cause they really are lenient on the rent...some folks were having hard times and they look out for them. People have the right to have decent living conditions, no matter the cost that is paid for it. People are not as fortunate as I am...I have choices. And I did what I had to do to get where I needed to be. Is it really keeping it real by living like this? Man, Y'all are Really Wrong For That!
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