There was so many times where I wanted to share all my worries hopes and fears with you guys, but so many reasons why I was not able. Shit kinds hit the fan for me in Oakland. I'm not going to sugar coat anything, Oakland is a black hole that will suck you dry and leave you to die. I was badly abused in a relationship. Black eye, fat lip, scared face, broken laptop, slashed car tires, things thrown out on the street, knife pulled on me, he even tried to kidnap my dog. Once I got out of that situation I needed to take careful steps to make sure he couldn't find me and try and hurt me again.
So a friend, after seeing my black eye, took me and my dog in out of the rain, fed us, and let us stay at her house and babysit her dog while she and her boyfriend were away for the Holiday. She is a wonderful kind-hearted person, and has an open door policy for people who are in need of a temporary safe place to stay.
In January I was robbed by gun point twice in one month. The first time, I was with a friend walking home from First Friday Art Walk when two black men with guns run up on us and demand we give up our stuff. I had just gotten off a job and had over a grand of cash on me, but also a can pepper spray. Lucky to be ok, they didn't manage to steal anything from us. They probably thought, "This bitch is crazy!'' as I was yelling for them to get the fuck off me or I'd spray their fucking ass. They gave up, ran across the street, popped a cap in the pavement, got in their whip, spun a donut and sped off.
While I was watching my friends place, one of the guys who would stay there time from time stole a bunch of money she had stashed away. I didn't have any idea. So when she came back I left to go up north to trim some buds for a few weeks with a friend of mine thinking everything was ok. Everything seemed fine when we left, she hadn't realized anything was missing until we were gone. But I guess the shady kid who stole her shit, denied it up and down and swore it was me and my friend. When we came back, he had let on to them thinking we took their stuff, which we knew was bullshit. So we decided to wait there so we could talk to them and tell them what we knew. That night when we were there waiting for her to get back from a protest, four black dudes with three guns, one of them being the shady kid, came into the house and robbed my friend blind and knocked him on the head with the butt of their gun. I'm so lucky that they didn't take anything from me, when they asked my friend what I had, he said I didn't have anything and it was all on him. When the girl came back with her boyfriend, they basically said they knew that he was going to jack us, to get back at us for stealing from them. That dirty little double crosser! Their logic was that they had known this kid for a while, never had him steal from them before, and trusted his word. Well now that kid in in prison, and going to be put away for a long time. You do the math.
It was a real eye opener, and I deiced to pack my things and GTFO.
So I took a hiatus, living a life straight out of the 90's. No smart phone, no internet, no t.v. For the last year my dog Boomer and I traveled around the US catching festivals and every show we could. To New Orleans for Mardi Gras, where we stayed at the House Of The Rising Sun, and drained our drinks on Bourbon St, and fell in love with folk music in the French Quarter. Austin, TX for South by South West was hot and humid and the cops were so fucked up. One cocked her gun and threatened to shoot my dog while he sat down and looked at her with confusion. We stayed in Dallas, TX and got to hang out with https://www.suicidegirls.com/girls/kentessa/ and eat pizza at her work. So many great shows. Suicidal Tendencies, Exodus, Anthrax, Black Flag, D.R.I., D.I., Havok, Angry Samoans, and so many more. Then there was Chaos in Tejas, in Austin T.X. Three days of total fucking madness, and punk rock. Saw a lot of my homies from the Bay Area, and no sign of the abusive jerk.
