Chapter 6 Part 2
“He threw the first punch. I tried to dodge it but he caught me a little bit. Before I could even respond, a friend of mine came from behind me and punched the guy so hard that he instantly fell to the ground shielding his face. It happened so fast it took me a hot second to register it at all.”
This memoir is a collection of memories, stories, and experiences that have shaped my transformation from a 15 year old boy navigating life and death in the streets of my hometown, to finding hope in a maximum security adult prison with a life without parole sentence, and building a life of freedom beyond prison walls. My sincerest hope and intention is that you will connect with the shared human experience of overcoming your circumstances and worst mistakes to become the person you were always meant to be.
Chapter 3 Part 2
When I stepped out I embraced the new environment. I walked from one end to the other. The deck was pretty big. It had about 40 cells, with many cells holding two people per cell.
I figured if someone had a problem with me they would make it clear as we crossed each other’s path. The problem was that most people who had a problem with me prior to me getting locked up I had never even met before. I could have been standing right next to someone in the jail and wouldn’t have known that I was in danger.
After a couple of rounds, I realized that no one on the deck had any issues with me. There were some men that I had known from outside on deck with me, as well as several who I never met who were happy to see me. It was all love and respect. They were aware of my charges and had been supporting and rooting for me to be acquitted, largely because of my age at the time of the incident, but also because of my reputation and character as being a solid good dude. This allowed me to relax.
There was actually one person who was on the deck who my group of friends had issues with. He and I never had a confrontation. We’d never even spoken to each other before, but his friends and mine couldn’t share the same space without fighting. He and his friends had a bad reputation that made me not like any of them as a whole. I figured he felt the same way about me and for a moment I thought we were going to have a confrontation. When we crossed each other’s path, we made eye contact. He knew who I was, and immediately he smiled and greeted me. He was friendly and respectful. He essentially put aside the issues that her friends had and empathised with me because of my circumstances facing life in prison. I also believe that he just didn’t have any interest in getting into a fight with me considering my character and our age difference. He would have been about 3 years older than I was. He didn’t want conflict. He wanted to be cool with me. I was hesitant, but okay with that. I’m a pretty friendly and easy going person despite what many people think. I’ve always been that way, even back when I was 17. I was never the type looking for trouble or looking to have a beef with someone. So when this guy initiated peace and cordiality, I was cool with it. Well I tried my best to be.
The only reason that I was hesitant was because it felt disingenuous. The two of us had never had issues personally, but there was an uneasy feeling deep down inside of me because of some of the things that he and his friends had done. Things they had done to friends of mine.
So, while I kept things cordial with him, it began to feel like I was being phony. I also felt like I was being disloyal to my friends and my own principles. The more I felt that way, the more I began to feel contempt for this guy. I didn’t make it two weeks before I picked a fight with him. Like I said, 17-year-old Dre didn’t have the maturity or tools that I have today. If that were the case, I would have accepted the guy’s peace and efforts to leave the past behind. I would have respected and appreciated his efforts. We wouldn’t have been friends, but there would have been a level of mutual respect and consistent peace. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
One day we were eating lunch, sitting at the same time and I found a way to slip into our conversation and insult his friends, hoping to get a reaction. It worked. Initially he was caught off guard. Things were respectful between us up until that point. He responded quickly and with a new attitude. I took advantage of the moment and told them exactly how I felt about his friends. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but in response he got so angry and wanted to fight.
I wasn’t necessarily trying to provoke a fight. I honestly just wanted him to know how I truly felt. We didn’t have to fight about it. He could have disagreed, accepted it, or whatever. Instead, he told me to step inside his cell after lunch. It was an invitation to fight. I accepted it, and just like that it was on.
After lunch I met him at his cell. Everyone knew what was going on. The idea was to go inside the cell, settle our differences and move forward without any consequences. If necessary, either of us would stay in our cells to heal up and hide any evidence of a fight. This way we would avoid segregation.
I don’t remember why, but we did not go into his cell to fight. We squared up in front of his cell with a bunch of spectators. I knew we were going to get caught. Nonetheless, there was no turning back.