A week later they sent me to Hillsborough Correctional Institution and i got there right before lunch. This homeboy of mine name Pookie was there and he seen me and went to say these pussyass crackers and fuckass niggers got trouble now, my little dog is here! That was a name for a partner because as they say, a dog is a man's best friend, so that's why we use dog to say friend, you dig. And the guard assigned me to Dorm 1 to stay with some more inmates. That's where you stay until you see your classification officer and they will assign you to your real dorm on that compound.

And two weeks later i was in Dorm 3 with my homeboy Pookie. He had so much heart, and when he seen me we talked all night and he told me that it was a thing between Miami and Tampa. And the misunderstanding came because Miami thought they was better than Tampa and had better dancing and cars, and Tampa boys was square as a pool table. All us guys from Miami just thought we was better than them. And they didn't like that. i would see a guy from Tampa with some shoes like mine and say to my partner, look at that fucked nigger with the same kind of shoes i got. Then my partner would say he don't know how to wear them like you do. So that's the way it start.

About two weeks later on a Friday night we were watching Miami Vice on TV, and this guy from Tampa turned the TV off while me and my dog Pookie and some other Miami fellows was watching it. And my nigger Pookie jumped up and said what's up with you pussyass nigger turning the TV off while we watching Miami Vice? Then the other guy said fuck Miami Vice and by that time i was out of my chair and standing beside Pookie saying what's up, player? And then Pookie pulled out the plug of the TV and the guy put it back in the wall and when he was turning around to say now what, Pookie hit him with a left jab and came with the right jab behind that and took out three of his teeth. And i said player, your dentures is on the floor. That guy went in the bathroom and looked in the mirror and folded up his top lip and seen nothing. Then i heard somebody say nigger i am going to kill you, so i say Pookie, if he come around this corner, we is going to beat his pussy ass. And he came around and rushed for Pookie, and i was around his neck so fast with a cobra hold. And Pookie was hitting him with a left and a right. So we kicked his ass and the guards came and they broke it up and they went to jail lockup and i was out there all by myself. So i told myself fear no evil.

i went to ACI, and when i got there they locked me up as soon as i got off the van. And that was on a Thursday. So i went on to breakfast that morning and when we got back i was in my bed until lunch time. i slept like a baby that just had a full meal. So i went through that week playing cards and watching TV and writing letters to my loved ones.

That next week they placed me in Dorm H and that's where i seen my homeboy name Johnny, and Rodney was across the sidewalk in Dorm F. i slept in the sixth row and Johnny slept in the fifth row and come to find out that it was a lot of cowards in that dorm. Johnny ran that whole fucking dorm and when he said jump they said how high. But he became like a blood brother to me. So they assigned me to work in the kitchen and go to school because i didn't finish out on the street. And they tried to help me get a GED education. To tell you the truth, i didn't learn shit in that school, because my mind was on the street and how to get out there and kill as many crackers as possible and kick my used-to-be girlfriend Nikki's ass for being a squirrel looking for a nut who didn't have time to sit down and write her most deepest feelings for me. And my mother had wrote and told me it will be hard to send me money because my dad had got on the drug called crack and was selling everything out of the house that he could get his hands on. And that had my head all fucked up and the crackers had been kicking my ass since i stepped foot on the prison grounds. i thought i was going to go crazy. But it shot through my mind again, only the strong can survive, so i told Rodney and Johnny the trials and tribulations i was going through, and they told me to chill out and i will see better days.

That Friday at lunch a new white boy came in from another prison and he fucked up and let me see the fear in his eyes. So i went to him and he was bending over putting his things in his locker and i said hey, white boy, what's your name? And he said Ford. i said what prison you come from? And he said Summer Prison. So i said you know some black guys over there? And he said yeah, and i said tell me some names you know, and he went to call out some names and that is when i told myself he have fall for the trap. And i remember one of they names Craig, and told the white boy that Craig was my cousin, and i said hold on, i will be back. And i went over to one of the black guys who came with Ford and said to him hey player, check this out, let me have a talk with you in the bathroom, and the brother said okay, that's cool. So i told the brother when he had come in the bathroom, i said to him, look here man, you see that cracker right over there? And he looked over there and said yeah, Ford, and he said that cracker is a pussy. Then i said i know, that's why i want you to do something for me and the brother said what that is? And i said i want you to say this name and i told him the name Craig. And i said while i am talking to the white boy i want you to walk up and say Ford, you is a pussyass cracker, then i will jump up and say fuck, nigger, watch your mouth, don't call him that while i am around because you are calling me that because i am around him. Then you say man, he snitch on my man Craig.

So when i went to the white boy Ford, he went to say man, that guy is lying on me. And i said no he ain't, cracker, and i told him when you come out this dorm i am going to kick your ass, cracker, and i walk off, and before i got out the door he called me back and said hey man, i don't want no problems, i just want to do my time and go home. And i said well you have a problem with me, white boy. And then i said is this your first time down? And he said yeah. Then i said well, if you don't want no problems, it will be like this. And i told him that they let the inmates draw money out of their account every Monday and go pick it up on a Friday, and i said you have to draw twenty dollars every week and give me the money, and i will give you something to get your smokes and a little sweets. And so that was my stomping ground for the next four months and i never tried no physical contact with him because i was never into that. i hate homosexuals period. And i told him that guys was coming to me saying Adrian, make him suck my dick, and i would tell them to get out my face with that fucked shit, you dig. And they would just walk away without a word.

But between those four months i was going in and out of lockup for disobeying verbal orders or disrespect to an officer you dig, so while all this was happening, it was the same thing there. Tampa guys didn't like the guys from Miami.

And while i was in lockup, more bad letters was coming from my grandmother telling me your daddy's drug habit is getting worse every day. He told her some dirty words and she cried like a baby and i toss and turn that whole night in bed and a month later my mother wrote me again, telling me that the house is going up for rent. i cried till i went to sleep because all i thought about was am i going to lose the house? i always loved my own room, and now it looked like my waterbed and all my clothes was sold by my dad and my two baby sisters couldn't get much for Christmas.

Rodney was sent four rooms down from me for fighting two days before i came in for disobeying orders, and he heard me down there in my room after the officer had passed out the mail and the whole cellblock had got quiet because they wanted to know who was that crying. So Rodney said Adrian? i didn't say nothing and he called my name again. i still didn't say nothing and he called again. And i said yeah, man, what's up? And he said player, is that you? i said yeah man, that's me. What's wrong, man? And i thought if i tell someone i know it will make me feel a little bit better, so i told him how my daddy had a good job and had always been a strong, hard-working man, and now he let drugs take everything i wish of having and the rest of us wish of having, and i told Rodney when i got out i was going to kick his ass or he will kick mine, but i know it was going to be some trouble. And i told him i will kill him if my mother was going through hell. The videotape he rented for the VCR was missing and all that shit was falling on her. And the rent was paid up until the first of the month but nothing was in the house to stay there, so my two sisters went and stayed at my grandmother's home and my mother moved next door to her friend's home, so she could keep an eye on the house. But my dad was still staying there with no water, no lights or shit. And my mother was working keeping the white lady's house clean. i always talked to her about going back to her nursing job at PRN and she would say she is tired of keeping watch over old people. And the whole time i was going through hell, my grandmother was sending me shoes and ten or fifteen dollars every time she got a little money, you dig.

So i deal with the white boy Ford and my grandmother until that day i dream of when i went home from out of lockup, when that lady came around and told me i would be going home and sign this bus ticket. i looked at her for a while and she said Adrian what's wrong, why are you crying? Then i said in my mind the Lord have give me some time to save my house and family. And the warden drove me to the Greyhound bus station and the only person that knew i was coming home was my grandmother and she sent me some clothes to wear so i wouldn't have to spend the hundred dollars they gave me on clothes and so i can eat something at the stops. That fresh air felt so good and looking at ladies walk across the street, but i stayed close to the station because i didn't want to miss my bus. All that was on my mind was i must get to Miami.