Karma is a fickle bitch but she’s as real as I am typing this right now and the other day she showed me a bit of mercy for a change. Picture “King of the Hill”, only in the hood, and then picture me, looking like an extra from a Guns N Roses video standing there getting stoned. It’s not like there was any tension or beef and I was friends with one of the other guys so I wasn’t a total random. But it was still a bit odd.
What changed things was when one of OGs in the neighborhood was walking by and saying “Hello” to everyone then recognized and called me out. “Hey, hey, what’s up man? Hey, this is the guy I told you about the other day.” Normally this would be cause for alarm but I wasn’t worried since I already knew what he was talking about.
Two days prior I had been stoned and on my way to the store to get smokes. The old man was walking a bit slow in front of me but was also jamming out to some killer old school R&B and I was just going with the flow. While he was rocking out, he dropped a $20 in front of me and without hesitation, I grabbed it and tapped him on the shoulder. Homie seriously thought I was trying to fucking rob him and he went from scared to confused when I handed him the $20. The look on his face alone was worth the money. I told him that I’d been enjoying the music he was playing and saw him drop it and that I’m not a total asshole and started laughing with the guy.
Two days later, the guy returned the favor by letting the locals know that I’m cool and in a place like this, that goes a lot further than you think, especially in times like these…