OFF THE RECORD: MARUCHAN

To: My Baby

From: Your Baby

Reason: Because I luv you! 🖤

Song: Ja Rule ft. Vita, Lil Mo - Put it on me

We used to skip school a lot.. We'd always go to his house because his mom was never there during the day because she worked. My mom didn't always have a job. Sometimes she worked. She'd have a job for a couple months and then she'd find a reason to quit. She'd say "Her boss didn't like her" or "She hated her coworkers". One time she faked falling on the job so she can get out of going to work and collect a check. I mean, it was smart, but it didn't leave much room for me to sneak around. I guess it was one of those benefits of being a parent on welfare.

We would stay in his house all day. Watch movies, have sex, order Chinese food... We would just enjoy each other. I thought we were in love. We were in love. We'd stop at the store and buy a bunch of snacks... chips, chocolate. Anything that would help us enjoy the day. But most of the time we just ordered Chinese food... pork fried rice/4 chicken wings or chicken wings and french fries with ketchup and bbq sauce... so good. And every once in a while, I'd make him noodles. He liked the way I made them because I never put the seasoning in the pot. I always waited until they were poured into the bowl and then put the seasoning. Half of the water was never used, so it was just taking up all of the flavor. Those were the good times. Simple. Young. Ignorant. Impressionable. We had nothing. Nothing to offer each other but love.

Written by a Troubled Youth

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Many nights.. I would sit on the block with the older guys. I guess you would call them the OG's. We would sit around, like any other day. Some would be drinking champagne, some would be drinking henny, and others would be drinking beer. Their choice of drink usually reflected how well they were doing at the time. But, sooner or later, no matter the drink it all had the same effect.

Once, they were drunk, they would often go back in time and tell these crazy stories about shit they did, witnessed, or things that just happened around the hood. I was a kid listening to these stories. They were like movies to me.. the stories were so rich in detail. It felt like I was there.. You could see it. You could smell it, You could feel whatever fear or excitement they had in those few moments... Mixed with the surrounding elements of liquor, weed, loud music, and sirens going off in the background, it became the texture and soundtrack to each story told.

We all have a story, whether good or bad.. there's a story to tell. Off The Record is that . It's an ongoing article where I've visited neighborhoods and interviewed retired street guys, that have left the game alone.. They were filled with stories. Stories that they never told or felt like they could ever tell.. These are true stories. These are the stories of the men and women from neighborhoods like mine, across the country.