Day one in my Jail cell...

I woke up to the sound of the police men banging on our cells. The police went cell-to-cell to wake them up by shaking the cell bars and banging on it. My Court date was April 30, 2019 so I shouldn't be here for long.

I got arrested last week for fraud. I needed money fast, or else I would get kicked out of my moms house. I already had a bad crime record so me getting a job wasn't an option. The only thing I could do was to join a gang. I knew a few people on the streets so I helped them move out the drugs. I got paid $1,100 a week which was good enough for me to stay under my mom's roof.

The head chief named, Young Blood stopped by my department where I would pack up the drugs and move them out to the people who would sell them out. He said, "Y'all got to be more careful with what y'all doin' with these drugs. Now we got the police on our tails. If one of y'all aren't careful and get caught by the police, don't snitch or we'll set y'all up for more trouble."

I assumed he wasn't talking about me because I've been working here for a few months and I was doing my job correctly and I always cleaned up my trail so it wouldn't be obvious I was selling drugs. None of my family members knew that I sold drugs and I planned to keep it that way. I didn't want them to know my lifestyle.

A few months of doing the same routine, we heard sirens in the distance coming towards our department. Everyone grabbed their Glock-9's and snipers and went into their hiding spots that we planned for. My hiding spot was behind tall boxes that were thick enough to be bullet-proof so I wouldn't have to worry about getting shot.

The sirens got louder and the police men ran into our department, kicking down doors to look for us. Young blood screamed, "Move out!" which meant it was war and it was time for us to start a shoot-out. We all started shooting and aiming for the police men and all we saw were dead bodies on the ground. I felt someone cover my mouth behind me with a napkin. I tried to fight them back but I felt weak and passed out on the spot.

I woke up and realized I was in a private Police Sation. In front of me was "Detecteive Joe" his tag read. I remembered that I couldn't snitch or Young Blood would put me into more trouble. Detective Joe stated asking me questions like, "How old are you? How long have you been in this gang? Who's the head chief?"

I told him I wouldn't say anything no matter what. That was until he pulled out my life records. He read everything on my record including the amount of times I got arrested, crimes I was charged for in the past, what schools I went to and other personal things. I felt ashamed of the things I did in my past in order for me to survive.

I shed a tear just thinking about what I'm doing now to keep myself alive. I stood strong and told myself I wouldn't snitch no matter how much personal things he threw into my face. He then said, "I know why you've been going back-to-back being apart of gangs. Your record is too dirty for you to apply for a legal job so you turn to the streets to get dirty money and survive. I get it and I can erase your records so you can live a better life if you will just give me the information I need and you'll never have to see my face again."

He caught my attention when he said he would let me live a better life than I have now. I had to think for a little while so I didn't respond to him yet. I had an image of how I would set my life better if I wasn't in a gang. Yes, I wanted a better life but if Young Blood found out I snitched, he would set me up and I didn't want to know what he would set me up for.

I was stuck in a dilemma. I told Detective Joe I would think about it. He told me I had exactly 24 hours on the dot to make my decision or I would be arrested of being an Accessory to a shoot-out I participated in, murder and drugs. My records were already dirty so I had to pick wisely on my decision. He let me go and I went back to my department.

Young Blood and his men were cleaning up the bodies and the blood so it wasn't obvious a shoot-out took place. Young Blood asked me what happened since I disappeared at the shoot-out and popped back up again. I told him what happened and everything the Detective told me.

While I was talking, he cut me off saying, "None of that don't matter. Did you give him any information about us?" I quickly said no because he had a straight serious face so I knew my answer had to be no or I would be dead. He nodded his head and gave out orders to the other men. I told him that the detective said he would let me live a normal life and clear my records if I would just tell him the information he wanted.

Young Blood quickly turned around and said in a mad but calm voice, "Once you join this gang there's no way out. You made a vow you would never snitch no matter what but if you want to die that's fine by me." He said that bluntly and kept walking. I started thinking that if I took the risk of telling Joe the information, I could disappear and start a new life somewhere far. My only problem was I was scared that Young Blood would send one of his men to come and find me regardless of where I was in the United States.

All night I was thinking about the life I wanted if I wasn't in this gang mess. My only choice was to confess to the police and disappear to California or New York. As long as it was far away from Florida, I didn't care where I went since I had the money to move. It was 1 in the morning so I planned out everything including what time I would take the bus to California, what lie I would have to tell my family and Young Blood and how much money I would need to bring with me.

The next day...

Everything was planned out. I would tell my family that I had to move for my safety. My mom knew that I had a messy record so she understood that I needed to leave on short notice. My next plan was to go to the Police Station and say everything I know about the gang business.

If my plan didn't work then my next step would be me dead because I didn't have a backup plan. I told Detective Joe everything I knew and he let me go. I watched him erase anything dirty off my record. I rushed home to get my bus ticket, packed clothes and the stack of money I earned from selling the drugs. On my way to my bus I heard Police Sirens so I assumed that they were coming for Young Blood and his crew so I had to get going now.