The Lesson, The Old Man And The Game

Greetings Family. Another fabulous week thus far. It was overcast and rainy today but you'll hear no complaints from me. I personally need a break from the heat.

I saw Mike yesterday (told you he'd be back). He was doing his thing, I was so unfocused yesterday that after awhile I just leaned back against my favorite place on the wall and silently went through everything that was running through my head. Random thoughts had to be either let go or put in the 'think about that bullshit' later file. Your mind is like a garden and sometimes you need to pick the weeds to keep the garden healthy, feel me? I've been told I think too much, I just say I think enough to stay sane.

One of the things that has been on my mind lately is not so much a situation but a person. Ever experienced that? Someone just keeps popping up in your head all of a sudden? This person is an old man that calls himself Zar. An unlikely mentor of your Hustleman.

This brother used to be a big time huslter back in his day. From doing thing in New York to down south to California. I figure at the time when I used to hang out with him he was in his early to mid 60's. He never told, I never asked. You must understand that this was a smart dude, but very eccentric and worn down by bad habits. He used to wear high water pants, bummy ass t-shirts with maker writings on them with things like 357. His socks would be pulled up to damn near calf, and when he didn't wear socks you could see an old braided string he wore around his ankle. This dude was loud, a fairly heavy drinker (which made him even louder) and he also had a bad drug habit of the crack persuasion. His woman was all crackhead, I used to hate being around her period. She'd annoy the hell out of me, but she was always respectful.

Zar was also one of the only people in my life that looked me straight in the eyes and told me, "You're going to make it Shai. You want a million, you'll get it. You know how to talk to people and you have alot of game. Just make sure you can handle all that money, it brings problems."

Now follow me on this. Looking at this dude in the present and listening to his old war stories, you would think he was full of shit. But if you could catch him sober the game he would spit would blow your mind. Zar only invited people over to his house that he liked and I was fortunate enough to be one of those people. I seen pictures of him back in his 'glory days' and he wasn't lying. He really had the money, the cars, the houses and the women. He hustled moonshine and ran numbers when he was younger. In Georgia he had dealings with what he called the Dixie Mafia. He also cleared the way for two of the biggest dope selling families in Bankhead here in Atlanta to make their rise. I'll leave those family names out on purpose. He was the classic old school hustler.

It always amazes me when I look at old school hustlers who had it and lost it. I ponder the question, how can you have all that and end up with little to nothing? It just goes to show no matter how much you know, it doesn't mean a damn thing if you don't apply it. The game itself is very cold in this regard. Either you stay within the rules or you get chewed up and spit out. A few bad decisions, bad habits and everything you worked for can be lost. Only the mentally strongest of men or women can get it all back. So here Zar was at the age of 60 plus still hustling. His goal was trying to secure a position in the real estate game and get a landscaping business off the ground. He was going good until his alcohol habit landed him in jail over a DUI. And out of jail he was in a car accident that put him in the hospital. And then again after he got his settlement money from the accident he blew that on bullshit. The result, as you can guess, is he lost everything.

The next few times I seen this man he was homeless, washing up at parks in the public restrooms. I threw him a few dollars here and there when I did see him and gave him rides. He was neither upset or down about his situation he just kept it moving. To date, I haven't seen or heard from Zar in almost a year now. I sincerely hope everything is better with him.

Another intellegent brother who just never made the transition from the street game to something bigger and 'legitimate'. He never did stop trying though. With all the game and lessons I learned from him the biggest lesson was this: Use the street game to get you to a point where you need to be to get out. Once you get out and into a better game never look back.

The god told me something that is relevant here. We as human beings grow and change and if you don't let your surrounding life reflect those changes you will suffer. If life is not running smooth and you're not happy ask yourself are you living in your old habits and conditions although you're a different person now? Failed hustlers do just that and their end results are very similar. Rest assured that your Hustleman has learned his lesson. I'm slowly evolving past the street game and I'm just looking for the door marked 'Exit'. Keep it moving family and much love to you all.