vENOM By: William T. Kikos You must not tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. He was born on April 15th 1992 and in my book he is now listed as the scum of the Earth. When I had first met him I looked up to him and truly respected him. To me he was the coolest cat on the block. Until the day I realized he was a spreading virus that infected half of the neighborhood. All of the kids, ages 13-16 thought he was the bomb. He used to tell us stories about all the cool things he did, that we unfortunately admired. The day I met him I was sucked in to all of his lies. The more we spent time with him, the more we grew closer, which lead to us beginning to think he was our friend. Personally it felt like I knew him for years after hearing all his stories and lies. I never thought I was naïve nor did I think this man was ever going to get me into so much crap, until that day came. I remember it like it was yesterday. Venom, Cobra, Gene, Franklin, Freeze, Fusser, D-Wreck and I were all chilling at Byrne doing the usual. It was just another hot summer day in the neighborhood. That’s when Venom approached me from my side. He said, “Yo, g come with me I’m going to Green Wall (Wal-Greens).” I replied back, “Nah man that’s a mission, screw that.” “Come man it will be quick I got you on a split,” said Venom. Instead of refusing to go, I took his offer and went with him to Green Wall. It was only an eight block walk from Byrne but on a hot summer day it felt like walking a mile. He lit up a square as we marched to Green Wall and split it with me like he said. Finally after walking seven blocks down the alley he stopped and said, “Wait here I’ll be right back.” I did as I was told and waited patiently by the corner motel in the alley two blocks away I from Wal-Greens. As I waited I watched his every move curiously. Out of nowhere a blue Buick Lemans pulled up in the alley ahead of Venom. Thinking nothing of the occurrence I walked towards the alley Venom was in. He turned around and waved me to go back while he hopped into the passenger’s seat of the old blue Buick. From a distance I could see the driver; he was African American. Again I thought nothing of it as the car inched towards the alley I was standing in. Venom got dropped off right on the side of the motel right by the alley I was in. When he got out of the car a huge grin slapped across his face as he walked towards me. I was confused and I didn’t understand why he was smiling until we started walking back to Byrne down the alley. He went into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He then opened his wallet and pulled out a dollar bill and rolled it up into a skinny tube. He then reached into the side zipper of his wallet and pulled out a baggie full of white powder. The first thing that I thought it was, was cocaine, because it was the only drug that I knew of that came in a white powder form. I was curious so I asked Venom what it was. He said it was “toot-toot” and I replied back and said, “Coke?” He shook his head no while grinning. He then snorted the bag of “toot” through the dollar bill he rolled up. I was shocked and I began to uncomfortably laugh. He chucked a little bit and turned to me and handed me the bag. Unsure of what “toot” was I resisted it and gave the bag back to him. He then gave it back to me and said, “Blow it.” I then asked him what it was again and he said “toot”. That was the first day I ever did “toot” and it wasn’t the last. Venom, Gene, D-Wreck and I continued to do “toot” with Venom every day for about 2-3 months, still unaware what it was. We all finally found out when that man got arrested for possession of that narcotic. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it was very bad and one close pal of mine over dosed on it and almost died. That drug ruined many people in my neighborhood and it really hurt to see it happen. I wish that man “Venom” never existed and I also wish I had never met him. He is the scum of the Earth as I said before and some people still haven’t realized it and I wish they had. I really wish those people who still do “toot” with him would come and read this but they are held back from the addiction they face every day. I hope Venom burns in hell for all the lives he has and had destroyed. My heart goes out to all the families who have been affected by Venom and I truly understand their pain. I learned my lesson the hard way and I hope I never encounter a man so sick to do something like this ever again.