The truth about my early life is that it was tough.

I am putting together some moments in life that will form a part of my third book ( unpublished). The chronicling of Leo continues. Enjoy.

The truth about my early life is that it was tough. 1986 was the toughest year of them all. However, I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world. Those tough years have formed the foundation of who I am and what I have done.

I remember the first time I rented an apartment in Compton, California. At that time this city was the toughest in the nation. During those days people living in Compton were afraid to exit our apartments at night. Gunshots and sirens bellowed outside my windows.

My innocence may have opened the door to a good deed from Ferdie, the manager of the apartment complex.

When I knocked on Ferdie’s door the first time, he opened and without a smile he growled, “How can I help you?” I thought he was Jamaican at first sight. He had a natural scowl on his face. I asked him what was the cost of renting an apartment and Ferdie informed me that it. was $350 per month. Personally, at that time I knew nothing of security deposits. I was focused only on the monthly rent. I was working three jobs: as a security guard which paid $2.39 per hour, a part time customer service representative which $4.00 per hour and as a store clerk where I worked two days weekend inside a small store cleaning supplies store. In total, my take home was $100 per week.

I was already tired searching for a place to live and met Ferdie at his place. I had $100 in my pocket but I had to land a place to live. My ex-wife, who was pregnant moved to New York with my mom because we couldn’t afford pregnancy and being together at the time. The plan was that once. the child was born they both would return to California with me. It meant then that I had to find an apartment for my new family.

After a brief discussion with Ferdie I handed him the $100 cash and asked him to set it aside for me as downpayment on my first month’s rent. I hadn’t seen the place but $350 sounded reasonable. I must have looked stupid to Ferdie, giving him cash, but he accepted it. For each of the next two weeks I brought $100, my net earnings, to Ferdie to fulfill the first month’s payment. However, after the third installment of $100. Ferdie asked for the entire amount and gave me an ultimatum. He told me I had only three days to pay the last $50 or I would lose both my deposit and the apartment. To this day I am still not sure how I got the extra $50 but I made it. Phew!

Ferdie did not let me into the apartment until I signed two agreements: one for the. security deposit $350 and the other for my monthly lease. By the first of the next month $700 was due. I made good on the agreements, because I spent the next three years in that apartment.

Ferdie was a life saver. He served as a banker for me and displayed the care I needed in really dismal times. It’s nice to know there are many other real human beings out there like Ferdie: people who believe in helping others. I found an angel in him. He did not have to extend that courtesy to me.

It didn’t stop there. Ferdie also saved my life literally. Three months after I moved into the apartment, before my wife and child came home from New York, my kitchen burned down. Yes it did.

You see, working three jobs was not an easy task. I would work nights, get home for 7 a.m., take a shower and head out to the customer service job for four hours. I would then sleep for a few hours and head back to work later in the night. Not having enough money to buy lunch each day, I had to cook at home and take to work at nights. However, Jamaica has prepared me for the tough life. I had to improvise on daily living due to my low income. My food at that time was cooked pinto beans. Yes, pinto beans only. Red peas were too expensive and a 50lb bag pinto beans (closely related to red peas) was cheap. Ital bean stew using pinto beans was breakfast, lunch and dinner.

On a day when I was extremely tired. I got home after my customer service job, put the beans to boil, added salt, pepper, onions and skellions, went to rest up and wait for it to cook. Instead I fell asleep. It must have been a couple hours later I woke to a heavy thud. As I opened my eyes I thought I was in heaven. If you watch movies about heaven you will notice that heaven is depicted with. God and the angels walking around in cloudy white smoke-like environs . I thought I was there. The thud continued heavier and I walk toward the noise. I looked to my left and notice a huge fire and thought, “Ok, that must be hell.” So I proceeded to the source of the heavy thudding. The sound of the thud took me to the entrance to the apartment. In my daze I opened the door. As I did I looked towards the fire. and it. came at me. I jumped out just in time and almost hit Ferdie to the ground.

Again I was saved by Ferdie. An angel is what he was. I later found out that Ferdie was descendant of Jamaican who had migrated to Panama. Ferdie shares with me that he was passing and saw the smoke coming under my apartment door. I was happy to be alive.

Ferdie died some years later and I didn’t get to tell him thanks. During the eighties finding persons from the Caribbean in California was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Ferdie was from Panama but his dad was Jamaican. I think he felt a sense of brotherly love and fatherly care. I didn’t even know his surname.

Thanks, Ferdie.