From Prison to Poetry (ePub)

avail. No one would come to his rescue, but they did get him a lawyer. Facing life and almost death, he was scared to death, so he began to put his faith in God and rely on Jesus. He began to pray and study his Bible, and the other gang-members joined him. Having rank in the organization, he had control over the other Vice-Lords, which was like being a supervisor on a job, and it was a job trying to govern everything and everybody on that deck (cell house).
Being a Vice-Lord, or a brother, you weren't supposed to eat swine or read the Bible. Vice-Lords honored the Holy Koran. Anything outside of that, you would be dealt with or violated, and Rickey was guilty again, this time with his own people. This time, he had a violation coming.
A meeting was called in one of the cells, and all the Vice-Lords were there to determine what his violation would be. But God knew that Rickey was serious about His Word and gave him favor with the brothers, and they decided to give him a pass. God saved him again; this time from a pumpkin head.
Rickey went back and forth to see the judge, who was a 99-9% conviction rate judge. After ten months of going back and forth, Rickey received God's favor, and mercy was also on his side. All of the class X cases were thrown out, and he pleaded, or copped out, for three years of probation and was then released. His charges stemmed from kidnapping to armed violence to attempted murder.
Again, God saved him, but he still hadn't learned. And, trying to be slick, he was locked up again. He didn't stay on the streets but 89 days and was this time charged with robbery, and the only thing that was going to beat him to the penitentiary was the bumpers on the bus. Right back in the cook county jail he was; this time he was gone. Rickey knew he couldn't beat the case, neither would he try, so he decided to get as much time in as he possibly could, then cop-out for the minimum sentence and go to the penitentiary. With six months in, he copped-out for three years and was home after 18 months.
Whatever it was to be learned in the penitentiary, Rickey learned and hasn't been back. But the county jail was always calling him as if his bed was waiting on him. He would get caught with heroin, because he became a junkie with junkie's habit, trying to sell but was his best customer. He would do 30 days here and 30 days there and the judge would throw the case out. His last case was when he had a pistol and drugs, somehow he got rid of the pistol but got caught with the heroin. Being locked up this time, he decided to analyze himself and agreed that the streets were killing him, and the next time might not be the jail but hell.
Being locked up, Rickey was diagnosed with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, congestive heart failure, and diabetes; you name it, he had it. So after getting out of jail this last time, he called it quits and has been straight since, due to the help of God and his lady friend who had used but has been clean for over 10 years. She has given her life to Christ, and God has been keeping her. She persuaded Rickey to do the same because she knew that the streets were going to kill him grave yard dead. He took her advice because he wanted to live and live the rest of his days with her and Jesus.
He asked for her hand in marriage, and she agreed. So the two of them have made a new transition from Chicago to Milwaukee, where they reside. Since they have been in Milwaukee, God has restored Rickey's faith in a full gospel Bible teaching church. He's now saved by the blood of Jesus, and he's a fulltime Christian, fighting a fulltime devil; but his victory is already won through Christ Jesus. Amen.
Rickey wants the world to know that if God be for you, He's more than the world against you. And like the songwriter says, "He saw the best in me when everyone else around me could only see the worst in me."