Hey there. My name's Byron.
I was brought up on the streets.
My mom was hooked on drugs,
And basically, she was beat.

So at age ten,
I was out and on my own.
Not a penny to my name,
And feeling pretty alone.

Spent three or four months,
Wandering around the streets,
Looking in garbage cans,
For anything I could eat.

But during the winter the sidewalk's cold,
And its hard when you're only a kid,
To figure out how you wound up here.
You start to think maybe it was something you did.

By the time spring hit,
I'd lost a lot of weight.
I was angry at the world,
And I was thinking life wasn't too great.

Then I met this dude named Roe,
Who was sixteen and pretty slick.
He said he could do some stuff,
Get me a job, and get me medicine so I wasn't quite so sick.

So I latched onto the dude.
Figured he probably knew more than life about me.
He sure wasn't sleeping on the streets,
And he was dressed pretty well, far as I could see.

So he kind of took me under his wing.
Cleaned me up and gave me some grub.
Took me for a trip in his ride,
And let me soak in his hot tub.

I noticed he was pretty hype.
Seemed he had just about everything.
Lots of women, lots of friends,
A hot car, and a diamond ring.

He told me he grew up on the streets
When he was a little kid like me,
That he had it pretty rough,
So he made changes to get himself free.

I pleaded with him to tell me
How he went from bottom to top.
He told me he joined a gang,
And then all his worries stopped.

I asked him if I could join
So I could be more like him.
I had no real family
So then he'd be my kin.

He told me I'd have to do some stuff
To be accepted in his hood,
I told him I'd do anything,
As long as I could get in, it was all good.

That summer, I robbed a grocery store,
I killed a man inside.
Blood covered my hands,
And I guess the dude probably died.

I also hit up a gas station.
Took every last penny they had
Got my own bandanna then though,
And brothers were starting to think I was bad.

I had to keep up my tough image,
So I continued to do some gang bangs.
I did them and I hurt people,
but it really wasn't my thang.

I just kind of did it,
To maintain face in my brotherhood.
They make you keep up with certain tactics,
So they know you're true and good.

As time went on,
I continued to live in crime.
Always had to watch my back though,
To make sure no one was creeping up behind.

Had to carry a gun
And had

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