Crossroads

By Sean Timberlake

This is a very powerful novel of consistently over coming adversities and insurmountable odds on many different levels a person could face at many phases of life, this author takes you on a very exiting sometimes tough, sometimes smooth roller coaster ride of life that will make you laugh, cry, even scream out load, “oh my God”, a easy read page tuner you will not put down because you can’t wait to see what happen next! You would think the writer was sitting right in front of you talking to you face to face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984588869

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 by Sean Timberlake.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-9845-8887-6

                eBook           978-1-9845-8886-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 07/20/2020

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Contents

The Beginning

The Reason Why My Book Is Titled Crossroads

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

As For My Trial

My Letter To The Backslider

Never Judge A Book

No Excuses

Special Thanks To:

The Prodigal Son

To My Offenders

It Was Worth The Wait

Special Memories

Conclusion

The Beginning

E very word, in the contents of this book, is true; to the point if it were necessary, I would put my life up against the words herein. To the best of my recollection, I am writing each incident precisely and accurately. Some things you will read about, the average person would be ashamed of. Yet, some of my experiences, one may very well be so proud of, or know someone that may have made it through such horrific ordeals. More times than none, the truth hurts so bad that people would rather stay in a state of denial, rather than to look in the mirror and face themselves, as well as some of their past actions. They would tend to choose their select memory, meaning, they would select what they would prefer to remember, rather than to deal with the truth, because the truth hurts and at times, real bad.

When you hurt someone emotionally, you hurt them very deep on the inside. Even though the victim may find in their heart to forgive you, it is very hard to forget!

When pain is caused, whether it is physical, mental or emotional, it leaves a scar.

There is a true saying, do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

The Reason Why My Book Is Titled Crossroads

A fter reading, you can see for yourself that during my thirty-one years of life, I have encountered some very deadly, dangerous and disappointing experiences. I am fully aware that on numerous occasions my very existence could have been over. But for some reason, God allowed me to make it through. Therefore, I made the decision to at least try to make a difference with this new awareness!

One

I was two years old when I encountered my first experience with death. I was visiting my mother’s twin sister’s home, when I ran out into the street and was struck by a car. I was told that I was thrown approximately twenty feet into the air, my head was split opened and the ambulance driver told my father that I was dead. No the hell he ain’t, was my father’s response. To this day, almost every time I’m in my Uncle Junior ‘s presence, he reminds me, I breathed air back into your lungs boy. In 1980, on the first day of school, at ten years old, I walked into my classroom and it seemed like everyone in my class had on a pair of Kangaroos, which was the most popular sneaker during that time. There were different styles. We liked the little pocket that was on the side. I felt bad because I didn’t have a pair, so that night I asked my father if he would buy me a pair. When I told him how much they cost, the answer was no. They cost forty dollars, which was a lot of money to pay for a pair of sneakers at that time. I was mainly disappointed because I saw my father spend money on things that I felt wasn’t as important as a pair of sneakers for me. My father provided for our family, but I just needed him to buy me a pair of Kangaroos like my classmates. The next day I was walking up the street and a lady who lived in the next block from us, asked me to go to the store and buy her a pack of cigarettes. She paid me a dollar. I began to think, adding in my head, if forty people paid me a dollar for going to the store, I can buy my own Kangaroos. That day was the first day of my Entrepreneurship.

Soon after that, I started going around to the Acme Shopping Center and became an errand boy going out to get food or whatever they needed.

They saw the hustle in me and began asking me to do various odd jobs at their homes. I washed cars, cleaned yards, raked leaves, shoveled snow, or what-ever to make money. The hustle was in me. This became my job after school, everyday, and I was very serious about making my own money. I kept my goal in mind, forty dollars a day. One day I met a lady named Ms. Effie Jenkins, who ran the Zodiac Record Store, who eventually became a very important figure in my life, in which you’ll read about later. I began doing odd jobs for Ms. Jenkins and her sister. One day I discovered another way to earn money. I began carrying bags for customers who shopped at the Acme Supermarket, which was then located at the Shopping Center. I heard one person say, little man ‘s trying to make some money; and that I was. I earned anywhere from twenty-five cents to five dollars hustling at the Acme Supermarket. This went on for approximately three years. One day my older brother started coming around.

He decided he was going to try to hustle a little, which was a problem at first because I wanted to make all the money myself, but after a while it was cool. Tony is fifty-one weeks older than I am. He wouldn’t do everything I would do. As far as I was concerned, there was only one me out there, a natural hustler.

My brother and I used to fight a lot. If one of us just looked at the other one wrong, we were at each other like cats and dogs. Most of the time Tony would get his off first, and then I would leave the lasting impression, you know how it is with brothers. We had cousins who would play us against each other because they knew we were always fighting. You see, the older Timberlakes, who grew up in the sixties and seventies, were known to be able to hold their own. They were rough; when you had a beef with one, you had to deal with twelve more. So I guess that’s where the rough side of me comes from. Anyway, like I was saying, my brother and closer to my brother than me. I never could figure it out. Maybe it’s the old namesake syndrome. Whatever the reason, I always felt like an outcast. I was, and I suppose I still am, very stubborn. I wouldn’t cry when my dad beat me. Tony always hollered like someone was killing him, and then when my dad got to me, I wouldn’t cry. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but it always appeared as though I got the harshest punishment. As time went by, my heart became hardened and I became very rebellious and cold towards my dad. Years went by and I honestly felt like my dad didn’t like me. Even though during this period of time in my life, I had these feelings toward my dad, life has a way of working things out. Sometimes a person will go full circle in their lifetime. I was then too young and immature to even think about or consider my ultimate destiny of life.

I was always into sports. At the age of eight years old, I began playing football for the Pleasantville Jokers. 1978 was the first year I played, in which I recall weighing 55 lbs. I didn’t know anything about organized football, however, I was good and also willing to learn the fundamentals of the game. I knew the object and was up on my moves, but I had one major handicap, my attitude. Later on in life, I learned that attitudes can play a large part in hindering one from success. Because of my attitude, smart mouth and my bad temper, I was put on the list to be cut from the team. Fate had it so that the Head Coach, Mr. Richardson, was fond of me and saved me from being cut. In his position, he made the fina l decision. These were his exact words, when you have a kid on the team this explosive, who knows the game, the moves, and is not scared, you don’t cut him because of his attitude, you turn him into a football player! He said, he ‘s small, but he has heart. That day, twenty-three years ago, Mr. Richardson gave me another chance.

I played ball from 1978 to 1984. My dad would come to some of my games, but a lot of times when I really needed him there, he wasn’t. For instance, when I really had done an exceptional performance on the field, I needed him there to see me and to give me praise. When some of the other players made a touch-down, I recall seeing their parents running down the sideline rooting them on. I guess I needed that extra attention from my dad. I had a real struggle trying to obtain a relationship with my dad.

I continued my everyday routine. By now I had Mad Hustle in me. I guess during this phase of my life, the money had me. The more money I made, the more I wanted to make. I was able to buy the clothes I wanted, instead of what my parents wanted me to have. I had my own stash of foods and snacks I liked to eat. Capt’n Crunch was my favorite cereal. I kept my cereal, two liter bottles of soda, and various cookies and candies in my room. I suppose I became a little too independent because one day my dad told me I was going to the Shopping Center on his time, so he stopped me. My dad was trying to break me down because of my bad attitude problem. Different things began to go through my mind. I became more and more rebellious and can recall one incident that I held against my dad for a long time. My brother Tony was thirteen years old and my dad brought him a brand new Apache bike from Woolco for Christmas. He brought me a bike from a second hand store from a guy that rebuilt and painted bikes. You know, he fixed them up to make them look new. I didn’t think that was right, so I bought me a racing bike, one that I put together myself. I bought the Pooch frame and the other parts and built my own bike.

The year 1985, I was fourteen and a half, almost fifteen years old. I began noticing different things around me, things going on, just life in general. I was talking to one of my cousins one day and he told me that he was getting ready to get some pot. I said, what’s that weed ? He said, yeah. He lived in the suburbs. When he explained what he was buying and how much it was going to cost him, I asked him how he sold it. He told me that they break it down ‘into grams, that you get seven grams for thirty-five bucks. He went on to explain that you can break it down into seven grams and sell for ten dollars each. Being the Math Wizard that I was, I began figuring out that I would be doubling my money. So I made the decision right then and there and told my cousin that I wanted one. He hooked it up. I got the quarter and ended up bagging nine dimes out of it. I hung around the projects then. I burned it down and called my cousin the next day for two more of the same. Of course he was surprised to know that I had moved my supply so fast. He called his buddy and got a half ounce. By this time another cousin, who had been in and out of Detention and the County Jail, was home from prison. Yafik and I were always cool, but just coming home, he let me know he wasn’t trying to go back to prison. He was kind of hot headed. He would always come around to our house for either a baseball bat or a golf club. One day my dad wanted to know where all his golf clubs were at because there were only three left in the caddy. I was on the block one day, business as usual, trying to get that paper, when Yafik recognized this cat who he referred to as The Man. He told me that he sells coke and that it moves faster than weed. Little did I know that another big change was about to take place in my life.

I stepped to The Man and said, Yo my man, can I holler at you for a minute? He looked at me and asked, who’s this little guy? I said, I heard you’re the man around here. I’m trying to get down with the coke game. Who told you that Shortie? he asked. You gonna get me down, or what? I asked him. He gave me his number. I called him, and he showed me the coke game. When my cousin told me that the coke game is faster than the weed game, he wasn’t lying. In that short time frame, from 1984 when I purchased that first weed package to 1985 when I was well into the coke scene, things had changed so fast that I had really lost control of my life. My whole life had turned for the worse during that time. Between 1984 and 1985, going into 1986, the tran sition was so devastating, that I cannot sit down and explain to you what actually happened to me. I was lost, completely out of control. Now when I look at the youth of today, in the age bracket I was in during that devas tating time frame, of my life, I try to do