This is Tommie - Early years.

Because of my Dad’s career in the military we moved a lot and when I was a kid we lived in some of the most racist places in America. We were the one of the first Black families to live in Riverdale, GA back in the 80’s. Most military brats are quick witted because we move so much. We see more than most kids our age and because we are always the new kid we have to evaluate the rest of the kids in the class really quickly. You have to find the bullies, the cool kids, the geeks, the lames, and the teacher’s pets in a hurry. You don’t have the benefit of going to school with a kid for 3 or 4 years to know who is who or what is what. Being too trusting can get you ending up the pawn of some other kids pranks or something.

Because of those experiences I’m always looking, watching, scheming, plotting, and planning. I read people and I look for their likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. I’ll exploit those attributes for my benefit, I'm like Satan I'll appeal to someone's vanity their greed, their lust or whatever it maybe to get them to do what I need them to do. When I'm done I'll leave them high and dry. I don't like surprises so I keep an eye on everyone at all times. The rogue’s galleries are a manifestation of that ability. I can generally read someone’s personality after observing him or her for about 6 to 10 hours. It’s a survival skill. As part of it I’ve learned the weakness of everyone I’ve met and that I’m around in the event the I may have to go up against them. I’m good at weeding out people’s insecurities and fears. I tend to stay away from other Military brats because I’ve found that they often do the same thing and military brats wear masks. Most times they are hard to read because they are selling an image they want you to see not what they really are. I’m no exception.

When I was a kid I would hear things like “if you weren't Black you could be my best friend” or “I would go with you if you weren't Black”. People used to make fun of me and call me names it was hard sometimes. You would think this would have made me bitter but I didn't know any better that’s how it went. I mean sometimes I would cry and when I got home from school my Mom would always check my face for salt trails from tears. If she saw salt trails then she would be up to the school the next day in a teacher’s face and then I’d have to confront my tormentor(s) which was all good while my Mommy was standing there but, once she left it started all over again. After a while I got smart to that and I would wash my face before I got home so she couldn't tell.

I'd have birthday parties and invite kids and no one would show up. That was my life.
You would think that was a shitty life but it wasn’t my brother and parents were my playmates. People always note that my I have a close relationship with my family and I do. That’s because my parents developed a siege mentality when it came to us so anything we wanted to do we did with them. The other thing is my brother was my best friend and that’s all I needed. I mean this is the amazing thing about siblings they are GENETICALLY designed to be your playmate.I mean your siblings are literally born to play with you.

I always feel bad for people who don’t get along with their siblings. It’s like they missed the whole point. It’s funny, we were never allowed to spend the night at people’s homes or go inside their houses and my Dad would always tell us silly stuff like you can’t spend the night over there because X’s parents were homosexual drug dealers.

Other than playing with my brother video games was my other getaway. It was (is) my way to cope. The video game characters always liked me, I was always the hero, if the people in video game world weren't there to help me I could kill them. The longer I played videogames the more stress I was under. I think my parents saw that and gave me more liberties when it came to games. I probably played to an unhealthly level but, I needed that to keep my mind engaged and decompress. It was my way to hide from the world. Plus it engaged and focused my mind, I've always like Role Playing Games or fantasy games they engaged my mind and I'm was at my best when I was solving a puzzles it is still the same today. Some people hide behind the bottle, others a needle, for me my addiciton is at the end of joystick.