Big Ray on Life · Oct 30, 02:27 PM

There’s always something to learn from your elders but it’s awesome when someone 40 years older than you can make you feel so uncool. Ray and I were walking from Spotted Pig to the Room where Adam was hooking up drinks and Ray told me about $1200 jeans, the Godfather, and making $150 and getting a free lunch for waiting in line for an i-phone.

Ray told me he’s done throwin’ bricks. “What’s throwin’ bricks?” I asked. “Aw, come on kid. It’s illegal activity. Comes from the term throwin’ bricks at the penitentiary.” That covers the $1200 jeans, some special Monkey Jean.

The film American Gangster that’s comes out this Friday chronicles the life of drug lord Frank Lucas). Big Ray used to run with Lucas’ crew. We were talking about drugs and Ray quotes Vito Corleone in The Godfather, “In my city, we’ll keep the traffic in the dark people, the colored. They’re animals anyway so let them lose their souls.” Ray explained that the Italian mob had kids coming out of school with chemistry degrees check their drugs so they knew what was what. The blacks didn’t have any chemists to consult so they had to rely on word of mouth regarding the quality of drugs. A lot of problems came from this.

Ray met a guy at the OTB who asked him if he’d wait in line at the Apple store for him if he gave him $50. The guys friend told Ray what a good deal it was and Ray decided he’d wait in line for the guy but never agreed to take or not take the $50. Ray is waiting in line and he gets to talking to the guy behind him who eventually gives Ray $50 and buys Ray lunch to get ahead of him. Then the original guy comes to make sure that Ray is still in line a couple hours later. Ray is almost at the register to buy the i-phone. The guy pulls out the $50 but Ray tells him he never agreed to $50. He wants $100. The guy pays him and Ray walks out with $150 and a full stomach.

And, I can’t even begin to share the encyclopedic knowledge of bees that Ray bestowed on me over dinner.

— Young Philosopher

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