Behind Bars

My brother Joe has been doing illegal things all his life. He's been in jail more times than anybody I know, and yet he thinks something is wrong with the system, that they're just giving him a hard time because he's been in jail before. Funny how he's a "victim" yet amazingly he keeps doing shit that's against the law and ending up back in jail. You'd think he'd see a pattern in all this. Sadly, he doesn't.

He's always whiny too when someone asks him about his time, "Oh, it's 'cause I'm an ex-con and they don't like ex-cons," or "it shouldn't be illegal to sell weed," or "we were just having some fun and nobody was home" (as if its okay to pipe-bomb someone's house while they're on vacation while you're high on crack) or when he was younger, "Oh, I was adopted and my parents fucked me up." The same goes for when he leaves a job, "Oh, they had a thing against me, said I was being racist," or "Oh, that guy was an ass, he was taking too much of my paycheck," or "she was giving me shit and she doesn't know how lucky she was, you know I have a temper."

Well, Joe, its because you're an asshat that lets your emotions rule you. You're not a victim. You're an asshole. I swear, man. ALL your life I NEVER judged you. I NEVER held against you those things that you did. Did I?!? NO!!! I ALWAYS had the opinion that deep down you had a good guy inside you, somewhere. I ALWAYS stood up for you whenever people would say shit about you. No more. You know why? Because you're being a stupid shithead, letting money get to you, letting your emotions vent through your actions the way you do.

As soon as you get some money in your hand from tattooing, you go nuts. I know too, don't try to bullshit me. I know you do coke, I know you smoke weed a lot, I know you drink still, I know you do other stuff too. Don't EVEN try to deny it with me. If you do, you're full of SHIT, brother.

Well, you're THIRTY-FIVE now. You're a grown man, halfway through life, and you're still doing stupid shit that gets you landed in jail. You can't hold down a job to save your life. You can't take care of your baby or the one woman that halfway kept you in line because she cared about you. Joe, here's a message from your brother, you know,.. the one that's always believed in you,... the one that always stood up for you,....... the one that always defended you even to mom and dad when you'd do crazy stuff,.........

GROW THE FUCK UP, STOP BEING AN ASS, KEEP A JOB, STOP DOING DRUGS, THEY'RE RUINING YOUR LIFE WHETHER YOU THINK SO OR NOT. LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE!!!

Seriously, do you plan on being old and bald and still in jail? I hope you take what I've said here seriously since I've never said anything bad to you before. I really truly hope you straighten out and realize you're not going to live much longer if you keep this lifestyle up. That means you're not going to see your kid grow up.

You still have a chance to do something good in this life. You have the chance to take care of that kid, give him what he needs, and have something to show for the goodness buried deep down in you. I hope you take control of your life and stay off the drugs.