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Not every mentor gets to see the fruit of their labors. Often, a mentee will move away or seem like they're not responding to the mentoring in the moment. But the truth is that as you engage in the mentoring relationship, those seeds are getting planted. Retired Lt. Cubit is back hosting this week with his Kendrick Littleton, who was once Lt. Cubit's mentee. Today, they share a number of stories of the impact Cubit had on Kendrick's life, and how Kendrick transformed from a gang member into a youth mentor.
Show Notes
Not every mentor gets to see the fruit of their labors. Often, a mentee will move away or seem like they're not responding to the mentoring in the moment. But the truth is that as you engage in the mentoring relationship, those seeds are getting planted. Retired Lt. Cubit is back hosting this week with his Kendrick Littleton, who was once Lt. Cubit's mentee. Today, they share a number of stories of the impact Cubit had on Kendrick's life, and how Kendrick transformed from a gang member into a youth mentor.
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others. You can mentor.
Speaker 2:Hey. If you didn't know, I, Zach Garza, have teamed up with the Mentoring Alliance. It's our vision to mobilize godly people into the lives of kids and family to do 2 things, provide tangible help and eternal hope. Currently, we are in East Texas and Central Texas, but we want to grow. We have full time jobs available.
Speaker 2:So if you're looking for a job in the mentoring field, please reach out to us. We also have part time staff jobs available. If you're a college student or know of any college students who are looking for summertime jobs, we're doing these summer camps down in East Texas. They're amazing. Come on down to Tyler, spend a summer with us, help kids, get to know our organization, find some friends.
Speaker 2:It's a great thing. So full time jobs for anyone, part time jobs, specifically kind of for college students, but go to our website, the mentoring alliance.com. Go to the upper right hand corner, click that working with you tab, and all the information that you need is there. Feel free to reach out to me or go to our website, social media, all that good stuff to learn more about the Mentoring Alliance. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:You can mentor. Mentors and mentoring leaders, Zach Arza here with the You Can Mentor podcast. I got 3 things that I would like to ask of you today. Number 1, if you are a mentoring organization and you would like to be on our podcast or learn more about the best practices of mentoring, please reach out to us, www.youcanmentor.com. You can send us an email, zach@youcanmentor.com, or stephen, that's withaph@youcanmentor.com.
Speaker 2:You can also find us on social media. Give us that DM and we'll get back to you. We just wanna get to know you and we wanna learn more about what you're doing in your communities to advance mentoring. And we believe that interaction leads to innovation. So let's work together and advance the kingdom through mentoring.
Speaker 2:Number 2, if you know of someone who would benefit from the You Can Mentor podcast, please share our podcast, share our information with them. That would be super helpful. And then lastly, if you could rate our podcast on Apple Podcasts, give us that 5 star. It will help spread the word about mentoring, and, You Can Mentor podcast. Because we really do want every mentoring org in America who is trying to make disciples through mentoring to know about us.
Speaker 2:We wanna get to know about them so we can learn from them and work together to help kids reach their full potential. So that's what I got. Please do those things. Reach out to us. Share and rate.
Speaker 2:Appreciate you. You can mentor.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the UCAN Mentor podcast. My name is Waylon Cubitt, Lieutenant Cubitt, retired Lieutenant Cubitt. I just recently retired from the Oklahoma City Police Department where I ran a youth outreach program that was all about mentoring inner city youth. I have a treat for you today. That program started about 2007.
Speaker 3:It is still going strong under new leadership today as we now sit here and talk with, a couple of different locations in inner city, Oklahoma City with 4 police officers. They have a lieutenant, and they have a civilian program coordinator and a civilian, volunteer coordinator. So I am very proud of the work that we were able to do over the years. But that would not be possible if you didn't get the first kid. If you didn't get that one kid to believe in you or you?
Speaker 3:I mean, just to kind of be encouraging to myself to say, you know what? I don't even know if a police officer can mentor inner city kids because when a police officer goes to the inner city neighborhood, they are not necessarily welcomed because they're doing investigations and all that kind of stuff. But I didn't care. I'm going to investigate potential is what my mindset was like. And so I went around looking for kids that might follow me around.
Speaker 3:I went to well, they're not gonna go around with police officers. So I went to youth pastors. I said, maybe if I take a youth pastor with me and we go fishing for kids that may be wasting their potential and don't even realize it. Like, maybe they maybe they'll be scared of the police, but they'll run to the youth pastor. I thought about all those things.
Speaker 3:But and that worked for for for a little bit. But today, I have joining me on the conversation that truly can tell you that You Can Mentor is one of my very first kids, not a kid anymore, my very first kids that trusted the program and taught me so many things about how to engage inner city youth, how to truly love with your whole heart, and then trying to figure out what why kids do what they do. And so no further ado, ladies and gentlemen, my first mentee, give a round of applause for mister Kendrick Littleton.
Speaker 4:Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 3:How's that feel, man?
Speaker 4:Feels good.
Speaker 3:Feels good. It feels good. I'm a tell you, this whole conversation feels good because what what age do what age were you when I met you?
Speaker 4:Well, I think I was about 13, 14. 13,
Speaker 3:8th grade.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Going in for just turning 14, actually. So,
Speaker 3:yeah, 8th grade. You want to kind of I know I have my version of that story. Right. When we met or how we met, but kind of give us give us an idea of how we met when you were 14 and how old are you right now? I'm
Speaker 4:28 years old.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God. Did it make you feel any better that you still look 14 to me? Yeah. I guess you have an age very much, man. Well, have you even gained a pound?
Speaker 4:I have, actually. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Okay. Longevity. Somebody's feeding you because I don't know. I don't see any weight. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I look the same. I know. Anyway. Anyway, Kendrick, tell me how. Tell me how we met.
Speaker 3:You'd give your version of that first meeting, and then I'll give my version. Let's see how that how we we never talked about this, by the way. Right. Okay. So this is rough.
Speaker 3:I remember vividly.
Speaker 4:You remember vividly. Okay.
Speaker 3:All right.
Speaker 4:Well, we all we both know that I was drunk at school. Mhmm. 8th grade, came to school drunk, and then I I got suspended, of course. And I remember I got a phone call. That's that was our first encounter, was over the phone.
Speaker 4:You called me and and started talking to me. I'm wondering, like, what is the police doing calling my phone? Yeah. Because you told me I think it was
Speaker 3:sergeant at the time.
Speaker 4:Yeah. It was I think you said coach Jackson and officer Reed had referred I guess referred to you.
Speaker 3:Your SRO and one of the coaches at school. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. So, yeah, after you called me, you told me about the program. I really wasn't with it, but I told myself, what else will happen to you? You know? I was already headed down on the dark path anyway, so why not?
Speaker 4:You know? So I took a leap of faith, and I knew that it could also cause problems, like, with the people I feel anyway in the streets, but I didn't care. So, you know, kinda disturbing that way. I don't care. Mhmm.
Speaker 4:If I wanna go for something, go for it. But, yeah, I remember you calling me. I'm, like so I went on to try it. You float up in the van.
Speaker 3:Yeah. What did I so there's a there's a there's a concept I think I've talked to on these other on these other on the other episodes, and many people interview me about my mentoring tactics and techniques. But one of the first things that I think is important is pursue them. Right. People in general and kids in general want to know that people want them.
Speaker 3:And I probably was pretty intentional about saying, bro, kid, young man, whoever you are, I want you in this program with me.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Not to interrupt you, but I remember something you told me that same day on the phone before you got got to my house. You told me that when they told you about me and they said my name, you was like you just knew at that that moment, like, before you even met me in person, you just knew it was something about yeah. I remember that. I think that's one of the reasons they had me.
Speaker 4:Like, you know, go for it, because you was like you know, it made me feel special. Like, it was you we were placed together for a reason. Like, I was sent to you or you were sent to me, like, however you wanna put it, but, you know, so that was that was definitely it too, so that that was a big way. Like you said, Pursuit. And to me, that was a Right.
Speaker 4:Good way to go with Pursuit.
Speaker 3:I probably set a time. I don't know where we went,
Speaker 4:but I probably
Speaker 3:set a time.
Speaker 4:Gang of Invention. It was, it was called Bloods and Crips in America.
Speaker 3:It was a movie. Yeah.
Speaker 4:We went to a little, like, a movie premiere
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:Downtown. Yeah. I remember everything. Elijah was with us. Remember, I've got a couple of other kids with yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I probably had a van full.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But the front seat was reserved. Yeah. The front seat was reserved for for Kendrick for a particular reason. I mean, I probably did really, really feel connected. I heard the story.
Speaker 3:Coach Jackson and the SRO, Sergeant Reid, would have told me a whole lot about you. I would ask a lot of questions where he was from, and they told me that you were gang affiliated. And I was like, okay. Well, I'm supposed to be doing gang prevention, and he's right at that age. I I think we can do this.
Speaker 3:I think we can do this. And so I pull up and you come out the house. You come out the house. I don't know why when you come out and I can and I can remember how you were sitting in the seat. Like, you were your hand was on the doorknob the whole time, like you was ready to leave the whole time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I was
Speaker 4:kinda uncomfortable at first. Yeah. Like, I didn't know, like, you know, I'm thinking, like, am I am I about to get to to juvenile or something? Like, because I was, you know, I was getting in trouble, so, you know, I was getting in trouble before you came, you know, into my life, so I'm like, I didn't know what to think. Yeah.
Speaker 4:And like I said, also, you know, with that that gang affiliation, that was kinda like, alright. How are certain people gonna take this? Like, am I gonna do it by getting jumped when I go home? Right. Right.
Speaker 3:Can't
Speaker 4:go back to my neighborhood and play basketball, but like I said, I also didn't care. You know, it was something positive coming in my life. Why not try it?
Speaker 3:Right. What do we do? What was the what was the was there a hook? What was there? Was there something about the day that stood out other than me picking up and us going to that?
Speaker 3:That thing? What? Because there was obviously a second meeting. I don't know about I don't even have no clue what that would have been would have been like, but what happened during that thing that just had to happen, that if it didn't happen, were this relationship is gonna end?
Speaker 4:Me, personally, it was you talking to us. And, like, you know, I there's a lot a lot of people don't care too much about us kids, how I feel personally when I was growing up, because they were either trying to give us guns, drugs, or, you know, like, nobody really cared. Of course, I didn't know my dad, but just that first day, like, I just saw how you expressed how you cared about us and wanted us to do better instead. And then that was my first time seeing a police officer try to help the kids other than those in jail, you know, so that meant a lot to me. Then to see other, you know, other kids and, you know, would click into you every time you got a new kid, like, everybody loved you.
Speaker 4:Everybody still loves you, so, I mean, with that particular day, it was just your words, you know, not, a lot of the listeners. I comprehend well. I can read well. So, I mean, I just I felt just everything you were saying. I felt like this man isn't lying.
Speaker 4:He's not he's not just here to try to make a paycheck or whatever. Like, he's here because he cares. Right.
Speaker 3:So so one of the things I don't know if you recognize this and and and I don't know if this is for every mentoring space, but in particular, because he was a gang kid and I'm a cop, I was very intentional about not watching him, but while watching him. So in other words, I was I would not necessarily always walk behind you. I would sometimes walk in front of you, like turn my back on you on purpose, like trust you, like give you an opportunity to do whatever it is you wanted to do without me watching. Right. Right.
Speaker 3:Just to to extend you a hand of trust just automatically. I don't I don't know if you felt that. If you're looking back, if you can see, like, this dude is not patting me down. He's not questioning me about where I'm going, what I'm doing. I don't have to get permission to go to the bathroom.
Speaker 3:I'm just, you know, I just I don't when I leave, I mean, I just gave you all the trust in the world.
Speaker 4:Right. And another thing is you you also let us be us. You know, like, when we're around y'all, we were we could be us, like, not doing anything bad, of course, but y'all let us speak, you know, freely and talk to y'all about anything. Y'all never treated us like we were the kids that we were becoming, which was horrible kids.
Speaker 3:Right. Right. Right. Right. And what you mean by that is, are you are you saying when you said cuss words or the n word or things that kind of that I knew that were gang related terminology, I didn't just trip.
Speaker 4:I didn't just go
Speaker 3:off. Yeah. And and there's a reason behind that, right? Because we haven't connected.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:Right. And so I'm trying to connect. These things do sting my ears. These things do bother me. They do.
Speaker 3:They upset me. I don't want you talking that way. But I firmly believe there's no way of correcting something until you connect to something. Right. And so I have to connect with Kendrick before I start correcting Kendrick.
Speaker 3:And so I'm looking for signs that we have connected. And and I'm gonna take you to this particular moment and you can describe it for yourself, but I feel like I know when we connected or you may have connected sooner, but I knew I had you and your heart, when you were late for showing up to what our regular Monday night meeting, movie night, movie night, we call it movie night. And I had to give you credit for starting movie night, which is still going on every Monday night, by the way. It's still going on. But, yeah, it's still going on.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But you were, you were late. And so I said, Time out. I'm going to go get him. Where is he at?
Speaker 3:And your friends knew where you were at. They you were on the basketball court. So describe take us back to that moment when I pull up on at this gang affiliated basketball court.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Oh, well, that day I definitely remember that day when you pulled up, like, I guess, I didn't care about that time. I had already been, like, you know, this is my guy. So, of course, you know, when you pulled up, my first name was, you know I yelled out to my friend, and that's my mentor. You know, he's a police officer.
Speaker 4:Come here. You know, like, I was happy, like and I wanted my friends to meet you. I wanted them to see or I didn't have to meet you. I didn't care, but I'm letting them know this is who I'm with. Yeah.
Speaker 4:That's when I knew it I was at a turning point in my life, but I was still like I said, I was like, we all know. I still kinda, you know, was getting in trouble. But, yeah, that day, like, I don't know. It was just I was, like because you you so, like, you know, you so compassion. Like you said, you wanted me there.
Speaker 4:Like, you know, the house, like, you know, never had your father around. You know, the only person I had was my grandfather. You know, I loved him. Still, oh, rest in peace to him. But, you know, but you pulled up on me, like, you know, you you went looking for me.
Speaker 4:People didn't care like that. You know, I could be out nothing against my grandma or my mom, but, you know, my mom wasn't around much, and my grandma, you know, she was working and things. So Mhmm. If I was out late, it was just, well, he's out. You know, nobody came looking for me.
Speaker 4:Could have possibly been dead. But you used you used to show me so much love and, like, always wanted to know what I was doing, where I was at, like, in back. So that's just how that was. Like,
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the the idea here is is I knew that there was an absence of structure
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:In your life. There was just willy nilly. You can go and do whatever you wanna do and in that kind of thing. But I saw you also really, really trying to play structure in your own life. Like you would try to go to school.
Speaker 3:You would try to be on time. You try to go to classes. You try to do all this stuff, but there was no penalty if you got out of bounds. Right. And so what what I was trying to do was to let you know you had made a commitment to be here at movie night.
Speaker 3:Right. And you made the commitment to me. And so the I gotta let him know that that means something to me and that he means something to me and that his presence means something to me. And his presence means something to this organization, to this group, and that if he's not here, it it changes things. Right.
Speaker 3:And so my purpose for pulling up was all of that. Like like you made a commitment to me, I expect you to keep it. 12. I want you around. Right.
Speaker 3:3, there is no way you can go that I won't go. Right. Right. That I won't go. That is so I wasn't I wasn't scared of the gang members.
Speaker 3:I was. But I wasn't. But but I loved you more than I cared about them. Right. And so I didn't call for backup.
Speaker 3:I would, but I don't need backup for you. Right. Right? And I'm not here for them. I'm here for him.
Speaker 3:And so when you raised up and I covered my gun up, I cover my badge up. I'm walking down to the court and, and I'm going, surely he sees me and you see me and you, but you keep playing for a little while until I call your name. And then you go, Hey, I'm out of here. You go throw the ball to somebody, you pick up your shirt and you high 5 everybody on your way out. As you're announcing, that's my mentor, sergeant Q.
Speaker 3:And I'm going, the very thing that I didn't want to happen is announce my presence as a police officer around all of these these would be gang members.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:Is he just did it. He just did it. And I thought I would have to announce myself as a police officer to rescue you out of there, to pull you out of there, but you did it. And I knew then, okay, I got him. I got him.
Speaker 3:He he's in for this thing now because he's announced his his neighborhood that he has a mentor. How is important how important was it to you to be able to call something yours?
Speaker 4:Real important, especially a male figure. Yeah. You know, especially like, man, like I said, you care about me. Like, man, like, this guy, like, he loves me. He's mine.
Speaker 4:You know? Just like, you know, you as everybody else's that was around. But I'm like, I felt like, yeah, like, you know, it's just a lot. You know, you always, always let me know. I'm here.
Speaker 4:I'm not giving up on you. I don't care. Even when you're giving up on yourself, you all believe in yourself. I'm here. I won't be here.
Speaker 3:Right. I want you. Let's go back to here. This, I think, is a pivotal point. I tell the story all the time about you is I believe it was the same day, the the same day that we that I picked you up from the basketball court.
Speaker 3:I had to go pick up something from the from the store to take to movie night, water or mop or something like that. And, so we're riding, and we get to the store. And one of the things that I absolutely despise, I don't know why it was such a, it was a nerve. It had a nerve for me was the fact that you guys were wearing your pants solo saggy. I hated it.
Speaker 3:And and I particular and I know what color your pants your shorts were under. They were they were orange under under your I hated it. And so we get out of the car, and you're coming in, and you're coming around the front of the car to go into the store with me. And I said, you couldn't come in the store with me. Right.
Speaker 3:Do you remember this? Yeah. Yeah. Tell that story. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I said, you you can't come in the store with me because your pants are hanging.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Because my pants were hanging on then. I know another thing you always got on me about, because you know I'm a big OSU fan, which you always tell me, like, it's not always about OSU. You know, I was still trying to find a way to connect with the gang still by wearing orange. My favorite football team Yeah.
Speaker 4:Or collegiate team happens to be orange. But, yeah, I I remember that day, and I felt bad because you would never tell me I couldn't
Speaker 3:my offense.
Speaker 4:So, you know, I felt like you, like, sawing me off sometimes. That's how I feel. So I'm like but, like, it was just a learning experience. I haven't sagged my pants since. I hate it, actually.
Speaker 4:I tell other people pull their pants up now, especially if it's somebody I know. Like, I'm I'm too grown, first of all, to be walking around with other grown men sagging. And if you're gonna walk in the store or anything with me, I'm a tell you pull your pants up.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:Can't talk crazy in public places around other people. Let's just meet up with you did that, man.
Speaker 3:Well, but you but you had a you had an instant reaction is you go, well, this is how I wear my pants, sergeant Cuban. And I was like, well, you can wear your pants like that. You just can't wear your pants like that with me. Right. So you can stay in the car, or you can pull your pants up and come in the store.
Speaker 3:Whatever one you wanna do, I don't care. It's fine with me. And you you adjusted your belt, pulled up your pants, and we never talked about it ever again. You know? But but I wasn't saying I didn't chastise you about
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:The decision. I was like, it is still your choice to pull your pants up or or not, but you're deciding whether or not you wanna come in the store or not with me. That's the decision you have to make. Right. Whether or not you wanna pull up your pants or not, that's on you.
Speaker 3:Right? And and so that that that that's another principle that that that I like is is just to be powerful. Right? Just be powerful. Set, structure, direction, and stick to it.
Speaker 3:And and in time, you know, you're gonna I think you'll you'll push against it, all that kind of stuff. Now I'm not gonna say I didn't see you sag your pants, like, when I walk up on your school or something like that. But the second you saw me, you started adjusting everything. You started adjusting everything. And so I wasn't I really wanted you to be the same away from me as you was with me.
Speaker 3:But I knew, you know, that's that's not really up to me. And so you know the right thing to do. Right? Right. It was good.
Speaker 3:I want to talk about another another well, no, let me just say let me let me listen. What's the memories of lessons that you learned from the mentor that that you want to tell other mentors to be to take track of?
Speaker 4:Stay consistent. Consistent. You know, because a lot of kids are used to people coming and leaving, especially when you're a bad kid. You know? Consistency.
Speaker 4:Show them that you care. Show them that you really love them. Like, you know, to me, you put your job to the side. You know, you you were a police officer, but that's not how you like, you you didn't come in as as a police officer. You know, you didn't threaten us with jail or any of that.
Speaker 4:You know, you you were consistent. You sold us love. You sold us things that we've never seen before. You know? Yeah.
Speaker 4:Like, for instance, one time you took us out to eat, and I think about this often. And then, like, you know, it was a a place that, you know, we've never been. Good meeting you with, you know, high prices. Right? I don't know if you remember.
Speaker 4:You and Jermaine were both there. Y'all seen us looking at the menu. Like, I we're trying to find the cheap stuff. Like,
Speaker 3:you know,
Speaker 4:we're the dollar mean. Right? And then, yeah, yeah, we we never said anything. We were just looking and y'all could see. And that's what y'all learn.
Speaker 4:Y'all learn your kids. And plus, being able to use, obviously, not to learn people body language and all that stuff. Right? Y'all told us, like, get what you want. Like, you know, you dealt to me was just showing us, like, you know, like you're not less, you know, to deserve or have this.
Speaker 4:And one day you'll be able to afford it and do it for others. And, like, that's what I got out of that. So what they quite use is just, like, stuff like that is just so so so kids that, you know, stuff that they don't believe. You know?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Did you notice did did you notice when you look back and think about those days, did you notice there was never ever a time that we did not get together where food was not involved?
Speaker 4:There was always food involved.
Speaker 3:There's always food.
Speaker 4:Food is the key to a lot of people's heart.
Speaker 3:Yeah, man. Yeah. I didn't take it for granted that you had already ate or that you would eat, that kind of stuff. So if nothing else, it was a convenience store stop for some kinda food. We had to eat and drink and make sure that my kids always had something to eat because they're not gonna they're not gonna care.
Speaker 4:A lot of us wouldn't need neither at home some days.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I didn't know it, but I knew. But, you know, they look forward. They're gonna look. If nothing else, they look forward to being with me.
Speaker 3:They're gonna look forward to at least getting this free meal. Right. You know, this kind of thing. So I never ever get together without offering food and drink and that kind of thing. So we always say, nothing about the menu deal.
Speaker 3:So all of this stuff you think was just kinda happenstance, we were kinda planning it the whole time. But, you know, at the meals, we if you would've said, let me get the hamburger, we would've said no. If you'd just said, let me get the chicken, we'd have said no. Get something that you would never ever get on your normal every single day. Right.
Speaker 4:And you
Speaker 3:and it made it happen. So you had to order something that you never tried before. Right. Right. That was the only deal.
Speaker 3:And so we would figure out a way to steer you towards something on the menu that we know you haven't tried or had. And then and then make sure you knew how to say it and how to order it. Right. And and so we modeled what what we wanted to do to see. We want to see us treating the the restaurant staff with dignity and respect because we wanted you to treat them with dignity and respect.
Speaker 3:You know, so it wasn't so much as this is what you're going to learn today, boy, is that it was just let's just model. Right. Let's just do it. Let's just do it. Let's take along with them just like we do at our kid and and those kind of thing.
Speaker 3:Is there anything else that you another nugget of wisdom that you remember this was this was happening? What what I would call this that that consistency that you talked about, what I would call this under my rules is proximity is, like, I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to see your response or reaction. And not not only that, is I made sure that we brought other kids and other personalities around you. Right.
Speaker 3:Like, so you didn't just have just me. Sometime you had just me, and sometime you had just Jermaine. But sometimes there was just a group of us, a carload of us. Right. And and that was on purpose too is because I wanted to see you engage with people your own age.
Speaker 3:And it wasn't always good, Kendrick.
Speaker 4:It was not always good. Yeah. It wasn't.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I remember you telling me something. You all like you said, you always made me realize things about myself that I didn't believe or just didn't see at all. And, like, I remember you I got in got into an altercation in the in the center Mhmm. During movie night, before movie night had started. And you used to tell me before, it was like, you know, early kids react off you, Kendrick.
Speaker 4:If you're having a bad day, you're gonna see other people have a bad day. If you're having a good day, everybody's good. And then that day, when I got into that altercation, I seen exactly what you were saying. It was like almost 2 or 3 other fights that almost broke out in there because I was the first one that got into a case with somebody. And I after you got me in the office and threw me out, I was like, man, I sat back and realized, like, man, he was not lying.
Speaker 4:Like, how does he notice? Like, man, this man got it like
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. I don't have a 6th sense. I just no. I don't I don't have any magical powers or anything.
Speaker 4:You would think you did.
Speaker 3:But I don't know if this is the same incident, but there was one time we were we were doing some work in the center. And so this is what I mean by by always watching and being proximate. And you don't always have to jump on everything that they that people do. You have to be corrected. Like, if you've got if you're gonna have some time, I'm gonna have another shot at correcting a behavior.
Speaker 3:So here's what happened. I don't know what we were doing at the Senate, Kendrick, and you and you might be able to tell me, but there was a bag of chips that was in my office that was sitting on the counter. And I think it was there, like, on Monday, And when you came back on Wednesday, it was there. And and you said, like, sergeant Q, whose chips are these? And I said, I don't know.
Speaker 3:And he said, oh, okay. And you just took the chips, and you ate the chips. No big deal. I said, note to self. He knows those weren't his chips, and he knows I don't know whose chips those were.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And and he just ate them. No big deal. The next Monday went by. You had some chips and a Gatorade. And did you sit on my desk somewhere?
Speaker 3:You said there's chips and Gatorade on my desk, and and I didn't think nothing about it. But lo and behold, by some point in the night, somebody took your Gatorade. Yep. Do you remember this?
Speaker 4:Yep. I I was telling him, but I definitely remember that.
Speaker 3:Oh, my God. Yeah. Cancel Christmas. Nobody's having a movie night tonight and nobody go. You shut this thing down because somebody drank my Gatorade And they know it wasn't theirs.
Speaker 3:It was sitting on my mentor's desk. My mentor didn't steal it. Somebody stole my Gatorade and somebody is going to be hell to pay.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And and it took everything to calm you down. I had to get you another Gatorade, all that stuff, but it didn't matter because somebody stole from you. And that was the other Gatorade didn't even really fix it. So you we we made it through movie night and all that stuff. And then I knew I just knew if I could just get him through movie night, if I can just get him in the car by himself, just him and I, this is gonna be easily fixed.
Speaker 3:So I wasn't trying to correct, but I'm trying to calm down and all that kind of stuff. So you're the last person I'm taking home that day.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And I go, Kindred, remember those bag of chips that you ate 2 weeks ago? Whose were they? And you went, they were just sitting there. Nobody claimed them. I asked you who they were.
Speaker 3:I said, and I told you I didn't know. Right. You went, but I said, Kendrick, your Gatorade was just sitting there just like those chips. So whoever ate the Gatorade is the same amount of thief as you are when you ate those chips.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:Changed everything, man. I think he was about to cry that day. You know?
Speaker 4:And as I listened, so I'm going to
Speaker 3:Yeah. You remember this? Am I making this up? No.
Speaker 4:You're not. You're not making it up at all. I definitely remember this. When you first started off, I, like, kinda like, okay. Like, because we have we have a lot of a lot of memories.
Speaker 3:Right. Right.
Speaker 4:This podcast can go all day.
Speaker 3:All day.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I mean, into tomorrow. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:But, yeah, I definitely remember that. I do because it was always whenever it was something going on with me, you always made sure, like, let me get everybody else on first.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I remember that vividly. You did it a lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Drop me off last.
Speaker 3:Right. Yeah. You should get. Yeah. If you got dropped off last year, you don't want to get in the talking to that kind of thing.
Speaker 3:All right. I want to talk about I'm going to talk about the The Rock. And and and we talked a little bit about this recently, but you you had this I mean, there's 2 things I wanna I want you to share, but this one thing, this this rock. And so just kinda set it up for the mentors is I'm always trying to look for a way to connect with the kids even when I'm not around. And and at the time, I would get on to Kendrick because he's so smart.
Speaker 3:He was so, so smart, and he would just blow up and he would do these things that would be speed like a at a at a at a left field, like you didn't even see it coming behavior wise, behavior wise. And I when I set him down and I'm truly getting on to him about his behavior or his choice of of of action, his answer was, I just wasn't thinking. I just wasn't thinking. I don't know. I didn't even think about it.
Speaker 3:I don't know. I didn't even think about it. And so we gotta stop this. We gotta we gotta figure out a way to stop and think. So tell him about the rock.
Speaker 4:Well, yeah. You gave me the rock. I forgot what's No.
Speaker 3:I didn't give it
Speaker 4:to you. I mean, I forgot what situation it was.
Speaker 3:I don't know what situation.
Speaker 4:But you had me go find the rock. That's what it was. You had me go find the rock. And then you told me that every that rock was gonna pretty much be my my finger.
Speaker 3:Yeah. You wrote on it. Made you write on both sides.
Speaker 4:Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I forgot what I wrote on.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It was one side. Okay. So you go out. I tell you to go find a rock.
Speaker 3:Go find a rock that fits in your hand. Right. Right. That you can just put in your hand. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And you go find the rock. I don't know where you find the rock, but out in the park somewhere.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And you come back and you lay this rock on my desk, and I give you a red Sharpie, a red Sharpie. And I remember because Jermaine's thinking this is the stupidest thing. He doesn't know what I'm doing because I really don't know what I'm doing. But I said, write stop on one side of the rock, and you write stop on one side of the and on the other side of the rock, I said, write think.
Speaker 4:Think. Yep. That's right. That's right.
Speaker 3:And you write think on the other side of the rock. And I said, now put that rock in your pocket, and I better not ever catch you without that rock in your pocket. And I don't know. It had to be several well, no, I remember you had that rock. You didn't carry it, but you had that rock for a year, for a couple of years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I had that rock for years.
Speaker 3:It was
Speaker 4:probably still at my grandma's house
Speaker 3:for me.
Speaker 4:Pretty soon, she don't get rid of much stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Yeah. Yeah. That rock. But but I wanted and it worked for a long time. Yep.
Speaker 3:At least at least what you what you said. So talk about what what that rock did for you.
Speaker 4:It made me stop and think. I mean, this, you know, like, because I would, like, you know, be about to get in trouble or something, and I would remember the rock. Sometimes I would forget about it, but then, like, think about cute. You know, then I grabbed a rock. Well, yeah, it helped out a lot of situations.
Speaker 4:That's why, you know, at times when I didn't when I did blow up, I would feel like the fences with the teacher that day. Mhmm. You know, the teacher. I didn't care too much about the rock because I felt like he was completely being disrespectful to me. Yeah.
Speaker 4:And, you know, you came.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. We, they'll probably have to tell that story. And so there's a, there's a, there's a point in, in this relationship where, when you love these kids, there's a lot of correction you do. Like, I'll just tell you what, what happened is he had he had a him and a math teacher, it was a math teacher, got into a heated argument during class.
Speaker 3:And so they were gonna suspend Kendrick because he was being so disrespectful to this teacher. Well, the principal calls me, and I think that's because Kendrick ordered it he said, Don't call my parents. Don't call my mama. Don't call my grandma. Call Sergeant Kidd.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And because I had such a relationship with the school, they did that. They called me, And I can hear you. In the background, like, I could not believe what I was hearing in the background, the way you were yelling and screaming the words you were saying. Man, it just gives my I'm boiling right now hearing it Right.
Speaker 3:Thinking about it. So I said she was trying to run down the situation, and I said, Hold up. Is that him in the background? And she said, Yes, that's him. And he's been going on like that for 20 minutes.
Speaker 3:I said, Put him on the phone. She said, What? I said, Put him on the phone. And the second she got on the phone, the adjustment was made, like you weren't talking that way anymore. And I'm going, Can you just remain like this till I get to the school?
Speaker 3:Like, give me 15 minutes to get to the school. Just just stay like this for 15 minutes. Can you promise me that? And I guess you did. I guess you did.
Speaker 3:And so I walk in, and you fired up again. Like, you want to tell me Yeah. What was going on. You can take over the story anytime you want to because I'm just telling that the way I remember it, but
Speaker 4:Oh, no. You're correct. Yeah. Yeah. The anxiety is on point.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so it's me, it's you, it's the principal, and it's this math teacher in the room. I go, alright. Tell me what happened. And so you started to tell me, and I put my hand up.
Speaker 3:I just put my hand up to stop. And you stopped. And I said, Sir, can you tell me what happened? And the math teacher starts telling his side of the story. And you he started to say something that you disagree with, and you start to interrupt him, and I put my hand up, and you stop again.
Speaker 3:Right. And the principal is looking at me, and the principal is looking at you, and and he finishes his story. And I go, thank you, Kendrick. Tell me what happened. And then you start to tell the story, and there's one discrepancy between what he said and what you said.
Speaker 3:There's one discrepancy. Like, I don't remember what it was, but other than that, the stories were exactly the same, exactly the same. And and and I said, okay, Kendrick, you're wrong. This is what how it needs to be. Blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 3:He's the adult that, this is gonna be the remedy. The principal, are you okay with this remedy? The principal was okay with the remedy, whatever we came up with. Right. And it was all good.
Speaker 3:And then we get up to leave. We get up to leave. And the math tutor says, wait, wait, stop. Do you remember this?
Speaker 4:Yeah. I know exactly which one.
Speaker 3:Tell me what he said, if we remember.
Speaker 4:It seemed like he kinda, to me, it was kinda jealousy of you, because he's saying how it was, you know, coming at him, and how you were easily able to, you know, control control I don't wanna say it like that, but you know what I'm saying? Control me, my anger, my temper, and I was respectful. I remember when he said it, like, he stopped this and was like, why can you be so respectful to him but not me?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. I think I responded, like or like I said, why why why don't you talk to him that way, but talk to me in a different way? And and I looked at him and was like, because I respect him. I don't respect you. Ex That's
Speaker 3:exactly it. That's exactly it.
Speaker 4:Because, like, he was he was totally different before you got there. Like, how I was, he was being that same way in the classroom. I think he was accusing me of doing something that that it wasn't me, and that was one of my big things too. If I didn't do it, don't blame me for it. Because I was already getting in enough trouble on my own, and I took responsibility for most of the things that I did.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. And I just wasn't going for that. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, here's here's what and I wanna say to all your mentors, what what happened here was a small deal, big, big to Kendrick, really small to me. But here's why I feel like it was big, and I know it was big because our relationship now went to a whole another level just because of this. And it was advocacy. It was having an adult come and respond to your issue on time, like showing up on time.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:There was nothing that I was able to do. I didn't shield him from the consequence that they had. I didn't shield him for him. All it was was somebody coming because of him. I think that's all it was.
Speaker 3:And now he knew that I would stand up to adults for him.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:That I would stand up to a system for him, and that and then I would call a spade a spade. Like, right is right. Wrong is wrong. And I get on to him all the time when he's wrong, but I'm not going to let an adult be wrong on his behalf either.
Speaker 4:I because not to interrupt you, you did you did get on him too.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. You got what
Speaker 4:you said to him, but you got on him too
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:About the way he was reacting
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah. To me. For sure. Yeah. For sure.
Speaker 3:That's like that. You're the adult.
Speaker 4:That's why I love you. That's why I love you.
Speaker 3:I said, you know, you're the adult, and don't you ever, ever, ever, ever let a kid reduce you to a child. You're the adult, and and you he needs to be respected. He needs to be respected. Right. Right?
Speaker 3:And and that that I don't know exactly how I said that. That's probably not as harsh as as it may sound, but but I I said, you're the adult. I mean, we should this this should not happen.
Speaker 4:Right?
Speaker 3:And and our our relationship just went through the roof after that.
Speaker 4:I mean, growing up in my house, like, no matter what, like, you can't say nothing to an adult, and which is which I understand. You know, when you're a child you stay in a child's place with, it was like, even if an adult I used to have family members drunk. I'm in the house saying disrespectful stuff or, you know, just drunk. And then I could, you know, easily say something, not even being disrespectful. You know, next thing you know, upside your head.
Speaker 4:Mhmm. You know, that's how we were raised.
Speaker 3:Like, you
Speaker 4:know, you can't say nothing. And for you to come and, you know, you got on me, but you also made sure that he knew where he was wrong. And like, I mean, I love that, man, because I've never I've never had
Speaker 3:that ever. Right. Right.
Speaker 4:That would have normally flew.
Speaker 3:I would have
Speaker 4:got I would have just got tore up by grandma, and that would have been that.
Speaker 3:Right. Well, there's there's a couple other things that I feel like is important. One more story. And we got 50 more stories, but one more story. And I want to kind of get I learned I learned a couple of lessons.
Speaker 3:Oh, maybe maybe 2 2 more stories. But I learned a lesson with you, Kendrick, and I got to give you a lot of credit, is you would you would go along for about 30 days. 30 days, no problems. Going to school, making good grades, no no fights or gangbang stuff, none of that stuff. Coming to every meeting that we hosted at the the center, all that kind of stuff, for about 30 days.
Speaker 3:In and around that point, you would just lose it. And Jermaine and I, which is my the sergeant partner of mine at the time, we could not figure it out. And so we started and I would I know I would come in and and chastise you, flush at you, you know, probably made you write sentences or stuff, you know, a lot of times or whatever. There was a there was a consequence, you know, whatever. But then it it start making that stop making sense.
Speaker 3:I start asking you about a particular time like finally, why did you you got this probation? You're like, you got you got this probation thing over your head like you were and and you might want to tell the story a little bit because I give a little background but before I met you, you and some friends were arrested. The house was raided that you were that you were in.
Speaker 4:Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And this is before I met you. Right. And this was before that day you got drunk.
Speaker 4:But I
Speaker 3:know the incident now because I looked it up, and you told me, you know, that kind of stuff. But before this, I was always saying, man, what is wrong with you, Kendrick? What is wrong with you? You're so smart. You're so smart.
Speaker 3:Talk about what happened to you
Speaker 4:that day. Well, of course, you know, my mom, she sold drugs. So, you know, some days, I would skip school and go in the drug drug house with her, either just sit there and smoke or, you know, sell drugs myself. But that particular day, I was actually going to go pick up money for my mom, but we I sat in there. And, you know, within a split second, you know, the house was raided.
Speaker 4:You know, I actually got I got stomped on, you know, guns put in my face, all those things. And then, you know, me and my friends that were in there, we got arrested. My mom did as well. But, you know, we got out the same night. Of course, we're juveniles, so they they let us out the same night.
Speaker 4:But then my mom, you know, she took all the charges. And then once I found out what all the charges was, like, I don't know. Even at a young age, I know that these type of charges, I might not see my mom until I'm a grown man. I'll probably not see her ever again, only between, you know, at a table or a a window, you know, visiting her in prison. So that that right there was really took a toll on me, and, I went to school drunk, started drinking, like and it still it still kinda hurt thinking about it, because, I mean, my mom went through a lot.
Speaker 4:I watched her get beat on, all kind of stuff, like and I always kinda wanted to blame her for some of the things I was going through, but I just never had any of me to do that because that's my mom, and I love her. I know she did some stuff because she was probably lost too, just because her a says she was grown. I mean, she was fully there mentally. Mhmm. So, yeah, that right there, that was that's why that's where the turning point in my life started because in that way, if that would've never happened, I would probably wouldn't have met you.
Speaker 4:Like, so I'm I'm thankful for a lot of the negative stuff that happened in my life because, you know, it brought to my life, and things after that that I got in trouble for, it still saved my life. I don't regret none of this stuff like that. I mean, I could've made better choices, but I don't regret it because it put me in the position that I am now. So
Speaker 3:I'm glad thanks for sharing that. But what that taught me as a mentor was this. I was always asking you, Well, what's wrong with you? Right. What's wrong with you?
Speaker 3:Why did you make that decision? Why did you make that decision? Why did you make that decision? Why did you go left? You were going so good.
Speaker 3:Why did you go left? And it wasn't to that point when I looked at their background and looked up that story and had you tell me that story then I began to ask, maybe the question is not what's wrong with Kendrick. Maybe I should have been asking what happened to Kendrick.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And because every single time you went left corresponded with a court date with your with your mother. Right. It could have been that day you didn't know as a 14 year old, 15 year old if that court date meant that she wasn't coming back Right. Or if this was gonna be probation, if this was gonna be prison Right. All that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:And so from that point on, I took a point and get to know your mom and and try to figure figure that figure that whole thing out. And I don't do parents. Like, I do not like parents. And for and and the reason I didn't wanna be involved with your mother is because she had all those issues.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And I'm not equipped to deal with that. I don't wanna deal with Kendrick. I don't wanna deal with her adult issues and her adult cases. But if I'm going to help Kendrick on day 28, 29, when this next court date is, I got to kind of know a little bit about her. And so I did, and we became like friends.
Speaker 3:Like, me and your mom became friends a little bit, and I just lost touch with her, and I don't know why. You know, I lost touch with her now.
Speaker 4:But, you know, what's crazy about that, that's something I wanted to say too about our relationship. That's what made me, like, love and respect you even more, because my mom, she called me, you know, from prison and talked to me, like, yeah, I just met, like, 3 of your mentors that came and talked to me. She said 2 were 2 were kinda harsh, you know, and that she was like, well, you showed her so much respect and love, because I I I almost wanted to get mad when I first heard her, but she was, like, cute, cute, but he he was respectful. You know, he he talked to me, like she told me she, you know, she started crying or whatever, but, like, man, I was like, man, I love this dude, man. Like, that's Superman for real.
Speaker 4:Like, because, like, you know, I know you being a police officer, and then I know you didn't like the fact that, you know, I was put in those positions, and I mean, she allowed it, you know?
Speaker 3:Mhmm. I hated it.
Speaker 4:Yeah. And and you still, you know, went and talked to my mom and respected her. And, you know, I I I like to say that you helped change her life and saved it as as well as you did mine.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I don't I don't know about that. I I will never forget is a whole day. This was years later. You graduated.
Speaker 3:You've graduated from high school. You're doing your grown man thing. Then last I talked to her, she was on her way to prison, you know.
Speaker 4:Took that ankle monitor off when she first got out, and y'all were the ones who helped her get out, actually, the first time.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Took the ankle monitor off and left.
Speaker 3:Yeah. She she. Yeah. So she blew that, I think. And then but whatever.
Speaker 3:Sent back to prison. It got sent back to prison. And that was last, last I heard from her. Until this day, I'm doing a youth panel. Right.
Speaker 3:And in this youth panel, they bring in 4 or 5, 6 incarcerated women that were on their way out to tell their story.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And so I'm I'm seeing this this deal. And it's 40, 50 kids in there and they're asking questions. And I'm not really paying attention to the women because the story I just want their stories. And as they pass the microphone down and they're introducing themselves, she introduces herself and it gets my attention, and she points to me and says, This man saved me and my son's life. And we lost it.
Speaker 3:Oh my god. Just lost it to saying, That's her. Yeah. That's her. And so she gets out, and she's she's doing her thing.
Speaker 3:And hearing her over the phone call me when she's concerned about you and your brother Right. And the the tone in her voice, the texture of her voice, the things that she she said completely changed. And here's what it was. She found Jesus. She really has a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker 4:Definitely. Definitely.
Speaker 3:And it's all in it's all in the way. It just completely changed her the directory of her life.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And so I thank I thank God for for for that. I also have to apologize for this. As a mentor and a police officer, I really thought it was really, really important for my job to not bring my faith into my mentoring. Right. Huge mistake.
Speaker 3:Huge mistake. I firmly believe that if I would have taken not just the opportunity to build character, but the opportunity to build faith Right. In you and the kids to witness what God has done for me, that things may not have gone so slowly. Progress would not have gone so slowly. So I'll change that.
Speaker 3:So when people ask me how I do it, I always point to my Jesus. Right. Now but I know when you go, like, he's Superman. Like, I'm pointing to like, I'm pointing to Jesus. Y'all have no idea how much I prayed for you.
Speaker 3:You have no idea how much me and my wife talked about you, planned for you, took took your situations to church with us in small groups and and shared that story. So you so although I didn't share my faith because I didn't wanna mess up the job, I didn't wanna make it look like I was some kind of youth pastor. I'm a policeman. But the the reality was there were people praying for you the whole time, bro. The whole time.
Speaker 3:He's he gets all the glory in in this in this story. That's what's up.
Speaker 4:That's what's up.
Speaker 3:I'm not a rapper. He gets all the glory in this story. K. Alright. Okay.
Speaker 3:That's right. Hey, man. So we've been talking for a little bit. I mean, I really appreciate, and I love the man that you've become, but tell us about your your kids now.
Speaker 4:Oh, my kids? Well, I have a Junior. 8 year old, Kendrick junior, 5 year old, that's Kalia, and I have a 1 year old, Zuri.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Those are the love of my lives. Like, that's that's my main job. Besides making money to take care of them,
Speaker 3:that's my job.
Speaker 4:And, you know, my son just recently got into baseball and partially coached, and I run the mentoring for the baseball team. We have mentoring sessions. Like, it's mandatory.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:Like, that's all we really ask of the parents. Bring them to the mentoring. Give us their report card every time they give report cards, and, you know, make sure they show up at practice.
Speaker 3:That's the that's the that's the dream. Every mentor wants to produce another mentor. Every leader produces leaders. Right? And so that that's that's what's make me feel so good, and to see that you're you you have become the man that I knew that you can become, the father that I knew that you would be.
Speaker 3:Right? The the the thing the the one story that that you were so scared of, you were so scared. Oh, man. Should we tell that should we tell the the the story about the college trip?
Speaker 4:Are you already?
Speaker 3:You gotta tell the story. Yeah. You gotta tell the story. But but there was oh, man. Okay.
Speaker 3:I'll I'll tell it fast, and you can just fill in the blanks. Okay. I'll tell it fast because I wanna tell it. Alright. So I I have an opportunity to send a bunch of kids, including my son, on a black college tour.
Speaker 3:I wanted to introduce them to college. Back then, I thought success as a mentor was getting kids to go to college. I've since kind of changed that, but that's a whole another episode. But I love it when they go to college. And so send you all on a on all the HBCUs in the south and all the way to Atlanta and coming back.
Speaker 3:And it's a bus tour, and you're stopping at all the civil rights stops and it's got a historic and it's great. We the police department comes up with the money. They pay for all these kids and and Kendrick somewhere along the line. I don't know how you got it. Don't even care.
Speaker 3:I'm curious now. But anyway, where it gets caught smoking weed in hotel room.
Speaker 4:Right.
Speaker 3:And they call me up and they said, we're sending him back. Like, how are you sending him back? Like, we put him on a plane. We're sending him back. He cannot be here.
Speaker 3:And I'm like, he's never been in an airport. He's not don't okay. I understand. Yes. Whatever less friction, I don't wanna cause any problems.
Speaker 3:Send him back. So we pick you up in the airport that that day at our airport, and I am I am livid. I am I am upset. And Jermaine is upset. And you come walking to the airport.
Speaker 3:I never forget with this hoodie on, and you got the hoodie over your head and the strings pull tight. Like, you can you probably can't even hardly see. You can barely see your face of how tight you got this thing. And I grab your bag. I don't even let you grab the bag.
Speaker 3:I grab your bag off the conveyor belt, and we sling it in the gun. We're not talking. We're not talking. Like, we know all of this has gone down. And we get into the, van, and we probably go about a mile, and I'm looking at you sniffing.
Speaker 3:I can see your faces right. You're crying.
Speaker 4:I was crying before y'all got into
Speaker 3:the airport. Yeah. And and then I I just take that hood off your face. I wanna see your face. You take the hood off your face, and you're just red and crying and sniffling, and I ask you, what is why are you crying?
Speaker 3:What is wrong with you? What what what's what's all these tears about? You remember the what'd you say? What you thought was gonna happen?
Speaker 4:I thought that I was getting kicked out of a mentoring program, and that child wasn't gonna deal with deal with me anymore. And that was like and I was also I was I was I was mad. I let child down, and that that hurt. It still does. I I don't I like the story, but, I mean, I don't talk about it in my life.
Speaker 4:I can talk about it too easily, but, man, that right there, I think about that often, and it's still I still like, man, I was a fool. Like, y'all went out to our wife, man. I never experienced nothing like that in my life, and I ruined it. I mean, me too, even Yasun, he even he exploded on me in the hotel room when he found out what was going on. So but, yeah, man, I just really I thought I was losing something that I never had before, and that right there was just just the thought of that was devastating to me.
Speaker 3:Yeah. No. But but I told you I told you then, I don't know if you heard it, and I'm telling to you now in front of the whole world, is I know now that God loves me, and there ain't nothing I can do about it. And my job my job as a mentor is to love those kids and to let them know there ain't nothing you can do about
Speaker 4:it. Right.
Speaker 3:And and so, yes, I'm I was annoyed. Yes, I was frustrated. Yes, I was mad and pissed off and all that kind of stuff. But to think that your behavior your behavior, something something that you did is gonna separate you from me, that's that's backwards thinking, bro. It ain't happening.
Speaker 3:It ain't happening.
Speaker 4:That that was all that was on my mind. I I really went, like, I'm like, you know, the the smoking weed, like, you know, we'll get that handled and figured out. You know, you did. I had to start taking drug tests every time I came to the center. Right.
Speaker 4:So but, like, yeah, like, it was that was the only thing really on my mind is, like, man, I let them down. And now they just about, you know, toss me to the side. Yeah. There's no hope for me. Like, man, because I always had it.
Speaker 4:Like, I'll always be doing something good, and, like, I always found a way to mess something up. And I hated that about myself. Like, man, I hate it because it happened multiple times dealing with y'all and just in other situations in life. I just started thinking, like, is this just the person I am? Am I a mess up?
Speaker 4:Is this is this me? Yeah. I was starting to accept that. Okay. This is just probably me.
Speaker 4:Yeah. But because you were right there, I'm I've never just fully accepted that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. No, bro. No. You you always get another chance and another chance and another chance. Our god is a god of 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th and 25th and 35th and 900 chances.
Speaker 3:Right. And so we just gotta keep trying. Gotta keep showing up. We gotta keep digging in. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my friend, Kendrick.
Speaker 3:He is going to be a master mentor. As you can see, he is mentoring now, which is like a feather in my cap. Like, I can like, I'm good now knowing that he is out there passing on his experience to young people, trying to make them better men and better women. So if there's nothing else you can get from this, I knew nothing what I was doing when Kendrick came into my life, and I learned so much through it. So take this with you.
Speaker 3:You can mentor.