Reuben was a master of performative speech. He told lots of stories about being ordered to kill nuns in South America, and hiking through the jungle when no one knew the way. He told about the authorities denying that he had seen and done the things he had done when he got back, and the drugs they gave him. He had me read a graphic, handwritten book he planned to publish about his gang years, as he was a Crip of long standing - one of the first Crips in New York, if you take his word. He said he brought it back from California, where he had been sent by his mother to live with his cousins and stay out of trouble, and was glad to find and network with the few he found on his return.

He said he went to college. He said he was a chef. He told me about killing people in gang hits and drug deals. He told me terrible stories about women he had known and abused, and robbed, one he had shot, and about his recovery. I suspect he told a lot of lies, but he always seemed authentic. He had eleven kids. He had a borderline personality disorder, so got disability and professed that he would never need to work.

Reuben left the house one weekend when i was out of town. I talked to Carlee, the butch Texan Crip dyke; his new girlfriend was letting them stay at her place, at which point Reuben screwed up Carlee's sobriety. Reuben later got busted transporting drugs through Connecticut, so could get life as a repeat offender. That is as far as i know.

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