My good friend AL Harlow aka Big Al has published his memoir online.
Here’s the opening;
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE by A. L. Harlow
When I began writing this I was at a loss for the reasons why. Why would I open myself up again to all those feelings from years of being lost, broken, imprisoned and nearly killed? I felt I needed to get my story out in hopes that it could help people who have problem children and are ready to throw in the towel. If you have a child, or children —regardless of their age—who are incorrigible, hyperkinetic and argumentative, or have teenage drug users I say, do not give up on them.
Don’t leave them for society to deal with because its institutions will only extract their pound of flesh and fill their hearts with hate. Your job is to provide the family safety-net they need while growing up to catch them when they fall. Your job is to give them the tools they will need to succeed in life and to love them unconditionally.
Many people who will read my story may miss this point and instead believe they are to judge me, but judgment day for me has come and gone; it no longer matters what people think of me. I believe I’m a good person who has done some bad things and for those of you whom I have hurt in the past please accept my apologies because they are sincere. For those of you who have lied and used the courts to punish me based on your lies, I’m only sorry to have met you.
So as I go through a mental checklist of what I should write about, I realize that if I’m to use my past as a guide for what not to do, then I need to tell the whole story, no matter how painful.
In the beginning I was a willful, hyperactive child and was dealt a bad hand in life, but as I grew up to be a young man and stood at the crossroads of life on my own feet, I could see only one way to go. This direction always brought me to the same destination, but somehow I felt a perverse sense of pride for living my life as I wanted, no matter how twisted. My role models were gangsters, thugs, outlaws and drug dealers. As time went on I became respected and even feared by these same people.
Near-death experiences were common with my lifestyle, but one day something happened that changed my whole life. I had an accident that would have killed most people. According to Buddhist philosophy I had seen the face of death and this changed me.
This time when I returned to my crossroads I could see there were so many more directions, but by now I was the president of a well-known, notorious outlaw motorcycle organization. People just don’t walk away from this life. I did. The men who I once called brothers tried to kill me. They put a contract on my life. Things got really dirty when a hang-around club girl made accusations against me to the cops. The plan was to get me busted so they could kill me in prison.
The feds took this opportunity to tell me they could make it all go away. If I helped them, they would help me. I was trying to change my life, but being an informant was not the direction I was looking to go. I took a two-year deal and stayed on the main yard with only a couple of attempts on me when I arrived. At just under six feet tall, 300 (solid) pounds and no stranger to prison life they quickly learned to leave me alone. I hit a guy so hard he lost his four front teeth. I shattered his nose and cheekbone with one punch. The message was simple: “leave me alone”.
I had dug myself a hole so deep that changing my life was nearly impossible, but I kept on. Life’s many disappointments (and there are many when you start with nothing but a long list of failures) at times weakened my resolve and I found comfort in consuming whatever narcotics I could get my hands on. My addiction welcomed me back like an old lover.
When I was unemployed and needed to get high I would look for dealers I didn’t know or like and just take what I wanted. But inside I knew this had to change and I began to dig myself out of my labyrinth of holes and tunnels.
I’ve known Big Al for a number of years.
Mostly from Pattaya.
I love his writing.
He knows the truth and doesn’t flinch from its reflection.
Lives like his offer a maze of traps.
Few can escape.
To buy WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE by A.L. Harlow please go to the following URL
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JB1P9I/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_pD3Eqb16QDTHH/183-7233622-7206400