The fights were brutal. My brothers and I would hide, crying in our rooms during the multi day events. Multi day because David would refuse to leave and continue to antagonize. They happened often. Sometimes once a month. Around every three usually. They were very physical. Dishes were cleared and thrown across rooms, knives were thrown and furniture was overturned. One time a gun was even pulled. Very scary events for children to witness. The language they used toward each other gave us a very diverse vocabulary at a young age. Occasionally the cops were called by the neighbors, at which time David would leave and go stay somewhere else for anywhere between a week and a month if he wasn’t arrested right away. After the fight was over, mom would blast the stereo to Diana Ross and the Supremes and spend the next two days cleaning up.the mess.The fights were usually caused over money. Mom was not good with it and we never made enough, even with the alternative marijuana income. Bills never got paid ontime, especially rent, which is why we moved so often. When the fights weren’t about money, they were about Davids treatment of me and/or his general pissy attitude towards the life he created for himself. Mom always hated the verbal abuse I got. “Fucking little Maggot” was his favorite term of endearment towards me. Any response by me would be met with a physical ass whipping that was usually pretty severe. Always a belt, strap or small stick that would turn into a closed fist as I got older. I always wondered why he was easier on my brothers. Mom hated it and took pity on me often. Childhood wasn’t the fun place it should’ve been for me. As I got older, I tried stay out of the house as much as possible. I learned to attach myself to the friendliest person to me I could find in every neighborhood we moved to. A tough endeavor for a young white kid in the west end of my city. As I said, we even lived in housing projects, which weren’t much different than they are now. I managed though. Between the home issues and the bullying for being a poor white kid in my neighborhood, I grew up with some anger issues. These issues would eventually cost me.