“For he shall have judgement without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgement.” (James 2:13)
After I was told I had to move out I went back to Maureen and Denver's house. There was a bartender I started hanging out with who I believe set me up for a robbery. We used to go out to after-hours clubs together. This guy was really weird. At his house once he showed me a book of white magic. At the time I thought white magic was all right because you were supposed to use it for good. Now I know that all magic is evil. One night I was in a car with this guy and we were both drunk, and he began crashing into parked cars on purpose. I was so scared I began to scream at him to stop. Finally I ended up jumping out of the car. Not long after that I got held up while working at the bar. I had pink eye that night and one guy came up to the bar like he wanted a drink and sprayed mace in my eyes. There were three or four guys with guns and they took all the money from the register and all the customers. My eyes were burning so badly I couldn't see or do anything. One guy kept asking me where the money was and then hit me over the head with the gun. When the police came they asked how many people were hurt because there was blood everywhere. My blood! When I told the policeman that I was the only one hurt he didn't believe me. The ambulance came and took me to the hospital where I got four stitches in my head. That was the last time I worked at the bar. For a while I was out of work just doing odd jobs with Denver. I stayed in touch with my old girlfriend and her sister still, and Julie's boyfriend asked me if I wanted to live in his house and work for his father. He was getting sent to prison for a few years and he wanted someone to take care of his two dogs. His father and uncle owned a jewelry company. I would get a ride every day to and from work in a Cadillac plus I didn't have to pay any rent. It was about this time that I started to snort cocaine. I began to spend more and more money on drugs, mainly so I could hang out with my old girlfriend. I used to ride a bicycle around Manhattan with thousands of dollars in gold and jewelry on me, or I would help with cleaning up the scraps back at the shop. One day I stole some of the scraps, thinking that no one would notice. Then little by little I began stealing bigger pieces and then full pieces of jewelry. It wasn't long until one day when the owner (my friend’s father) caught me stealing red handed. That day I lost my job and my place to live. I'm still amazed that he didn't have me arrested. My friend and his father are Jewish and looking back I think of Genesis 12:3 "I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee". I ended up living in the streets. A friend named John brought me to his house for dinner almost every night. His parents were really good to me and they even let me stay in his room when it rained. This was really amazing to me since they both knew what had happened, especially since John's father was a Sergeant in the NY police department. After I gave my heart to Jesus I prayed Genesis 12:3 back to God for them "God you said you would bless them that bless me and even though I didn't know you then Lord I ask you to bless them with your salvation."
By William A. Cotton