RJ was a guy with Indian heritage who was like a glue in Poppa G’s circle of high school friends. And he was a very few Indian guys G has met who knew how to spell deodorant or antiperspirant. You could say that he was a popular kid to hang out within G’s high school crew. RJ was pretty much at almost every social gatherings and events for that reason.

RJ and G started to click with each other in their French class. They would always joke around and laugh often in the class. It was one of the best classes for them because it was stacked with all-star funny jokers. If they were not in their classes, they would be usually either smoking a joint or a blunt and playing cards for money.

This high school crew would always go to house parties, bars and clubs together from high school and after. You would always find them laughing, having fun and enjoying good times at these places. They always had each other’s back if something would’ve happened between the crew and other kids from around the way. Being high school kids, they would go to random house parties and cause ruckus. At one house party, RJ and Ho Bag stole a bottle of liquor or two from the host of the house party and drank them. The host eventually found out somehow, and it escalated quickly into a big brawl between RJ, Ho Bag and several kids from the same high school. G didn’t know what was going on until those kids already rushed RJ and Ho Bag, and it was already kind of too late to be breaking up the fight or jumping in.

Exception of one or two kids from the other crew from the same high school, those kids were not scrappers in general. On the other hand, RJ and Ho Bag were scrappers by nature, especially Ho Bag was built to scrap, but they were outnumbered and got their little beatings that night. And for some reasons, one of those kids didn’t want to let this go and kept pressing RJ for what happened at that house party in school. He kept calling RJ with racial slurs and etc for weeks. And because RJ didn’t respond back or confront aggressively about it, this kid thought he was the shit or something.

During another house party, when all the usual suspects from the school were present, RJ finanlly decided to take action against this kid who has been talking shit and calling him with racial slurs. While the tension was building up and everyone in the crowd was getting hyped up by what was about to happen, Tyrion came out of nowhere from the back with a baseball bat like a brainless moron to fight other kids from the school. This created a big problem for G because G and many other kids all respected each other. Suddenly, the host of the house party, his big brother, OB, and many other kids were all ready to kick the shit out of RJ, G, Ho Bag, Tyrion and P Dub. Even though G’s crew were all pretty much scrappers for the most part, but they were heavily outnumbered. It was like 5 against 15 to 20 kids. That was definitely not the odds G liked in that situation.

Poppa G immediately squashed the idea of this fight becoming an all out brawl of Royal Rumble by yelling out to everyone that this was going to be straight up one on one fight. Luckily, G was able to have everyone agree to it. Then, everyone from the party walked down to a school nearby to watch this fight. G already knew RJ was going to handle this kid who has been talking shit with racial slurs, so G was not worried at all, and there was no reason for 5 of them to get their asses kicked.

When the fight started, RJ gave this kid a few Ibaka punches to his face and it was pretty much over. And after that fight, that kid had to walk around the school with a big black eye for awhile and never talked shit about RJ in public. And that was how they handled beefs in high schools. They didn’t have to resort to gun violence because they were about being gladiators with fists; standing up and duking it out like a man.

RJ and Poppa G’s friendship was heavily built on West Coast Rap music and Basketball. RJ also happened to be the ace in their pick up Basketball games usually. There was a time when RJ and G had a session of Herbal Essence during their high school lunch break one time. After their session, they decided to shoot some hoops to just kill some time in the back of school. Then, they eventually played 2 on 2 half court Basketball game against their high school’s best male and female Basketball players on the team. They were both taller and in better physical shape than RJ and G were. When the game started, basically, RJ and G smoked them like they were playing against little kids. From no look and behind the back passes to a jump hook, RJ and G both told each other that they played like Lakers’ Showtime after the game. G was Magic and RJ was Worthy. And that game kind of solidified G’s place in RJ’s mind that G was a hooper even though G never played for a school team unlike RJ. Those similar interests and their sense of humors made easy for them to connect with each other. Every time G cracked a joke, RJ was always laughing. There were countless memories of laughters and adventures like the time when RJ got away with a blunt at school after getting caught by a teacher or the time when they ended up at a Casino in Montreal on New Years.

RJ is one of 2 reasons why G was able to easily connect with people from India and have a fluid conversation. It was because of RJ and going to his house, G was familiar with Indian culture. He also showed G how he financed his fitness business by being frugal. If there is one life skill that is going to really assist you in this capitalistic society, that is how to manage your money. There is an illusion or a notion that if you make more money, you would have more money saved up and you will never be broke again. If you can’t manage $2000, then how are you going to manage millions? As you can see in following documentary, Broke, having millions of dollars is not the solution for escaping the poverty or the rat race.

This could be one of the most difficult and confusing concept to understand for many in North America.

If your monthly income is $2000 and you spend $2000 for that month, you have $0. If you spend $2500 for the month while your monthly income is $2000, that is -$500. It means you probably owe $500 to someone or somewhere unless you have money saved up. Now, to make it more interesting, if you used a credit card to owe that $500, there is going to be a high interest that you have to pay on that amount. So if your credit card interest is 15% and you don’t pay back the money you owe, you will be paying additional $75 every year or something like that.

If you somehow understand this concept, there are many things you have to avoid in order to not put yourself in a financial hole. One of them is spending money when you don’t have enough money. Spending money to invest is one thing, but buying things for leisure purposes when you don’t even have lots of money and a high paying job is simply senseless.

Here is an example that many people might relate to. Trent is a salesman with $2000 monthly income with $2000 monthly expense. Somehow he saves up about $5000 to buy a car when his work, grocery store, liquor store, convenience store, restaurants, strip club and etc. are all within 5 – 10 minutes of walking distance. He initially thinks about getting a brand new car, but he doesn’t want to have a long term debt. He eventually decides to buy an old model sporty 2 door car for $5000 from a questionable owner.

This car, without proper inspection by a car expert or mechanic, unfortunately turns out to be somewhat of a junk. The exterior and interior looked good enough, but it constantly causes issues where repairs are frequently required. It’s like a person with a great resume with great reference and interview, but incompetent in real action. Trent has to spend more money time after time to repair his car. In the end, he rarely drives his car with not much in return after spending lots of money. He could spend $50 per month for train passes to visit his family, but instead he spends $300 per month for his insurance plus gas and maintenance.

If you really need a car to make money, then that is an asset. However, if you don’t even have sufficient bankroll or positive cash flow, buying a car that you don’t even need is a bad decision. Especially, if you are buying a car because you want to impress a girl or something like that. This goes the same with excessively eating at restaurants everyday instead of cooking at home. Having unessential memberships or subscriptions that actually make you spend more money could also add up. Your habits, discipline and way of thinking all affects the way you handle your money.

With so many options and avenues online, there is no need to be stuck in old ways of doing things. When G had a paid-membership to shop at a big retailer, he thought he was saving money because he was buying items at wholesale prices. He actually thought it was providing an awesome value. After when G stopped buying at a membership retailer and started to buy from non-paid membership stores and online, he realized he was actually saving more money and time. Here are a few of G’s tips on how to cut down on some of your expenses:

• With online delivery with so many options and pricings, G only have Amazon Prime membership. It also comes with streaming service. Prime video may not be the best but it is good enough for G to substitute for a cable TV. G saves money, time and gas by not having to go anywhere and stand in line for a long time. However, G doesn’t buy any fresh produce/food online because G would like to see them for himself before he pays.
• There are so many online outlets to buy just about anything for good prices without paying any membership fees. G has bought furniture, tables, electronics and etc. through online for better prices than other paid membership retailers. If you run a business or have a strong discipline to buy only certain items that you need, then it might be a good thing to have a membership of big retailer.
• Company like T-Mobile offers a phone plan where Netflix is included or you might have to pay $2 extra on top of your monthly bill. Also, if you have a smart TV, it probably has so many streaming apps or services that provide hours of entertainment for free in exchange of watching advertisements. You can cut down your cable TV bill this way by just streaming online.
• Stay home and find something entertaining to do instead of going out to clubs and bars often. Drinks + tips + any other expenses can all add up.

It’s important to be financially literate if you want to live comfortably. Read a book if you have to. If you don’t have enough money but you want to spend more, then you just have to find other ways to make more money. Learning about investing and how money works at a young age can help you tremendously throughout your whole life. You could invest your money into stocks, but because there is a risk of losing money when it comes to investing, so we won’t talk abou it here.

Parents living in the US should really think about educating their children about mathematics on their own with a book or something because schools’ math class might not be enough. In some places such as a district or county out of Seattle, some geniuses were pushing the idea of replacing a math class with a sex education class. And this sex education class that they were talking about is not even about STDs or kama sutra, it’s about teaching kids that there are more than two genders. So we have people who wants to replace a math class, which is an universal language and the foundation of many aspects in civilization, with a sex education class about how there are more than two genders, men and women. Not everyone is going to be an expert in trigonometry or calculus and most of the people will forget about a lot of it after getting a job that doesn’t require it. However, would you want your children to be exposed to a math subject to see if they are smart enough to be an engineer or banker or do you want to find out if your kid is going to cut off or attach a penis? We don’t need to wonder why the majority of people don’t even understand what deficit means and how interest rates work. And they are the ones who are handling the budget and operating their organizations with tax dollars? I guess it’s easy to do when that tax dollars just keeps on coming. God bless us all.

You should never judge a person’s character and virtues based on one’s finances. Also, you should treat others with respect regardless of one’s finance or social status. But one thing is for sure, people can easily change and do things out of desperation especially when they have low IQ and lazy. Also, G could say in confidence that broke people were the ones who gave G the most headaches and issues throughout his life. Therefore, it’s never too late to be smart about your finances and prevent yourself from becoming one of those shysters or connivers.

When G made a decision to disappear from his high school crew due to his situation with Tyrion going around telling everyone that G fell off and everything else that was happening at that time due to wankstas, thieves and backstabbers, G also didn’t talk to RJ even though G still wanted to keep an open line of communication. Simply, it was only natural for RJ to pick a side that made the most sense for him at the time since Tyrion was his diaper buddy he grew up with. And G just thought it was necessary for himself to be at peace and move forward effectively. At that point, G only spent his time with a few real solid people that none of his high school crew knew.

A year or two went by without knowing anything about anyone from his high school days and not one phone call from anyone from the high school asking “Hey, how are you doing? Is everything OK? Do you need any help?” , G got a phone call out of nowhere about RJ’s death while playing a game of COD. That unexpected event still has a lasting impact on G’s life both positively and negatively.

After getting the phone call about RJ’s death out of nowhere, Poppa G didn’t really believe what he heard on the phone. He thought somebody was playing a joke or game to get him out of where he was at. So he wanted to find out for real if it was indeed the situation. One night, he showed up to some girl’s house where close friends of RJ were gathering. Heavy T, Ho Bag, Tyrion, Penis Tattoo Man, Shalamuta, V, Sucio and etc were all there. By the look of it, everybody was somewhat crying and had tears in their eyes. Poppa G thought maybe they were telling the truth regarding RJ’s death. However, G still didn’t firmly believe it 100% because he hasn’t seen the body and it just didn’t make sense at the time. After talking to them for a lil bit about RJ’s viewing and funeral, G left this girl’s house to go back home from working all day.

On the way back home from this girl’s house, G saw that he was being tailed by a police car from the corner of where the house was which was a very unusual place to be tailed from. Not long after, before getting on the highway, G was pulled over by the police. After stopping his car, this white cop approached G and said, “There was an incident around this area where someone was raped and you fit the description. Is there a way to verify what you were doing around here?”

Poppa G was livid at that point. He was out of sight from everyone, quietly living his life and minding his own business. He thought these MFs were using RJ’s death as an excuse to get G out and set him up for some bullshit. On top of that, G came out of the house where there were more than 6 males, and he decided to stop and harass G? So basically this white cop was saying they were having a gang rape like punjabi or Canadian white hockey boys style and G was the only suspect getting harassed out of them all? G made a phone call to Sucio, V’s brother, since he knew what kind of work G was doing for his job. After Sucio explained to this white cop regarding what G was doing and why he was at this girl’s house, the cop finally decided to let G go. But before G was let go, the police asked G,

“Do you know or hang out with any rapist around your way that you can tell me about?”

Poppa G was out of words and didn’t even know what to say since that was one of the most dumbest shit he has ever heard from a person with a police uniform.

On the day of RJ’s viewing, G arrived to the place to verify RJ’s death for real because if it was all bullshit, it was not going to be pretty for some of them who brought G out of his peaceful environment. G entered the building and made his way to the room where RJ’s casket was. Then, he looked around the room and saw many people from the high school and RJ’s family crying uncontrollably. G walked up to the open casket and saw RJ’s body peacefully laying in it. Even at that moment, G still didn’t believe the whole situation. He thought this had to be some kind of sick prank that they were pulling off. He immediately wanted to poke RJ’s body with his finger to see if RJ would move, but instead he spoke to RJ,

“Yo, are you really dead? I’m here. Get your ass out of there, man. It’s cold outside, playa grab your sweater.”

RJ didn’t reply back. For about a minute, G was trying to have a converation with RJ, but still no reply without any body movement. Then the reality finally kicked in for G. RJ was gone. From then on, he couldn’t stop the tears coming down from his eyes. He turned around and looked at RJ’s family, his mom and brother, and he walked towards the back. As he walked towards the back of this viewing room, he saw Tyrion sitting on a bench crying and thought about punching his face for a few seconds. Then he saw four girls from the high school – his Greek sister, Price is Right girl, Playboy girl and Mariah – all crying. Instead of causing a ruckus, he walked past all of them and saw Shinobi. Poppa G and Shinobi hugged each other in tears and just waited until the night was over with nothing much to say.

When G finally processed RJ’s untimely demise, it triggered him to splurge his money unlike in the past. While G was away from RJ and everyone else, he was saving his money like never before. G was stacking up faster because he hardly spent any money beside his usual fixed expenses. G never had to smoke anybody for free. He didn’t have to go to parties or clubs and spend money to mingle with fake people who never gave a f**k about G. After RJ’s funeral, G told himself that there was no point of scraping and saving money if he wasn’t even going to be alive to enjoy it. From then on, G has been spending money like it ain’t shit. Well, that’s not really true. G was able to save some money by stashing a big chunk of his paychecks away every month while he was working for a Fortune 100 corporation. However, in order to honor and celebrate RJ’s life in his own way, G made a plan to attend many NBA games and etc. That being said, G had to spend money to travel, attend games and do many other things. Regardless of it all, G still thanks RJ for telling him to live his life to the fullest without regrets and also reminding him that papers are out there.

RJ and G didn’t see things eye to eye with decisions that G made in his life afer their teenage years. At least, he was straight up and confronted G about it. He didn’t understand and also disagree with G’s decision to join and serve in the US military. G simply told RJ that he wanted to see the world instead of being stuck in a small pond like a frog. Plus, while living in Queens, NY, G heard that California girls were unforgettable – daisy dukes and bikinis on top. Also, if G had to write a book about his life, he wanted to write more than just “I worked at a company for 20+ years in the same place, had a family and died”. That was just the simple version of it. Regardless of what whoever thought, it was a necessary process and evolution for G. Without the US Navy and its trainings, G would still be an ignorant lazy bum who went nowhere in his life with nothing to look forward to. Maybe he might’ve settled with some cornuto woman that he didn’t even truly love and had a kid or two out of depression or desperation. Even worse, he could’ve been a crackhead and eventually died after becoming a oxycodon or fentanyl addict. Who knows?

On top of that, RJ didn’t fully understand or know Korean history. In South Korea, when you become a certain age, it was mandatory for all men to serve in the military regardless of who they were. This is not because South Koreans are bloodthirsty warmongering violent killing machines. When you get f**ked over so many times, you are left with not many choices. And it didn’t matter if you were a super popular singer or athlete with a shit load of money, you had to join the military. There are ways to get out of that predicament such as moving and immigrating to another country. If RJ fully understood the history of Korea, then he wouldn’t have to question twice about G’s decision to join the US Navy even though G didn’t have to join the military at all and go through all the BS that came with it.

If there was one thing G would like to know or figure out about RJ: why RJ never got in touch with G or even mention about G while he was being treated for his illness in the hospital before he passed away? Did he feel guilty about what was said or happened regarding G behind his back or was it his blind loyalty to others within his social circle? Regardless of whatever happened, G would have definitely visited RJ in the hospital once a week or two no matter what even though G had so much shit he had to go through at that time after his surgery and everything else. RJ had plenty of time in the hospital to reflect on his life and everything else, and there was nobody who made him laugh like G with his witty comments and antics. After all, RJ was the number one audience to G’s jokes and stories. Poppa G would never know.