“Has that been by choice?”
“No. It’s just that I’ve encountered so much bullshit…you know, liar after cheater…after player…after even a wanna-be abuser—that of course didn’t last long because I don’t do too well with people hitting me. So, I just want something real and honest. If that means you being honest and saying you have a girlfriend, or you can’t control your temper, or you can’t tell the truth to save your life, or you like guys just as much as you like women—give me that up front. This way I can make an informative decision as to whether or not I can deal,” I was preaching with conviction.
“Damn! You had one of those?” Azmir’s mouth twisted into a rueful smile, referring to bisexual men.
I snorted, “Yeah, man. I’ve encountered them all!” I sighed and we laughed.
The waitress came back with our food and refills on our drinks not too long after the conversation heated up. Azmir did a little opening up himself. He told me that he had moved around a lot as a child. He’d even lived in Chicago for a few years. I wasn’t expecting him to disclose that he lost his father to the streets in the line of duty. His father was a cop and was killed when Azmir was twelve years old. He didn’t speak much about his mother other than saying she wasn’t in California. He said when things grew out of control in Brooklyn after his father’s passing his mom moved him out to Chi-town. However, out there he started getting into trouble and was incarcerated. So that’s where his rough nature comes from?
Azmir shared how he spent two years in a juvenile detention center. When he was released he had nowhere to go because his mother left town without notice. He was almost homeless until a friend of his father’s came to help him out. He maintained the bills in Azmir’s mother’s apartment when he was only sixteen and registered him in school. They made a deal; Azmir would get into no trouble and stay under the radar so he wouldn’t need this “guardian” to visit the school. He paid all of Azmir’s expenses and even paid for a top tutoring program to catch him up in his studies.
Azmir graduated 3rd in his class. The scholarships came pouring in for college. Stanford was one of many options but the one he chose. Azmir said he only completed three years there because the idea of starting his own business was calling his name. He worked dog hours and saved up enough to start throwing local parties. He made enough from that venture to open up his first bodega. After having two in South Central, Azmir set his sights on higher heights and opened up a unisex salon. That venture led to two more salons; one was a barbershop and the other was a beauty salon exclusively for women.
As we enjoyed our meal, Azmir said he grew hungrier for success by the minute. He had grown up with a few well-known rap artists of today and they put him onto a new means of entrepreneurship. He said these everyday people had made it big and started opening up restaurants and clubs. So he and Petey opened a strip club though that was primarily Petey’s business. He next moved to the club we visited a week or so ago called, “The Joint” and things took off from there.
Azmir said the amazing thing is that all of his businesses, with the exception of the bodegas, still exists and are thriving today. He even shared when his aspirations for mergers and acquisitions began. Azmir has had an established firm for a few years now that is flourishing. This man was doing the damn thing!