A: It was in the Ninth Ward on Clouet Street, right by Carver school. So all that is gone. All that is tore up. Everything through there; I mean everything. I mean, I rode through that area on that boat for three days hollering at people. People hollering at me, “Hey, hey, we all need help!!” and we just rode around saying, “You all want to come?”

A few people came, a lot of people just stood on top of their roofs, man. I guess eventually the helicopters, they did come, or that’s what I heard, but me and my cousin we probably got about forty people from out there, at least. My aunt said about fifty, but I think she may be exaggerating just a little bit. I say roughly about forty.

We had this lady Miss Ruby, she was an older lady, and her brother. I don’t reckon his name. Out of all the older people we got, we missed Miss Ruth, and I feel so bad, man, but we didn’t know she was in there. My uncle Richard who you met, he said, “Come on get that boat, they have a boat in their yard,” but since we saw the boat across the street, you know, the boat that was submerged, we didn’t think about that boat because of the boat across the street, but all that while Miss Ruth was in the house. Her and her brother, and we didn’t know. The water came in so high and so fast we didn’t even realize they had people in there. Really, you know? We were standing right there in the storm, so we can see everything, so we are thinking people are out. You see all this water rolling in like this, couldn’t be nobody in the house, you know?

The next thing you hear from a distances, “Hey!” My aunt stood up and said “You hear that?” and I say, “Heard what?” She said, “I thought I heard somebody.” “Heard somebody where, it sounded like I heard somebody too.” And I am like tripping, and we hear “Hey!” and my aunt stood up and she said, “Oh Lord Jesus,” just like that, “Oh Lord Jesus, look at those two babies out in that water, Lord.” Just like that. So I look down and see the kids in the water, so I pulled off my pants, and in my under clothes, jumped right in the water, and I start swimming towards those kids. I don’t know, I can think about it now, but at that time I wasn’t thinking. It was reacting. I guess you can say that. I am not one to say that, but that is probably what it was because I thought nothing of myself, whatsoever. I didn’t think. I guess it was a reaction, and my aunt went off. She panicked and she was hollering, “Oh Lord Jesus! No! You can’t swim in that water.” With the wind at like 70 mph and all, and I say “I’m all right, I’m all right” and got one of these long four-by-fours, these woods, you know? I knew one thing. I am not that crazy. I know that board is going to float, so I got the board and treaded up to the kids, and I actually hollered at the little girl to hold on to a telephone post because she was the one that was really in trouble, as far as in the water, but the brother was a pretty good swimmer. He was a sturdy swimmer and he was egging me on, you know what I am saying? He was fifteenyears old, and I am forty-two, you know what I am saying? He made me get a little power, you know what I am saying, because brother, I was like conking out in that water, you know what I am saying? It all went good, the kids was all right, when they got on the porch, they wanted to tell about their mother and they had two more sisters, a little baby brother, momma, man, all these other fuckers were in the attic, so we had to paddle two blocks, you know what I am saying, to get them out of the attic and shit, you hear me? We got them, brought them down, my aunt kicked in and she was taking care of everybody. We went down to the store. We did a little looting too, but we was doing it for a good thing. We went down to get food and shit, and fed all the people we got. Like I was telling you about earlier, I am an opportunist, all I am thinking about is money. I don’t want to be thinking about saving nobody. I just be thinking of my pocket, you hear me? All that changed down there. I changed. Once I started getting all those people man, I forgot all about money. It was something bigger than that, and brother, it felt good to me, you hear me? I know at one time, I used to be a dirty motherfucker, but getting those people felt good to me, you hear me? Brung out the beast in me. The power of the beast, a survivor man, and all that time, this one time in my life, actually the second time because I gave my momma one of my kidneys—I donated my mother a kidney when I was seventeen—but anyway it felt good that a second time in my life I did something good. Not even thinking that I wanted to do something good, I just did it.

I am probably talking to you, because I probably felt like talking, but all my family is good. All I am really missing right now is my kids. We kinda got, kind of like scattered apart from my babies you know? I see everybody with their families, their children. I never had a father, but I love my kids man. Shit’s rough here, bro. Motherfucker means well, motherfucker means to be there, but it’s rough. Feels like the motherfucker has the money, but the motherfucker be straight. I don’t care if you live over their in Cairo, Egypt, if I got some money, I will come see you. You ain’t got no money, you can’t move. You know it’s rough, man. I got my head above water. Their daddy, survival of the fittest, for real, you hear me? I got one, soon I got no motherfucking kidney, but I am not going to let this beat me, you hear me? That is how I ride. I don’t fear death man, fuck that. On the same token I am going to take care of me. If I can get twenty more years out of this body, I want it. I am going to squeeze every piece of life I can squeeze out of it. because I found that. I know how important that is now. I do. I never thought ever before in my life about smelling the flowers. I smelled the flowers. I know what life is, I know how motherfuckers take it for granted too. Never know until it is all gone, twinkle of an eye, bro, twinkle of an eye and it will all be gone, you know? It’ll be like your boy in Ghost then, Patrick Swazye. Trying to find your way home, you hear me?

Listen, right before this flood came up, listen man, I wanted to leave this motherfucker. I was so disgusted with New Orleans, like I was saying about Dallas. Like I want to leave Dallas. It was the same. I was disgusted with New Orleans. But, what do they say, you never know a good thing until it is gone? Check this out, I’m missing this home, and all my family is missing home, all of us is talking about it. We got a big family, a big family bro, about 120 of us and damn near all of them in Dallas. Some of them in California, but mostly in Dallas, and they are disgusted, you don’t even know. “Lord have mercy," they say, “I want to go home.” And they need to get ready. It’s going to be three years. Brother man, they trying tell me they’re going to build this shit up in a year? That is what people think. People here are so messed up man. People asking about money. I don’t want no money, just fix my house up. Seriously, I have heard several people say that, and I try to hold a little, a little number in my head, seeing how many people are going buy a brand new car, you know what I am saying? But I have heard, mainly women, not guys, I guess I’ve been around conservative women, but these are young women. They say they don’t want no money, but if the people would get them a house, fix it up, spend my money like that, that is a pretty good deal. I think they should give everybody the chance to be an owner, and your going to get that back, kick backs. You know how that works when one hand works the other?