When I arrived in Oakland, I knew that I was here on the kind of business that would take me a while and so that knowledge, and my budget made it so that hotels and such were out of the question in terms of lodging. Also, having been gone from the Town so long, basically six years with only one visit, I have essentially cut ties with most people here who I knew on a sundry basis. I don't have any "friends" at home anymore. All I have left in Oakland is family and enemies. Sometime these are the same people condensed into one.  My family is a very diverse, extended family. We go from the basement to the penthouse and every floor in between.  When I first got back I went to an ex's house which is where I stayed for the first few days. This person who I will call Big A lives outside the Town but all of here children and grandchildren come to her house for their hideaway and kickback time. What happened was that, her grandson, would  be going to work furlough within two weeks of my arrival, was staying out at her place at the same time I was. He was going to work furlough for brandishing an AK47 at somebody. So most nights where filled with the constant smell of marijuana smoke, grandson and his homies posting up in the living room, and Big A in her room (this is a one bedroom) smoking crack with her girlfriends or whoever came by while I sat off to the side most nights, with a 40 oz.,trying to get someone to take a look at my plan, to share a decent and intimate conversation with me about my experience away, and what I hoped to do while I was back. I was, for the most part ostracized but remained observant. The next place I went was to my God Brother's house which he bought and moved to sometime during the period since my one visit back. Brother E lives his life almost like a prisoner up in his beautiful house on the hill because he hates the attitudes and behaviors of a lot of flat land people and he doesn't really want them to even know where he lives. However, we were the special guests and VIP's at a show which happened during this period, which was produced by my other God Brother (D's) production outfit so in the course of doing that we came off the hill. Now when the brother is on the hill he's totally different than the cat he is on the flat lands. In fact, to a large degree, his bevahior on the flat lands contributes to a lot of what is negative down there: proliferating in drugs and drug abuse, drunk driving, smashing through the hood in a chaotic manner, showing no respect.  When we leave the flat lands do we come back with anything decent? Do our behaviours change when we are on the hill but when we are on the flats we exhibit and therefore promulgatethe behaviors of savages?