"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever been?""When...

"What’s the most frightened you’ve ever been?"
"When my mom died."
"How old were you?"
"Sixteen."
"Where was your Dad?"
"Not around."
"How’d she die?"
"AIDS."
"What’d you do?"
"Dropped out of school. Hung out with friends. Drank a lot. In certain neighborhoods, the whole community would have a charity drive if your parents died. Not in my neighborhood. We were on our own. I’m a youth counselor now. Some of the kids I deal with try to tell me how tough they are because they’re from the ‘streets.’ I tell them: ‘You aren’t tough. You’re barking at the wrong tree. I grew up in hell.’"