The Return to the Dirty D
We got arrested a few months after we moved into that house in Detroit, and it was the experience we were having in Detroit which attracted us to the house we were later arrested at, considering that it was a gorgeous abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. We'll share more about the house we were arrested at in another article, as it really deserves one all its own. The next bit we will share in this saga is the return to Detroit after the arrest, after we had been robbed blind while we were incarcerated. I think it's important to share it because it shows partially why it was so easy to just leave in terms of making the decision; as well as the true effect that the arrest had on our lives. This is certainly not something we alone have faced either, as many American's face losing everything every day due to drug charges.
We were gone for about 4 weeks with the arrest, the jail time and everything. Within a week, our house was broken into and everything of value was stolen out of it. We had friends and neighbors watching the place, but from what we were told it was as soon as those people were gone and busy that we were robbed. From what we can tell, these same "watchers" did a lot of the taking before they left the neighborhood, probably due to the fact that we were returning. They took everything everything from: computers, to generators, personal belongings, tools, grow equiptment. We don't have a total in terms of how much money was lost in terms of value but we know that it was a lot, basically everything we had.
I found out we had been robbed when I got out of jail and reconnected John's phone number. I received messages from our friends in Detroit reporting we had been robbed in the time we were gone, wondering where we were and if we were coming back. When I called the friends who had texted me, they reported that there wasn't much left when they were there, they saved things like our seed stock and some other things. For the most part, unless they kept everything of value, they didn't save much. We have our suspicions with these people, figuring they were way more involved than they said, although we have no proof. We got back to Detroit as soon as we could to assess the losses, which took a couple of days.
In that time, we were deciding how we were going to handle our case. We immediately discussed Mexico and decided that if the case didn't seem like it was to be dropped, we were heading south. We went to the lawyers office in that week and spoke to him about the case. He said there was definetely a lot of corruption in that county, that sometimes it doesn't matter if you're right if they've already decided you're wrong. A few days and a few drug tests that I couldn't pass later, the judge told me I had to pass a drug test in 2 days(when I had failed the one the day before) or I would go back to jail with an additional charge.
We looked into just how long it takes for THC to leave your urine if you're a constant heavy user, like I am. In the few weeks before the arrest I had consumed a half ounce of dabs to myself, plus marijuana and edibles. The research we found said with similar consumption rates it can take from 35-95 days before a negative drug test. What that told me was that I wasn't going to pass that drug test in two days, and that we needed to head south. We started preparations immediately, first determining we needed to go back to Detroit and assess the situation there. We had options in Oregon as well, but we wanted to try Detroit first as we had work there in the fall if we wanted it and we had thus far already had good experiences there.
When we got to the D, we walked through the house, which was trashed. At the time we had a friend John had met in jail with us, who he was showing Detroit as he was considering coming with us on our adventure. This return was both for assessing our losses and our options. Our things were strewn everywhere, what was left anyway. Our house looked like many in the neighborhood, only the difference was the personal items, pictures, papers clothes and such strewn about were our items, not some unnamed stranger's. I will say its a crazy experience adventuring through abandoned houses in the hood and picking through what's left, the remains of the people who once lived there. It's even crazier when you walk through your own house, and see your things strewn about haphazardly in the same way, without care. It looked as if we had been gone for months or years, not just a few weeks. I'm sure there's at least some of our things still thrown around that house, despite our cleaning efforts, unless someone took over the property and cleaned it out again completely.
Upon meeting with friends, we found that some of them had taken some of our things and held onto them, of course intending to use them if we never came back. Most of the things of value had already been taken by the time they decided to go through our house. Most of them had no idea what happened to us, and were floored when we told them the story. As we were not able to contact anyone, everyone assumed we were gone for good and we got taken advantage of as a result. It was common for people to come into that neighborhood, get freaked out and leave without notice.
We aren't sure who started the robbery, but we do know that at one point just about everyone in the community had gone through the house, scavenging anything they could find of value to them. We have our suspicions of who started it but nothing concrete. One neighbor told us there was a line at the door, with people going in and out with stuff. We got some of our things back from some of our friends, but we left them with most of what we found as we knew we would be leaving it behind anyway.
We discussed our situation and plans with friends. While they somewhat thought it was extreme to run, they did agree to the fact that that neighborhood was the best place to do it, at least for a little while. We talked of the caldean man in the neighborhood that has been illegally living in that neighborhood in Detroit for over 25 years at this point. The people I was closest to in jail, after hearing how my case was going suggested I go back to Detroit and never come back. It was definately a good place to disappear, and it helped that we had that community there that already knew and a house that we had already inhabited.
Within a week, we were back staying at that house in Detroit, and did so for 6 weeks until we moved on to Oregon at the promise of better work options in the cannabis industry. The 6 weeks we spent there that fall are an epic story alone, one saved for a day not far in the future. This is where Renegade really comes into our story, the most misunderstood dog I've ever known. We basically worked non-stop, attempted to survive, save money and stay out of trouble. Our community helped us in any way they could, allowing us free access to everything from their gardens to tools.
Despite being robbed, we love Detroit and we felt at home there. It's not because we lived in the D that we were robbed, it was because we left our house unprotected with all of our belongings in the hood. We were robbed in Cleveland while we were sleeping, it happens everywhere, not just Detroit. The growing problem within the states is that there happen to be a lot of poor, desperate shitty people who have had shit values instilled in them. It leads to a society where the people that should be working together are against each other. Honestly, if I ever do go back to the states(once the government falls of course), I'll probably go to Detroit or New Hampshire. I love the climate of both, but I definately love the people, culture and weed of Detroit.
Most people have a preconception of Detroit and what life is like there, just like they do of Mexico. Actually having lived there, I know the true reality of Detroit. I see the reality of Mexico every day I live here, and it's not what the news is telling you. What I've found is both are amazing places full of strong amazing people. Both places are not without their problems, but I still have yet to hear of ANY nice place on the planet without some problems.
We refer to Detroit as America's little Mexico and have for a long time. This has to do with the attitude of the people who live there primarily, and how they live their lives. There's the attitude that you can do what you want, just so long as you're not hurting anyone else. People are doing what they need to survive and thrive, with little care as to what the government thinks, as it's really too bankrupt and useless to do anything about it. There's an air of freedom there, that I've not found anywhere else in the US.
There's also the public perception aspect that makes Mexico and Detroit very similar. When I told family I wanted to move to Detroit, they told me I was to be shot and killed. They said there was nothing for me there and it was a terrible idea to consider moving there. What I really found was that it was much freer, and in many ways was exactly what I was looking for. People told me the same about Mexico. The move to Detroit was the best choice I had made in terms of moves up until that point, the only better move in my opinion being the one to Mexico. My only regret about moving to Mexico is just not having done it sooner. In many ways I feel the same about Detroit. Just goes to show you, don't believe what people say about a place before you've actually experienced it. There's a lot more to these places than meets the eye. I'll say here the only place in the states that I long to return to is the D, for me its home, more like home than anywhere else I've lived...before Mexico.
