"A PLACE TO BE KING"
The True Story and Journey Of A South Central
Los Angeles Talent Who Pursued Fame On His Own Terms
Excerpt
On February 9, 1971 Los Angeles suffered a devastating earthquake that registered 8.4 on the Richter scale. Four months later on June 13, 1971 I was born in Los Angeles, California. I believe the magnificence of an earthquake in the same year as my birth was significant to me in how my life turned out. Not that my life turned into this one, big natural disaster, it didn’t. I do believe, however, that there is a the connection between my birth and an earthquake. An earthquake is a shocking surprise that leaves a path of destruction and sadness in its aftermath. Allow me to explain.
My birth mother, Betty Lee Williams, was a business major at USC University. Betty met my father an Ethiopian Exchange Student at USC named Mengēsha Feseha (Fe-say-hah). Betty, was tall, not too tall and thin, and she was dark complexioned. My father was also tall, but lighter complexioned and he had a thick African accent. Betty and Mr. Feseha met at a party one night during college mid-terms. I must state that even though she was academically sound and received good grades, Betty loved to have a good time. The very night they met Mr. Feseha and Betty partied and had a one-night stand. After that brief encounter Betty found herself pregnant with me.
As I mentioned an earthquake is a shocking surprise that leaves a path of destruction and sadness in its aftermath. In this case the “shocking surprise” was me. The “sadness” had to do with my father, Mr. Feseha who, after learning Betty became pregnant, told her he “did not come to the United States to become a daddy.” He immediately returned to Ethiopia to finish his studies and left Betty by herself with a baby in her belly. The “path of destruction” was when Betty, upon realizing Mr. Feseha would not be there for her, made a fateful decision. That fateful decision did not involve Betty struggling to work and maintain as best she could for the good of her child. That decision did not mean Betty would find a man, any man she could grab hold of to help her take care of another man’s responsibility. The idea of missing her partying ways bothered Betty so much that she simply lost her motivation to care for her unborn child. Betty's lack of parental concern could have become very "destructive" for her child who might have walked a "path of destruction" or been left for dead or abused or abandoned. Fortunately, that child’s path was paved with hope.
When I was six months old, December 30, 1971, Betty was invited to a New Years Eve party. She desperately wanted to go, but she did not have a babysitter. Dorothy and Earnest Francis, a childless couple, stepped in. Betty met Dorothy when Dorothy was the care giver to an elderly women who lived next door to Betty. Dorothy gladly offered to baby sit while Betty attended the party. Later that night, however, Betty did not collect her child. 9:30 that next morning on New Year’s day the phone rang at Dorothy and Earnest’ house. It was Betty asking Dorothy to keep her child a little longer while she went job hunting. Neither Dorothy nor Earnest questioned Betty nor did they not inform her that New Year’s day is a holiday.
From New Year's day 1972 forward the Francis’ accepted their new responsibility. I did not see Betty again for five years and when I did, she was going to a party.
Excerpt taken from Chapter 1 - "The Big One, 1971"
