My Cousin In A Farming Community In Vacaville

Raphael Singleton
Professor Strawn
English 300
2 May 2013
Know your neighbor How well do you know your neighbor? Visiting my cousin in a farming community in Vacaville, there is no telling who actually lives next to you. My cousin Albert, a tall slender goofy man who is very animated, offers me a job helping him take down and trim a neighbors crops. “Hey Raph! You wanna make some money?” Albert asks me knowing I hate it when he calls me “Raph”. “Doing what?” I respond in an irritated tone. “Miss Martha has a late crop ready to cut and she needs help, but there is over 10 plants bigger than me,” he proudly tells me, “and I can't do it alone.”. I hesitate, knowing that the crop is marijuana! Remembering this assignment, I decide this could
Why is so run down on the outside?” I asked Miss Martha. She replied “Thank you I try to keep it up. The outside is a front to keep nosy neighbors out my business. No one expects to find $25,000 dollars worth of ganja in a place like mine.”. I asked Miss Martha how long had she lived in this house, she told me she had been living there by herself for 20 years. She explained to me her children lived in New Orleans and she had not seen them since she came to California in 1982. “How long have you been growing weed here?” I asked. Miss Martha told me she had been growing marijuana for 18 years. She met a man that she fell in love with. He lived in clear Lake and he taught her to grow over 25 years ago. She had been growing weed since 1989. I asked about this man she fell in love with. She told me he is her husband and he is in jail. Miss Martha refused to talk more about him, so I moved on. I wonder if she ever had went to jail from growing. She told me she has come close several times but she had not ever been caught for growing and now she is legit. She has what is known in California as a 99 plant growers license, meaning she can't be arrested by state officials for growing as long as she follows the guidelines and regulation required by the state. “Having so much weed and no one here with you, have you ever been robbed?” I reluctantly asked. “Yes and I made those thieving SOBs pay for it!” Miss Martha shouts “Yeah cousin, she shot one of them in the back with her shoty over there!” Albert says pointing to the shotgun resting on the wall. I asked her what was the most money she ever made selling weed. Miss Martha told me when she was 37 she sold ten pounds to a cruise ship owner in Los Angeles for $35,000 dollars. She told me she can grow up to 40 pounds every 3 to 6 months and she can get $1200 to $4000 dollars a pound depending on quality and who buys it. After about 4 hours of trimming we weighed out what we had trimmed.