Locked In with Ian Bick - QUEENPIN Reveals How She Made $500,000 A Week | Ms Tee

Episode Date: September 3, 2023

Ms. Tee built a life of crime selling angel dust out of a designer handbag in Manhattan. One day, the hustler’s lifestyle caught up with her, and she was shot in the back. And what a time to be recovering from a gunshot wound: she had just given birth and her daughter’s father was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison. Ms. Tee traded in a life where she caused damage in her community and instead began to heal it, running various programs to help the unhoused. She’s an author and an inspiration who shares the highs and the lows of her incredible life story. Connect with Ms. Tee: http://www.shesmstee.com IG: @harlemheroine  FB: Harlem Heroine  YouTube: Straight Talk with Ms Tee Connect with Ian Bick:  https://www.ianbick.com/ 00:00 Intro  02:15 Childhood and Aspirations  09:40 Start of trouble and Operations in Harlem 15:35 Harlem Queenpins and Cops reaction 18:49 Temptations  22:18 Setup while six months pregnant  31:57 Started working a regular job  34:33 The Original 50 Cent 38:00 Return to selling and showing dominance  42:00 Brothers Passing  46:35 Power (TV SHOW)  47:43 Sharing her story  52:00 Nickname and Netflix  55:40 Therapy  57:54 Impact on Daughter  1:02:43 Life now  1:05:33 Snitching 1:06:30 Message to younger self  Subscribe to our membership program on YouTube to get early access to interviews, see behind the scenes photos, live chat with Ian & more: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRvVklIft6DMelVW18M0oBw/join Powered by Q29 Productions, LLC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Real California. Milk. Hey guys, welcome back to the Locked In with Ian Bick podcast, where you can listen and watch the full episodes on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast from. On today's episode, I have Miss T, also known as the Harlem Heroin, who has a hit Netflix documentary made about her life, on to talk about her story of growing up in Harlem, the drug trade she got into, and was exposed to at a very early age, and the defecutive. The defecutive. The defecutive finding moments that got her to get out of the drug game. Thank you guys so much for all the love and the support week after week.

We have been consistently in the top 200 podcasts for society and culture in the world. It's super exciting and we would not be here without you guys today. Make sure you guys leave us a like, a comment, a share, or if you're listening to us on our audio streaming platforms, please leave us a review. That's all I got for you guys. sit back, relax, and enjoy my interview with Miss T. Miss T, welcome to Lockton. You're our second person that's had a Netflix documentary made about them.

We had A.J. Galante from the Danbury Trashers, a few episodes back. And your team sent you your whole story, I think, like a month ago. And I'm like, wow, we need her on the show. So so happy you made the drive here today. It's great to see you. I love the necklace that says Miss T. Question, have people called you Miss Tee your entire list? life. Did you get that since childhood? My dad named me Miss T. Is that your legal name?

No. Okay. So you just went with Miss T. Yeah, that's my right. And then when I started writing, I started writing under Miss T. Okay. But my dad always called me Miss T. My name is Tanya. T. T. T. But for the most part they'll call me Tanya T. Yeah. No, was it weird being called like Miss early on? From my dad? No, just from other people. Was that your nickname? No. People recently started calling me Miss T because that's what I started writing under. Okay. And people who always called me Tanya, they now call me Miss T. I love it. It's a great nickname.

Yeah. I mean, you've gotten multiple nicknames in your life, too, which we'll get into. So your early childhood, where are you from? Where'd you grow up? I grew up in Harlem. What's that? It was fun. Harlem was fun.

You know, it was very community-oriented, you know, family-oriented. So it was good. I had a good childhood raised by. both of my parents, a strict household, because my dad was Jamaican. My mom wasn't so strict, you know, she's a Southern Dale. But I grew up with good morals and ethics, you know, respect, education. You know, my father didn't play when it came to that. So, yeah, it was pretty cool.

What did your parents do for work? My mom was a nurse, and my dad, he did a lot of business back in Jamaica. He was one of the biggest poultry distributors to like hotels and restaurants. He had a chicken farm. A chicken farm? Yeah, so he made lots of money.

I didn't really know a lot about it until after his death when my uncle would just tell me stories and stuff but I knew he would do that. He was a record producer. He was a hustler. He would, once I saw the barrels in the house, I'm like, oh, Daddy, about to go back to Jamaica. He would just fill it with all kind of stuff,

clothes, jewelry, and go down there and sell it. at a home down there. So yeah. Do you think you got that hustler mentality that would develop later on from your dad? I started recently to be like, okay, yeah, yep. You really start thinking about it. Isn't it crazy? Like how life goes on, you think and you put the dots together and you're like, oh, well, that makes sense. I got it from that person. Yes. And did you have siblings? Yeah, I have two sisters. I'm the middle child. What's that like being the middle child growing up? I guess it's true when they say the middle one is always like the crazy one or the wild one. So, yeah, because I'm the one always, you know, in trouble.

But, yeah, it's cool. It was cool. And, like, financially, how are you guys growing up? I know you said your dad was making money. Did you guys have nice things? Yeah, I always had nice things, never had hammy downs. You know, if you ask me, I'd be like, we was good, middle class. My mother'd be like, no, we was po.

She's humble. Right. But we're good. Food on the table all the time. Like, people came to my house to eat, you know, or friends that come to my house and stays so we were good yeah how did that compare your status to your friends that you were hanging out with um most of my friends was doing pretty good okay as far as family um not too many had two parent households but they did have parents that worked and made a good living so you know they weren't um

destituted without you know so how do you think your friends would describe you back then if they were here right now and I asked them. They would like one of my first, she was like, you know, even though, you know, Tanya had both her parents, but Tanya did what she want. Tanya had everything she needed. Tanya always had money. So, yeah. It's so interesting, like, to hear as a viewer how, like, you grew up well and you just, like,

you get into a whole business that you really never needed to get into with having this. Did you have, like, aspirations as a kid? Like, did you want to grow up and be something? at all? Were you thinking about that? Not when I was, well, as a teenager, I wanted to be a nurse. I guess it's in my blood because my mom is a caretaker. She loves to help people

and I wanted that too. So, you know, once I graduated high school, I did get into pre-nursing, but you know, life happened. But early on, I just had a love for dressing. So in order to dress nice and have nice things, you've got to have a lot of money.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was like, you know, I had an aunt, my favorite aunt. She was beautiful. She worked in the bars, and she dressed nice. So in junior high school, I couldn't fit her pants, but I would wear her little polyester or silk shirts with whatever pants I had to school. I dressed differently. And that's another thing people say, they'll say, you're tea dressed different.

Like, black, like the guys would be like, yeah, black was, I liked her because, like, black ain't wear sneakers. She wore shoes and silk suits. So I was a little different. And your parents were just okay with buying you that stuff? Yeah. Well, I would get the money and I'd buy my own stuff. Okay.

Yeah, like I was wearing Ellen Tracy and Adrian Vittadini early on. Yeah. What's like middle school like and early high school like for you? Is it pretty normal? What are you doing? Yeah, pretty normal. You like the nerd or are you the... I was one of the cool kids.

You were the cool kids. Okay. You know, I had my little, you know, out my little crew. He was the crew that dressed night. and, you know, the guys liked and stuff like that. Were you mean, though, or were you nice? Like, if we brought some kids here today, like other girls, would they have described you as, like, a bully? No, I wasn't a bully.

Okay. No, no, I was cool. I was cool. I was a cool kid. That's good. And did you guys have, like, activities? Do you play sports, anything? Let me jump double Dutch.

Really? I've never heard someone say that before. I never played ball or anything. I was never, like, a tomboy or nothing like that. You know, if I did do anything in school, it was double dutch. Okay. But other than that, we was, hmm, we liked the dress. We taught each other how to drive early.

So if we met a guy with a car, they couldn't tell us no because we already knew how to drive. So that's what we did. Like, what time period did you grow up? 80s. 80s? Yeah. Is Harlem a dangerous spot during that time? Like, what's the environment like?

It's crazy because even though a lot was going on, I would say, now is worse than it was then. Even though people were getting killed and things were happening, it just didn't, it wasn't reckless. It didn't seem reckless. It was like, oh, somebody got hurt probably because they did something to this particular person or something like that. But, you know, back then, like I said, to me, the streets were fun.

We had a good time. We partied. Yeah. And were you using drugs at all in high school or alcohol, anything like that? Never. Never. Never. So you always stayed clean.

Yeah. Like now I drink casually. You know, we drank back then, but drugs, no. It's always interesting to see how, like, some people that grow up to become drug dealers are the users and some are just so business-minded. Like the brothers who we were talking about that, I interviewed Lyle and Lani, they never touched drugs. They were always straight hustlers came from a good family, very similar backgrounds. And then somewhere along the lines, life brings them in a different direction. Yeah, like, even today, I can't even smoke weed.

I fainted at my family reunion like two years ago. From weed? Yeah, I did the pen. I won't do the pen. I'm a lightweight, so when I do some edibles, my cousin who is here today, we did edibles one time. It was my third interview doing the podcast early on. We did edibles the night before. I felt so hungover, and this is from weed.

It was so bad. I was like drowsy. I couldn't do it. Yeah, I can't do the edibles. So I kind of just stay away from it. My body just can't tolerate it because I'm not a smoker. Yeah. Was there anything like,

traumatic that happened to you in high school at all? High school, no. It was later on, you know, me being in the streets where things took a turn. All right, so let's get into that. You do go to college. Yes. So where does it turn, where does it start to turn then? Because you had a plan, you're going to college, you're becoming, you're going to school to become the nurse.

I met this guy. It always starts with a guy or a woman relationships. Yeah, I met this guy who was in the street and he had lots of money. And he was even giving me money to pay my school tuition. And I don't know, back then, I don't know, maybe I thought I was rich and I didn't need school or something like that. I was like, yeah, this is it. So, you know, I met him, moved in with him.

I acquired certain things when I got with him, like places to stay, cars and money. So, yeah, and that's what I was kind of like quit school. I ended up getting pregnant. And how old are you when this all happens? 21. You're 21. Yeah. Okay.

And did you know what he did for work when you got involved? Oh, yeah. Because I had already gotten to the life when I was like 16. I had started selling dust when I was like 16, 17 years old. You were selling dust at 16 or 17? Yeah. How does that even happen? Because I had an uncle that was selling dust.

it was a street, a particular street in Harlem, 13rd and 7th, and it was like so crowded with just people doing, selling everything, and it's like, damn, I want to do that. So I was like, yo, you know, let me get some of that. So he gave me some bundles.

It was called Dynamite. And I went to Hunter 23rd and sold it. I was like, okay, I like this. It was, I don't know, I guess it was just something, wanting to be a part or something, and then it's like, okay, having more money. So I got a couple of dollars from that. And I was like,

okay and he ended up getting killed the boyfriend no my uncle oh your uncle got killed he was only 19 wait wait your uncle's 19 you're 16 so is he really an uncle to be three years apart is that they're my cousins oh okay they're my cousin but back then they seem so much older and me and my sister would be like he was only 19 like it was just crazy because back then you had guys in the street that were doing things um as far selling drugs they seemed so much mature, so much more mature, like real businessmen, and they were, you know, doing these things. They seem so much older because it's like, okay, they look like they know what they're doing. But he was only 19.

It's like, damn, my aunt lost a baby, like a teenager. Wow. And when he passed away, I attached myself to his uncle. Now, he's the one who, like, I always say he's the reason why I am the woman I am, you know, him and my dad, because they were. and they taught me to be leaders. And, you know, my uncle made me feel like a boss. So when that uncle got killed, that's when crack was coming in. And it was just, it was crazy.

I've never seen anything like that. I've never seen people go crazy over a drug like that. You know, we didn't know what it was. But the money was coming in. I mean, it was just bananas. Like, we couldn't get the supply out. fast enough for the demand. So he had to hire more and more workers to cut up and bottle up and stuff like that.

So it was crazy. So I was working, you know, with him and making, you know, money. And then I ended up meeting my daughter's father now. I don't know if you guys ever heard of Fritz. Fritz is a guy, a big drug dealer from Harlem. He was called the Consignment King. I'm sure you know what consignment is. Yeah.

Yeah. I always say that he is the one that created bosses. Like he could create a boss. Like if you wanted to be a boss, he can make it happen for you. He had access to thousands of keys of cocaine. And he supplied, whether directly or indirectly, he supplied everybody from New York to Philly to wherever. And my friend was his niece.

And we would go down there. We was like, yeah, we can go down 12th Street and get some money from Friends. You know, he would give us money. We could throw free bus rides and stuff like that. So one day he was like, somebody like you. And I was like, yeah, I know who it is because I seen a guy in the house. But I didn't really like him because he dressed funny. He wasn't the usual, you know, jury and stuff like that.

But I love the way they moved because they didn't look like drug dealers. And we started talking and he seemed to be a nice guy. But at the time, I had a boyfriend that was a little dangerous. So I was like, listen, but that relationship ended and then this one started. And yeah, that's how that happened. You were just going from drug dealer to drug dealer. Yeah, kind of sort of. So selling dust at 16, how much money do you make doing that?

Is this big time, small time? For some people it was big time. But for me, just starting out, just trying to get the feel of how it is because you could, even to date, it's amazing that people still smoke that stuff. It's like, ugh. But, yeah, I might make like a couple of hundred dollars, but that was good for me, you know, because I'm like, okay, just starting out, and it was quick. So, you know, but then he ended up just dying. And that stopped everything?

For dust, because crack came in. And then we was on a roll. Was it normal for a woman to sell drugs during this time period? Yeah, because, you know, I learned that before, of course, before me, like you had some real heavy hitters as women in the 70s. like they came from 116th in Harlem. So there was some women doing their thing. You know, I never really hear about that stuff.

Yeah, you don't. You hear about the men in that time period. Right. That's interesting that there were so many women. Did you like aspire to be like them once you started selling? No, because I didn't even know about them until like as time went on later on and even just recent, you know, finding out different women. Because there's no internet back then. Right, right.

You know, you just got maybe old pictures here and there someone would put, you know, put up. And I think that's why a lot of people gravitate to Ms. T's story because it's like we never had it told from a woman's perspective, you know. But, yeah, it was definitely some women out there. Or and behind a lot of those men that were getting money, there was a woman behind that that was, you know, making things happen. Like holding them down and being the business mind. Yeah. Or even connecting them to who was doing it. How are the police reacting to this new, you know, crack era and what's coming in? They didn't know what crack was.

That's why the charges wasn't, you know, they would pick somebody up with this stuff and let them go from what I was hearing because they didn't even know what this stuff was until, you know, later on. But, yeah, they didn't, they knew something was going on by the behavior and the reaction from those that were smoking. Like, they were going crazy. They were stealing everything. They were selling themselves.

They were, you know, you could pay a crackhead to take all your clothes off and run from this block to that block and we'll give you, and they were doing it. I've never seen anything like it. And it's like, when I think back about it, it's like, oh, my God. And when I did the Netflix documentary, even though I knew some of that stuff, just looking at it, I'm like, oh, man, the devastation that it caused. And that document, that documentary, you know, It's really true.

Like the government, I mean, you can't look at it in no other way than the government setting that whole thing up and putting it in certain communities, you know, just for that purpose. And I just, it's just sad. And we ran with it. You know, those who sold it, drug, you know, they didn't really know. You know, they knew it was something that was bad probably. But, you know, that was a way that people used to feed their families and stuff like that.

Did I have to go out there? No, because I had both parents. college I was good but greed that's something so you think that was your biggest proponent oh yeah I didn't need to do that so it was all just I didn't need food you know yeah now do you now do you think if your parents grew up or raised you guys um with less money maybe in a poor status would life have been different for you because maybe you already gotten a taste of like the nice stuff and that wanted you to have more but what if you never had that taste to begin with?

I probably would have did the same thing because that's what a lot of people did who didn't have anything or grew up with anything. That gave them a chance to have money, pay bills, take care of their families. You know, I just don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I probably would have went, you know,

I was in it because I was greedy and I loved money and I just wanted more and more and to be a part of this game, you know. Did you ever get tempted to try the drug? I know you didn't, but was there any temptation? When crack came out, I was like, I wonder, because I was shot bottle and I was like, what the hell is in this thing? Now, I never even smoked a cigarette.

Me and, let me tell you this. Me and my friends, we would roll up brown paper bag and act like it was a cigarette and smoke it. We did it too, around the fire and stuff. We thought we were cool. But then I'm like, looking at this little thing. It's like, yeah, I wonder what is in this. And I'm glad I wasn't that curious because I wouldn't even know how to do it anyway, but I'm just so glad that I never said, you know, let me just, but I did wonder because

I'm like, why are these people going crazy? Because I've seen bosses start getting high because they didn't need, because, you know, everybody in the game, they either smoked weed, they probably smoked a little dust, even sniffed a little cocaine, they didn't do anything. Crack was different, different. So I've seen people who were bosses started to get high and kind of Are people dying? Are people dying from it at that time period?

No. No one's dying from it. So it's safe in that essence during that time? I mean, you could, I guess, depending on how much you smoke, but I don't recall anyone dying back then from it. So no one was really like raising too many flags about it? Right. No, they was just going crazy over it and selling everything that they could to get it.

All right. So you leave the baby's father to go to this new dealer? No, no, no, no. I left this guy. I ended up having a baby with this one. With the new one. Yeah. Okay. So what happens next in the timeline? Everything's good. This is early 20s. Yeah. Okay.

So, you know, we get together. Everything, life is good. You know, I'm just driving around or a ghost shop and I hang out with my friends. I don't I'm just living. Yeah. And then, but it was really short because in like February of 91, he gets locked up. Supposedly for a murder that happened three years prior. It wasn't like he was hiding and running. So to this day, I'm still working on his case.

He's still in prison. No, he got out in 2014. He did 23 years. And then he got deported to Barbados. That's where he's at now. But I'm still working on his case. case. And then, now one thing my father, because my father always, you know, he could see, okay,

Miss T, you love money, you love pretty shoes and things, you know, be careful. He said, listen, he always said money is the root to all evil. I will always hear that, but I'll be like, hi, daddy, you know. But Ace gets locked up in 1991. I paid $100,000. Well, the first lawyer was $25,000. Fritz gave me $40,000 cash to take to Mel Sachs. I don't know if you ever heard of Mal Sacks.

He's a very famous lawyer. He was the lawyer for Mike Tyson, Little Kim, a lot of people. So we had two, you know, attorneys. Obviously, that ain't worked out. It usually never does, but. So ACE is locked up in May. I'm sorry, February. So then May comes around.

I get a knock. Now, I'm doing business out of my mom's apartment because I'm like six months pregnant. By this time, I was real sickly. So I took over. He left everything to me to take over. The whole drug business, everything. How much is it worth what you say? I mean, it was worth a lot because, like, you know, they had, like, they were the plugs.

Everybody went to them. Like, Fritz had his thing. Ace had his own thing. And, like, he had money out there where I could collect almost a half a million dollars a week. That's a lot of money. Right. All cash. Or cash.

Or cash. And then I had keys of cocaine that I was selling. So I did a lot from my mom's house. My mom didn't know. My dad is in Jamaica. How does your mom not know that you're moving bricks? My mom's is a nurse and worked doubles. She's not about that life at all, what I'm doing.

She just working. Now, she saw that idea by a safe in front of the house. So you're keeping the money of the house? Now, this is that. I live on Fort Washington. I have apartment on Fort Washington. Washington Avenue. So every so often I would take money, take it up there, but then sometimes I get lazy. I'm just in the house, but it's in a safe. And you're pregnant.

I'm a six months. This is a wild scene, like that you're pregnant, hustling out of your mother's house, your husband or boyfriend just go to prison. And it, wow. Yes, it's, it's ridiculous, to be honest. I mean, you so. Okay, I get a knock on the door in May. My brother-in-law comes. Well, I knew he was coming to get some money. get the money, go ahead. Only a few people knew, or Fritz told me to buy the safe, because being that the ACE is locked up, whatever he gets, he going to split. He was, like, he was like the, I mean, oh, God,

I'll probably be never meet anybody like this person, this individual, and everybody who knew him, I say the same thing. Anything, he already know I'm doing my own thing. But anything that he get, I'm going to give you money, just put away for Ace. That's what a real partner does. So anyway, the brother leaves. I tell you no lie. It had to be maybe less than five minutes later.

I get a knock on the door. Now, I told my little sister, she was 15 at the time to be upstairs at a certain time, you know, because she was outside hanging out. And somebody says, you know, they knock. Somebody says, Tanya, I open up the door thinking it's her. Three people with masks, one down on me, two guys and a girl. And a bra on panties, stomach out the hair. and I'm like, yo, I fall to the floor,

so I'm swatting the guns out my face because I don't want them to go off. And he said, take me to the safe. That's when I knew I was being set up. By your brother-in-law, you think? Yeah, eventually. But you didn't know at the time. Soon as he left, I called my mother-in-law.

I said, your son just set me up. And it's about to be over for him. Oh, for real. So I was like, I just couldn't believe it. So, you know, I took him to be. the safe and I wasn't scared and people probably don't believe that but I was think I think I was more in shock that y'all in my house disrespected me like that's what I was thinking so the girl was like don't worry Tony you're going to be okay like she knew me they had masks on so I couldn't see anybody

she took my uh engagement ring off my finger I'm just like so I'm in front of the safe I'm acting as if I forgot the combination but I didn't I'm just thinking even And I'm just like, because I'm still in shock. Like, really? So one guy says, I'm a killer. I said, then you ain't getting nothing. Because the safe was heavy. I literally had to get on my knees and push it if I needed to move it.

I was like, I'll be a dead rich bitch in here because y'all not getting nothing. And I really spoke like that because I was just like, I was just still feeling like I'm being, y'all disrespecting me right now. So the girl says, Tanya, you know, wherever you're going to be okay. So he says, get on the bed and put the pillow on your head. I said, I'm not doing that. Because sometimes you have people who want to know how it feels to, because they watch too much television. You want to know how it feels.

Nah, if it's coming, I'm going to look right at it because I'm not going to put no pillow on my head. So, you know, people say, I couldn't do what you did. But, you know, at some time, some point you got to play the cause that you're dealt. I said, listen, y'all could tie me up. Y'all could take all of this just don't hurt me and my baby. So he ripped the telephone wire out, tied it around. I got on the bed. The mattress that I was on, there was a little pearl handle 380 under it.

But I wasn't going to try nothing because it's like them against me. Let me just see if this works. So they tied me up. They took, I had just sold two keys of cocaine to somebody that was like down with the family. Not my family, like the Fritz family, the drug family. So it was money. It was jury And the most

It was a big bag of weed That Ace had left behind or whatever I didn't smoke it It was, you know And it was a book A ledger that I kept And that's the only thing That concerned me

Because in that ledger I had names Amounts of money they owed What work was out in the street So that concerned me more than anything Because money you could You can make money And they left and they took it.

That was all in the safe, the book and everything? Yeah, everything was there, yeah. Was this like your first time you've ever been in a violent act as like a drug dealer? Yeah. And what were you feeling after? Disrespected. I was just mad. I was just like, I just can't believe because I know my brother-in-law did it because

it's too much of a coincidence that it happened right after he left. First of all, you didn't even do it, right? But I feel like maybe he came to see who was in the apartment. And I'm so glad that my sister was. wasn't there because she's a fighter. She's not going out like that. She wouldn't have been calm and thinking like me. Like, you know, let me just make them feel comfortable.

She's a fighter because, you know, she fights in the streets. So, and she's very, you know, she would be very paranoid thinking that something like this won't end well. So she's going to try to fight her way out of it. And God is so good because when she came upstairs, my best friend's brother stopped her at the elevator. He never had a conversation like this with her before. I have to say that that was a higher being that stopped her there. So when they were talking, they heard the door slam. Boom.

They heard the people running and heard the staircase door slam. And they looked and didn't see anything. So she ended up coming to house. As soon as she came to the door, I opened up the door. And I was like, yo, they just robbed me. Let's take the stairs. And when we got to the first floor, I saw hoodies and masks. They took everything off because we had security in the building

and left it right there and walked out. So what do you do? What happens next? What's a retaliation? Okay, I dealt with the previous boyfriend. He had a crew up town, and my daughter's godfather was the boss. So after I told Fritz, he wasn't really saying what I wanted to hear, you know. You know, he was ill at the time and sick and, you know, he was saying,

the person is from in that building. I'm like, I don't want to hear this shit. What are you talking about? I know who did it. But when I went to my daughter's godfather, he was like, listen, the girl, and I don't want people to think that, you know, but it is what it is.

There was music to my ears. He was like, when we catch the girl, we're going to cut her fingers off because she want to take your ring. That's what I wanted to hear. My brother-in-law, he's going to be dead. Because once I spoke to Ace, I'm like, he's a garner.

Because this particular crew, And I've always had people around me that were protectors and would, you know, I just had, always had people that could do things. And that's what I wanted to hear because I'm like, anything could have happened in that apartment. They could have killed me. Like, I don't know these people you sent. And then you had one feeling like, yeah, I'm a killer and put the pill on your head. I'm like, did you think this through before you had these people come in my home? but to this day, I don't know the three people that came in.

You never found out. Never found out. Never got the money, nothing. No. But I didn't, that didn't, I didn't care. I know who sent them, you know, my brother-in-law, and I'm like, you're going to get it. I don't care about them because they went to came if it wasn't for you, you know. I didn't see him until 12 years later.

Twelve years later. Looking crazy. And maybe cracked out. I don't know. And he walked right by me. And I was like... Why 12 years? You had just seen him that day.

He went away somewhere. He never... And then my husband, my daughter's father at the time, he didn't want to believe it. But when his brother, neighbor never came back to visit him in prison, he was like, it was him. He knew I wasn't lying about being set up or whatever. And, you know, like my father said, money is the... like, why did you do that? Did you get mad because he left it with me?

You know, you're not even built like that to do this, you know? You don't have the smarts. And everybody is not meant to be a boss. So, and, you know, but again, I tell people that's the consequences sometimes of being, you know, in a game and, you know, doing these things. There's always a consequence. Jail, death. Some people escape it. Lucky them.

But you never thought about the consequences back then. No. Now, did you like the power, like the power of being connected knowing that if you wanted someone, her or anything, like you could call up people, you had access? Yeah, that's all me and my sister, we ever, all we had to do was make a phone call. That's a lot of power to have. So you double down after this. You don't get scared off by the robbery and say, I'm giving it up. Right.

It was like, you know, now I kind of double down. It's just like, I'm going to have this baby. That was a scary and traumatic, you know, situation because it's like, you know, it's real. It just let you know that what can happen. And I stopped for a little while. Went back to like, what did I do? I became a home health aide. You started working a regular job.

Yeah, yeah, I started. How do you go from drug queen bid to working a regular job? Listen, because my daughter of fall was like, not. this is not it. And he's not here to protect me, you know, even though I had people out there, but it's like, and then, okay, that was in May, Fritz, the king, he passes away in August. So the person that took over, he just didn't, we felt he didn't do right by the family because it was me, it was my daughter's gone, mother, and someone else, just out there

without no work. and I didn't have access to the Colombians and things like that because this other person took over. Had my daughter father not with the prison, he would have been the next one in charge. So, you know, my daughter-gallmother was like, I want to introduce you to somebody. So I met the guy.

He was going to hit us with some coke. So I told my daughter's godfather, I said, listen, my daughter's godmother, you take over. Let him hit you, you hit me. He ends up getting killed. So we had no work again. So it was just like, okay, maybe it's just time to just chill the hell out. And that's what I did.

I said, let me raise this little girl, you know what I'm saying, and get my life together. Do you get your life together or do you go back to the drug business? Well, like later on, but me knowing people and being involved with certain people, that was like 91 that happened. Everything was going on right for a few years. My, that old boyfriend, he had a crew. And in 1994, a friend of mine, 50 cent, he was from my block. 50 cent, the real 50 cent. No, the original 50 cent is from Brooklyn.

Okay. The rapper 50 cent and my 50 cent, they both got their names from this one. So there's multiple 50 cents running around. But the original one died and I think in like 87. Okay. He was the original 50 cents. So 50, he was in prison and somebody said that he wrote, if you kind of look at them, they almost kind of resemble.

They named him 50 in prison after the, you know, the guy because he was doing the same thing that that 50 cent was doing. Yeah. And he was, you know, me and him grew up together. We was in kindergarten together, and he ended up having a problem with these guys from hometown as cool because that boyfriend that I left, he had, he was tough. He was a gangster, for real, like, you know, like a one-man army, not needing anybody, but he had a crew.

And some people from that crew had a beef with 50. and they ended up basically killing him right in front of me but during that shootout I got shot you got shot yeah how old are you I'm 24 of 5 at the time okay yeah where do you get shot here in your chest well I got well it went through my back

like maybe an inch from my spine and it came out my right my left breast and um it's so crazy I didn't feel it, but I fell on the ground. But somehow I knew I'm like, you, I'm hit. And I'm with my cousin. She never seen nothing like that. So she's standing here like, so I was like, I got a, got in the taxi and took myself to Harlem Hospital.

You took your own self to the hospital? Yeah, 50 late. Once 50 fell in front of me, the only thoughts that went through my head was my daughter's upstairs, her father's gone, and I can't have my mother find me out here under a sheet. I just can't die like this so I got up jumped in a cab a guy from my block jumped in with me and um of course they saved my life 50 rolled in they rolled him in and I basically watched them open him up massage his heart and try to save his life and he die right there and what are your thoughts what are your feelings going on in that moment at that moment I was like because I know who did it

and I had screamed out one of the guy's names. Not thinking that they would hurt me because my daughter's godfather was the boss of this crew, but I was nervous and I told the people don't put my name down there because I don't want people to find out my room number and stuff. You know, my father's in the emergency room like, ooh, did it, ooh did it, just tell me, don't talk to the cops, just tell me, you know, my father, he was a gangster too.

But I was like, Daddy, I got this. I'm in there talking about I got something. I ain't got shit. I'm like, I'm like, Daddy, Just chill, just chill. But, um... Yeah, are your parents concerned for you at this point? Or my mom, you know, she's always been a praying mother, you know.

She's always very mild-mannered, you know. My dad, he's like, I just want to find out who did it. Forget why, what you was into. Because one thing about him, when they come to his kids, he going to bat for his kids. He'll go to prison for his kids. He'll die for his kids. So, you know, that's when it's like, okay, chill out.

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But I didn't really do anything until, you know, a couple of years late, I did get into the heroin game because my little brother got into it heavy and was doing his thing, and this was like around 98, 99. So you took like 10 years off, almost. But that was about six years.

Six years off? Five or six years. Did you have enough money saved up to still maintain your? lifestyle then? Yeah, because I had enough money to take care, but again, I still had to take care at ease. He was in prison. So you're sending him money? I paid, I paid for his appeal. I was paying investigators. So, you know, money going down. And then I had to end up, I had rent to pay. I had two apartments. I had three apartments. I downsized one. And then let one, ended up let one go.

I had the one on Fort Washington I let my oldest sister and my nephew stay in there while I stayed with my mom but you know money's just going out and I really nothing coming in. So are you guys like accounting or anything? And then no. No account. And then I got so many people

on the street that owe money. So I'm rolling up the people where that money at you know this and you know they're looking at me you know I'm young and like you know and they don't some guys didn't really like my approach but it's like did you not like my approach or you just don't like the fact that I'm a female trying to get my money, you know?

But of course a lot didn't pay or they had the stories. Oh, we got hit by the cops. And it's like I can't, and then my crew, my old crew that I could always call, they all went, feds swept all of them up. So I didn't have them no more. Had you have kept dealing, would you have been picked up? Do you think in that sweep? Not in that suite because they was doing the own thing of town.

That thing included murder and drugs, so I ain't have nothing to do with none of that. But I don't know if I had never got robbed, you know, and was really going. I never know what would have happened, you know. You just never know. People are jealous or, you know, they just, you know, want to do it just because. As a female drug dealer, how do you, like, assert dominance and showing that you're not to be screwed with that they can they have to pay you how do you do that I've always just had that in me I'm not you know again I was raised by my father to be tough like I grew up in a jamaican household

and he didn't play and I just always had that in me especially when it came to men you know I've never been disrespected by a man I've never tolerated disrespect from a man um yeah so I just oh and then working with my uncle you know I was really the only female in that crew. Like I had a conversation with somebody recently that's locked up. And he saw me on TV or something in jail. I don't know, they're watching on the phone. He was telling, he said, y'all was telling people like,

yo, she was the lieutenant. She was the lieutenant. I used to work for her. That's what they were saying. It is. How does that make you feel now, like looking back on it? I don't know. I kind of laugh at it.

It's just like, you know, I don't know. Are you ever like, wow, I can't believe that was my life at one? point? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. It's like, why did I? You know, because I could have been a nurse, 30 years in a game already if I stayed my behind in school. You know, because nursing is a passion of mine, so I'll be like, damn. But, you know, things work out the way they're supposed to work. I was able to raise my daughter. I ended up moving to Atlanta, you know, because I was like, you know, life just kind of got a little overwhelming in New York. This is late 20s, you move? Yeah. When did I move? I moved to Atlanta like, this was like 2000. I could have been in my 30s already, like 2006. And you're not selling any drugs at this point?

No. Mm-mm. Because my brother ended up getting killed. Now, he was heavy with heroin. It was heavy. It was a lot going on. So I was able to make money with him by just connecting. Because I know a lot of people who sold drugs.

And, you know, everybody that sell drugs is not a hustler. You know, you got people that. you know, hustle, know how to hustle, know how to make a doll in two, you know, whatever. So I will hook him up with certain people, some of my exes or whatever. And I could just make money just off the connection. You know what I'm saying? So my brother would give me something. I would get something from them.

And yeah. So I was able to do that. But then he gets killed in 2000. And that's when. That was a trigger for you. That's it. So what happens when he gets killed? How does your life change?

He was having these shootouts and. stuff making a lot of money. I said, listen, you got enough money to leave and never come back, to be honest with you. And my thing was him, with him was, nah, I got to stay because, you know, this one got to do this. And my thing to him was, if

you got to stay here just to help somebody else hustle, then they shouldn't be in the game. They should know how to hustle and make money. And then he probably also wanted to feel like I don't want to look like I'm running. No, you're not running. You're just getting out the way.

It must have been so hard to have this conversation and then it happens. What were your thoughts and feelings when you found out about it? My feelings was like the streets is over for me. Like the game, like I've seen so many people lose their lives. But when it happened to him, it just hit me different. It was just like, it make you think like, what was it all worth it? I mean, was it all worth it? You know what I'm saying?

And it wasn't. I tell people the day the streets And that life is all a facade You got the The cars, the money, the jury The men, the women But what is it all about? Especially if you're going to lose your life

For all of that And how old was he when he passed? Twenty-second And you were the same age When I was a little older than me Jermaine was 27 Do you think Do you ever think now that if that

event never happened in your life? life that you could very well be dead at this point, too, or in prison? Maybe prison. Yeah, maybe prison. Maybe prison. But, yeah, that is like, that was crazy for me. So you stopped completely? Completely.

I moved to Atlanta. Never did sold drugs since then. No. Just because of that moment. Yep. Wow. So you went all your whole life you've known to be around, like, drugs and everything and just that that incident is the wake-up call where it's like, this is it.

Yeah, because I literally, like, you know how people say there's a thin line between losing your sanity and just that there? I've never felt anything like that before. Like, I was just feeling funny. I felt like I could literally lose my mind. And that was 2000, and I was still going through it around 2004-5. I just couldn't, like my mind. So I said, let me move. And I moved to Atlanta.

My brother had some, it was some people in the street. I'll say this. And my ex called me and said, T. Some guy, somebody was talking about hurting me and doing something to me. He said, now they respected him highly. Even though he was away, his respect ran deep and long. He was like, you just need to get out the way because I can't, even though I tell them they better not touch you.

I'm not there. So that's what made me leave New York too. I said, let me just get out the way because this talk of hurting me because I was still mad about what happened to my brother. And I was in the street talking shit. You know, giving people a hard time. So I ended up moving and that was probably the best thing that I could have done. Did you miss the money and the power when you did move and get out of the game? Not really.

Not really. Not really. I was just happy to be alive. Get my daughter out the way. Get my daughter out the way. And that's it. I didn't even think about that because with him gone, with him gone, I didn't want nothing to do with none of that. Did you ever watch the TV show Power at all? I love it. I love Power. We watched it in prison all the time.

And, you know, in the ghost season where Lorenzo is in prison and Monet is wrong, running the streets. Oh, okay. Was that kind of like the dynamic when your boyfriend was in prison and you're out there running like the empire or whatever he left you? Was that the dynamic? It's so crazy because Eve Rivera, you know, me and him was good friends. He's 50 cents.

Like, they're like brothers. I don't know if you know, Eve, he do a lot of music videos, but he also produced the power that Mary is in. But he used to always say, like, you're the real talk. St. Patrick. I can see that. He said, you're the real Tasha St. St. Ben. He was like,

yo, we got to do something with you. We got to do something with you. And it's so crazy. Somebody hit me on YouTube. They was like, Ms. T, you should have played that role. Miss T, you should have. They think I should have played the role of Canaan's mom.

Okay, I could see that, yeah. Yeah, yeah. But I could see you as Monet, too. I think you would have killed it at Mona. People always say that, but yeah. So how do people find out about your story then? If it never ended, like, in a bad way for you on a person, How did people start to find out about it?

Because in 2016, well, no, in 2006 and seven, I started to write my book. And I called Jermaine's mom. Because me and Jermaine, we was in blood. But I knew him from the age of 15 up until he died. He was my sister's boyfriend when they were young. But we were like this. We were family. So I called her and I said, listen, I'm writing this book.

She said, T, do whatever you got to do. I know you love my son. because it's amazing how therapeutic that when everything is here, just by putting it on some paper or typing in a computer, it just feels like it's there. It's not here anymore. You know, you're just getting it out. So I ended up writing a book.

I didn't publish it until 10 years later, 2015. And people read my book. And then I have a YouTube documentary that I did in 2019. And it's like over 3 million views because I have it on two pages. but one page in particular is like 2.7 million views and it just went crazy from there. That's how the people from Netflix who did the documentary found out about me,

they ordered the book, they read it, and they was like, wow, like... Why do you think you had to write the book? Therapy. And also, like in the introduction of the book, I got a copy, I show you. I state that I need people to understand that that street life ain't what y'all thought it was.

You know, like I said, them cause, the jury, the women, the men. But behind the scenes, we getting tired up and robbed. We getting killed. You know, families are being destroyed. So I needed people to understand that it's more to life than that. Like, that shouldn't even be a part of our lives. It's just unfortunate that in the urban communities, we gravitate to that because we see the money and we see how much money we can get from it.

But what does it mean if you got a whole lot of money in a safe somewhere, but you did? You know, somebody's killing you over it. It's not worth it. Were you ever worried about like the legal ramifications of telling your story? Because you avoided prison or an indictment or anything. Were you ever worried about that? Not really because in my book I was able to use real names and I reached out to everybody that was, I wrote the ones that was locked up in the feds,

and they showed, they was like, T, do what you got to do. They would be like, black, go ahead, do it. And I was so happy that they gave me their permission to do it because, you know, the authenticity of my story and what I put in there, and because I was able to use these names, people like, damn, like, she for real, like, like, like, she a G, like, you know what I'm saying? And the people that's in the book are real and very well-rescent.

expected. So I think that's what gets it. And even my documentary, I had one girl, she was like, girl, I watched that every week, like, law and order. I was like, what? Now, there was, did you, like, consult a lawyer about, like, possibly getting arrested about any of this? Or was the statute? Right, because I kind of already thought the statute of limitations, I don't sold drugs. I ain't killed nobody. Yeah. And then now, had my brother-in-law, had I did, you know, have him killed, I would have probably we thought writing that part or even putting that in there. But I said, look, you know, look at how it worked out. I seen him 12 years later.

He's, I could curse my head. Yeah, of course. Ficked up. You fucked up. You don't have no money. You did all that for what? I could have looked out for you or we could have made something happen. But you did all that for what?

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So I looked at. I got more gratification at seeing him like that than killing him. You know, and I'm glad I did because I don't have that on my conscience, you know. Well, you'd also probably be in prison now to this day. Yeah, probably. Usually they get found out about and they're convicted.

Right, right. So that's good. At least you wouldn't be here at the interview. Right, with Ian. Now, you were donned like a pretty, you know, well-known nickname for this whole time period or for your story. What is that nickname and how did you get it and first find out about it? Oh, what, Harlem Harrow? Yeah, it's a great name.

Yeah. What they put in, like, parentheses, so it's like heroin a little bit. Right, right. Well, me and my editor came up with, no, my editor came up with that because it was Lady Harron. Now, Lady Harron came from, I was out in Harlem, and these guys from Queens was up in Harlem hanging out. And, you know, they was looking at me. You know, I had a long white fur coat on jury.

And they was like, you know, what you do for a living? Sorry, you do not. They was like, yo, this Lady Harron. So they called me that. And to this day, they called me that. And I met them, like, in the 90s. And I said, wow, look how things happened. So Lady Harron was the name of the book.

But then my editor was like, nah, your story is about Harlem. It's going to be Harlem Harron. My love affair was street life and the men who ruled it. So he came up with that whole thing. So now people call me Harlem Haram. If it's T. Harlem Haram. Wow. I mean, it's interesting.

So let's talk Netflix now. You publish your book. You do this documentary on YouTube. Netflix reaches out. What's that whole process? What happened? Yeah, they, they reached out, maybe around 2017 and 18. They reached out. They said that, um, we read your book. We saw your documentary. We're going to order the book so we could just read more, you know, because there's always more stuff in a book than it is, you know. So they did that. And then in 2019, they called me back. It was another producer because the other one left. So I guess the notes or something was still there,

because I forgot all about that I got the phone call. And I taped in 2019, and it was a good experience. So they told me who, you know, who the other people, Freeway Ricky Ross was on, is on it, and some other people. So I was like, okay, so we taped in 2019, but then COVID hit. And I was like, when is it coming out? When is it coming out?

So I could tell people, you know, I want to see myself. So then in January of 2021, that's when it was, It aired on Netflix. And what happened once it aired? I was really cool. A lot of people watched it, you know, more notoriety. I still have people like this guy from a barbershop. He was like, yo, me and my mother just watched you last night.

So, you know, I was real cool. Sometimes I, you know, I still have this humble thing, you know. And, you know, one day, you know, me and my sister and my niece who was walking the street and people like, yo, sis, what, I watch you. My sister was like, you know what, you kind of a big deal. You know, you kind of a big deal. deal right now. I was like, okay, cool. But I guess people, you know, I guess because, you know, I don't brag about it because there's nothing to brag about. And, you know, just being real

in my authentic self, you know, I get emotional like I did just now when it comes to certain things. And, you know, I've been living with PTSD and anxiety for the past 30 years, you know. So, but, you know, it's something that I live with and I understand that I put myself in these situations and that's what happened. How do you cope with those mental struggles, the anxiety, the PTSD? Yeah, well, I'm in therapy. I started therapy, you know, recently, but I've tried to deal with it without taking medication. Like, early on, I had a situation like this was like back in 94, 95. When I was falling asleep, I thought to me, that was death coming for me. So I was, like, so deprived of sleep because I wouldn't sleep.

So they put me on volume and stuff like that. And I was like, I don't want to take that stuff. I just deal with it. I just deal with it in my own way and try to just get over. I know why, you know, why it is. So I just deal with it in different ways. Now, you're a tough woman. Like, you could tell you give off that, you know, aroma or feeling.

Why did you decide to finally go to therapy? Because I feel like certain people with your personality are like, you know, fuck therapy or I'm not going to that shit. or, you know, whatever, why do you decide to give in? Because it's just good to just get it out and talk to somebody who is unbiased. Like, they don't know me. There's no reason to judge me. But I just feel like, you know, it's okay to talk to someone and just get it out

and have a professional figure out ways for me to cope with certain things. You know, because there was a time some years ago I would get up in the middle of the night. It was like clockwork. I would get up. I would look at my winter. window, then I would look at my door. For some reason, I'm thinking, is somebody coming in? Can they get in? I know they can't, because I got like a big gate. I always had gates on my windows and stuff like that. But it was just a thing. And I'm like, why do I do that? And it's like clockwork, like two, three and a morning. I'm looking, making sure nobody's trying to come into my house. And that's another thing I was going through. I was like, damn. So but recently I said, you know what? Let me just sit down and talk your stuff out. Because, you know, when I think about my brother, I cry all the time. or when I have to talk about him or 50, because those two situations was like, I watched 50, you know, get killed, you know, my brother that was like my everything.

So, you know, I just feel like, you know, you're nothing wrong with it. It's not going to hurt. You know, it's not going to hurt for me to, you know, get therapy and just talk to somebody. That's great. What does your daughter think about all of this, and what's your relationship with her? My daughter knows everything. Okay. We are very close.

She knows what me and her father did. She knows the things that I've been through. And, you know, she's like, she's, she's one of my best friends. Like, my daughter's my best friend. That's awesome. And she just like, you know, she's like, you know, Ma, you good. She know, you know her mother good. Then, you know, all her friends like, yo, I sing your mother on TV.

So she's like, yeah. And, you know, she'd be hype about that. But it's like, you know, it's cool, you know. Do you see any similar personalities that you have in her? And if so, are you worried that it could evolve into the path that you chose? No, my daughter's tough. She's definitely tough like me. She's a hustler, but she's smart.

My daughter, she got a four-year degree and information technology. She makes great money. To the life that you wanted for you, she was able to get. Yes, because like I said earlier, my dad was big on education. So I kind of already knew before my daughter was born, what school she was going to, she was never going to public school. It was either going to be a private or Catholic. But when we moved to Atlanta, she was at one of the time.

high school, public schools, and Walton County where we was at. So everything that I wanted for her, yeah, as far as education-wise and not going the path that I went, I wanted her to, you know, so it worked out well. Like Atlanta, moving there was good. Did she have a relationship with her father now? Yeah, she had when he was locked up because her grandmother would take her on trail of visit, so she would spend weekends with her dad. You know, I always sent him

report cards and certain things just to keep him involved. You know, I wanted him to still feel that, you know, because he was in jail for a murder he didn't do, you know? And are you guys together? Did you guys get back together when he got out? No, but we're good friends. Like, that's my

guy. Like, we just visited him in Barbados back in May. So, you know, if he need anything, he got it. He asked me for anything he could get it. you know so he's doing pretty old he he he's hustling over there but he's hustling chickens and hustling chickens now with someone with like a past like yours and a Netflix documentary is it hard to date and be around get close to people um kind of sort of because you know they come at you

you know a lot of people want to ride the wave come out but you know I'm just like let me just and then I just did um American Gangs the Trapped Queens on BET it comes on this Tuesday actually at Oh, that's awesome. So y'all watch that. Yeah, so, you know, people come, you know, they be all in the social media talking. He was like, damn, you don't look like what you've been through. You know, you still look good, Miss T. I'm like, well, thank you.

Well, what do they expect you to look like all battered up? Right, no teeth. Well, you never did drugs, so I guess people just associate drug dealer with a drug addict and things like that. I mean, I've seen people that are totally, that'll come in here and they totally don't fit the description of the things they've done. But you're well spoken, well put together. So, you know, you just never know with individuals.

And people, like I tell people, too, like, I, you know, I talk to parents a lot. They reach out to me. I know one guy he said that he makes his son watch my documentary to deter him from going that way because they, you know, the documentary is like, hey, you know, a lot went on in you know, a lot went on in my life, like, you know, almost I escaped death a number of times, I'll say that. But people also think that, you know, because I lived that life, I came from a broken home. And it's like, no.

But the thing is, and I tell parents, as long as you instill good morals and ethics and, you know, education, we, although we may stray away, we remember that. it has to be taught for it to be remembered. So, you know, my father always, you know, he's always in my ear. Always, you know, he always been one of those. If we have friends over and they leave, I like our shit talk too much. Talk less, listen more. He was always one of those ear hustling, like, yeah.

You know, so he always left me with a lot of good jewels when it came to certain things. So, yeah, you know, people think that when you get into a certain type, but lifestyle you came from a broken home and it's like nah I'm far from that yeah far from it were there a lot of celebrities that reached out to you after the documentary um there was some there was some and um I'm actually talking to some people right now but you know everybody want to do the movie but they make a good movie it would but it's not the money for me the quality has to be right and um I'm finally getting my screenplay written right now I wait it this long but you know timing is everything and again it's not the money for me

it has to be done right because you only get one chance to kind of do it right when it comes to something like that and I just don't want nobody I just don't want to put nothing no bullshit out I can't do that it'll stay a book forever yeah before I do that so yeah so do you live solely off of like the life you've created now through like the book and whatever you do or do you have a job now or how does no I'm not working right now I mean I work for myself the books are still doing good. I have five books out. The book is still doing good.

I'm guessing you started the publishing company because of the books. Yep. Okay. Yeah, so I published all my books. I've helped some other people publish books. And I'm just, I have like an online boutique. I just bought a food truck. Oh, you bought what kind of food truck?

I had it built in Miami, and they shipped it up here like two weeks ago. It's called Tintings. Oh, that's great. What kind of food? It's going to be American Caribbean, soul food, but it's Tintin's food for the soul, not just soul food. So, you know, eventually I'll add to the menu. So, yeah, that'll be hopefully, I think I'm doing a soft opening on Monday. Okay, that's very exciting.

Is it hard to be living back in the city after leaving that whole area where you grew up and whatnot? Not really. And I'm only in the city because my mom is here. You know, I'll be, because I'm still between. Atlanta you know my daughter had been there 16 years she never came back and I'm still back and forth but um you know as long as mom is here because that's my

you know that's my rock that's my baby so you know I gotta make sure she good but you know she's my mom is good you know health wise and everything like is she proud of the woman you've become yeah she's like okay Tyne you know she'll always be looking at me like what's you doing now Tyne because my mother mad country what's how you doing now what she getting into

I laugh at it because it's like I do it. I'm doing good stuff now. I'm doing good stuff. You know, I help people. I gave out college scholarships last year to students that was in nursing school or becoming an attorney. One of my students graduated in May. So, you know, I try to give back in some way, shape, or form, because God has blessed me over and over, so I can't do nothing but try to do good things. Yeah. What do you say to like people that will maybe say comments about like profiting off of your past crimes? What's your message to those people? I mean, like, shut the fuck up. Like real talk. Like, shut up. Like, you don't even know what I'm doing. I mean, it is what it is. Why not? You know what I'm saying? But like, you know, in my book, it ain't really a profit. I wrote the book not even thinking about making money. I was like, I got to get this out. I never even thought how big it would have got to. You know what I'm saying?

Netflix, B-E-T, you know, interviews with Ian. You know what I'm saying? That never crossed my mind. I was like, I got to tell people like, yo, the game is bullshit. It ain't no cold. You know, I want to speak on that real quick. You know, people talk about this cold and snitching and that. There is no cold.

It never was. Because if there was a code for anything, my brother wouldn't have set me up. If there was a code for anything, nobody would be running up in nobody house, killing somebody's mama for money. They always talk about the code for snitching, but what about the code for murder? You understand what I'm saying? So I hate the hair.

It seems like the only people that talk about a cold is the ones that got caught and told on. Then they create all these rules. Right. Like in prison. Because I want to know the author. Yeah. Where that book at?

Yeah, no, you get to prison and they create all these rules. And these are all coming from guys that are in prison. That's when they created. You know, they get mad at me all the time. on YouTube, I don't go for it. Because it's not one. Don't try to create something that's not there. At the end of the day, there's a level of expectation.

You would expect that my man won't tell on me. You would expect that my brother-in-law won't set me up. Or you would expect that nobody will be that jealous of me, the sense of mine in my home. There's just a level of expectation. There is no cold. Yeah. Now, if you could go back to your 16-year-old self

before maybe you even started selling drugs, what would you say to her? I would say to her, if your plan is to go to college, get some type of degree or my nursing degree, I would stay the course on that. Because I have everything. I have my mother. I have my father. My mother cooked six days a week. We never went without food.

You know, I would say that. Like, you got a good girl. Get your ass off 23rd Street and go back up town. That's what I would say to her. Yeah. And what's your message now? Like, what do you want people to take away from this interview? That, you know, those of us that get into these situations, we're not all bad people.

We didn't all come from broken families or anything like that. We are just sometimes good people that do bad things or get into situations. But I would say that take my life and my story, you know, and show your kids, you know, or yourself and be like, listen, that's not it. because I have people, I had a guy reach out to me. He said, Miss T, I live in Baltimore. I just bought a three-bedroom house. He's like, but you know, shit is rough. He said, and I think about going out in the street, but your story humbles me.

Oh, that makes me feel so good. You know, men, they look at my story like, damn, as a reference to not do this or not do that. You know what I'm saying? So that makes me feel good. if I always say if God or whatever higher power put me through everything that I went through for that sole purpose to write that book, do that documentary and put my story out, then it was all worth it. You know, you know, my brother, if my brother had not got killed, none of this would be going on. There would be probably no book. But that is what broke me.

To inspire change. Do you reflect back on at all? all about like how you made it through that life, like unscathed in a way, maybe not emotionally, but physically you're here, you're present, you have your freedom. That's got to drive you and keep you going. I'm reminded every day about it, you know, because I've, you know, it's always in my face, whether it's TV or, you know, via social media or somebody coming up to me or even the scars, you know what I'm saying? So I'm always reminded.

I'm always thankful and grateful. and grateful that, you know, so many people didn't make it out. And I know a lot of people who didn't. Like, I lost a lot of people. And it's like, damn. And that's another thing. And I tell people, like, was it all worth it? You know, like, mm-mm.

Nah, I lost too many people. Like, people be like, damn. It's crazy that you just got your mind and your sane out of all the stuff that you've been through. Like, 91 was one of the worst years, 91 and 92, because I lost so many people. I got robbed. You know what I'm saying? And it's like, damn.

It makes you think. And I'm thankful for the small stuff, waking up, you know, having my, you know, all my faculties and everything like that. It's like people pray for the wrong shit sometimes, you know. I'm happy for the small stuff. Yeah. Sometimes it's just as simple as like having peace within yourself, having yourself waking up another day because a lot of people don't get that.

Not at all. Like I'll read articles about friends or people I knew that. that passed away that I went to high school with and it makes you think or people that get locked up or anything like that you read the stories about the 17 year old kid that gets in a DUI and his life's changed forever. It's just like those one moments

that affect our lives forever. Absolutely. And that's like the most important aspects to it and you just gotta watch what other people are doing and all that. Where could people find you at? If you Google Ms. T, everything pops up. M-S-T-E or on YouTube or on Google,

but I'm on Instagram, Harlem-Heron, all one word, and I've been hacked three times. So it's always a variation of Harlem-Heron. Yeah, well, we'll put it in the bio for you too. Harlem-Heron. So on Facebook, Instagram, and yeah, and they can follow my food truck page.

I'm going to start uploading. It's at T-N-N-D-Tings. But, yeah, that's me on that. That's awesome. Well, Ms. T, thank you. so much for coming. Thanks for the conversation. It's been a great time and looking forward to seeing you become even more successful and trying the food truck. We'll have to come out and check it out. And my website is www.shysmiss-T.com if they just want to look at my books and order. So yeah.

Sounds good. Thank you. Thank you.