Shvag Posted February 19, 2021 Share Posted February 19, 2021 (edited) Since he was just 9 years old, Kekai has been involved with the local Tongan Crip gang. He knows all too well the motto, "Live by the gun, die by the gun," after being shot six times four weeks ago after leaving a party in a rival gang neighborhood. "He thought I was flashing gang signs, you know, with the signs that I have [tattoos on his face], that he started pointing a gun at me with a red beam," he said, recalling the shooting. "All hell broke loose. He started shooting us. I got shot six times, in the stomach, in the thigh, the sides." Kekai, known to his friends as Pacman, has been arrested more than 50 times. His most serious offenses occurred in 2011, for battery with a weapon, in 2012, for aggravated assault with a weapon and possession of a firearm, and in 2015, for receipt of a stolen possession. "If you ain't got no job, you ain't got nowhere to go," he said. "After that, well, you're going to turn to the streets. The streets is calling you." Kekai currently lives with his wife and their two sons, age six and 16 months. Kekai never graduated high school and hopes his sons don't follow in his footsteps. "I'm going to have to watch every move they make," he said. "I had nothing to do, I had no guidance," he said. "So I was raised to be knocked on the streets, running around, looking at the older guys, what they had that I didn't have, and I wanted that." He tells his kids not to join a gang but instead, "go to school, try to be a president or something. Make something out of himself." In five years, he sees himself away from the gang lifestyle. He wants to be taking care of his wife and kids, perhaps working on his own. "Have a nice home, a nice area to live in and, hopefully, my son is going to be the president," he said. Full article. Edited February 19, 2021 by Shvag 3 Link to comment
Epic Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Edited February 20, 2021 by Epic 5 Link to comment
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