rant · moment 9 of 20
Doing Blow at 13 With a Pregnant Coke Head
from Subsistence Hustlers · #21
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
6 minTim tells the story of hanging out as a young teenager with a pregnant, coke-dealing older woman named Michelle who drove them around in a Lincoln, and how these stories horrify people in polite dinner conversation now.
- 26:35Tim describes the drug economy among teenagers in his town: buying fifty dollars worth, then going to parties to sell it.
- 26:59The shift to robbery and violence happens when people believe dealing drugs will be their entire life.
- 27:20Tim got robbed at gunpoint, but his friends confronted the robber and got the money back from out-of-town attackers.
- 27:36His town had mob-adjacent figures and coke bars, where a white pie on the menu was code for an eight ball.
- 28:05Henry Hill from Goodfellas lived in Tim's town, as did Paulie Gualtieri and Vinny Palermo, who inspired Tony Soprano.
- 28:33Growing up in an Italian town meant never ratting to cops or talking about anyone you didn't know well.
- 29:35Tim lived in a crack house upstate where former Long Island and borough residents relocated with HUD housing money.
- 30:06He describes visiting houses where the conditions were horrifying—filthy, filled with garbage and bottles, suggesting neglectful or drunk parents.
- 32:16At thirteen, Tim hung out at crack houses run by Rosie and Vinnie, who treated him and his friends as welcome guests despite their age.
- 32:28Rosie was mentally unwell with a serious drug problem, but she loved having the teenagers around anyway.
Henry HillVinny PalermoThe SopranosLatin KingsDacaville Canty familyDavid ChaseLa Tanza heistGoodfellas