I have never felt safer than when I lived in New York. And it's surprising because when I first found my apartment, I asked a landlord, I said, if you had a daughter my age, would you let her live in this building? And he said, no. I would not let my child live there. But did I listen? No, I didn't. Because he was a white man. I thought maybe his child hadn't been brought up the same way as I have. But regardless, two weeks later, me and my dad drove down to New York and our U-Haul. And we loaded everything up and we moved into my first apartment in New York. I was living on the East side of Harlem. And the first neighbor that I met was the downstairs drug lord. He was like, having my own personal concierge. His name was Maurice. Nicest guy in the world. But he would shoot someone. Now, I remember my dad saying to him, make sure you take care of my girl, okay? She's out here by herself, you know, her mom just died. She's going through a lot. So, make sure you look out for her. And the truth be told, Maurice did. Maurice always looked out for me. Maurice had a system, okay? So when I was coming home, especially when it was late at night, he would have one of his boys standing at one end of the block and whistle. And by the time I got home to my apartment on the other end of the block, the guy on that corner would whistle. So they would know that I made it home safe. I had security detail. But one night, I came home and I was walking down the street, and I was walking towards the edge of the sidewalk, closest to the street so that I can create as much distance between this person and myself as possible. I also think to turn down my headphones so I can hear my surroundings. But I passed him. And something tells me to listen for his feet walking away. In fact, I hear them completely stop. So I turn around, glance over my shoulder to make sure that that guy is still moving on his way, but he's not. He's charging for me. Full speed, like that man and get out, just running at me. And the only thing I can do is to pop up my umbrella and say no. And he stopped. And he looked at me and he thought about it, and just as that happened, a car drives down the street and they said, "You okay?" I said, "I'm good." He said, "Go to work." I said, "I take back everything I said. All my exes living in New York now, so it's no longer the safest place in the world. Please disregard this message. I can't do shit for you if you don't stay on 125th. I said, "Alright, Maurice, I appreciate you." He said, "Go to work." I said, "I messed up." My job was staying on 125th. I decided to deviate from the plan, almost got got. And he said to me, Kimberly, one thing you need to know, I'll always look out for you, okay? That man, you're not gonna see him no more. But please, just stay on 125th. I can't do shit for you if you don't stay on 125th. I said, "Alright, Maurice, I appreciate you." He said, "Go to work."
