The Story Of Too Tall Paul

Sound track and story podcast: FEARLESSCANNABIS.COM

Music: Curtis Mayfield: Little Child runnin wild

My Father was a strikingly tall man 6’6 in stature, Too Tall Paul is what they called him. Burnt butter brown skin in complexion and a well kept low fro, he moved smooth with his tall statue. He and my mother were separated, however he was always ever present in my life.

His warm and easy smile is what I see the most, His big hands and long fingers grasping my much smaller hand is to this very moment I can still feel. My earliest memories of riding on the back of his bicycle, riding in his car, sitting in the front seat and asking an endless assortment of questions. Listening to music in his car asking:

Me: Hey Daddy what is this? { and pointing}…….

Daddy: That is a 8 Track, Baby.

Me: OOOh!…..{then on to the next question.}

Music insert : ” I Love Music “, The Ojays, Bobby Wolmack “Across 110th Street”

The Candy Store my father owned was located in the neighborhood of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn New York. The same neighborhood where my Mother met my eventual Father.

The Store looked like any other New York hood store, plexiglass partition counter. It was built with cubbies for small penny candy as a display. The tall display was always filled with candy such as swedish fish, cherry bombs and lemon heads.

Me: all of 7 years old sitting on my special stool behind the counter, Taking candy orders from my friends from the block and other kids from the neighborhood.

My Dad would talk to the Adults that came to the counter. In the back of the store were big black garbage bags that covered the entire back of the store and piled high to the ceiling. In these bags I found out years laters was Cannabis…..

Music Insert: “Mary Jane” Rick James, “Pusherman”Curtis Mayfield

Playing A.M. Radio in the store: Adults, kids would come and go. Sometimes when I was there, men would have to be buzzed into the contained area at my father's direction. These men would take the large bags and leave. As soon as they left my Dad was my friend again. Laughing with him as I asked questions that he always found funny. His easy smile is one of my most cherished memories.

When I spent time at the candy store, it was always in the day, never at night. My Dad would bring home in the early evening. He would go close to the store, then stop by to kiss Me goodnight before he went home that evening.

Music Insert: “Poetry Man” Phoebe Snow, “Dreams” Fleetwood Mac

The last night I saw my Dad was like any other, I visited The Candy Store as I am writing this I remember everything decades later as if it was yesterday. It is surreal and astounding to Me.

I went to bed, I fell asleep. I woke up for school the next morning and asked my Mother: Did Daddy come?? . She replied” No, baby.” Days passed, something felt odd. I can't explain to you how I knew. I heard whispers “Paul is missing” , “They are looking for Paul”. A few more days passed.

My Mother’s youngest Brother, My Uncle Irving told Me that “something really bad happened to your Father.”..... To my knowledge, My Mother was and is still hurt until this very day about my Father. It is not a pleasant topic of discussion.

It was deemed that I was too young to attend his funeral. As a Wife and Mother now, I understood why my family made that decision.

My Father was found shot in the back of the head, ‘execution style”. As he was a very tall Man I imadgine that the murder made my elegantly tall Father get on his knees before his death. The killer was never found.

Music Insert: The Doors “Riders of the Storm” . Christopher Cross “Ride like the Wind”

What was taken was the compassion of my life. I didn't find comfort and compassion until many years later in my Husband of 19 years.

It took many stories over the years of Too Tall Paul for me to piece together what really happened. Though family, friends and “the little dudes” on the block are Men now. For Me, to get the full picture:

The Candy Store was a drug front. Moving pounds of Cannabis, though those large trash bags. I can only assume my Father was in management of a very illegal operation and He became a casualty of the very dangerous game of being “The Reefer Man”. Being a young Black Male made him easily expandable.

Music Insert : , George Benson “This Masquerade” Rolls Royce “ Wishing on a Star”

My father always found a way to stay close to Me. I would see him a lot throughout my childhood and teens. I would see him in crowds sooo much to the point, it took Me years to believe he was gone from Me. I surmised in my teens, He would NEVER willingly be gone from Me.

My Father has become my wisdom, he whispers “the hustlers code’ to Me, knowledge I would not have known otherwise. My Father gave Me the gift of being independent, the entrepreneurial spirit. Sitting in my Fathers Candy Store, I learned how to count money before learning math.

I was hooked on that feeling instantly, I have been chasing that feeling ever since.

An independent spirit transferred into Me the day my Dad died. By the time I was 8 I was selling candy I bought for .50 cents to my friends and other kids for $1.00. My Father did that.

I feel Blessed to have that time with Him.

Music Insert : , Dr. Buzzard Original Savannah Band “Sunshower”