At a family BBQ, my mother announced, “You’re old enough—pay rent or get out.” I chose to move out. She laughed, saying a failure like me would end up in a slum. The next day, when I moved into my new house, she brought 20 relatives to mock me—until they saw where I lived… and suddenly went silent.

humid heat.

I woke up at 6:00 AM and began packing my life into two large, black suitcases. The process took less than an hour. I didn’t own much in the way of physical possessions at the guest house. My wardrobe consisted mostly of comfortable loungewear, and the only items of true value were my encrypted laptops and hard drives. I had purposely kept continue reading …