WELCOME TO THE FULL PREVIEW Of:
"IF I HAD WINGS I'D HELP THEM FLY"
OR         
"AS LONG AS THE VOICES SING"

YOU MAKE THE CHOICE!
This Preview is Copyright  MAGIC Press, 1993 all rights reserved
 

If I Had Wings I'd Help Them Fly?
or
"As Long As The Voices Sing"?
(you make the choice)
A Book Of Choices
Written by: RJ. Rocky Scarfone:
Based Upon The Notes, Diary & Life Of:
Convict "Wizard" Rogers Ph.D.
@1993 by M.A.G.I.C. Press, all rights reserved.
International Book Service Number 0-9657066-1-3
M.A.G.I.C. Press is a Division of The Lighthouse Sanctuary For Youth Foundation
1426 Webb Gin House Rd, 30245
Lawrenceville, Georgia
770-736-6890

Introduction:
With the new millennium comes a new plague. A man-made chemical plague. Yes, my friend, an intentionally manufactured pestilence which will afflict more American youth than any synthetically induced scourge of the 20th century. This devastating epidemic threatens not only the future of America's youth, but the very foundation of our society; imparting rise to more hardship, poverty, desolation, and crime than Crack Cocaine, Heroine and, in fact, all illegal drugs of the 20th Century combined: METHAMPHETAMINE!

Methamphetamine began its life as a "harmless" addition to the war effort of World War Two, a chemical effort to assist young, brave men of our armed forces maintain alertness and give them an edge in combat. Methamphetamine soon demonstrated its awesome power to transform exhausted, fatigued men into supermen. In fact, the Germans themselves were not far behind in utilizing a form of this awesome, secret weapon. But, along with those "super-human" powers, came such an inescapable urge, a desire, a craving for duplication and repetition of those feelings. The subjected individuals soon forgave food, sex, and all other normal human needs, wants and desires; commencing an involuntary evolution into paranoia, psychosis and hallucination of pandemic proportions. In fact, abusive use of this chemical "miracle" by Hitler, and many of his top henchmen, would add substantially to the horrors which accompanied World War Two.
Now, you may ask, "What has Methamphetamine to do with this book?"

As an individual whom cares about our Nation and its Youth--investing, in entirety, my time, resources, and dedication these past four years--I took serious notice of the rapid use of Methamphetamine by youth whom I council and work with each and every day. My front row seat allowed me to see, first hand, the rapid and total devastation of the conquered. And, in my desire to assist in undermining this phenomena through penmanship, I began to research the subject. I soon discovered I was one of the rear guard to see the enemy--for the subject in question had long gained prominence in the western states of our great nation and was stretching its boundaries with incredible speed. Some states had already declared Methamphetamine the number one addiction in America, as these excerpts (courtesy of U.S. News & World Report) on Methamphetamine, dated November 13, 1995, demonstrate:

"A new drug Gallops through the west . . . Abuse of the powdered stimulant also known as speed, crank or crystal is rising dramatically throughout the western United States . . . in areas such as San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix . . . starting to supplant cocaine as drug of choice . . . emergency room episodes . . . showed triple-digit increase . . . alarming in Dallas, Denver and Seattle . . . alarming in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming . . . as well as farther east in Arkansas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis and Atlanta . . . deaths nearly tripled . . . coming epidemic . . . Methamphetamine isn't new. It was used extensively by all sides in World War II . . . Hitler was believed to have been a meth addict. President Kennedy used meth as well . . . increased availability of injectable meth led to a spike of abuse . . . by so-called speed freaks in the late 1960s . . . rise in Methamphetamine abuse has its roots in the late 1980's proliferation of a new recipe that allowed almost anyone with a few laboratory beakers and some chemicals to make it . . . meth is smoked, snorted or injected . . . cost $80 to $100 per gram compared with $75 for cocaine . . . high lasts four to five times longer . . . meth users develop a tolerance for the drug . . . euphoria . . . replaced by depression . . . then intense paranoia . . . made worse by meth induced insomnia . . . abusers become nervous and agitated . . . described as 'tweaking' . . . prone to violence . . . Arizona . . . shaken by several brutal crimes . . . DEA agent Richard Fass . . . shot to death . . . meth bust went awry . . . Yuma County sheriff's deputy . . . tested positive for meth . . . shot to death two officers with whom he'd worked on a narcotics task force . . . Arizona Gov. . . . formulate a strategy to fight . . . naming a 'czar' . . . problem . . . a takeover . . . had been controlled by Outlaw motorcycle gangs who made a few pounds here and there in makeshift clandestine labs . . . bikers have been replaced by organized Mexican traffickers . . . virtually saturated the western United States . . . amounts . . . dwarf anything the Outlaw bikers ever did . . . groundwork for the Mexican takeover was laid by international cat-and-mouse game involving crucial ingredient used to make Methamphetamine: ephedrine . . . 1988, Congress imposed strict controls on ephedrine . . . dried up the supply to U.S. meth cooks . . . for a while . . . DEA . . . began to see . . . ephedrine . . . smuggled from Mexico . . . ephredine traveling from Zurich . . . from India, China and the Czech Republic . . . arranged through brokers in Switzerland . . . DEA has been able to crack down on several major violators . . . DEA and FBI are working together . . . optimism stops . . . not even coming close . . . ultimate answer lies in persuading people not to use the stuff . . . Methamphetamine is likely to continue its mad gallop across the country!"

Yes, the rapid and insidious progression of Methamphetamine continued, without interruption, even though innumerable, prominent and caring individuals, organizations (including the United States Congress) and states had declared Methamphetamine the most serious addiction in America. With global proportions the malignant manufacture and distribution of inexpensive and convenient Methamphetamine continues to undermine our youth with exotic names such as crank, crystal, and white ice.

"So, what can we do?", you ask.

To interrupt a voluntary epidemic one must use every tool available to inform, in as many ways as conceivable, to as many individuals as possible, the hazards of the epidemic in question. You are in possession of such a tool; a book containing a powerful, true story of addiction and consequence. Based on the life of Georgia convict Bobby "The Wizard" Rogers.
 

I initially learned of Bobby "The Wizard" Rogers" from Denise, the woman who would become my wife. It was after I had completed my research of the facts of Methamphetamine and made the decision to write a book. The evidence I had uncovered demonstrated the fact that much was known of the drug, but few stories existed of those intimately involved in the "trade" (heroine and cocaine being the supposed "sheik" drugs of choice). What I required was a genuine subject whom could, and would, be my Chauffeur and Guide to the inside world of Methamphetamine. I had plenty of candidates whom lived in that foreboding, appalling world of rushing highs and ravaging lows, but I lacked the true inside scoop! Noticing my frustration and the possibility that I would have to "go under" (she remembered the two years I had "gone under" in the Gambino Mafia Family to research my autobiography), this sweet and caring, gracious descendant of a long line of law abiding, Georgia Baptists, confided in me that there was a chink in the family armor. A "black sheep" whom resided in a Georgia prison; an intelligent, shy, introvert man whom was ultimately convicted in a murder case involving nearly every facet of that U.S. News & World Report! A man whom traveled, with speed, directly down a horrific road whose scenery included Clandestine Meth-Labs, Dixie-Mafia Soldiers, Outlaw Bikers, Mexican Druglords, Cast-A-Drift Youngsters, Craving Junkies and Lost and Hapless Souls. Yes, my friend, a road which soon developed into a series of Super-Highways inevitably cluttered with murder, suicide, and bleak-cold-hard-prisons!

Based on the overview stories, my initial conclusions led me to believe Wizard to be like most of them folk who run in the fast lane until the traffic catches up to them in the form of death, destruction, or incarceration. I had had a lot of experience in that lane: having lost the majority of my male ancestral line to crime, prison and murder--as in Italian Mafia. Having personally traveled a rough road myself (born with club feet, failing to walk until the age of five, losing my father at eight years of age to a "Mafia Rub Out", living in poverty and housing projects, leaving home at eleven years of age to journey the city streets of this nation, experiencing heroin addiction at thirteen . . .) I was familiar with the basics--know what I'm talking about? You see, I had written of it. My life. My father's-father's-father's-lives. And so on and on and on.

In my autobiography, House of Cards: The Curse of Alphonso, I had exposed that age old dilemma: CONTINUITY--The handing down, over and over, the sins of the parent. The item that kept gnawing at my soul was the fact that Wizard had no excuse, nor cause, that screamed "NOT MY FAULT"? Would this entire situation become some desperate miracle whose glory mirrored sacrifice and infamy? Would his story be a Godsend to his salvation (my book was for me!) and the key to unraveling that ongoing mystery: "How could a person with so much going for themselves become a drug dealing, manufacturing, smuggling, murdering Dixie-Mafia-River-Rat?"
I received my chance to meet with Wizard when I was invited to accompany the family on a rare visit to the stark and fortified maximum security penitentiary of his incarceration. I would soon realize that being a free man provided meager safety from the apprehension of high, razor wired, reinforced chain link fences, towering concrete walls, and the harsh steel bars. Their heavy, crashing doors greeting my memory upon our arrival, for I, in fact, had once been incarcerated at thirteen in Rikers Island, New York City.

The prison guards, steadfast in their domain, soon added the torch to the primer by making me feel in tune to those men whom thronged the visiting area; relishing their sparse contact with a world they had left far behind. I was surrounded by pitched sounds, grunts and words of white cotton, starch clad inmates greeting, meeting, and seething at and with their own as I followed Denise, her mother and father towards that familiar ground. I had been there and done there many times as a youth lost in a world of discovery and need; a place of sorrow and despair. Yes, those past memories, thought to have been buried and forgotten by their very revelations, were thrust once more into the present: I immediately assumed the posture and thoughts of the incarcerated . . .
In this mind-set, I was expecting in Wizard the same ol' same ol'! But, boy, was I surprised! Wizard turned out to be an average looking southern man, rather quiet and straight to the point. He could have passed as a teacher, preacher, or just plain old neighbor. His up bringing clearly flashed bright against the mottled personalities that congregated throughout the prison visiting area. In fact, if he weren't dressed in prison whites, one would not hesitate to take him home for some vittles--as home cooking is sometimes called in the Deep South's Deep South.

Visiting with family, Wizard mainly discussed ordinary things like "How are you?" and stuff. But, when he began talking about an education program he was working on for inmates, his whole being illuminated! Yes, I could see the in-bred intelligence; the mind revolving over and over . . . even when one sleeps! But what struck me as odd was the fact that the players in this dramatic scenario were awful tense--no one desired to make the visit anything other than simply an occasional visit! Yes, even the more than sporadic misting eyes of Wizard as he looked at his pops--whom, due to numerous medical problems, including a few strokes, remained confined to his wheel chair the entire visit--changed not one iota of the setting during the entire, dramatic episode!

Well, after all was said and done, including what comments I could make (or barely make), I left that prison determined to discover a path to the shores of that sea of endeavor, one which had tragically tore asunder this once devoted family. For had I not wrung out the facts of my ancestral and personal life to its raw depths in my desperate desire for exposure of truth? And had not truth exposed delivered more than the possibility of exclusion and forgiveness from all past sins; brought about reconciliation and love to the survivors of that storm which raged long after the calming of the sea? Familiarity of pain and sorrow, once had, absences all boundaries--regardless of cause nor reason: I had rubbed against the scars of those old wounds . . . wounds which take several lifetime's journeys to heal. I was submerging in pain once more. But, this time, the pain was of, and for, others! I recalled the pain in the eyes of those youth whom I would council and knew I would dive the depths of his and their hell if need be to restrain this from occurring to another! But, what were the choices this seemingly gentle, yet strong man had made which led to such as I had heard?

It took a few months to gather the material I would need before I wrote to him. But when I did, I soon breached his levee of choice with talk of other youth whom would benefit from his story. Yes, I was correct: he cared! Yes, some where, deep within his soul, his spiritual heart beat pure! You would ask, "How could you tell that with only hearsay, news articles, one visit, and a few letters?" I would reply: "Experience".

Yes, breached was that dam of pent-up thought, cresting a tumultuous volume of anger, pain, sorrow and dignity. Words, some scrambled, some easy side up, liken to eggs and grits flung from a hot griddle of ink splashed across 400 or so written pages, notes, and diary, provided the basic facts and energy for my total and independent investigation of Wizard's life.
Yes, after pouring over 400 hand-written pages of notes and diaries. Viewing stacks of official documents, browsing through reams of newspapers, interviewing Wizard, his mother and father, and coming face to face with individuals and relatives connected, pro and con, with the events portrayed in this book, I initially desired to call it by another title. Yes, something like 12 Down an' 10 to go, or Witch Widow and The Dixie River-Rats, or Murder On The Southern Express Blows The Snow Of White Ice, or The True Life And Times Of A Dixie-Mafia Drug Runner, or even, simply, The Diary Of A Convicted Murderer . . .

Yes, the events cried, I'm an action packed Crime Novel; I rule the world of slick, hard paced, killer-running books that appeal to so many deprived of untenable excitement. Yes! Taking folks to realms they dare not go . . . except in mind only! But, having lived a life some would consider unimaginable, I had dug deep into that well in quest of genuine facts; the hidden agenda; the cause and reason . . . Yes, into the very depths of two worlds this imprisoned soul had believed in and fought to keep and made new discoveries.

Shy and introverted, Wizard was caught up in the excitement of the first world; an underground; an underworld containing a network of unsavory yet, to Wizard, glamorous individuals whom lived for drugs, sex, and the absolute power of violence. Yes, this world, through the power of mind and personality altering substances, provided him with the shield of invincibility, charisma, and charm he found indispensable. While the second world, that of his family--mother, father, sister, grandfather and grandmother--represented the total opposite; with Fundamental -Southern-Baptist-Christianity ruling over all!

At first, it was extremely confusing. Yes, at one moment in his past he would be praying and preaching, the very next, shooting a host of illegal substances he had just "cooked" up, or marrying some 13-15 year old, or in the middle of a fire fight with several desperadoes! Though I attempted to utilize every thought and action and hope and tear that Wizard provided, I, in fact, was drawn to the conclusion that the battle for the will of this man was so complicated, I had to literally become him: to digest his life's understandings by following his trails an' trials! Yes, even to the point of understanding the Christian ethic. I had long ago learned much of the first world, but the second, well, that would require a book all unto itself! Thus, the journey you are about to embark upon is one of true and chilling fact; one that can snatch your little ones without a moments warning! All youth should partake of this journey, for through thought and journey one will arrive at truth: the past x the present ÷ by the mind = a powerful future!

If I had Wings I'd Help Them Fly is a journey whose point of birth is innocence, its conclusion death with a possibility of resuscitation. Written with intent of exposure to addiction's disease and its cure, the authentic and descriptive story telling will take you from past possibility to current, concrete facts of the tomb of Wizard's heart, soul mind, and body. If I had Wings I'd Help Them Fly is not a revival or remembrance of other stories or histories of illegal drugs and addiction, it is an enlightening yet terrifying story demonstrating the greater evils of addiction. The cause, effect, and weaknesses of the subjected; an interesting and arresting history of Methamphetamine and its international connections; of the world of the Southern Mafia; of the Methamphetamine lab; of maximally secure prison life; of a Democratic, family loving, God fearing,

Southern-Baptist-Christian family whose soul plundering tale may encompass events occurring in your own life. So, before I leave you to your quest, I must inform you of the following:

1- though the entire story is fact, occasional names were altered or changed to protect the innocent family members of written subjects.
2- besides the writings and interviews contributed by Bobby "The Wizard" Rogers, a vast amount of written material, news articles, official documents and records, and other information supplied by subject families were crucial to this books completion.
3- that Wizard understands this entire book of his life was written with out hopes of his recovering any profits nor favors of any kind.
4- with exclusive rights to its ultimate content, it was with individual purpose, interpretation, and writing that I produced the finished product.

RJ. Rocky Scarfone

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