How do you escape being a fugitive, when you weren't one?

For me, this was diffuclt. After the Wall Street Journal called me a fugitive, life became interesting. Friends distanced themselves, brands pulled back and suddenly, I was struggling not just financially, but now emotionally. And the Wall Street Journal didnt just post their article once and be done, the writer Andrew Beaton, a Duke graduate, posted and reposted to his Twitter account up to 10 times a day for weeks after his article posted.

Now I am uncertain of their reach but what I know is that the secondary effect lasted far longer then just a year and in fact has been felt even to this date over 7 years later. I could not get jobs because people saw that article and even though it is against the law, i was denied housing and even told to leave one place because they quote, did not rent to criminals. I was on track to be the exclusive clothing designer for FC Barcelona, so think about where my life was about to go, to be the designer and producer for the number one sports team in the world. It is crazy to know that I went from that, the end of the year, taking a bus from New York to Chicago, with literally 60 cents in my pocket. I kept afloat for a little while, being able to sell a few things I had in my storage unit but after that dried up I ended up in the northern suburbs of Chicago bouncing between motel 6 and motel 6 as I barel clung on.

The obscurity was part I had no work, but also i was so afraid to show my face. The humilation and the exhaustion from trying to defend myself against strangers took its tool.

So how did I escape being a fugitive, when I wasn't one? I didn't. In fact I would attempt to take my life because I couldn't. And now the only thing I can do is talk about it, bnot in fear of it, not in denial of it. but in the truth of what it really was and was not.