Chapter Three – From the Dirt

The motel room smelled like resin, sweat, and cheap air freshener.

Darius sat cross-legged on the floor, a shoebox full of wrinkled bills in front of him, a half-burnt Bridge Burner joint in his mouth, and a notebook stolen from a corner store open on the bed.

He stared at the blank page.

His fingers tapped nervously.

He had $990 left after re-upping on rolling papers, sandwich bags, and motel rent. Forty-five joints sold in three days. At $30 a pop.

The game was shifting.

He couldn't just keep calling it "that gas" or "that fire." People were asking for names now. A look. A label. A brand.

"From the Dirt..."

The words hit him like a memory.

That's what one of the older dudes had called it yesterday while puffing on a sample.

"This that From the Dirt pack, huh? Straight pressure, lil bro."

Darius wrote it down in bold letters:

From the Dirt

Underneath, he scribbled:

Realest weed on the block

Grown with nothing, but hits like something

No labs. No gimmicks. Just pain, pressure, and perfection.

He paused, then wrote a possible tagline:

"Grown Different."

Then another:

"Respect the Roots."

The notebook was filling fast—names, sketches, logo ideas drawn in shaky pen. A joint with roots like a tree. A hand sprouting from soil, holding a blunt like a torch. A city skyline rising from a grow tray.

He knew he couldn't go legal yet. No license. No LLC. Hell, no ID.

But he could build the legend first.

Let the streets talk.

Let them crave it.

He cut up old brown paper bags and wrote the strain name on them with a Sharpie. Bridge Burner. Second Chance. Concrete Jungle. One per ziplock, rolled with care.

He folded each one with a piece of tape and stuck a sticker on the front.

Not a real logo—just a blacked-out drawing of a sprouting plant rising from a pair of battered boots. A symbol.

He whispered to himself as he packed them.

"From the Dirt. That's what they gon' remember."

Later that night, he stood outside the motel, hoodie up, watching cars pass under the orange glow of the streetlights.

He wasn't rich.

He wasn't safe.

But for the first time in two lives… he had a vision.

"You gave me this gift," he whispered to the sky. "Now I'm gon' grow it into a kingdom."