Marcus Christie,34, takes a break while trying to repair the starter in his 1998 Ford 150 truck, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, at the 5600 block of Southeast Mercedes Avenue in Port Salerno. Christie’s truck has been broken down for several months. “It’s been taking me so long to fix because I’ve been trying to keep up on all my bills,” said Christie. “I can’t give up on it. That truck is my lifeline. That truck is all I got.”
Christie heads into his 5 a.m. shift Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, at Tamco in Port St. Lucie. Christie’s job was to load boxes off trucks and package items at the fulfillment and manufacturing facility. He landed the job through a staffing agency, GL Staffing Services, and worked for a temporary period in 2021. Christie said he left TAMCO by choice, after a manager said they wouldn’t hire him full-time once he completed his temporary contract. Christie claims it is because of his criminal record.
Christie washes cars, Sunday, Jan. 23. 2022, at New Monrovia Park in Port Salerno. Christie started Big Boy Auto Care in 2013 and his dream is to own his own brick-and-mortar auto care business.
Christie drives his girlfriend’s car around his childhood neighborhood in Port Salerno, searching for someone who could tow his truck to his aunt’s home, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Christie’s 1998 Ford 150 broke down several months ago and repairs have stalled because of financial hardship. “I can go around there right now to get drugs and sell drugs and make twice as much money as I am making right now and take care of all my bills,” said Christie. “But I know the risk. I know how stressful it is and I’m done with it. I’m thankful for the smaller things, that’s what changed about me.”
Christie, 34, poses for a portrait Friday, Nov. 26, 2021, in his childhood neighborhood near Murray Middle School in Port Salerno. He has spent more than a decade in and out of incarceration in Martin and St. Lucie counties. “I think around February (2020), I end up getting out,” Christie said. “This is like my first full year from January to December. I’ve been in no trouble with the law, so that’s a big accomplishment for me.” That’s continued into 2022.
“It is so good, we used to do this all the time as kids,” says Marcus Christie (center) as he breaks open a piece of sugarcane with his aunt Helen Fisher (left) and then-girlfriend Kristian Hobbs outside his childhood home off Southeast Cove Road on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Port Salerno. Christie calls Fisher his mother because she adopted him when he was born. “I’m depressed from childhood, from my momma not being around. There’s issues that I haven’t even told people about," said Christie. “When you tell people you’re depressed, they say it’s an excuse.”
“Baby, it’s our first Christmas together. Let’s cheers for being in our own place,” says Marcus Christie (left) to his then-girlfriend Kristian Hobbs after eating dinner together, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, at their apartment in Port St. Lucie. In January 2022, Christie moved in with his aunt after his relationship with Hobbs ended.
Christie (second from right) works front-door security Saturday, Nov. 27, 2021, at Taqueria El Ranchito in Port Salerno. Working security is one of the many side jobs Christie works to pay bills and child support. “Young Marcus would be in jail right now. How I perceive things now, I wasn’t seeing it the same way then. But now, I think, ‘Look how far you have come,’ ” said Christie. “It’s hard. I don’t know how I do it. I have not rest, like literally just rest, in so long. I don’t have time to heal my wounds because I have to constantly get up and go. I’m trying my hardest.”
Christie points to his childhood best friend, Anthony Blach (#19), in a photograph of his youth football league Monday, Jan. 24. 2022, at his aunt's home off Southeast Cove Road in Port Salerno.
Christie fills out an application for employment at Stuart Car Wash and Detail Center on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. Christie was hired but ultimately decided to take another job opportunity with a moving company because the pay was better.