He went from bad to oh, so good

DURHAM -- ******

CORRECTION

A Nov. 13 article in the Triangle & Co. section about a Durham baker who is an ex-offender misspelled the last name of Gudrun Parmer, the director of Durham County's Criminal Justice Resource Center.

****** Keijuane Hester sold drugs to earn quick cash for his family. Now his white powder gets mixed with sugar and food coloring instead of packaged into small plastic bags.

In the evening, family meals fill the spacious kitchen inside his southern Durham home. But during the day, his red velvet cupcakes come to life.

Hester, 34, started Favor Desserts in 2004 after being laid off from his lab technician job. Most bakers learn the craft at a culinary school or in a relative's kitchen.

Hester learned it in prison.

He started dealing cocaine during his sophomore year at Hillside High School to get the things teenagers want: clothes, sneakers, a nice car, money. He began hustling harder after his girlfriend became pregnant after high school.

"Being out on the street, fast money," he said. "It came fast. It was very risky because you're always paranoid about who knows what I'm doing."

"People that knew me knew that I was a good kid [and] wanted to know why I was making the drastic choices I was making," he said. "I knew I was letting down my family, but I chose to do what I thought was right at the time to bring in income."

On a trip back from New York to pick up cocaine, Hester walked off a Greyhound bus in Raleigh and into the hands of detectives. He was convicted of drug trafficking in February 1996 and sentenced to almost four years federal time.

He served most of his sentence at the Federal Prison Camp at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Golds boro. There, he knew eating the best food required working in the kitchen.

"I didn't take it seriously in the beginning," he said. "I didn't get into baking to bake. I got in the kitchen to get the fruits and vegetables, hustle them on the compound and be able to eat good."

But he took a liking to it. Banana pudding. Carrot cake. Apple pie. Cookies. Bread.

Even the correction officers liked what he made.

He stopped baking for two years after his release in October 1999 as he readjusted to regular living. It was a dare from a cousin that got him back into the kitchen. The relative didn't believe Hester could bake cakes and wanted one for a potluck.

Baking became a hobby once again. His passion grew after working at the now defunct George's Garage off Durham's Ninth Street in the morning and downtown Durham's Blue Mountain Catering in the afternoon. He would bake at night.

Hester had help that most ex-offenders lack, including family support and a job right out of prison. Ex-offenders need multiple resources, said Gudrun Palmer, director of the Criminal Justice Resource Center in Durham.

A few local groups serve recently released inmates, she said. But the need continues - 358 people with Durham addresses were released from state prison from April to September, according to the Department of Correction.

"Being able to shine and demonstrate what they're capable of, it's extremely rewarding and satisfying because that's what makes our work worth it," Palmer said.

Hester provides desserts to eight Durham restaurants. He also does catering and sells pastries at N.C. Central University and Shaw University football games.

What started with one cake pan, a hand mixer, an oven, $30 and a carrot cake recipe has grown into a consistent business - one driven by faith and family support.

"Just knowing that I have people in my corner that want me to be successful," he said. "And seeing other hustlers in the street that say 'hey, keep doin' what you're doin'. That keeps me going."

Not to mention his red velvet cupcakes, which quickly disappear at William's Country Kitchen on N.C. 54. Up to 15 dozen sell every week.

"As far as cupcakes go, they sell like hotcakes," said owner Will Roumanis. "They're really addicting, so whatever he does, he's doing it right. Imagine what he could do if he was really out there."