Can I take my boyfriend to court if he left and broke our verbal agreement?

I had a verbal agreement with my boyfriend and my uncle was the witness to pay back the money that he borrowed from me and he borrowed from my uncle. He said when he got his checks he would pay me back and instead his checks came and he took off. Can I take him to small claims court he has always said he would pay that's why I'm in shock that he just vanished? We lived together the rent was to be paid 1/2 and he was to pay 1/2 of everything he has paid nothing. I do have the text he wrote saying he would pay me I even paid his union dues and he said he would pay me back not 1 cent I got from him. I do have my uncle as a witness because he owes my uncle just as much.