Legal contract advice need help please

Oral agreements are binding, but as noted above, it's a problem of proving what the agreement was.

As far as the non-compete, they are notoriously hard to enforce (as they should be), particularly in situations such as yours (not sure what protectable interest he can demonstrate), and any reasonable plaintiffs' side employment lawyer in your town should be able to give you a very quick read on that part of the equation. Good luck.