Copyright © 2010 by Twenty First Street
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
ISBN: 978 0 9831 6690 0
LCN: 2010941284
Printed in the United States of America
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. Any and all locations existing are mentioned in the book to give it a feeling of reality.

Copyright © 2010 by Twenty First Street Urban Editing All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions of this book thereof in any form whatsoever. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

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Compilation and Introduction copyright © 2010 by Twenty First Street / Published by: 21st Street Urban Editing & Publishing, LLC
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010941284
ISBN: 978-0-9831-6690-0
Cover design/Graphics www.cupcakecreativedesign.com
Author: Keisha Howard
Editor-in-Chief: Niccole M. Simmons
Shout outs…
I would like to thank God for giving me such a gift. I would like to thank my cousin Janell Wilber for being my jailhouse editor while we were serving our time for something we did not do! Cousin, I told you good things come to those that wait! To all the girls who read this book in jail…thanks so much for believing in me! Shout out to Donita Taylor of AhoskieN.C., Tykesha”Kookie” Jacobs , Latasha Futrell, Zeltanya Walton-Ruffin, Emily Sessoms, Marita Nichols, Tashica Jennings, Tishica Mabry, “Big G”, and everyone that made my time go smoothly! Y‟all ladies were my backbone and I love every last one of you for helping me to stay strong! Anybody that I missed, it wasn‟t intentional! Shout out to Murfreesboro N.C., and Ahoskie N.C., Shout out to the females that lied on me that got me that time in the first place, hahaha!! God don‟t like ugly! Thanks though, because if it wasn‟t for y‟all, I would have never started writing! You shall reap what you sew! Good luck!
I would like to give a special shout out to all of my friends, Trevonia Weaks, Nieemah Drew, Shekea Ore, Keisha Cooper, Christal King, Atoy Dawson, Latasha Beall, Isetta Sanders, Juritus Thompson (Rit), Calvette Harrell, Baila White, Jessica Boyce, Tiffany Convington, Lachanda Worrell, Nina Fenner, Janet Fenner, Cheryl Riddick, Rochelle, Roxanna Amaya and Trina Bullock…I love each one of you ladies!! Thanks for being yourself and thanks for the support!! (Lord I hope I didn‟t forget anybody)…If I did, it wasn‟t intentional!
Special Shout out to all of my cousins, Ricky Howard, James Brumsey, Keith Brumsey, Kendra Spivey, Marvin Howard, Ciara Howard , Danielle Howard, Kimberly Long, Caroyln Long, Cedric Bias, Deon Bias, Kayla Lawson, Kavon Lawson, Rodney Lawson, Darius Burgos, Monti Lawson, Rodney Holiday and my favorite Cousin Alicia Long…I love all of you!
Special shout out to my grandmothers…Eva Elizabeth Steely and Patrica Lawson (RIP)… Uncle Lloyd, bet you thought I forgot about you huh?? I love you too (you know that)!
Hey Unlce Joe!!! Didn‟t forget about you either!! Lol…I love you too! Thanks again for the amazing wedding pictures! You truly know how to make memories!( smile)
Speical shout out to Kunta Goodson…Yeah, You know I had to throw your name to the world!! I love you homie! You are a good friend and I will always have your back regardless of any situation! (Real talk)!
I would like to thank my mother (Cynthia Howard) for being so hard on me when I was coming up and for not letting me do what I wanted to do…To my father(James Melvin Lawson Jr.) thanks for your support also. You helped me through a lot of nights when I was in the jail too! I love both of you equally!!
Shout out to my brother James Melvin Howard aka Jamo! Your time for freedom will be here before you know it and I can‟t wait until you come home! We are like Bonnie & Clyde, lol. We have always been there for each other and always have been very close. I don‟t know if I have ever seen a sister/brother relationship as tight as ours! Look….I‟m doing something positive!!! Lol!…I hope you are proud of your sister! This is only the beginning though! This writing stuff is going to be our way out !!!!!
I would like to thank all of my family for their continuedsupport…Shout out to all of my Aunites! Eva Bradley aka Candy, Marva Lawson, Shirley Jones, Yvette Bias, Stephanie Holiday-Brown, Terrashae Burgos, and Phillistine Howard…you all rock!
To my Husband, Wayne Joshua Charles II, although I didn‟t know you when I wrote this book back in 2004, your support on getting it out there to the world has been amazing! I appreciate everything you do for me and the kids and am so very grateful that God has put such a great man in my life! You have accepted me with all of my flaws and to me, that‟s A LOT to ask of someone. Lol, but, you have and you love me with every ounce of love in your heart. I know that for a fact. I know it because when you look at me, I can see the sincerity in your eyes. I love you forever! Thanks for everything babe! Special thanks to my beautiful Markeisha Nacole Howard, Kintasia Howard and Blessyn Nevaeh Charles…you little ladies keep me on point! Continue to strive for excellence! Markeisha, you better make it to the WNBA! Lol…That is all you talk about and you have all the support you need within your family! Kintasia, I have all the faith in the world for you! Regardless of everything, You WILL become daughters,

Takeisha something if it takes the last breath in my body to yell at you to have you not follow in your mother‟s footsteps but become your own successful woman! I know you can do it and you WILL do it! Blessyn, you are too young to understand what‟s going but Mommy is going to make sure you become a successful woman also!
Thank you to everyone that supports me!
To: The Readers
This story is not based on actual events, but it is based on real life and some of the things that I have witnessed or have been through myself. I hope that you will enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing for you. Thanks so much for reading…enjoy!

The Don Divas…

Living By Any Means Necessary

By: Keisha Howard Brace yourself, still waters run deep. The ethic of friendship and the code of the streets are the ties that bind the Don Divas together. Through trials and tribulations, ups and downs, good times and bad, betrayal and misfortune, the Don Divas weave their selves together through an authentic sisterhood built on the code of the game. True friendship and love perseveres…By Any Means Necessary. Luscious

Luscious was a bad bitch that no one could get next to. She was the type of bitch you hated to love or loved to hate. She grew up in a come-one-comeall, Baptist church in downtown Newport News, Virginia. She was what you would call a good girl gone bad.

It was about nine o‟clock at night when Chocolate called to remind Luscious of the party they were doing for Ricky Reid and his people.

“ Hello…what‟s up bitch? You still going to the party tonight right?”
“Yeah, you know that…as much as I need money.” Luscious said.
“You just be ready. I‟ll be there to get you around ten-thirty. I ain‟t waiting for your ass all night.”
“Yeah, yeah I‟ll be ready, just blow the horn.” Luscious hung up the phone thinking of how authentic the friendship was between her and Chocolate while she puffed on a Newport and sipped a glass of wine.
Luscious had one more thing she had to get done before she got dressed. She called over to her cousin‟s house to make sure the kids would be ready by ten am the next morning. They were having their pictures taken at smiling faces studio. Although Luscious did her thing, she was always a mother first. Her kids were all conceived out of love with her childhood sweetheart Dashawn. He was the one person she would have died for at one point in her life. He really took a toll on the once innocent girl‟s life. Things went sour between the two when Luscious caught Dashawn in bed with her auntie. There were plenty of other girls prior to her aunt Jackie that he had been with but, that was the breaking point. The negro was so down and dirty that he would literally come home smelling like the fluzzie he had just been with. Needless to say, he took the poor girl through hell and high water. Luscious never understood her own stupidity. After all, she was one of the baddest girls around town. Everyone wanted a chance with the five-six, one hundred and fifty pound diva. That was the one thing Dashawn despised. He hated the looks she received whenever they were out together. Often times Luscious would have to pay for a blush or smile by wearing his fist print over one of her eyes. He would beat the poor girl so bad that she would have to stay away from her family. Especially her younger and only brother “Young Boy”, but on July fourth, at one of the family‟s cook-out there was no hiding the fact that her left arm was in a sling. After a short interrogation from Young Boy and four of her cousins, Luscious confessed to her family that Dashawn was the reason she was wearing the sling. After being confronted by the Johnson boys, Dashawn tried to paint a picture of a tragic mistake, but the fellasweren‟t trying to hear shit he was saying. They beat him like he stole something. Well, in actuality he did. He robbed the girl of her dignity and her pride. She was so obviously being beaten by the low life that she never realized the change in her own behavior. Especially anytime he was in her presence.
The ass kicking wasn‟t enough for Young Boy, he wanted the negro dead. He ran to his truck and grabbed his .357 handgun from under the seat. Dashawn never saw it coming. Young Boy emptied the clip in Dashawn‟s head. He was DOA, when the ambulance arrived Young Boy was nowhere to be found.

Chocolate

That‟ll be four dollars and forty-six cents; Chocolate was repeating herself for the third time. This time it was obvious to the girl yapping her mouth on her cell phone that Chocolate was talking to her. “Hold on…I know this bitch ain‟t yelling at me,” the shopper yelled in the receiver of her phone.

“Oh yes the hell Iam!” Chocolate retaliated. Just then the Food Lion‟s manager came running to register thirteen where Chocolate was working. He yelled at her and apologized to the shopper for his employee‟s rudeness.

“ Fuck you and this job you fuckin‟ cracker! I am sick of this shit anyway! I don‟t need this petty ass money. I can make what you pay me here in one night.” Chocolate grabbed her purse and stormed out of the front door. She reached for her cell phone and called Luscious. That seemed to be what she always done when she needed a ride but, it was fine by Luscious because she was always paid for the rides.

“What‟s up girl? Do you mind picking me up from work? I just walked out and I ain‟t going back!”
“Yeah, I‟ll be there in about fifteen minutes Luscious said. While Chocolate waited for her homegirl, she lit a Newport and posted up outside the store. Her feelings were playing tricks on her. She was feeling very bittersweet about the decision she made. She knew she didn‟t need the bullshit job but, she knew she was on probation and one of the stipulations was that she maintained employment. She started to feel a little level headed after dancing entered her mind. For some odd reason, shaking her ass always came through for her and it always got her out of a bad jam.
Chocolatewas the type of girl that didn‟t give a fuck about nothing but her twin girls, Areyona and Shantiana. Her kid‟s father couldn‟t put up with her attitude and left her when she was eight and a half months pregnant. He never laid eyes on the kids a day in their lives. Chocolate was the only parent they ever knew. She would often use that as an excuse or to her advantage saying things like “ I gotta feed my kids so I got to do what I got to do,” as if she couldn‟t hold down a normal job and feed her kids at the same time.
Luscious finally arrived at Food Lion to pick her up. Chocolate got in the car and started to explain the events that took place inside the store. She never even noticed Luscious‟ kids in the back seat sleeping.
“Bitch,if you wake up my damn kids they‟re going home with you, and put that cigarette out. You know I don‟t smoke around my kids.” Chocolate just nodded and threw the cigarette out the window. Luscious drove Chocolate home. She tried to pay for the ride but Lusciouswouldn‟t accept the five dollars. She did it as a favor, not for the gas money.
Chocolate was about five-five and one hundred and sixty pounds. Pretty dark complexion and shaped like a black goddess, she was a ghetto superstar at times but had a very unique way with men. She was known to con a man out of his boxers. A high school graduate and a certified hustler would describe two different people, but that was Chocolate in the flesh. She was highly intelligent but had more street smarts than anything.
Chocolate had only one hour before the bus would drop her girls off from school. So she lit a cigarette and grabbed a Corona from the ice box. She chilled out for a few, trying to figure out how she was going to explain to her probation officer why she was jobless for the third time in a two month period.

Juicy

“ Hustler, I’m the queen of the south..,” a song by Trina blasted through the sub woofers of Juicy‟s Honda accord. She was on her way to the mall to pick up a pair of pumps for Friday night. She was singing along with the “Baddest Bitch,” when a car full of females rolled up next to her as she was parking. Two of the girls jumped out and stood on opposite sides of her car. Juicy was in a state of shock being she hadn‟t the slightest idea what they wanted. Although Juicy always kept violence as a last result, she prepared herself to fight. “

“Open this door bitch,” yelled one of the girls. Juicyhesitated then rolled down the driver‟s side window. “What the fuck is going on?” Juicy asked trying to sound thugged out.

“You know what‟s up bitch, open this door and I‟ll show you what‟s up. You ain‟t so bad now huh hoe? You were popping mad shit when you were over MikeMike‟s house the other night. Now you acting dumb. I‟m his baby‟s momma. Remember me?” Just as Juicy was ready to respond, the girl reached in the window and pulled Juicy‟s wig off. The other females jumped out of the car to join their partner in crime. They beat the shit out of Juicy and stole her purse. They left the poor girl fucked up and bloody.

Juicy waking up in the hospital was a shock to herself as well as the rest of the clique. The other girls got a phone call from a girl that worked in the emergency room. Needless to say, the war was about to be on.

Juicy was twenty-five years old, no kids and a fashion bug living the life. Juicy was from California and had a whole different demeanor from all the otherchic‟s she hung around. To her, her hair, nails, apartment and car meant the world to her. Often females would be envious of the five-one and one hundred and thirty pound sex symbol and she loved every minute of it. Juicy‟s weakness was men. Her favorite line was wood is good a man could rise and set on her forehead if that‟s what he asked of her. As long as he could pay the fare, he was in there like swimwear.

Juicy loved to dance and be the center of attention. She had been raped inside of New York‟s wildest strip club. She had been jumped by girls and threatened by housewives. In spite of it all, Juicy loved her professionand wouldn‟t have it any other way. It gave her popularity and for some odd reason it gave her a very presumptuous attitude.

Juicy was the one person that would confuse the boots off of anyone. There was no explanation as to why she done the things she did. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a defense attorney. She was the only child also which means she never wanted for nothing, especially attention. She just loved to be in the center of things. Her parents disowned her when she first entered the stripper‟s world at the tender age of seventeen. She would leave home for weeks and months at a time. Her parents would put out missing persons reports and runaway reports but nothing would stop her hunger for independence. They would find her and reward her instead of punishing her. Maybe that was the reason she kept doing what she did. Juicy would soon realize that everything that glitters….is not gold.

Golden Brown

“I‟m sorry I‟m late again,” Golden Brown managed to say through broken breaths. “The bus was late again.”

T he daycare provider wasn‟t interested in why she was late again for the fourth time that week. She had had enough of the extra hour she would spend watching the kids only not to be compensated the late fee.

“ This is going to be reported the next time you are late Ms. Simore; I have six other children in this house to take care of. I need you to be here on time for here on out.”

Golden Brown sensed an attitude but she wouldn‟t dare acknowledge it. After all, she knew she was wrong and she kinda felt guilty knowing that she wasn‟t at her mandatory work force program ordered by social service. She was out tricking with john‟s all day. Golden Brown was a down right scandalous nasty poor excuse for a female. Her own mother made the terrible and hurtful comment “I can‟t see how any man could lay down with her.”

Which was true in a lot of people‟s eyes.
Golden Brown was only twenty-four years old and had been through more men than anyone dared to count. She had four children with four different men. She couldn‟t dare name the fathers of none of them being that they were all conceived from johns‟. She lived in the projects and had not one intention of getting out. Although she was a part of the Don Divas, no one really accepted her. She was not attractive. She was about five-nine and one hundred and thirty pounds soaking and wet, and she sometimes carried a body odor and was just a plain out disgrace to dancers. The only reason she was accepted in the clique was because she grew up with one of the former members that died in a car accident. She openly admitted to the other girls that she had started smoking crack and sniffing cocaine. That confession alone didn‟t sit well with Luscious. She never really accepted the chic anyway, but after hearing that, she was really considered an outcast in
her eyes.
Golden Brown walked out of the daycare with the four kids tagging along. She ran to the car that was waiting at the end of the block and yelled at the kids to jump in. The four girls ages four, three, two and one were evidently moving too slowly for her so she cursed loudly at them. The john drove her and the children to the projects where she lived in downtown Newport News. Gang members were guarding the street corners checking for possible drug buyers. This frightened the middle aged john being that he was white in such a rough neighborhood. He mumbled something to Golden Brown but she was too busy yelling out the window at a couple of guys standing on the corner.

“Right here,” Golden Brown motioned for her trick to turn in the driveway of her apartment. She opened the back door for her kids and waited for the man to exit the driver‟s side. Once inside the apartment, she demanded the kids to go to their rooms. This is so she could perform sexual acts on her client. She invited the man to her bedroom and asked what he wanted. “Well, a little of everything” said the horny white man. “That‟ll cost you sixty dollars. She said in a very ghetto fabulous voice. When the man paid his fare, he lay down on her sheet-less mattress and waited for his ride.

Just as Golden Brown was about to do what she did best, there was a knock at her front door. She tried to ignore the knocking but it only got louder. Finally she lifted up off of her knees and stormed to the door wearing nothing but a pair of thongs and a bra that defeated the purpose. It was child protective services. For Golden Brown, this was something she never expected but, should have.

Bay-Bay

“All rise, the honorable Judge William Claiborne presiding,” were the words flowing Deputy Caesar‟s mouth as he tried to keep his eyes off of the plaintiff. “Your honor, this is the case of Nicole Spencer verses Donte‟ White. The plaintiff here sitting to my left is the mother of the defendants three sons,” the commonwealth attorney said. “Ms. Spencer accuses the defendant of assault and battery. Your honor, I have the pictures here showing the scars and bruises my client sustained as a result of the beating.”

Bay-Bay tried to keep focus on the judge but couldn‟t help recognizing the deputy sheriff. He was the host of a party a few weekends prior and was buck wild. He even tricked with her for one hundred and fifty dollars. She could feel him starring at her. Sweat dripped from her brow. She was so embarrassed. She never thought she would run into him again. She just focused her attention on following the court‟s proceedings. After all, the situation at hand bared the highest importance.

The defense attorney defended his client as best as he could but, there was no remorse coming from the judge who was way too familiar with the couple.“I sentence you to eighteen months in the Virginia state prison system, upon your release; you are not to have any contact with the victim. I hope you will take the time sentenced to you and utilize it the best of your ability. Good luck! Go with the sheriff.”

That was a day of rejoice for Bay-Bay. She finally got justice as well as freedom from her boyfriend of seven years. No one ever understood why she put up with the fool as long as she did. She though he was the best man on the planet when the met. She would call all of her girlfriends and brag about the ex- high school football captain. They would go away for weekends together and spend most of their time together. Since Bay-Bay was the captain of the cheerleader squad, they were labeled as the perfect couple by many in high school.

With D onte‟ incarcerated, Bay-Bay was now the soul provider for her three sons. There was a strong bond between Bay-Bay and Luscious early on in their friendship. They met in the second grade. Their friendship fell apart when Luscious had to kick Bay-Bay‟s ass over a rumor. But, nevertheless Luscious would lend her right arm to help her friend with the boys now that their father was gone. That thought eased Bay-Bay‟s mind.

Leaving the courtroom, Bay-Bay fought with her emotions and tried to understand why she had gotten herself in such an ugly predicament. She lit a Newport and walked to her car shedding tears all the way. She never noticed the parking attendant reaching for the three dollars and twenty-five cents. she owed for parking, she was singing along with Ashanti‟s Foolish. She paid her toll fee and decided to call her mother to inform her of the outcome of the case. Knowing she would be ridiculed for being so naive and hearing a lot of shouldas, wouldas, and couldas, Bay-Bay had second thoughts and decided against the idea.

Growing up in Norfolk Virginia, Bay-Bay was the second to the youngest of six children. Her mother and father were very strict and had a zero tolerance for foolishness as they would say. Bay-Bay never understood why her mother was so insistent on her getting rid of Donte‟. After all, she herself was beaten by her construction working, six-two, big, black and muscular poor excuse for a man. He would come home from what he called Hell and take his frustrations out on the first person he saw which Bay-Bay felt was always her. He would rape her and force her to give him blow jobs while wearing her hair in two ponytails. For some odd reason, the ponytails turned him on. He would force his big over grown penis in the twelve year olds vagina and go to work like a mad man. This went on from the age of twelve until fifteen. She would tell her mother but the only response she would get would be “I know Renee, just hold on baby. The Lord will see you through this.” Waiting on the Lord to remove her from the situation only led BayBay to become an atheist. She didn‟t believe in God and hated to hear anyone talk highly of him. She would never enter a church and hated to be invited. A friend of hers died of sickle-cell, Bay-Bay was asked by the family to sing at the funeral being she had a great voice, but she declined the request. Although she loved her friend whole heartedly, singing in what is called, the house of the Lord,” was a real problem for Bay-Bay. She didn‟t at all feel bad about her decision not to sing or attend the funeral. She was even raising her boys to be atheists.

The Celebrity Party

None of the girls expected other females to be at the long anticipated party for Ricky Reid. Had they known, they probably would have prepped up their game a little. Maybe would have considered making sure Golden Brown bathed thoroughly! On the turntables was J.R. He had a thing for Luscious and she knew it. All the dancers at the three story building wanted to trick with the sexy DJ. But he knew where his money was going. He paid Luscious two hundred dollars for what she called a six in a half minute waste of time on the regular. Luscious had her goal set at four hundred and fifty dollars that night. She had things figured out. She would fuck J.R. for two hundred dollars and dance for the rest. She knew Virginia Power wasn‟t giving her anymore extensions on her light bill.

Luscious entered the room where the rest of the dancers were. She normally was the first to arrive on set. Chocolate always rode with her so she could get a few tricks before shit popped off. She learned that from Luscious.

Golden Brown and Bay-Bay was smoking a blunt when Lusciousand her protégé‟ stepped into the room looking fly as usual. “Hey, what took y'all so long?” Golden Brown yelled through exhales of weed smoke. Luscious just looked at the bitch up and down and dropped her bag. “We stopped to get something to eat, this bitch here acted like she was starving,” Chocolate said jokingly, trying to break the tension in the room. Chocolate never really understood why Luscious dogged Golden Brown as much as she did. She knew herself Golden Brown had serious issues but, never asked Luscious where all the hate toward the girl came from.

“ Anyway,” Bay- Bay said. “I got the up-front money but there is a slight problem.”
“And what would that be?” Luscious asked while lighting a Newport and glancing at the other girls trying to figure out where the hell they came from. “Ricky Reid‟s homeboy only gave me four hundred instead of five hundred.
“And?” Chocolate asked dumbfound.
“Well, there are five of us including Juicy so somebody can‟t get paid.”
“Idon‟t see why not,” Luscious snapped.
“Your girl there is just going to have to dance off of tips, cause Juicy is getting paid. Besides, she wasn‟t even invited to this party. I booked this! You dragged her along so, give her half of your money if you so concerned.” Luscious was talking to BayBay as if Golden Brownwasn‟t sitting right there. She wanted a reason to whip her ass anyway so she was secretly hoping Golden Brown said something, but Golden Brownwouldn‟t dare offer a defense for herself. She had seen Luscious in action once or twice and knew not to get cute, especially not in front of the other bitches. Luscious hated to be tested. That gave her the motive to prove herself. Everyone always took her as prissy or a pretty girl but she would fight at the drop of a dime.
“Don‟t worry about it, I‟m alright. I don‟t need the upfront money. I‟ll make my money regardless” Golden Brown said while pulling her outfit for the evening out of her “hoe bag”. Bay-Bay handed the money out so they could get started. Luscious held on to Juicy‟s money. They all got dressed and prepared to go make their money.
The crowd was hyped and the girls were too. Chocolate was first to hit the dance floor. She danced to Danger by Mystical. Tips were flowing heavily. Luscious was next. Wearing her favorite costume, a two piece hot pink custom made attention getter. She knew her outfit alone would make her money. The stilettos she wore seemed to bring out her thick thighs and the twenty inch weave she wore complemented her skin being that it was honey blonde. She looked hot and she knew it.
Ricky Reid spotted Luscious instantly. He called her with his index finger. He knew she would run to him like a dog being called by his master; instead she threw her index finger up gesturing for him to wait. She went to lap dance on another waiting customer. Ricky Reidcouldn‟t believe what he was seeing. He was being put on hold not only by a female, something he wasn‟t used to but for a cat that looked like he just left the crack spot.
He thought to himself, Who the fuck do that bitch think she is? She must not know I play quarter back for one of the best football teams in the NFL. But Lusciousdid know. In fact that‟s why she made him wait. Even though she was a stripper, she wasn‟t going to let a nigga think she was desperate.
Ricky Reid waited patiently as he sipped on his Hennessey. He never took his eyes off his prey. He was approached by other chic‟s but he wanted Luscious. He was planning his revenge. He would make her regret putting him on hold.
Juicy finally arrived. She was propositioned as soon as she walked through the door. She accepted the offer and followed her trick to the VIP Room. Once inside, she opens her bag and pulled out her ky jelly to begin her duty. She asked her customer what he wanted, he pointed to his dick and her mouth. Juicy knew what he wanted but she was trying to figure out why he was making gestures and not talking. From the slight sign language he used, she had in the back of her mind that the dude was deaf. Not wanting to be rude, but at a loss for words Juicy went onto continue to question the man.“Do you only want head or do you want everything?” He pointed again to his bulging dick and then her mouth. Juicy‟s suspicions were confirmed. The man was indeed deaf.
“Well that‟ll be seventy-five dollars.”
He opened his wallet and removed a fifty dollar bill and handed it to his whore. Juicy stood there with her hands on her hips. She was waiting for the rest of her money. She stuck her hand out gesturing for the other twenty-five dollars. The john was removing his pants when he noticed her lips moving. He stood still to study her mouth. He knew what she wanted of course. He knew he didn‟t give her all of her money. He threw his hands in the air as if to say that‟s all he had. Juicy had a disoriented look on her face. She hated to be played like a fool but she kinda felt sorry for the man and decided to go ahead and do it for the fifty dollars. She put her ky jelly back in her bag being she wasn‟t going to need it and rumbled through the bag for a flavored condom. She decided to go with the cherry. She put the condom on his dick with her mouth and sucked him until he exploded in the back of her throat. The whole ordeal took about ten minutes. From the expression on her client‟s face, she knew she had did a good job. She thanked him for his patronage and gathered her belongings. She couldn‟t waste any more time. She was already an hour late for the party, so she knew she had to make up for time lost. She exited the room with anticipation. Her duty as a dancer was to make more money than the others so her mission began.
Luscious finally pranced over to Ricky Reid. He gave her a very mischievous look while reaching for a roll of money from the pocket of his jeans. That was a thrill for Luscious. She just knew she would make her light bill money and plenty more just from him alone. She danced in front of him as sexy as she knew how. She untied her bottom and clapped her ass in his face, but he wasn‟t paying her any attention or money. He was actually throwing twenty bills at Juicy who was penetrating herself with a glow in the dark vibrator.
Lusciouscould feel her blood boiling but wasn‟t going to show it. She decided to take another approach. She sat on his lap backwards bouncing her ass to the beat. She thought to herself once he feels this wet Juicycat on his dick, he’ll be wanting more than a lap dance,but he didn‟t. In fact, he didn‟t even want the chic in his sight. He though she was stuck up and arrogant. The only reason he didn‟t kick her ass out was because his boy had paid her upfront. He wanted her to earn every dime.
Ricky Reid kept tipping Juicy as well as the other girls. He even threw Golden Brown a few dollars. Luscious sucked in her pride and left the dance floor. She walked over to the DJ Booth to see what was up with J.R. She hoped he still wanted to get down because she hadn‟t made much of nothing at that point. As soon as she approached him, he put on a mix c.d. And took her by the hand to the VIP Room. He wanted the usual. The package deal. Which consisted of a blow job and a fuck. J.R. knew the procedure all too well, he paid Luscious the usual two hundred dollars and it was on from there.
Luscious put it on J.R. So good that he couldn‟t believe that was the same chic that would normally rush him and complain about her dubie wrap getting messed up. In fact, she fucked him so good that he was making plans in his head for the end of the night.
The party was over by two am. Everybody made good money. Luscious met her goal being she tricked with J.R. twice. Ricky Reid finally took her aside after the party. They had a nice lengthy conversation. Ricky Reidrealized that she wasn‟t stuck up at all. As a matter of fact, he found her to be very down to earth. They exchanged numbers and decided to see each other on a different note, a more personal note. Needless to say, Luscious got way more money from him in the long run. She was glad things turned out the way they did.

Young Boy

For Young Boy, being on the run was hectic. He couldn‟t hustle on the block;he couldn‟t even show his face in public. He knew that niggas hated his guts and wanted him off the streets. He figured one sure way not to fulfill the haters‟ dreams was to hide out at his baby momma‟s house. The police posted one hundred thousand dollar reward signs everywhere. The money alone was enough to make anybody snitch. Or at least that‟s the way he thought in his own grimy mind.

Young Boy decided to take a chance and walk to his homeboy‟s house. He never even noticed the unmarked cars sitting on the corner of 26th street. He got about twenty-five feet before the jump out squad came from all directions. Young Boy lived by the street codes. He would never go down without a good fight. He took off as if he was Sonic the Hedgehog. This nigga was determined to get away. All he thought about while he was running was the fact that he would probably never see his sister and kids again. More than anything, he feared that he would never see the streets again.

He began to have suicidal and homicidal thoughts as he ran. The Newporthe had just smoked wasn‟t doing him any justice. He had no choice but to give up. He was tired as hell. Cops from all angles pointed their weapons at the overgrown nineteen year old.

With a very apprehensive look on his face, he decided to end the chase. He was about six blocks from his baby momma‟s house but he could have sworn he was halfway across the damn city. Spectators were on their usual duty: making mental notes and paying an excessive amount of attention. Maybe so they would remember every detail so they could gossip about it while getting their hair done, playing pool or just to have something to talk about while getting high. You know, the typical ghetto entertainment.

Young Boy was taken into custody and booked on one count of second degree murder and one count of being a fugitive from justice. His life was over, and he knew it. He was labeled as a habitual felon. Young Boy had a very quandary feeling as to why shit went down the way it did. He realized that the ass whipping would have been enough. He just hated the fact that the nigga was putting his hands on his sister and couldn‟t live with himself if he didn‟t put him to rest. He and his sister were inseparable. He looked up to his big sister. He admired her in everything she did. In his eyes, she could do no wrong.

He sat in the booking cell all night. He was of course denied bond so he just waited to be put in population. He knew he had to call his mother and sister to inform them of his whereabouts. He wondered which one of them would except collect calls. He figured it would be his mom being that Lusciousonly had a cell phone. It didn‟t take him long to remember how to use the jail phone. It hadn‟t been a whole three months since he was there last on assault charges. He dialed his mother‟s number and braced himself for what he was about to have to put up with. Mrs. Johnson hadn‟t spoken to him since the cook-out. She prayed earnestly day and night that he would surrender to the authorities. She feared for his safety on hard streets of Newport News. She knew those gangsters, as she would call them, wanted her boy dead. He was shot and left for dead two years prior. He was found by a little girl on her way to school. He was air lifted to Norfolk General Hospital where he almost died. Mrs. Johnson and her husband never left his side. Mr. Johnson was an ex- knuckle head himself. You would never know it unless he told you. He was finally convinced by Mrs. Johnson to give his life to the Lord a couple of years prior. TheJohnson‟s believed they prayed their boy out of that comma.

“ Praise the Lord,” Mrs. Johnson answered. The operator was giving directions as to how to accept the call. Young Boy‟s heart was racing as if he was Richard Petty. His mother was the only person that made him nervous. Mrs. Johnson pressed zero to accept the call.

“Christopher, is that you?”
“Yeah ma, it‟s me. I just wanted you to know that I‟m in jail. I don‟t have a bond so I‟m not sure how longI‟ll sit here.”

“Well baby, I tell you, the Lord sure does work in mysterious ways, you just hold on baby. Your father and I will hire you an attorney first thing in the morning.”

“ Thanks Ma. LetSharay know I‟m here. Tell her to come see me this weekend and tell her to put some money on my commissary account. I‟ll holla at you tomorrow ma. Tell pa Isaid what‟s up alright?”

“Ok ay Christopher, I sure will. Just stay strong boy and stay prayed up. I‟ll see if I can come see you in the morning with the attorney. If I see Sharay, I‟ll let her know but, I tell you one thing, your guess to where she is, is as good as mine. I heard she was back out there dancing in those trashy house parties again. Idon‟t know what her problem is.”

Young Boy hated to hear the truth about his sister so he tried to get his mother off the phone before she started praying for him and his sister and speaking in tongues.

“Ok ay ma, I got to get off this phone. The guard is about to take me to the block. I love you ma.”
“I love you too baby. See you in the morning. Don‟t forget to pray baby, prayer works! It really changes things!” He agreed and then they hung up.
The jail was packed to capacity as usual. After all, it was winter time. All the bums went to jail for warmth and shelter around that time of the year. They would go out and do little petty shit like steal and trespass just to have a place to stay until the weather broke. Young Boy knew half the guys in jail from the streets or from the jail. The deputy put him in cell block J which was for the people charged with felonies. It was like a reunion for Young Boy. Niggas was giving him all the scoop on shit that happened after he left the last time. He was schooled to who was snitching, who went to the pen and who was the jailhouse bitches.
It was music to his ears when he heard that J.T. was sent up the road for twenty-five to life. J.T. snitched Young Boy out on a previous charge and got himself a deal on his case. It must have not done any good since he was doing a bid like that. He should have known better. Shit, he was charged with raping a thirteen year old girl. Either way, he was fucked. Young Boy would have killed him if he would have made it back to the streets anyway. Prison was his best bet to stay alive.
Young Boy chatted with the fellas for a while. He was trying to kill time. He knew his kids‟ momma wasn‟t getting off of work until midnight. Then she had to get the kids from the babysitter so, he estimated that she wouldn‟t be home until around one am. The phones would be off by then so he decided to leave a collect message. “Hey Carla, it‟s me. Yo, I guess you heard they got me earlier today. These motherfuckers ain‟t give me no bond so I‟ll be sitting here for a minute before I go up the road. Try to come down here to see me with Sharay. Just call her up so you can catch a ride. I‟ll call you tomorrow before you go to work. I love you.” He hung up looking really sad and ingenuous. Carla was very loyal to him. He had been in and out of jail since they started kicking it three years prior.
Carla, a computer technology major, loved the ground her man walked on. She fell in love with his belligerent demeanor. She loved a ruff neck, so Young Boy was right up her alley. They were planning to get married on valentine‟s day of that year.
Arriving home expecting to see Young Boy in bed was Carla‟s reason for leaving work early pretending to be sick. She called over to the babysitter‟s house and made arrangements for the kids to stay overnight. She was going to sex Young Boy out of his mind. All day at her desk, she was feeling tingly and needed to relieve some much needed stress. Mrs. Newsome enjoyed the boys staying over. Besides, they were her comfort blankets. She was trying to get over the fact that her husband left her for a white woman at his job. She couldn‟t believe he had the temerity to leave her after fourteen years and five children.
“Baby….” Carla yelled seductively for her man. The silence puzzled her. She walked through every bedroom of the apartment only to find them empty. Teary eyed, thinking Young Boy had crept off with some other chic, she pressed play on the answering machine. Her man‟s voice caused tears to flow. Her world had fallen apart after hearing the message. He wouldn‟t be able to hold her, make mad passionate love to her and tell her how much he loved and appreciated her after she would reveal the good news she found out that day. He was going to be a father for the third time. Her good news turned into bad news. She laid in bed and sobbed the rest of the night trying to figure out what she was going to do.
Although she held down a full time job and made good money, she couldn‟t handle all the household bills, the note on the Lincoln and the note on the Lexus. She was already paying an arm and a leg for her mother‟s bills since she had a stroke which enabled her to work.
Carla was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She was mad at Young Boy for getting himself in such a mess. She always tried to get him to change his ways and get away from the streets. She often wondered where he got that heinous way of being from. She could hear hermother‟s squeaky voice in her head reminding her that she contributed to his atrocious behavior. Although Carla found it to be sexy in the beginning, when she wanted him to change for the boys‟ sake, he was already too far gone in his ways. She was in a state of depression and stayed that way for a while. She wondered to herself if she could do another bid with her man. She slept on the thought.

Chocolate

Chocolate called Luscious ‟ house around nine pm. She wanted to know if Luscious was available to do a VIP with her. “Heygirl, what you doing?”

“ Nothing, just sitting here watching TV…What‟s up?
“Well, get your shit together. I got something for you,” Chocolate said confidently.
“Is money involved?
“You know it!”
“Come get me.”
“It‟s for two hundred dollars.”
“Alright, let me drop the kids off at my momma‟s house. I‟ll be there in about forty five minutes.” Luscious decided to phone her mother to let her know she was bringing the kids. Her kids were already in bed so she had to get them up. It was the weekend so she didn‟t feel guilty. There was no school the next day.
“Heymommy! Whatcha doing?” Luscious tried to use her baby voice knowing it would convince her mother.
“Readingthe word. Why? What you want?” Mrs. Johnson sighed.
“I need a favor mommy. I need you to keep an eye on the kids for a couple of hours.”
“Why? Where are you going?” Mrs. Johnson asked.
“Ma!” Lusciouswhined. “Why are you asking me that? Will you or won‟t you watch the kids? Cause if you don‟t, I can just drop them off over Tasha‟s house.”
“Oh, Lord no! Sharay you know I would die and go to hell before I would allow you to take my grandkids over that girl‟s house! Bring them on Sharay but, you got to come get them tonight „cause me and your daddy are going to service in the morning.”
“Okay, they‟re on the way.” Luscious‟ voice was full of excitement now. Money was her life. She had to learn to budget it though because she wasn‟t responsible at all. She thought she as long as her kids and herself were dressed in name brands, her bills were paid and her hair stayed fly, that she had it going on. Not ever thinking about the future and putting something up for a rainy day.
She dropped the kids off and arrived at Chocolate‟s house at time designated. Luscious didn‟t know that she had to drive to Virginia Beach to the trick‟s house. Chocolate failed to mention that. She knew that Lusciousdidn‟t like to drive long distances at night. She accidentally killed one of her friends while driving while it was dark a few years back.“Girlthose niggas are paid!” Chocolate told her home girl. “They are in the military and you know them boat boys are gullible as hell!”
“Well, let‟s go get „em!” Luscious said. “I just hope this ain‟t no all-night thing cause I gotta pick Nashawn and them up tonight. My momma going to church in the morning.”
Luscious lit a Newport and followed the directions Chocolate was giving. Once they exited on Virginia Beach Blvd., Chocolate started to apply her makeup. She looked a shade darker when she wore mac makeup. She looked like she belonged in an essence magazine. She knew she was the shit. Once at the john‟s place, Chocolate called to let them know they were outside. They were escorted in the luxurious two story townhouse and told to make themselves comfortable. But, Lusciousdidn‟t want to get comfortable. She wanted to do what she had drove all that way to do and get back to Newport News. The johns‟ were offering drinks and asking questions that an impatient Luscious found to be totally irrelevant. Noticing conversation, Louis invited her disinterest for
Luscious to his bedroom and nodded for his co-worker Thomas to do the same with Chocolate.
The johns‟ were both married but needed a little excitement every now and then and knew that a trick would do whatever they were paid to do. Lusciousappreciated the fact that the johns‟ were older cats. The one thing she hated most was to trick with a long winded young nigga. Besides, she couldn‟t take dick that good. You would have thought she just started having sex. Luscious could hear her girl in the bedroom across the hall negotiating prices. She was saying things like, “but I told you before we got here that we needed two hundred a piece.” Luscious looked over to Louis as he was rambling through his dresser drawer for a condom. She asked out of curiosity how much he was spending. “Well, how much do I have to spend? Your friend said two hundred for everything…that‟s right ain‟t it?” He asked with big desperate eyes”. Luscious knew she was dealing with a sucker so she decided to try her hand.
“Well, it depends on what you want.” She said while unbuttoning her shirt, exposing her mouthwatering breasts. She knew how to use what she had to get what she wanted. She laid back on the bed and stretched out like a sex doll never loosing eye contact with her client.
“Well, I guess I want a little of everything.” Louis said while crawling in bed next to his dream come true.
“Well,” Luscioussaid in a sexy voice. “Since I like you, and I‟m in a good mood, I‟ll give you head for fifty and the best ride of your life for two hundred dollars,” she was stroking his hard on as she started blowing in his ear. She knew it wouldn‟t take much to get the middle aged man going. In her head, the extra fifty dollars was for the gas and the long ride.
With Louis‟s dick standing straight up in the air, and that young girl next to him, he would have given her more than that if she asked for it. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let‟s get started.” Louis said as he grabbed his wallet out of the night stand which set next to the king sized bed. He gave Luscious two hundred and fifty dollars and handed her the condom. She stood to undress herself very leisurely, making sure she removed every piece of clothing slowly just to have him already on edge. Louis watched her undress while also undressing. Luscious dropped to her knees and inserted the condom in her mouth. She sucked it on his small penis and began to deep throat the forty-six year old man like prostitution was legal. Just when she knew he was about to cum, she got on top of him and rode him for about two minutes before he was squirming underneath her like a worm. A smile of approval spread across Louis‟s face as Luscious walked across the room butt naked to the bathroom. She wiped her maker clean with summer‟s eve feminine wipes and left the room. She went to check on her friend across the hall to see if she was done. She listened at the door. She heard Thomas moaning like a little bitch. Luscious smiled at the thought of her protégé‟ fucking the brains out of her client. She knew Chocolate was a freak in bed cause of all the niggas she had on her team. She had also heard plenty of them say the girl had some good pussy. Luscious went to check on her new client. He was still lying in the same position. She sat down on the bed beside him and ran her hand across his chest. She reached for her cell phone and asked Louis for his number. He complied. He even gave her his work number and told her to call him whenever she felt like it. Luscious gave Louis her number as well with the same invitation.
Chocolate was finished her work. Luscious knew that because she could hear her walking downstairs yapping her mouth on her cell phone. “Okay Baby, I guess I‟ll make it back across the water.”
Luscious told Louis. “I‟ll see you soon?”
“Yeah, yeah. For sure.” He said grinning from ear to ear. He was still lying in bed. Luscious wondered where his wife was. She thought to herself she was probably at work. That‟s what a lot of her client‟s wives were when she fucked their husbands, but that wasn‟t her concern. She was just glad the shoe wasn‟t on the other foot but she did feel sorry for the wives a little. She knew first-hand how it felt to satisfy a man mentally, physically and sexually just to have him go out and fuck around anyway. She called it being greedy. That‟s how she thought of men. Greedy and selfish.
Thomas walked the girls to their car and thanked them for coming. “Girl what the hell were you yelling about wheny‟all first got in the room?” Luscious inquired.
“That motherfucker tried to give me one hundred fifty dollars after I told his little dick ass what was up before we got here! But it‟s all good. Shit after I fucked his brains out, he gave up that other fifty without a problem. Talking about that was a tip. He knew he gave it to me because I told his ass Iwon‟t ever coming back to see his ass again”. Chocolate bragged while pulling her money out of her bra. “What‟s up with you? Did you get your two hundred dollars?” Chocolate asked.
“Bitch who you think you dealing with a rookie? Remember, who trained your ass.” Luscious said jokingly. “Not only did I get two hundred but I got an extra fifty. They exchanged stories as they hopped back on the interstate heading back to Newport News.
Luscious dropped Chocolate off first even though it was quicker to get the kids first. She knew if her mother seen Chocolate in the car she would have thought the worst. Her mother didn‟t approve of Chocolate at all. She said quote on quote“that girl ain‟t got a bit of respect for herself”. Luscious kinda felt guilty knowing that she was the one who turned Chocolate on to the game. She lit a Newport and drove to her mother‟s house listening to Mary J. Blige. She loved the way the singer spilled her guts through her music. She could relate to a lot of the things Mary sang about. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about her life and the way she was living. She knew she would go to hell if she didn‟t get her life together. She wanted to do right and get back in church but she loved the money she was making and didn‟t want to have her kids go without anything. She thought about times when her mother would give their rent money to the church or support church‟s needs before she would buy her and Young Boy what they needed. Her mother always told her to sacrifice everything for the Lord and he would see her through. Although Luscious was a believer, some things she just couldn‟t get with. She wouldn‟t give her last to anybody except her kids. She made promises to her mother that she would go to church on Sundays but she would be so tired from tricking the night before. Besides, she always said that she didn‟t have to go to church for the Lord to love her. She knew she needed to change her lifestyle, she just wasn‟t ready.
“Ma, I‟m outside. Send the kids out.” Luscious said to her mother.
“If you think I‟m going to wake these kids up this time of night, you done lost your everlasting mind! Girl, you better get your happy tail out of that car and come get in the bed with them and take them home in the morning!” Luscious knew it was late like her mom said. She parked her car and went in the house. She got into bed with her children and just laid there for a while reminiscing in the bedroom she grew up in. Her mother had left things just the way she left them when she moved out seven years prior. The only people that were allowed in there were Nyshawn, Chavonne and “lil” Sharay…her children. Luscious cried herself to sleep that night thinking about her lifestyle.

Chocolate

The color was orange at the probation office which meant Chocolate had to give a urine sample that day. Whenever that color was chosen at random, she had to go no matter what or she would be violated. She didn‟t smoke weed so she wasn‟t worried about failing. She just hated the fact that she had to face Mrs. Fleetwood jobless. Since Food Lion, she hadn‟t gained employment. She was trying to get her story together when Juicy pulled up to give her a ride. Juicy was blowing the horn like a mad woman which pissed Chocolateoff. “Wait a godamn minute! Shit, your ass is early anyway!” Chocolate exclaimed.

“ Well come on! Better early than late,” Juicy snapped back. Chocolatereally didn‟t want a ride from her anyway. She only asked her because Luscioushad a doctor‟s appointment. Chocolate got in the car trying to exonerate her facial expression. She didn‟t want Juicy to know how much she had pissed her off. She asked Juicy for a cigarette when she got in. Juicy kept her music so loud that she didn‟t hear Chocolate. Chocolatedidn‟t ask again. She was actually happy. She didn‟t want to hold conversation anyway. She had to get her mind right for Mrs. Fleetwood. They rode to the probation office listening to Nikki Minaj.

“Mrs. Freeman?” The receptionist called. Chocolate could feel her heart in her stomach as she approached the desk.

“ Yes? I‟m Monica Freeman.” Chocolate said nervously.
“Good. Follow me this way please.” Once inside, Mrs. Fleetwood got right to the questions. She had a very “I‟m not for any bullshit” look on her face. “So, tell me why you haven‟t found a job yet?” The P.O. asked staring at Chocolate coldly.
“I have been looking but Ihaven‟t ran across anything yet.” Chocolate tried to be as loquacious as possible. She knew her probation officer was a human lie detector.
“Sothere are no jobs that hold your interest?” Mrs. Fleetwood said sarcastically while sipping on coffee from 7-11.
“No. That‟s not what I‟m saying. As a matter of fact, I have an interview at the Sheraton hotel next Wednesday.” Chocolate was lying through her teeth. The only plans she had for a hotel was to lay in one. She could feel her hands sweating scared of what Mrs. Fleetwood would do since she still wasn‟t working.
“Ms. Freeman, I‟m not going to violate you this time, but I‟m giving you thirty days to find work. Is that understood?”
“Yes ma‟am!” Chocolate replied. Chocolate went on to give her urine sample and was done with the probation office until the next month. While counting in her head, Chocolate realized that was the third time she could have been violated and thanked her lucky stars. She decided to stop playing and go ahead and find a job. After all, she couldn‟t dare stomach the fact that she had to do four years in prison if she was violated for aggravated assault. A year prior Chocolate beat a girl with a bat outside of a night club. The girl was fucking with the same guy as Chocolate. They had heard of each other and had even had a few arguments over the phone but, they had never met face to face until one night BayBay talked Chocolate and the rest of the gang into going to the club. The girls had quite a lot of beef so they always kept the trunk loaded with weapons.
Chocolate and Bay-Bay were in the restroom fixing their makeup when Saquan‟s other girl got a tip to this day she regret she acted on. Somebody told her that Chocolate was the girl that her man was fucking. The girl approached Chocolate about Saquan. They passed a few words and Chocolate and Bay-Bayleft the restroom. The poor girl didn‟t know the type of bitch she was dealing with. She thought Chocolate was a punk because she left the bathroom. Chocolate made a mental note to herself of what the girl had on. She told Bay-Bay not to tell Luscious, Juicy and Golden Brown because she didn‟t want them to mess up her plan. She was planning a crucial revenge.
After the club was over, everybody was drunk as skunks except Chocolate. She wanted to stay sober to carry out her plan. She thought to herself about whether or not the bitch was alone. She figured she wasn‟t because of the way the girl approached her in the bathroom. She thought to herself how bitches get brave when the have an entourage. Chocolate was ready for whatever. Even though her girls were fucked up, she knew they would still fight if they had to so shit was about to be on! Chocolate sat in Luscious‟ car and told her to chill for a minute. She didn‟t want her to pull off yet. Luscious thought Chocolate just wanted to parking lot pimp so she complied. Chocolate saw the girl with another girl walking out of the club drunk as hell. She told Luscious to pop the trunk. She jumped out of the car and grabbed a bat from the trunk. Bay-Bay was the first to know what was going on. She jumped out after Chocolate. Even though the other Don Divas didn‟t know what was going on, they followed suit.
Taleithia didn‟t know what hit her when that metal bat struck her across the face. She went down without incident. The chic she was with was trying to help her friend but she didn‟t stand a chance with the Don Divas. Chocolate beat the hell out of that poor girl with the bat. Another girl came to Taleithiaand her friend‟s rescue but the Don Divas handled her. Needless to say, those bitches were beat up from the feet up. Chocolate and her clique took off before the cops would arrive.
Saquan finding out about Taleithia‟s ass whipping pissed him off. He was mainly mad at Chocolate because Taleithia was his main girl. He gave her Chocolate‟s full name and address so that she could press charges. Chocolate spent thirty days in jail and a suspended sentence of four years was implied. Chocolate knew she had to stay on the right path if she didn‟t want to go back to jail.
Juicy was waiting in the lobby when Chocolate came out looking like she had just won the mega millions. “What the hell are you so jolly about?” Juicy asked suspiciously.
“Girl if you just got the kind of news I did, you would be happy too”. Chocolate laughed. “I‟ll tell you about it when we get in the car. You hungry?”
“Ifyou‟re treating,” Juicy stated.
“Let‟s go to Applebee‟s. This calls for a celebration.” Chocolate said happily.
“Hold on, let me say goodbye to my new friend” Juicy said. She walked over to a guy that looked to be eighteen years old at the most. While Chocolate was visiting with her PO, Juicy and her “new friend” were making plans to hook up later.
Juicy needed money to get her car tuned up. Although she could afford her own tune up, she hated to spend her own money on things like that. She would rather fuck or suck someone for the money. She would go crazy if her bank account was below five grand. She claimed she was saving money to buy a house. Everybody already knew that no bank in their right mind would give her a mortgage without a job but, they just let her dream. Chocolate and Juicy enjoyed lunch at Applebee‟s and had a few drinks while Chocolate revealed her happy news about staying free.
Chocolate went with Juicy to trick with the new friend she met earlier that evening. Chocolate couldn‟t believe her eyes when she realized who the young dude was. It was Donita‟s boyfriend. Donita was Chocolate‟s little cousin. His eyes grew huge when he finally recognized who she was too. He just knew he was busted. A smile came across Chocolate‟s face when she thought about all the money the young nigga had and how she would benefit from the secret she would keep if he wanted to stay with Donita. “Chocolate, this is Edmond. Edmond this is Chocolate”. Juicy said thinking she was introducing two strangers. Not knowing how Chocolate was going to carry things, Edmond just motioned his head as if to say what‟s up.
“Hey, how you doing?” Chocolate said. She winked her eye at Edmond without Juicy noticing and held her hand out to let him know she wanted money. He agreed by shaking his head in a “yes” motion.
Chocolate made herself comfortable after Juicy and her trick went off to do their thing. She was admiring the one bedroom apartment. She thought to herself how tidy the place was compared to most guys‟ apartments. She wandered around the tiny living room not looking for anything in particular. She noticed a safe that was half opened sitting beside the sofa. She eased over to check its contents. Her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw bricks of cocaine and stacks of money. She knew she didn‟t know a thing about drugs and being that Luscious‟ brother was locked up, she couldn‟t get him to sell it for her so, she grabbed four stacks of money. She had no idea how much money she stole and wouldn‟t dare try to count it there so she just sat there cool, calm and collected until Juicy finished her work.
Juicy finally came out of the bedroom after about an hour. Normally Chocolate would have been pitching a fit about how much time Juicy took but, she knew she was paid very well for her time so, she didn‟t say a word. Juicy‟s hair was all over the place and she was grinning from ear to ear. “You ready?” Chocolate asked.
“I been ready. Are you?” Chocolate said trying to act normal.
“I‟m sorry girl, that young nigga got a big ass dick and he knows how to work it. I think I need to see him on a more personal note.”
Juicy went into the bathroom to freshen up while Chocolate stood by the front door away from the sofa. She wondered what Edmond was thinking to leave his safe open like that. Maybe he wasn‟t expecting any company so found no reason to lock it back up. She wondered if he would even notice that some of the money was gone. He was paid out the ass so he probably wouldn‟t. One thing was for sure, he loved Donita and the last thing he would want to do was place Chocolate at the scene. Donita would want to know why Chocolate was even there so, she relaxed on the thought. Edmond handed Chocolate a hundred dollar bill in exchange for her silence. She accepted the money and swore that she would keep her mouth shut.
Chocolate and Juicy ended up going to a bar for some more drinks. If it was up to Chocolate, she would have skipped the bar and went home to count her money but, she didn‟t want to act strange just in case Edmond called Juicy with any questions. Chocolate kinda felt guilty by not telling Juicy about the money. She knew her friend wouldn‟t snitch her out or anything but, she was being selfish with the money.
The bartender asked what they wanted. Chocolate ordered her usual. A Hennessey and coke. Juicy decided to get cute and order a long island iced tea knowing she couldn‟t hold liquor. Chocolate took a few sips of her drink then excused herself the restroom. She wanted to count her money. She locked herself in one of the stalls and started to count. She couldn‟t believe it. She had stolen eight thousand dollars . She started to think of what she would do with the money. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She prayed that Edmond would never notice the missing money.

Juicy

“ Hello, could you tell me what room Deidre Matthews is in?” Golden Brown asked the receptionist.

“ She‟s in room 511 but only two of you guys may visit the patient at a time.” Juicy had gotten her ass beat again by the same girls from the parking lot previously.

“Well, that won‟t be a problem ,” Luscious butted in. “Me and Chocolate will go first, then the rest of y‟all can work it out.”

Everyone agreed of course. Luscious and Chocolate stopped at the gift shop to get some balloons. Timing was perfect for Mrs. Matthews. She wanted to give the Don Divas a piece of her mind. She just knew they were the cause of her baby getting jumped.

“ Well, well, well” Mrs. Matthews said in a very, I‟ve been waiting for this moment, tone.
“Let‟s see, Sharaysince you‟re always the spoke person, you tell me what happened to my daughter and why, and give it to me straight!”

Chocolate didn‟t like the way Juicy‟s mom was coming at her girl so she decided to let it be known. She knew Luscious would act like a ten year old and wouldn‟t defend herself because Mrs. Matthews was older but, Chocolatedidn‟t give a fuck.

“ Excuseme ma‟am, but we don‟t know why your daughter got jumped. Did you try to ask her before you assumed we had something to do with it?” Chocolate was being a little disrespectful so Luscious excusedher friend‟s behavior and sent her outside to smoke a cigarette while she talked to Mrs. Matthews. Luscious had to take a deep breath before talking to the oversized woman. She was a little upset that Mrs. Matthews assumed they were responsible but, Luscious was used to it. Juicy‟s mom hated the company her daughter kept. She didn‟t believe her baby girl acted on her own free will. She always looked at her as being a follower. “Mrs. Matthews, we had nothing to do with the fight. As a matter of fact, we don‟t even know the girls that did it. We‟re just as confused as you are. We were hoping Deidre‟ could tell us who they are.”

“Well, she blacked out. She don‟t remember who they were. She will wake up at times but can‟t seem to remember anything”. Mrs. Matthews said with tears in her eyes.” I apologize for assuming you girls knew what happened to Deidre‟ or had something to do with it. I just assumed you all would know because she talks to you girls more than me. Forgive me again please.” Mrs. Matthews hugged Luscious. “Take these flowers to her please and tell her I love her. I have to get back to work.”

“ I will Mrs. Matthews.” Luscious said.
Luscious went out to the smoking area to get Chocolate. She was furious with her and was going to cuss her out. She lit a Newport while she walked along the sidewalk that led to the smoking deck. Luscious almost choked on the smoke when she spotted Mike Mike sitting next to Chocolate smoking a black and mild. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Lusciousyelled. She didn‟t give him a chance to answer. She was pointing her finger in his face and acting as if she was going to hit him. Luscious knew without asking that the fight was over his sorry ass. His baby momma was known to hang with a lot of females and they were known to jump other females. When Luscious heard it was a gang of females, she automatically put two and two together. Luscious and Mike Mike continued to argue until Chocolate pulled Luscious away and they walked back towards the main entrance of the
hospital. Mike Mike went to his car and left.
Chocolate was trying to get phone numbers and or addresses to the chic‟s that put her friend in ICU, but, was unsuccessful. They told Mike Mike that he could not go in and see Juicy and threatened that if he did, they would send the police to his spot. Mike Mike knew he couldn‟t stand the heat from the law so he agreed to stay away from Juicy until she was released from the hospital. He didn‟t want any extra trouble.

Luscious and Chocolate finally made it to Juicy ‟s room. When they entered, they were not ready for what they saw. Their home girl was laid up in that bed with tubes coming from everywhere. The sight was deadly to Chocolate. She wanted revenge. She wanted it so bad she could taste it. Luscious knew Juicycouldn‟t talk to her but she knew that she could hear.

“ Heybaby, it‟s me. You hold on okay? Don‟t give up on us. We all miss you and you know we love you. Don‟t worry you‟ll make it through this. You‟re strong girl. You always have been.”

Luscious held Juicy‟s hand and said a silent prayer. Chocolate looked on with glossy eyes. She wasn‟t the type of person that showed emotion so she planted a kiss on Juicy‟s forehead and left the room. She went to inform the other girls that they could go in, but to brace themselves because Juicy was really messed up.

Luscious exited the room shortly after Chocolate. They waited for Bay-Bay and Golden Brown to visit Juicy. They had small talk while they waited. They were both thinking the same thing. The girls that did that to Juicy had to get it! Golden Brown rode with Bay-Bay and of course Chocolate rode with Luscious after leaving the hospital. Juicy stayed at the hospital for the next two months. She was getting better but had not totally recovered. She had a broken rib, a fractured skull and many other problems.

The police went to question her when she woke up for good. She was able to describe the car the girls drove and remembered that the girl that approached her first had a tattooed tear drop under her left eye. It was quite easy for the cops to spot the car they drove. It was a hot pink Honda accord with rims. The license plate read “sexy me”. It was spotted parked outside of a housing project not far from the hospital. The cop laughed to his partner saying how dumb niggas was and how they thought they were smarter than the police.

“ Well, Iguess we‟ll sit here and wait on the dumb bitch to get in the car,” the redneck Caucasian officer said in a deep lusty voice. His partner was what you would call an “ass kissing Uncle Tom.” He was blacker than Wesley Snipes but would die to be white. Office Smith called in to the precinct to inform the captain of the discovery he made. He was ordered to guard that car until the driver approached. Hours passed as Officer Smith and his flunky waited for the moment they were waiting for. When finally three females dressed like hookers proceeded to get in the car. They were all laughing and joking. The cops put on their sirens and boxed the car in. They jumped out like they had caught bin laden. They drew their guns and threw the females on the car as if they were handling men.

“ What the hell is going on!” The ring leader Tasha cried. “I ain‟t do anything,” she continued to say over and over. Her accomplices were scared as hell. They had never been in any trouble before. They were distraught!

“ You all have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you all understand your rights?” Officer Howard asked. Tasha of course gave the cops a hard time while her friends cooperated. They were taken to the police station to be interrogated.

The girls Tasha had with her were very gullible and easily influenced. They would easily crack under pressure and the detectives knew it so they talked to them first. Detective McPherson was a big black Vin Diesel looking man. His looks alone would torment anyone. He had a very cold look to his eyes. Even though the girls weren‟t charged with anything at the time, Detective McPherson told them otherwise. He knew from the expression on their faces that they had never been inside of a police station before and they had the slightest clue as to what was about to happen to them. He talked to Lisa first. Lisa was only seventeen years old. She as a big girl for her age but from the words she chose, you could tell she was just a baby.

“ Now, we already know what happened out there at the mall parking lot and at the IHOP but, I can make it a lot easier on you if you tell me the truth. I know that you were just there and youdidn‟t do anything,” Detective McPherson lied. “Your friend Latasha tried to lie to me and tell me that you were the one who did all the damage to Deidre‟.

“ That‟s a lie! I don‟t even know that girl!” Lisa said in her defense. “She know Deidre‟ caused they mess with the same guy. I can‟t believe my own cousin lied on me!” Lisa cried. “Ican‟t go to jail! My momma would kill me if she found out about this!” That was music to the detective‟s ears. All he wanted was the ring leader. It would be easy to prosecute her with the other girls against her so, he went for it.

“ Listen Lisa, Iknow you don‟t want to spend time in jail for something you didn‟t do but Deidre‟ is messed up pretty bad and somebody has to pay. If you really are innocent and Latasha is not, you need to put that in writing to save your own ass! Other than that, you‟re looking at five, or maybe ten years for malicious wounding. That scared the shit out of Lisa. She would have done anything at that time to get herself out of that situation. “Well where do I start?” Lisa asked with tears flowing like a waterfall from her fat face.

“ You‟ll need to put everything in writing about what happened. Make sure you put that Latasha was the one that did everything and you were just simply there with her.” Detective McPherson told the frightened girl.
“Okay. I‟ll do that!” Lisa said sounding relieved.
Detective McPherson handed her a piece of paper and a pen so that she could write the statement. As she was writing, he went into the other room and comforted Rita, the other accomplice with the same story. She too agreed and wrote a statement against Tasha. With two statements and the victim willing to testify, detective McPherson knew he had a strong case. He entered the room where Tasha was waiting and arrested her. Charging her with malicious wounding. Ten months after sitting in jail awaiting trail, Latasha Watson Burg was sentenced to two years in prison.

The Miami Trip

The Don Divas was preparing for their annual memorial day weekend trip to South Beach in Miami Florida. They would be staying for seven days and six nights. That particular week was vacation time for young blacks from all over. Everyone drove their hot pimped out rides and brought out their bikes, fly gear and jewelry. The ladies wore little to nothing while the niggas stood in what looked like soul train lines grabbing asses and spitting game.

The Don Divas went to the mall to get their attire right. They shopped in stores such as Up Against the Wall and other urban stores. They also drove to Norfolk to have some outfits made by a woman name Sally. She designed the girls‟ original outfits that nobody else had. They were all ready for the trip. They wasn‟t going for the fun of it, it was strictly a business trip for the girls. They were trying to decide whose car they were going to drive.

“ Ican‟t put any more miles on my car,” Luscious warned.
“I‟ve drove my car the last two trips.”
“Iguess we‟ll have to rent a truck then,” Juicy said. “Because I promised my best friend that she could use my car while I‟m gone.”
“You kills me always talking about that damn “best friend” of yours. The bitch wasn‟t there for you when your ass was laid up in that damn hospital bed and she don‟t do shit for your ass! You got to be the dumbest bitch in America to keep fucking with that bitch!” Chocolate yelled. She just added salt to the wound. Juicy was already mad at her best friend for leaving and going to Maryland when she got admitted to the hospital. They had been good friends since kindergarten but Makayla didn‟t like the way Juicy carried herself. She herself was a good girl and often disowned Juicy as being her best friend. Especially when she was around her college buddies. Juicy was in tears after Chocolate finished trying to convince her that Makayla was not her best friend.
The girls decided to rent a truck after a long debate. Since Luscious was the one with the credit card, she had to do the honors. She rented a navigator with 24 inch rims, TVs in the head rests, with a bumping ass system. They were ready to get on the road. Golden Brown and Juicy stocked up on their weed before they were ready. Bay-Bay commented on their addictions which sparked another argument. Needless to say arguments went on half of the eighteen hour road trip to Florida. Luscious‟ head banged so hard that she had to stop at a rest stop midway through Georgia to get some Tylenol.

Arriving at the Hotel

“ Yes, we have reservations for five.” Luscious said in her professional voice. The desk clerk searched the computer for their reservations. She had an empty look on her face. “Is there a problem?” Luscious asked.

“I‟m not showing a reservation under your name. When did you book your stay?” The receptionist asked.

“About a month ago!” Luscious snapped. She thought to herself this shit can’t be happening, I know we ain’t drive all this way for this bullshit.

“I‟m sorry Ms. Johnson but there is no reservation for you. Did you pay for your whole stay?”
“Yes! I had to in order to get a confirmation number didn‟t I? I paid the whole eighteen hundred dollars.” Luscious was bringing out the ghetto side of herself when Chocolate walked in wanting to know what was taking so long.
“This lady is trying to say we don‟t‟ have a reservation.” Luscious informed Chocolate.
“What? So now what?” Chocolate asked looking confused.
“She is going to have to go and get her supervisor or somebody„causethis shit ain‟t going down like this! We came too damn far to be homeless and I know all the other hotels are booked!”
“Ma‟am if you‟ll wait right here for a second, I‟ll bring the manager right up.” The receptionist was trying to be patient with Luscious because she could understand her being upset because she would have been also.
A moment later the clerk returned with a big dyke looking woman holding a clipboard and a radio. Luscious assumed she was the manager because she wore a bow tie.
“Which one of you ladies is Sharay Johnson?” She asked.
“I‟m Sharay Johnson,” Luscious said with an attitude.
She stood with her hands on her hips wondering what the hell was going on.
“Do you have the confirmation number?”
“Yes, Ido” Luscious said while pulling a piece of paper out of her purse. She handed it to the woman and placed her hand back on her hip like a ghetto superstar. The woman told Luscious to stay put. She went to the back to do some investigation.
Bay-Bay and Juicy entered the hotel yelling and asking what was taking so long. Luscious had forgotten all about the girls sitting out front in the truck. She explained what was going on and asked Juicy to have the truck parked by valet. The manager returned with a room key and an apology. Evidently the mix up was on the hotels behalf. Luscious‟ money was reimbursed because of all the hassle and they were offered free breakfast for the remainder of their stay. The girls were happy things worked out the way they did, especially Golden Browns‟ broke ass. Luscious gave everybody their share of the money that they had put towards the hotel suite. That was extra spending money for the girls so everything was worth the wait. The Don Divas had a presidential suite with a full sized kitchen and bath room and a breath taking view of the beautiful beach but, there was no time for chilling and playing fake ballers. They had to get to work.
Luscious was the first to shower while the rest of the clique was busy putting on their faces and picking out the outfits they would wear. South beach was packed and the niggas came in all styles and flavors. The girls couldn‟t wait to get out to the strip. They rushed each other to get dressed so that their money making spree could begin. Luscious and Chocolate paired off together while Bay-Bay, Juicy and Golden Brown stayed together. They agreed to meet back at the hotel at two am. Being that it was only five thirty in the evening, they had plenty of time.
Chocolate was the first to get propositioned. A group of guys were sitting on their cars in front of their hotel when her and Luscious walked by. “What‟s up ma?” Is there any more room in those shorts for me?” A prospective john asked Chocolate. If she wasn‟t on a mission, she would have laughed at his corny ass pick up line and kept walking but that was what she wanted. She wanted niggas to holla at her so she could spit her game right back at them. Matter of fact, that was all of the Don Diva‟s mission.
“It depends on how much money you‟re willing to spend to find out,” Chocolate said to the guy.
“Money? You ain‟t said shit shorty! How much you need?”
“ I want it all!”
“Two hundred and fifty dollars then big baller.” “That‟s what‟s up you ready or what? What‟s up with your girl? She down too?” Luscious answered for herself. “Yeah, I‟m down. Can you handle the both of us?”
“No doubt! The question is, can y'allhandle me?”
Chocolate and Luscious was throwing game back at the slick talking New Yorker. His boys said that they weren‟t down for paying for pussy so they stayed outside to try to find some free pussy.
Chocolate and Lusciouswent inside the tricks‟ hotel room and couldn‟t believe their luck. There were four other potential tricks inside. They were ready, willing and able to fuck each and every one of the niggas, and that‟s just what they did. Chocolate had three of them and Luscious had the other two. They made two hundred dollars off of each guy they fucked. If things were to go as planned, they wouldn‟t be too far from the grand a day goal. They left the hotel room and walked down the strip hoping their next trick would be just as easy as that one was.
Golden Brown, Bay-Bay and Juicy wasn‟t so lucky. It took them until about seven forty-five before they met a group of guys from Georgia to trick with. Bay-Bay and Juicy constantly checked in with Luscious and Chocolate letting them know their whereabouts and checking the status of theirs. Bay-Bay told Luscious how the niggas clowned Golden Brown about how she looked and smelled. None of them wanted to fuck her. She only was paid to give head. That first day was good for the girls although none of them made their goal except Chocolate and Luscious. Bay-Bay and Juicy were close while Golden Brownwasn‟t even midway. Luscious thought to herself, maybe that bitch will take care of that stinky ass pussy now. The rest of the stay in Miami was good. The girls left with an average of five thousand dollars apiece. All except Golden Brown who only dollars. Needless to say, made fifteen hundred she made that money giving head jobs. The girls were already planning the trip for the next year on their way back to Virginia.

Golden Brown

Contrary to popular belief, Golden Brown born Lavita Simore was once a well-dressed normal all around girl. You could not have told her mother six years before that her baby would be the talk of the city. It got to the point where her mother didn‟t even speak to her when she saw her in public. Mrs. Simore finally found out where Golden Brown was living and was determined to get her grandkids out of that environment. She had a friend that was a social worker for child protective services that she confided in about her daughter. The worker promised Mrs. Simore that she would do everything in her power to get the children out of the home. “Are you Lavita Simore?”
“Yes. Who wants to know?”
“I‟m Wanda Lacey and this is my partner Reba

Askew. We‟re with the Department of Social Services. We have a complaint that we have to follow up on. May we come in?”

“ Hell naw! I don‟t know who sent y‟all here or why but ain‟t nothing wrong with my kids, so if y‟all don‟t mind, please get the fuck off my door step!”

Golden Brown slammed the door in the social workers faces and returned to her duty never having a second thought. The social workers never left. They called the police to gain entrance to the apartment. They had a duty and they weren‟t giving up on it that easy. The police arrived within ten minutes or so. They knew they were up for trouble because they had been there several times before. Golden Brown was still tricking when the cops knocked at the door. This ticked her off even more. Mainly because every little distraction pissed off her client and she was tired of sucking on his salty penis to get it back up. “Who the fuck is it?”

“ NNPD. Open the door ma‟am or we‟ll kick it in!” Golden Brown sucked her teeth and snatched the door open.
“What can I help y‟all with?”
“Ma‟am the Department of Social Services needs to follow up on a report they received.”
“Report? What kind of report?” Golden Brown asked dumbfounded.
The workers just brushed passed the Golden Brown without answering.
“Ms.Simore, where are the kids?”
“Upstairs, why? Where are you taking them?” Golden Brown had tears in her eyes. She knew what was about to go down. She feared that she would go to jail behind what the social workers would find. Mrs. Lacey and Mrs. Askew examined the four girls from head to toe. The oldest girl had what appeared to be a cigarette burn on the lower part of her back while the other kids seemed to be fine. Mrs. Lacey asked what the mark was. Golden Brown denied having any knowledge of it. The house was nasty from top to bottom. The refrigerator was dirty and had little food in it,the beds the girls slept on didn‟t have sheets or blankets, the bathroom was filthy and mildew filled the tub. Roaches were everywhere and food that was left on top of the stove had maggots all over it.
The social workers gathered the kids and removed them from the apartment. Mrs. Askew made a mental note to phone the rental office to inform the manager of the living conditions. Golden Brown acted like a typical crack head. She ran down behind the workers yelling and screaming and making a complete foolof herself, but it wasn‟t doing any good. The children were not crying. As a matter of fact they never talked, even around children their own ages or to each other. They had never really been anywhere except to the babysitter‟s house and none of them attended school.
The children were all placed in the same house. A couple of days went by before reality finally set in. Since the kids left, Golden Brown had been doing what she normally did and even more. She had even went to get a new tattoo on her breasts. She had the nerve to get “money maker” wrote on her skin.
She called down to social services eight days after the kids were taken to find out where they were. Maybe because it was close to the first of the month and she was contemplating that three hundred and fifty dollar welfare check. The following week, Mrs. Simore called social services to find out if she could pick up her grandchildren a day early. She had a trip to attend the weekend and she wanted to take the children. Arrangements were made. The children were ordered to remain in their grandmother‟s custody until the court case. There was no doubt that she would be awarded sole custody. Golden Brownwasn‟t fit to raise the kids. Shedidn‟t bathe them as often as she should have. She abused the oldest child and she was just down right mean and nasty to them. The Don Divas hated the way Golden Brown treated her children. Especially Chocolate. She would get into arguments with Golden Brown about it and would almost fist fight. Lusciouson the other hand didn‟t give a fuck. She made the comment once that she didn‟t care what Golden Brown did to her kids because it was her business. Once summer morning one of the children was trying to get something to eat out of the refrigerator when a gallon of spoiled milk fell on her toe and broke it, all of the Don Divas supported Golden Brown at the hospital except Luscious. Juicy called her house and asked her if she was coming up to the hospital. Luscious nearly chopped the girl‟s head off over the phone. If words could kill, Juicy would have been DOA. When the ambulance arrived. The only thing they would have saw was the telephone lying beside her. The cause of death would have been undetermined.

The Custody Battle

Golden Brown received a summons on her screen door ordering her to appear in court on child abuse allegations and to prove why she should regain custody of her four children. Once the judge heard her rant and rave about being a good mother and so on, and hearing Mrs. Simore speak about how she would raise the kids, treat them as her own and promise to give them a good life, the judge made his decision. He awarded Mrs. Simore sole custody of the children. Golden Brown could have won best actress of the year. She cried and begged the judge to take back the order but the judge‟s mind was already made up. He could look at her and tell she was unfit. Her attire wasn‟t fit for court, she didn‟t speak with class and she was obviously on drugs. The judge also had Golden Brown‟s file from social service and read the report from the home inspection and read about the burn on the oldest child, so the judge didn‟t grant her visitation rights until after she went to drug rehab and maintained a job for six months. As far as the child abuse, Golden Brown was sentenced to twelve months in jail. That sentence was suspended and she was given probation with mandatory drug screening once a week, a 6:00 curfew and was also ordered to complete parenting classes.

With the children gone, Golden Brown seemed to get wilder, she would go out of state for weeks at a time. She was heard to be smuggling drugs to new york for a known king pin. She would be paid in crack instead of money. She was getting dumber by the day. The Don Divas were looking for her to do a party, they could not find her anywhere so she was kicked out of the clique. Luscious recruited a girl from Ahoskie North Carolina name Sapphire to take her place. Luscious heard through the grape vine that Golden Brown had gotten herself in a jam with her drug pusher J. Rock. Apparently, she smoked up the product. He was looking for her so hard that he offered a reward for anybody that could tell him of her whereabouts so the Don Divas really made it their business to stay away from her if they ran into her. Their reputation was on the line. They couldn‟t afford to lose any money fucking with Golden Brown. If somebody heard how Golden Brown got down, they would probably assume that all of them were like her.

Golden Brown was living a very dangerous lifestyle at that point. She stayed high as much as possible. Probably to keep her mind off her horrible nightmare she called life. This young girl had no idea how much trouble she had gotten herself into. Not only with the drug dealer but, with the law.

The Big Hit

Juicy knew of some niggas that were coming down from Philly to score some weight from her cousin Big Al. What the niggas didn‟t know that Big Al wasn‟t all he claimed to be. As a matter of fact, he was doing bad as hell since he got knocked off. He was so broke that he had started setting niggas up to be robbed. Mainly cats coming from out of state. Juicy was down with whatever. She helped her cousin set up the robberies and he would give her half of whatever he profited. She couldn‟t wait to hit the Philly guys. They were coming down to buy two bricks of cocaine. Those cats were just coming up in the game and had little knowledge about scoring big shit. They were used to buying ounces or less. They were once hit boys themselves. They had robbed and killed some niggas from their own hood. That hit put them on top in the dope game. What the Phillyguys didn‟t know was that the nigga they killed was bigAl‟s people. Shit was looking good on Juicy and BigAl‟s part. The Philly guys were riding two deep.

The hotel room that Big Al rented as a meeting spot was actually the trap spot for the Philly guys. The door that separated the next room wasn‟t locked, it occupied four of Newport News‟ thirstiest niggas. They was known to rob and kill. Juicy convinced her home girl that worked at the hotel to help set up the hit. They had to make sure everything was planned very carefully. Kirk and Hassan arrived at the Holiday Inn around midnight and checked in their suite which set on the fourteenth floor. Nikki, the hotel clerk, called Juicy to let her know that their victims had arrived.
“Yeah?” Juicy answered her cell phone anxiously.
“ Hey girl, I just checked the niggas in. They are on their way up to the room now.”
“Okay! Good looking out girl. My peoples are going to look out for you when the shit is over. Just text me if anything looks funny.”
“Okay girl, Igotcha. Later!”
Juicy hung up the phone and called Big Al to let him know the status. He reminded her of her duty and pressed the issue about her running her mouth too much. He didn‟t want her slipping and saying anything that would make the niggas suspicious. She agreed to stay focused and keep her eye on the prize. The ordeal wasn‟t supposed to go down until the next day so Kirk and Hassan wanted a little entertainment. They called big Al to see if he knew of anything that they could get into. This was music to BigAl‟s ears. He didn‟t even expect any shit like that. Now he didn‟t need Juicy to accidentally bump into Kirk and Hassan in the lobby. He was going to take a different approach now. All he needed was one more girl, he was going to send Juicy and another girl to dance for his victims. He called Juicy to let her know of the new plan. He told her to find another girl and go entertain Kirk and Hassan. Juicy had the perfect candidate in mind. She wanted somebody that would blow the niggas mind, so she called Sapphire. She was the ruff thugged out type of bitch that was always down for a good hit. She earned her respect in the streets for her street knowledge and hustlers loved to be in her presence. She was five-three, one hundred and thirty five pounds, butter pecan complexion, and she had a body that niggas drooled over. Those qualities always got a nigga laid down, dick hard and pockets stuck out like rabbit ears. Big Al called back up to the hotel to let Kirk and Hassan know that he was sending two strippers up to see them.
“Hello”, what up cuz?”
“Ain‟t shit going on just bored as a motherfucker, what‟s up?”
“I‟m sending a couple of broads your way, they bad as hell too!”
“That‟s what‟s up! Send them around two o‟ clock”.
“Alright! Call me when they leave”.
Big Al hung up the phone and lit a blunt of purple haze. He thought about how much money he would be sitting on after the hit. He knew the niggas had at least one hundred grand on them or more. He just hoped the girls didn‟t fuck the plan up. He thought about how the niggas would look after they laid them down. He really didn‟t care thought. He was contemplating on the idea of sticking them up the exact same way they did his home boy.
Juicy and Sapphire arrived at the hotel around two twenty. They were dressed to impress. They each wore tight fitting jeans and heels. Juicy wore her hair pinned up in a sophisticated bun while Sapphire wore hers hanging down her back, they wore expensive jewelry so the niggas wouldn‟t think they wore broke bitches. Kirk and Hassan thought they had scored big time. They were used to those up north chicks. They wasn‟t used to country girls at all. They ordered drinks all night and smoked like Bob Marley. Juicy and Sapphire danced for their victims and kept them well entertained throughout the night. Juicy almost fucked everything up by drinking so damn much. She slipped and said something about niggas being in the room next door but Kirk and Hassanwas so high they didn‟t catch on. Sapphire was strictly business. She remained sober and studied every move Kirk and Hassan made. She even listened to their phone conversations. From what she could gather from listening to Kirk, him and his partner had beef with some niggas from downtown Newport News. Apparently they had robbed the wrong niggas and had a death wish on them. Sapphire called big Al to let him know what she heard. She also told him how fucked up Juicy was. Big Al took the news rather funny. Big Al could smell the aroma of cash as he thought of how easy his hit would be.
Kirk, Hassan and Juicy had all passed out on the two king sized beds while Sapphire stayed focused. Sapphire had a good idea where the money was because Hassan kept walking to the closet and peeking in it. She laughed silently as she looked at the niggas passed out with unfamiliar bitches in the room, grand money in the closet and knowing how grimy bitches could be. She decided to take things to another direction. She called big Al again and let him know that the shit didn‟t have to go down the way he planned it because the niggas were damn near in a coma from smoking and drinking so much. She told him that she knew where the money was at and that she knew for sure it was plenty because of the way they were throwing fifty dollar bills at her and Juicy while they danced for them. Big Al couldn‟t believe his ears.
“Is the door still unlocked that connects to the next room?”
“Let me check,” Sapphire said while walking as light as a feather to the connecting door. “Yep!It‟s unlocked!”
“Are you sure those niggas are in there?”
“Yeah. I just talked to them. Why?”
“They are quiet as hell. I haven‟t heard a sound out of them all night.”
“Yeah, well, when niggas gets thirsty, they tend to follow directions quite well.” Big Al said with a slight snicker. Big Al called Tom-Tom and them to let them know everything Sapphiretold him. “Yo, it‟s me cuz. Shorty next door said shit is looking gravy as hell. She said the niggas are fucked up and passed out. The only problem is so is my baby cousin. I was thinking about just havingy‟all niggas go in there and get the cake while those niggas in their sleep but, like I said, my peoples in their sleep too so how in the hell are we going to get her out of there without making anynoise?”
“Let me handle that shit.” Tom-Tom said anxiously. “Trust me, I got this shit. You just lay low. I‟ll hit you up when the shit is done. Just trust me on this one okay?”
“Yeah but I tell you one thing nigga, if my cousin gets hurt, I‟m blaming your ass! Make sure you call me soon after that shit is done,” Big Al felt confident with Tom-Tom and his people handling the hit. They had done plenty of robberies and have always been successful with them so he lit a blunt and chilled out until further notice. Tom-Tom chose one of his niggas to help go in and get the money. He figured it would be easier that way. He picked his right hand man Big Tone to go in with him. He called Sapphire and told her about the new plan. She agreed to play her position and not to fuck up. She waited in the lobby otherwise. Tom-Tom and until they told her
Tone opened the connecting door very lightly making certain that they kept quiet. Just as Sapphire reported, the niggas was dead sleep. Big Tone picked Juicy up off the bed and carried her next door. She was so fucked up that she didn‟t even flinch. Tom-Tom put his pistol up against a pillow to muffle the sound and shot the sleeping niggas in their heads close range. He casually opened the closet door and removed the duffel bag that contained the money. Tom-Tom and Big Tone rammed through the niggas pockets and bags to see what else they could find. Tom-Tom found a knot of money in Kirk‟s pocket and Big Tone took the jewels off of the dead bodies. Sapphire was in the lobby panicking. She thought something had went wrong. Nikki decided to leave. She had a bad feeling because Tom-Tom and Big Tone were taking too long in the room. Sapphire thought to herself, since that bitch left, she ain’t getting a cut. Juicy was still knocked out when Big Tone went back into the stake out room to wake her up. She was so drunk that she couldn‟t remember where she was. She started fighting him thinking he was trying to rape her he finally convinced her to shut the hell up and carried her out of the room. Tom-Tom followed. They met Sapphire in the lobby and they all rolled out together in Big Tone‟s explorer. The hit was easy for Tom-Tom and Big Tone. They didn‟t have to worry about being identified being that the niggas were dead. They could have easily taken the money and left the room without killing them but TomTom thought otherwise. He knew the game like the back of his right hand. Once Kirk and Hassan woke up and realized they had been robbed, they would automatically suspect the last people they remembered being around them which was Juicy and Sapphire. They would have thought about big Al and if he had set the whole thing up. Tom-Tom and Big Tone also were from the streets and they were firm believers in “no witnesses, no case!”
Sapphire called Big Al on his cell phone to let him know that everything was good. They all agreed to meet Big Al at his spot to count to loot. They all were anxious to see how much money they would end up with. BigAl‟s spot was small but just enough space for a chill spot. He had the typical leather sofa and coffee table. His place reeked of weed smoke and empty beer bottles was all over. He had posters of naked women all over the walls and the carpet looked as if he dumped his ashtrays there once he finished smoking the blunts. Sapphire‟s nose was turned up but, she didn‟t really care, she just wanted to see how her work paid off. Big Al counted the money and Sapphire did the math. They each ended up with approximately twenty-five thousand a piece. Big Al cussed Juicy out for getting drunk and passing out. She didn‟t have an argument. She knew she was dead wrong. She was just glad he gave her part of the money even though she knewshe didn‟t deserve it. With that kind of money, they all were ready to start a new life. Sapphire took her money and moved to Atlanta Georgia never to be heard from again.

Luscious

Luscious took her mother up on one of many offers to go to church. The church they attended was beautiful. It had two floors and a playground for the kids that would put you in the mind of an amusement park. Luscious‟ oldest son was on the usher‟s board and her other children were members of the youth choir which her mother directed. Her children were on the right track but she wasn‟t. The pastor spoke on a very sensitive subject: prostitution. Luscious tried to hold back her emotions but the way pastor Riddick spoke, she couldn‟t resist. She cried and cried and showed her penitence for every wrong thing she‟d ever done in her life. She threw herself at the alter and repented. The whole church rejoiced and joined her at the altar. She began to speak in tongues and shout very wildly around the sanctuary. The ushers fanned the weeping girl and praised the lord for delivering her. It was a day of gladness for Mrs. Johnson. She had longed for the day that her daughter would rededicate her life to Christ. They went out to eat at Long John Silvers and celebrated. Mr. Johnson wasn‟t one to show his feelings so he just wrote Luscious a check for twenty-five hundred dollars. He told her instead of selling her body that she could ask him for money whenever she needed it. Mr. Johnson was teary eyed while talking to his daughter. He had always heard that she was doing those type of things but, never in a million years would he thought he would hear it from her own mouth.

Luscious decided to stay over at her parents‟ house that night. She wanted to gather her thoughts. She and her mother read different bible scriptures and her mother anointed her head, mouth and ears. Her mother even ran her some bath water and filled it with anointed oil. Lusciouscouldn‟t stop crying. Mostly they were tears of regret. Chocolate called her cell phone but she didn‟t answer. She knew Chocolate was probably calling to let her know about some party that was going on. Luscious was very serious about staying on the right track this time. She had played with the Lord too many times before. She was determined to stay in the Word. She was tired of her lifestyle and just tired of struggling with everything. The next day it was below thirty degrees outside and snow had started to stick to the ground. School was canceled and many businesses were closed. Luscious managed to drive home. While in the house, she was disgusted with the way her place looked. She made a mental note to herself that she would get it together. She prepared a meal for the children and curled up on the sofa to watch television. Every channel she flicked, was something that reminded her of her old life. She turned the television off. She called her mother and asked her for another bible scripture. Her mother told her to read about the seven deadly sins. Her mother and her talked for about an hour about the bible. Luscious was feeling her spirit change dramatically. She knew she was a changed woman and nobody could have told her different.

The Don Divas couldn‟t understand why Luscious had been “acting funny”. She wasn‟t interested in any parties,VIP‟s or anything pertaining to her old lifestyle. Bay-Bay called her and asked what was up. Luscious proudly told her what she had done. Bay-Bayof course wasn‟t interested in hearing all the details so she quickly ended the conversation. Lusciousdidn‟t care how Bay-Bay felt though. She was a new creature in Christ and was very much true to it. Bay-Bay made a comment to Chocolate and Juicy at a party about Luscious‟ new way of being. She said something like,“that bitch kills me, one minute she shaking her ass and the next minute she‟s holier than thou.” Chocolatedidn‟t respond. She just gave Bay-Bay a nasty look and walked away. Bay-Bay was the devil in the flesh. She didn‟t want anything to do with Luscious . She said she didn‟t want to hear Luscious speak about a nonexisting god.

Luscious cleared her closet of all her exotic clothes and hooker shoes and threw them in the garbage. She said she didn‟t want to give them to anyone because she didn‟t want the spirits from the clothes to jump on or into anybody. She changed her cell phone number and informed Chocolate, Juicy and Bay-Bay about her retirement from the game. She even told them not to call her Luscious anymore. She told them to call her Sharay. Chocolate was mad because now she didn‟t have anybody to chill with aside from dancing.She didn‟t really relate to the rest of the clique unless it involved dancing or tricking. Sharay was more like her mentor and inspiration in the game. Chocolate found herself thinking about getting saved but quickly decided that the lifestyle wasn‟t for her and let the idea fly.

It was Sunday morning. Sharay arrived at her parent‟s house around seven am. She needed to borrow an outfit from her mother to wear to church plus Mrs. Johnson was making breakfast. The kids were already there because they spent the night. Sharay picked out a red two piece suit and a pair of pumps. She was planning on surprising her mother and get baptized again. The phone rang which snapped Sharay out of her thoughts.

“ Hello?” Sharay answered.
“You have a collect call from an inmate in a correctional facility by the name of Chris, Young

B oy stated. “To accept this call, please press zero.” Sharay accepted the call gladly. “Hey there”!
Sharay said.
“What‟s up big sis? How ya living?” Young Boy
asked revealing the excitement in his voice. “I‟m good! I gave my life to Christ! How are
you?” Sharay asked matter of fact.
“Ican‟t complain. I‟ve been reading and lifting
weights a lot trying to keep my mind off these
twenty years you feel me?”
“Yeah, I feel you oh, and sorry I missed your trial.
I overslept besides, Ididn‟t want to see you like that
anyway. Did you get the money Isent you?” Sharay
asked changing the subject.
“Yeah, I got it. Good looking out! I tell you, this
commissary is high as a kite up here.” Young Boy
said. “Look here, I‟m glad to hear you got saved,
pray for your brother‟s soul you feel me?”
“Chris, I always pray for you even before I got
saved so don‟t worry. Is my name on your visitation list?”
“Yeah, you know that! Why? Are you coming to see me?”
“Yeah I‟m going to swing up there maybe next month. I have to get the directions off the internet” Sharay said.
“You going to bring Carlaand the kids right?” “Yes andI‟m bringing my kids.”
“Okay,” Young Boy said happily.“Let me talk to momma.” They both said they loved each other and Sharay yelled for her mother to pick up the phone from downstairs. Young Boy chatted with his mother for a few until she had to hang up to get ready for church.
The choir was singing one ofSharay‟s favorite songs “Going Up Yonder,” she stood to her feet and sang along with the choir. She made a mental note to herself that after service was over, she was going to see about joining the choir. The preacher preached a good sermon and the choir sang their hearts out. Service was over and the pastor invited anyone that wanted to join the church or get baptized to the altar. Sharay stood up and kissed her mother then walked up to the alter to re-dedicate her life. “Praise the Lord” Mrs. Johnson yelled from the pew. “God is Good!” She continued. “He is!” The pastor yelled back. Sharay stood at that altar like she was the Virgin Mary. In spite of all the nasty looks she got from half of the congregation that knew her, she stood proud and held her head high. She knew that God loved her regardless of what she‟d done out there in the world. The pastor asked if she wanted to speak, she stared directly at her mother and said “Yes.”
The pastor handed her the microphone. “Ma, I would like to take this time to thank you for all you‟ve done for me. I know it‟s been a long time coming but this is it. No more of the old Sharay. I am a new found creature in Christ. I know I‟ve let you down numerous times before but now I‟m going to make you happy”. Sharay was crying like a child. She was so grateful to her mother and it had been a while since she had showed her mother her appreciation. She re-joined the church that day and a date was set for her to be baptized. Mrs. Johnson embraced her daughter at that altar like no other time. She was grateful to Sharay and she was planning to show her how happy she was for her making that wonderful decision on her own free will.
With Sharay an ex-member of the Don Divas, there were no parties going on for Juicy, Bay-Bay and Chocolate because Sharay was the one that everyone always called to set things up. Very rarely did Juicy and Bay-Bay get any phone calls and Chocolate only got a few every now and then. Chocolate got her a job at Walgreens because her bills had to be paid and she was being stressed by her probation officer. Bay-Bay was a lost cause. She didn‟t know if she was coming or going and Juicy continued to help big Al set niggas up.
Mrs. Johnson cooked Sharay her favorite meal. Ham, homemade mac and cheese, sweet potatoes and collard greens. All of the family gathered at the house to celebrate and eat up the food. They had a good time that evening until the unexpected happened. Mrs. Johnson went to use the bathroom and never came out. Sharay noticed that she had been gone for a while and went to check on her. She pushed the bathroom door open and found her mother stretched out in the floor. She screamed for help at the top of her lungs. Sharay‟s auntie Jackie was the first to get to the scene then the rest of the family. Mr. Johnson called 911 while Sharay tried to do CPR on her mother. The ambulance was taking forever. When they finally arrived, they worked on Mrs. Johnson but was unable to bring her back. She died of a heart attack. They estimated that she had been dead five minutes before they arrived. Sharay and the rest of the family were distraught. The kids were yelling and screaming mainly because there was so much excitement in the house. Mr. Johnson had to take a seat because he felt himself getting dizzy. He already had a heart condition.
The coroner arrived and took Mrs.Johnson‟s body out of the house. Sharay‟s world was falling apart but she refused to let the devil win her over. She dropped to her knees and prayed and prayed until she felt better. She was still in a state of shock when her Uncle Henry came over to give her a cup of cold water.
“I just don‟t understand what just happened?” Sharay spoke. “How can one minute mama be sitting down eating normal and happy then the next minute she‟s dead?” She asked.
Uncle Henry sat down next to her and tried to console her. They shared a moment together then the rest of the family joined. Sharay thought to herself how hard it would be to break the news to her brother and how he would take it. She knew she had to be strong for her kids and brother‟s sake. She dropped to her knees and began to pray again. She prayed for the strength to walk her through the mourning process. She needed the Lord like no other time and there was no doubt in her mind that he would stand by her. She was a woman of God and there was nothing that Satan could have done at that point in her life that would lead her astray.

The Funeral

The prison van pulled up at the church with Young Boy. Everyone welcomed his presence and walked behind him into the church. He was allowed to sit on the first row of the church with the rest of family. He took it very bad while Sharay was the stronger one. She wanted to hold her little brother and comfort him but she wasn‟t allowed to touch him. The church was very crowded as expected. People were sitting in the aisles in folding chairs because all the seats were full. Mrs. Johnson had a smile on her face as if to say she was happy. She laid there looking as if she was just resting. The pastor spoke very highly of her and so did many others who knew her. Sharay was surprised to look up and see the Don Divas sitting in the back of the church. She was even more surprised to see BayBay because she had been talking trash about her new found religion. Sharay recited a poem in remembrance of her mother. She didn‟t shed a single tear as she spoke. Everyone admired her strength. The choir sang songs of comfort as everyone viewed the body. The funeral was short and sweet, something Mr. Johnson requested. He didn‟t want a long sad funeral. He knew that‟s what his wife would have wanted. The family led the way to the burial ground. She was buried next to her mother and father.

After the funeral everyone went to eat at the family‟s house. Sharay prepared most of the meal. She made plenty because she knew that there would be plenty of people at the house. Everyone sat around and ate and spoke good about Mrs. Johnson. Sharay went up to her mother‟s room to rest. She was overwhelmed and very restless. Something told her to look under the mattress as she lay on the bed. She listened to her instinct and lifted the mattress. What she saw blew her mind. It was her mother‟s will and insurance policy. The will stated that Sharay be given a hundred thousand and Young Boy be given the same. She also read in the will that all of her grandkids be given fifty thousand a piece. The house was going to be given to Sharay if anything was to happen to Mr. Johnson. Sharay fell to her knees and thanked the lord. Her father came in the room wanting to know if everything was alright because he heard a lot of noise. “Daddy did you know about all the money mama left behind for me, Chris and the kids?

“ Yeah baby. I knew about it.” He said sitting on the edge of the bed. “Your mama wanted to make sure that when she left this world that y‟all would be alright. “Just make good use of that money.” Mr. Johnson left the room because he felt himself getting ready to cry. He hated for anyone to see him cry. He always believed that men didn‟t cry.

Sharay read through the will thoroughly. At the very bottom, there was a message written in red ink. It stated,“The only way Sharay and Christopher can receive the money I have left for them is for both of them to be saved”.

“ God is good!” Sharay yelled. She had found out at the funeral that after her brother learned about his mother‟s death, he too gave his life to Christ. Now they both would inherit their mother‟s money. Although Young Boy had twenty years to serve, and couldn‟t use his money any time soon, Sharay promised him that she would make sure he was well taken care of in prison and that she would help take care of his kids and save his money for him until he was released.

Chocolate and the Don Divas went over to the house to pay their respects. After everyone left, Bay-Bay handed Sharay some flowers and gave her a hug. Chocolate did the same but there was something about the way Bay-Bay hugged Sharay that caught her attention. Bay-Bay had tears in her eyes. Sharay asked if she was alright. Bay-Bay shook her head no.

“ I found out some bad news.”
“Well, what is it?” Sharay asked.
“The doctor told me I have HIV.” Bay-Bay

whispered.
„Oh my god!” Sharay cried while hugging her
friend. She led her upstairs to her old room to talk
about it. “When did you find out about this?”
Sharay asked.
“Yesterday.” Bay-Bay said flatly. Sharay grabbed
Bay-Bay‟s hand and started to pray . Bay-Bay broke
the embrace and sat down on the bed. She yelled for
Sharay to stop but she kept on going. The more she
prayed the more Bay-Bay screamed, kicked and
cried. It was obviously a demon inside of the girl
that caused her to act that way because she was the
nicest person until someone spoke about God. His
name alone upset her more than anything. Sharay
cried out to God for help. She placed her left hand
on her friend‟s head like some of the pastors did on
television. Bay-Bay had no idea what Sharay was
saying. She was speaking in tongues but the more
she spoke, the calmer Bay-Bay would get. Sharay
had cast a demon out of Bay-Bay that was so evil
that the whole room was hot. Sharay didn‟t know
where she‟d gotten that power from. Bay-Bay fell to her knees and repented and asked God for forgiveness. She cried herself to sleep right on the floor ofSharay‟s old room. Sharay lay on the bed and watched her friend for about an hour or so thanking the Lord that she was able to help the poor
girl.
Sharaydidn‟t tell anyone about the money yet. She
was planning on helping Bay-Bay and the rest of
the Don Divas with whatever they needed because
she didn‟t want them selling their bodies anymore.
She knew she would have a time convincing them
but she figured she had the most strongest method
of all…God. For Sharay the world looked very
different. Her world revolved around God, her kids,
family and friends and there was nothing or
anybody that could stop her from living her life the
right way. It was her mother‟s wish.

Chocolate

Walgreens paid Chocolate seven dollars and twenty-five centsan hour but that wasn‟t enough for her. She was used to making her paycheck in one night. She knew if she quit the job that she would have to answer to her probation officer again so she tried to hang in there as long as she could. The money from her paycheck did pay her bills but she could have extra if she would have the time to do could have extra if she would have the time to do 7:00 am. She regretted like hell taking that shift.

Chocolate was about to get off one morning when a man walked in and asked her what aisle the pampers were on. “Aisle ten.” Chocolate said still walking to the office to clock out.
“Would you mind showing me?” He asked. “Man, listen Ireally don‟t have time to show you anything. I‟m going to miss my bus.”
“W ell how about Igive you a ride home?” The masculine man asked. Chocolate was irritated as hell by that point. She was disgusted by the fact that he was at the store to buy diapers and probably had the baby and the mother at home waiting for his sorry ass while he‟s in the store flirting with the cashier.

“ I live about twenty minutes from here. If you want to waste twenty minutes of your day giving a complete stranger a ride then be my guest.” Chocolatesaid. She didn‟t feel like taking the bus anyway. Chocolate‟s mind was that of a grimy bitch. She was trying to figure out a way to get some money from the man since he wanted to be so damn generous. Once she saw the excursion he drove, she knew he had money.

“ So what does it take to drive one of these?” She asked snapping out of that uptight attitude.
“Years of hard work on the police force and a happy ending to a gold digging wife,” he laughed.
“By the way, Ididn‟t introduce myself. My name is Roger.”
“I‟m Chocolate.”
“Chocolate? Is that your birth name?”
“No. Lavita is my real name but you have to earn the right to call me by my government name.” Chocolate warned. They flirted with each other and had small talk all the way to Chocolate‟s house. She even had him pick up Areyona and Shantiana from the daycare. She found out that Roger was thirtyeight years old, divorced after ten years of marriage and had an eleven year old daughter. He also was paid out the ass because he won a lawsuit for three hundred thousand dollars. He was a victim of mistaken ID while working undercover on a drug bust. Roger was definitely a winner. The diapers that he purchased were for his niece. He often helped his baby sister out because her baby‟s father ditched out on her. Roger was a good man and Chocolate made up her mind that she was going to keep in touch with him.
Chocolate was on her way to Norfolk to do a party with a girl from way back name Samantha. Samantha was a Spanish girl with a shape like a sister and the mentality of a blonde headed white girl. Chocolatehated to be in the chic‟s presence but she needed money in a major way . While in the Samantha‟s car Chocolate‟s cell phone rang. She didn‟t recognize the number so she didn‟t answer. The caller left a message on the voice mail so Chocolate decided to check the message. The unfamiliar voice startled her. She replayed the message over and over. The woman speaking was very irate and was cursing like a sailor saying something about her baby‟s daddy. Chocolate couldn‟t half way understand what the speaker was saying because she was talking so fast and yelling so loud. Chocolate laughed it off and applied her makeup in her hand held mirror. She was planning on calling the number back after she left the party. Shit like that excited her and gave her something to do. Samantha was doing about eighty miles an hour on the interstate. She must have been high off of cocaine because everything she was doing she was doing fast. That was one of the signs of a coke head. Whenever they got high, they would view the world as if it was a roller coaster.
“Bitch slow this goddamn car down!” Chocolate yelled. Samantha complied with the demand without feedback. I guess she could tell by the one of Chocolate‟s voice that she meant what she said. Chocolate and Samantha arrived at the party around eleven. The house was not packed at all. There was about ten or eleven niggas at the house and about four other dancers. The host of the party welcomed them and told them that the other niggas would be arriving soon. He paid them their one hundred and fifty dollars show up fee and offered them chips and soda. Chocolate declined the offer. She was pissed to the highest point of pisstivity because she was lowering her standards. She couldn‟t believe she was splitting the one hundred and fifty dollar show up fee with Samantha. She was used to getting that and sometimes more by herself. She knew she needed the money so she didn‟t dare complain out loud. She knew her kids needed some more winter clothes and she needed to stack up some more money. She was sitting in the living room waiting to get dressed when her mind flashed back to the horrible night that Edmond busted in her house and held her at gunpoint over the money she robbed him for. She couldn‟t block the blows from the butt of the gun that he swung wildly at her. Areyona and Shantiana was at her bedroom door watching , screaming and crying so Chocolatedidn‟t dare play stupid. She yelled and pleaded with Edmond to let her up. She thought he was going to kill her in that house. His face was red as fire and his eyes were deadly. Edmond finally snapped out of his rage and grabbed her by the hair and told her to go and get his money. She crawled to the kitchen as he followed. She pointed to the top of the fridge to let him know that his money was up there. Edmond asked her where at on the top of the fridge. She pointed to the cereal box. He rammed through the empty box and pulled out a knot of money rolled up with a rubber band. Edmond placed his gun on the kitchen counter and put his foot in Chocolate‟s back while he counted the money. He kicked the shit out her when he finished counting. It was only fifty three hundred. Chocolate had spent the rest on her court fines so that she could get her license back. She was planning to buy her a car once she saved about three thousand dollars more. Chocolate was in bad shape after Edmond finished with her. She wanted to have his ass killed but she realized that she was the one in the wrong. She thought about what she would have done if somebody robbed her for eight grand. She called Sharay to take her to the emergency room. Sharay fussed her out for getting herself in such a mess the whole way there. Chocolate had to get ten stitches in her forehead and two in her bottom lip. She was grateful that she wasn‟t fucked up worse. Her biggest question was how in the hell Edmond knew where she lived. She lay in the hospital bed re-playing the beating. She remembered Edmond saying something like,“You must didn‟t know that when you take from me, you take from Donnita too you stupid bitch.” Chocolate couldn‟t get that part out of her head to save her life. She put two and two together and came up with the assumption that Edmond told her cousin about what happened and Donnita told him where she lived. She never assumed Juicy was involved because Juicy would have spilled the beans. Chocolate wanted to find out for sure if Donnita was the one that set her up but she decided to leave it alone and recover and get on with her life. After all, she knew she wasn‟t ready to go to war with a nigga like Edmond. He was a crazy ass young nigga that didn‟t give a damn if he lived or died.
Niggas finally started to fill the house. Chocolate decided to go get dressed before all the other girls because she wanted to get out there and make her money and get home early. Samantha was in the bathroom getting her trick on when Chocolate busted in to wash between her legs. She always made sure her hygiene was on point. Samantha was on her knees with a big dick down her throat going to work like a porn star. The nigga was humping her face like his penis was made to be in her mouth. Chocolatecontinued to use the sink like she didn‟t see the sex act taking place. Samantha barely looked up. Chocolate wondered if the chic even knew she was in the bathroom. The entire time Chocolate was using the sink, the john stared at her mouthwatering body. She blushed and gave him a sneak peak of the inside of her vagina every now and then while she washed. He was blushing back at her so hard that he wasn‟t even paying attention to Samantha anymore. He wanted Chocolate bad. He thought to himself how the inside of her felt and how good his cock would feel hitting her tonsils. He fantasized about her until he exploded with an excessive amount of cum in Samantha‟s mouth. Chocolate knew she was the reason the nigga came but she let Samantha take all the credit. Samantha stood up and held her hand out for her money like she deserved it. Chocolate just laughed out loud and exited the bathroom trying to remember to write that funny shit in her diary. The other dancers that were at the party had begun to get dressed so Chocolate put some pep in her step and hit the dance floor. She stopped at the DJ. First to request a song that she wanted to dance to. She was wearing a one piece fish net body stocking with her six inch heels. The wig she wore was jet black and about 18 inches long. Chocolate liked to look exotic when she danced. She was a true believer in appearance being everything. When she swung her hips to the music, money started to flow. She had every eye in the room on her as she worked the floor. The other girls started coming out after about ten or fifteen minutes. She was glad because she was getting tired and sweaty. She picked up her tips and scrolled to the master bedroom where she changed her outfit and utilized her baby wipes to freshen up. She lit a Newport and thought to herself how much better the party would have been if the Don Divas were with her. She hadn‟t seen Samantha since the bathroom incident and she was starting to wonder where she was. She thought she probably was doing another VIP. So she let the concern exit her mind. A few minutes later, Chocolate was back on her grind . This time, with a new game plan in mind. She was going to the dance floor to fish forVIP‟s. She didn‟t feel like dancing anymore and it was starting to get late. She did a few lap dances and did a few tricks including one in particular that stood out. She used two long stick candles. She lit the both of them and inserted one in her vagina and one in her anus. She was on her knees with the candles burning together making her ass clap. All eyes were on her at that point and she loved every minute of it. She continued to amaze the on lookers with various tricks. She even made her vagina smoke a cigarette. The john that was watching her wash up and dress in the bathroom earlier propositioned her. He wanted what he had fantasized about. She told him it would cost him one hundred and fifty dollars. He agreed without hesitation. They went into the VIP room to start the process. Chocolate knew she had something on her hands because he had just tricked with Samantha and she knew that the second time around was always longer, but she had a master plan out of this world. Just as the john put on his condom, Chocolate got down in on all fours and held her mouth open. He placed his penis firmly in her mouth. For some reason, he wasn‟t trying to be rough like had had been with Samantha. He wanted to make love to Chocolate. She sucked his piece of meat like it was a seasoned chicken bone. He moaned and groaned and squirmed. Chocolate sucked him for about five minutes or so then she stared directly in his eyes and told him to stick it in her ass. The john stood there dumbfounded for about five seconds. He wasn‟t sure if he had heard her correctly. “What are you waiting for Mr.Man?” Chocolateasked. “Iknow you‟re not scared are you?” The john smiled at her and answered “No way miss lady.” Chocolate raised her ass up in the air and waited to feel the hot rod deep in her asshole. The john entered into her tight fit and fucked her like fucking was going out of style. That lasted for about eight minutes. Before Chocolate knew it, it was over. She smiled because she knew that technique would work. She thanked her lucky stars that she took that approach because she knew if she let him fuck her in the vagina they would have been going much longer. They exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch.
Chocolate went back out to the dance floor after she cleaned herself up. She decided to look for Samanthabecause she still hadn‟t run into her. She asked around but no one had seen her. Chocolate figured that she would try to make some more money in the meantime. She danced some more but the tips were coming slow. She made about fifty dollars that time around then decided to get dressed. She searched the house up and down for Samantha but she still didn‟t see her. She called her new friend Roger to pick her up. She thought maybe he would bitch about driving all the way to Norfolk so she braced herself. After all, she would call a cab if all else fails.
“Hello?”
“Hey Roger, its‟ Chocolate. You remember me?”
“Of course Ido. How are you?” He asked.
“Fine. I was hoping you would do me a favor.”
“Sure, anything,” Roger offered.
“I need you to pick me up from Norfolk. I got left by a girlfriend on mine.”
“Okay, where are you in Norfolk?”
“ I‟m in Ocean View do you know where that is?”
“Yeah,I‟m familiar with that area. How about I call you when Iget close?” Roger asked.
“That‟ll be good,” Chocolate answered back.
She was relieved. She hated to have to spend money on a cab way back to Newport News. She thought to herself what an inconvenience it was for her to have to wait on a ride. She was used to Sharay being right there with her. She was trying to think of a logical explanation as to why Samantha left her. All she knew was that she was going to kick the bitch‟s ass when she saw her again.
Roger was glad to see Chocolate again. He honestly thought that he would never see her again. He wanted to ask her why in the world was she all the way in Norfolk stranded and why she had that big ass luggage bag with her but he didn‟t ask. He knew Chocolate could be mouthy because of the way she snapped at him in Walgreens. They stopped at Denny‟s to get something to eat. They sat and got better acquainted. Chocolate told Roger that she was a dancer. He took the news rather hard. He liked her a lot and he was going to try his hand at starting a relationship with her but he wasn‟t sure if he liked the idea of her being a stripper or dancer as she called it. They talked about their children and things of that nature. Chocolate was really digging that middle aged dude and that was scary for her. She found herself really considering giving Roger a chance. She couldn‟t think of the last time she ran across a man that she actually liked. Let alone a nigga with money, a good job, looked good and single. She actually enjoyed Roger‟s company. That was the scariest thing for her. She couldn‟t talk to a nigga too long without getting irritated. Was Chocolate really ready to settle down with a man like Roger?

Bay-Bay

Bay-Bay was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she had HIV. She wasn‟t sure how long she had it or who gave it to her. When she went to the health department to have her six month checkup, she was checked for all STD's. She had her blood drawn for the AIDS test and was told to call the clinic in a week for the results. On the scheduled day, she called to get her results. She gave her social security number and was placed on hold while the receptionist obtained her records. The man came back to the phone and told her that she needed to come into the office. She was scared to death because she knew there had to be a problem. She agreed and went to the clinic the next day.

When the nurse called her name, she could feel her heart drop down in her stomach. Once inside the office, her suspicion became a reality. The nurse told her she had an STD but the words that came out of that nurse‟s mouth would forever ring inside her head. “ I‟m sorry to be the one that has to tell you this but, you‟re HIV positive.” Bay-Bay dropped to her knees and cried. She couldn‟t believe her ears. She was just told that she had a disease that would be with her for the rest of her life. Bay-Bay didn‟t tell anyone except Sharay about her disease. She didn‟t want everyone in her business. She surprised herself when she told Sharay. She thought that kind of stuff should be kept private. She didn‟t want to ruin her reputation and didn‟t want to be looked at as a nasty chic. She wanted to tell her mother but she didn‟t want to be treated any differently plus she didn‟t want her siblings to find out because none of them liked her anyway. She drove to North Carolina not for anything in particular. She just wanted to clear her mind. While she drove, she started to think of all the men she slept with without protection. She could remember about four people. Two of them were johns and the other two were flings. She busted her brain trying to think of which one of them could have gave her the disease. She knew it would be hard for her to find out without actually telling them that she was infected. She lit a Newport and turned the music up in the car. She made up her mind not to investigate because she wasn‟t going to get anywhere. She decided to continue to do as she wanted whenever she wanted. She wasn‟t about to let it get the best of her.

Chocolate called Bay-Bay ‟s cell phone to see if she wanted to go do some VIPs with her. It was about four of five niggas at the holiday inn that wanted some hard core action as they called it. BayBay agreed and told Chocolate that she was on her way back to Virginia. She was hoping Chocolate didn‟t ask where she was coming from or why because she wasn‟t prepared to give an answer that sounded logical. Bay-Bay called over to her cousin‟s house and asked her to keep the kids until the next morning. She told her that she had an emergency. Once Bay-Bay and Chocolate arrived at the hotel, Chocolate called to let the guys know that they were outside and to find out the room number. A big fat husky looking nigga came to the car with his grill slugged out with mad jewels on. “Damn,” Chocolatesaid. “What‟s up with you? How you living?”

“I‟m alright shorty,” he responded. “Just trying to make it you know what I mean? But dig this, why don‟t y‟all come on up and meet the rest of the fellas?” Bay-Bay noticed that the guy had a southern accent. She thought to herself that he might have been from somewhere like Mississippi or Alabama. When they entered the hotel room, the weed smoke met them at the door. Bay-Bayhadn‟t smoked weed in about four months but she needed something to stimulate her mind. She asked if she could hit the blunt. One of the niggas that sat on the bed handed her the blunt and invited her to sit down beside him. Bay-Bay smoked about three blunts with the johns. She was higher than gas in New York City. Chocolatedidn‟t waste any time. She was in the bathroom with two of the niggas pleasing them both at the same time. Bay-Baywasn‟t far behind. She got her groove on with two of the niggas also. The nigga that was left wasn‟t doing anything. He was simply getting his pleasure out of watching. He was a happily married man and faithful to his wife. The freak show lasted for hours. The girls switched partners and danced for their customers. They both made about five hundred dollars apiece. They decided to go to IHOP to eat and look for some more victims.

Bay-Bay ‟s mind was running wild. She knew she could have easily put those johns‟ lives in danger by having sex with them. She couldn‟t even eat her food because her conscious was eating her alive. She always played the hard roll but she had a very soft heart. She was not only dealing with the fact that she could had just infected innocent people. She was also dealing with the fact that her kids father was coming home from prison. They talked over the phone about giving their relationship another try. She started to have doubts about getting back with him because she didn‟t want to give him the disease. She was all fucked up in the head and Chocolate could see that something was bothering her girl.

“ What‟s up with you? You ain‟t said much all night” Chocolate said.
“Girl, Igot a lot on my mind that‟s all and no I don‟t want to talk about it,” Bay-Bay said before Chocolate could continue.
“Damn bitch you ain‟t got to get all cute and shit with your high ass.” Bay-Bay laughed the comment off and started to eat her food. She was planning on calling Sharay once she got home to have her say a prayer for her but she didn‟t want Chocolate to know because she would only throw her words back at her about not believing in God and so on. Ever since that day Sharay prayed for her and delivered those demons out of her she felt a little better. She even prayed sometimes but never let anyone know about it. She was ashamed of the Lord but she knew deep down in her heart that the Lord was the only way to go. Sharay told her that day that the Lord would never leave her if she just would let him in. For some reason, those words stayed on her heart. Bay-Baywasn‟t sure if she was really ready to fully accept the Lord. It was something she thought about every now and then.
Chocolate was standing outside the IHOP talking to some niggas when Bay-Bay walked out and asked her for her part of the bill. Chocolate was mad as hell that Bay-Bay played her like that. She figured Bay-Bay could have paid the bill in full then got her half when they got back in the car. Bay-Bay knew exactly what she was doing. She knew Chocolate would act like she forgot to give her the money and she wasn‟t trying to go through that. Chocolate had gotten her plenty of times before that same way. Bay-Bay dropped Chocolate off at her apartment and drove straight home so that she could call Sharay. She wanted to be in the privacy of her own home when she talked to her. She wanted to discuss many things with Sharay. Things that she couldn‟t dare talk to anyone else about. She couldn‟t believe that she was actually wanting to hear about God. She was hungry for the word. She wanted it so bad that she was speeding home. As soon as she got home, she laid across her bed and called her new advisor. They talked and prayed together for a while. Bay-Bay slipped and called Sharay Luscious a thousand times but that was something that she had to break out of.
Whenever Bay-Bay talked about her disease she got discouraged. She wanted to act like it didn‟t exist but it was eating her up emotionally. She knew that it would only progress and get worse and that the end result was death. She had to be up early in the morning so that she could make her eight o‟ clockdoctor‟s appointment. They were going to give her several prescriptions and counsel her on the importance of taking the medications. She also had to take her auntie to run a few errands. Bay-Bay and Sharay hung up the phone that night both in good spirits. Sharay was sure Bay-Bay was going to be okay.
Bay-Bay dressed her children for school the next morning over at her cousin‟s house. She gave them a ride to school and went on her way to the doctor. Her mind was playing tricks on her because she could have sworn she was getting skinny. She wondered if anyone noticed anything different about her. Especially her auntie. She kept cutting her eye at Bay-Bay while they were in the car. BayBayfelt uncomfortable. She couldn‟t wait to get home. She felt like she had HIV written across her forehead. She received six prescriptions that day and the doctor requested that she seek counseling. She was distraught. She sat home drinking and smoking weed for the rest of the evening. She made arrangements for her mother to pick the boys up from school. She didn‟t answer the phone when she saw correctional facility flash across her caller‟s ID. She started to wonder if Donte was the one that gave her the disease. There were plenty of times when she caught him cheating on her she thought maybe he had the disease and knew it and didn‟t care enough about her to tell her. All kinds of thoughts were running across her mind while she sat in her bedroom that evening. She contemplated suicide but she didn‟t feel she had the balls to do it. She talked to Sharay about that the night before and Sharay told her that she would go straight to hell. She sobbed until she fell asleep. When she woke up later that night she had eight messages on her voicemail. Some were from tricks, the others were from no one of importance but there was one message that stood out. She replayed it over and over. The more she listened to it, the more she became angry. It was from her mother. It wasn‟t the fact that it was her mother that upset her, it was the words that her mother spoke. “ Renee, this is your mother. Your father is very sick. We are at the hospital. We just found out that he has full blown aids. He‟s dying baby. Please get over here a.s.a.p. You two need to make amends. Please call me as soon as you get this message.” Bay-Bay could have puked all over herself. Now she knew who gave her HIV. And she was going to make it known to the entire family. She didn‟t care if it meant losing what little relationship she had with her mother or not. She wondered if her mother had the disease and didn‟t know it then she wondered if her mother did know she had it and kept it a secret all those many years. Bay-Bay was devastated. Instead of calling her mother on her cell phone, she decided to go straight to the hospital but she wasn‟t going alone. She stopped to pick up her friend. Clyde. Clyde was a short lil thing. Black as night and was known to make a boisterous sound whenever he spoke.
Bay-Bay saw her children sitting in the waiting room of when she entered the hospital. She hugged and kissed each one of them and told them to stay put. She and Clyde walked to the information booth to find out which room her father was in. Bay-Bay entered the room and the whole family looked in her direction. They probably were wondering what she was doing there since she didn‟t have any dealings with her father. Bay-Bay broke her way through the crowd and stopped at her father‟s bedside. She began to speak. “Everybody is crowded around this man as if he‟s a good man or something.” Her eyes began to water. She ignored the smacking of lips coming from several family members. “But, do you all know what this man has done to me?” Her mother tried to interrupt. “Not this time mama. It‟s my turn.” Bay-Bay said sternly.
“This man raped me for three of four years straight when I was younger. I tried to tell you,” she said pointing at her mother. “But you didn‟t take it serious. Now the same disease that he‟s laying here dying from, I have. He gave me HIV! He has ruined my life and Idon‟t feel sorry for him one bit!” Everybody was quiet as Bay-Bay spoke. They couldn‟t believe their ears.
Nobody except her siblings knew why she felt the way she did about her father. It made her sick to her stomach to know that her siblings still associated with him even after they were grown knowing what he done to her. It made her sicker to know that her mother stayed with him in spite of what he did to her.
“I‟m not here to say my farewells. I‟m not her to reconcile. I‟m here simply to satisfy myself.” BayBay pulled Clyde from her purse and pointed directly at her father‟s head. The whole family screamed but Bay-Baydidn‟t hear them. All she heard were the screams she let out, the cries she let out and the moans of him satisfying himself on top of her. She let off three shots in his head at point blank close range. She stood there after she knew he was dead and spit in his face. The whole entire time Bay-Bay was giving her speech, her father lay there weak staring at her without any sign of emotion or regret. That made it more easy for Bay-Bay to do what she did.
Police entered the room but Bay-Baydidn‟t notice. When the family left the room, she didn‟t notice. All she saw were the events of her childhood when one of the officers called her name, she turned and pointed the gun at him. She was shot by another officer in the chest. Bay-Bay died instantly. BayBay‟s mother felt as if she was next. She couldn‟t believe what had just happened. She had just lost her husband. Bay-Bay‟s children were taken into social services custody until they could find a place for them. Bay-Bay‟s mother and the rest of the family refused to take them. The family were more hurt of the death of the father rather than Bay-Bay. Word spread around town quickly. The story was all in the newspapers and on the news. Sharay called Chocolate to find out more information but Chocolatedidn‟t know more than Sharay, so they called Juicy. She didn‟t even know anything about it until they called her. She was so caught up in robbing people and spending money that she hadn‟t even talked to the Don Divas in about a month.
Sharay and Chocolate agreed to meet at Bay-Bay‟s mother‟s house to pay their respects but they were not welcomed, as a matter of fact, there was no wake held for Bay-Bay. Nobody ever made any funeral arrangements and the body was never removed from the morgue. Sharay was devastated. She almost lost her religion at one point but she prayed and asked the Lord for strength. There was nothing that Chocolate and Sharay could do. They would miss their friend dearly. Sharay began to feel like a failure. All the talking and praying she did with Bay-Baydidn‟t pay off. She cried and was beating herself up trying to figure out what she could have done or said differently. Chocolate and Sharay had a long talk that evening. Sharay told Chocolate about Bay-Bay‟s disease. It frightened Chocolate because she had done a couple of girly shows with Bay-Bay in the past. She was planning to get herself checked out that very next day. Sharay was too just to make sure.

Juicy

Juicy was cruising down Jefferson Avenue in her new two seater sports car with the radio blasting Trina and the windows rolled down allowing the wind to blow through her auburn colored hair. She was on her way to pick up her dry cleaning. On the passenger side was her new friend Kitty. She met her at a hair salon in downtown Newport news. Kitty reminded her so much of the old Sharay. Juicy thought she was living the life. She felt she didn‟t need anyone. She had changed her telephone number and moved into a new condo. She spotted Chocolateone day standing at a bus stop and didn‟t even stop to give her a ride. She didn‟t dance anymore so she saw no need to talk to Chocolate or any of the rest of the girls. She continued to set niggas up to be robbed and indulge in other illegal activity. Her only objective in life was to get paid by any means necessary. She had a male friend that she was involved with name Nylon. He was a big time drug dealer from Jamaica. He had become the man on the streets of Newport News after he earned his respect for laying a nigga down in broad day light for shorting him on his money. Kitty dated Nylon‟s brother Kinji. They were all living together. The condo was laced. It had all sorts of expensive furniture and art work, big screen televisions, electronic games and so on.

It was Wednesday. Juicy and Kitty were preparing for their trip to New Jersey on Friday morning. They had to drop off a package to a nigga named Loose. Nylon and Kinji never went on trips like that. They were on the run from New York and crossing the New Jersey turnpike with drugs was playing with fire. Juicy had to be at Hertz rental car in Norfolk to pick up the rental car by nine am Thursday morning. Nylon had a crack head that knew how to make stash spots. He was going to drill a hole in the floor of the driver‟s side. Loose had to meet with him as soon as Juicy brought the car back. Kitty and Kinji went to the DMV to get Kitty a new driver‟s license just in case she got pulled over while she was driving. They thought they had everything under control. Everything was together that Friday morning. Juicy and Kitty were on the road by the designated time. Nylon called Loose to let him know what time to expect the girls and refreshed his memory on the meeting spot. Nylon didn‟t really trust Loose when it came down to his girl so he told Juicy to make the transaction and get her ass right back on the road. On the way to New Jersey, Juicy began to feel sick. She had to pull over about three of four times to vomit. Kitty told Juicy to get a pregnancy test when she got back home because she was vomiting too much. Juicy‟s face lit up at the thought of having Nylon‟s baby. Although he already had six children by six different girls living in Jamaica, she thought if she had a baby he would always have to deal with her. She also saw dollar signs. “Idon‟t think it‟s that,” Juicylied. “Maybe I ate something that upset my stomach.” Kitty didn‟t respond. She just kept reading her novel. The ride was long and boring. Kitty wasn‟t the loud type of girl and she was very humble. Juicy regretted going on the trip with her. She started to think how fun the trip would have been if somebody like Chocolate rode along. She drove thinking about all the memories she had with the Don Divas. She got teary eyed reminiscing on everything they‟d been through and done together. She also wondered where the hell Golden Brown was and how she was doing. She tried to figure out what state of mind Bay-Bay was in when she killed her father. Tears began to flow down her cheeks. She was glad Kitty was so deep in her book that she didn‟t notice. She hated to tell her what was bothering her. She had Kitty believing that she didn‟t have any regrets about the breaking up of the Don Divas. She told Kitty that the Don Divas were whores who turned her out and all they wanted out of life was to shake their asses. She also told her that they were broke bitches and she didn‟t want anything to do with them.

Juicy got tired of driving and wanted to take a nap so her and Kitty traded places. When they were almost at the New Jersey turnpike, Kitty woke Juicy up to call Nylon to find out what exit to get off once they got off the turnpike. Nylon gave them directions. He was getting his dick sucked as he spoke to Juicy. She thought she heard a voice in the background but when she asked him about it, he cursed her out and told her to stay in a woman‟s place. When they arrived at the meeting spot, Loose wasn‟t there yet. They waited about an hour or so then called Nylon back. Nylon wasn‟t a happy camper. He called Loose back but there was no answer. Nylon demanded Juicy and Kitty to go and check in a hotel and not to talk to anyone until he got things cleared up. They complied with the demand. Juicygot in the driver‟s side and put the car in drive. What happened next would change Juicy‟s life forever.

Cops jumped in front of the car with their guns drawn. Juicy‟s life flashed before her eyes. She was shocked and couldn‟t move. She put the car in park and placed her hands on the steering wheel as ordered. She looked over at Kitty expecting the same reaction. What she saw startled her. Kitty was pointing a gun at her. Juicy quickly figured out what was going down. Kitty and Loose had set her up. She thought about how she wanted to be with her everywhere she went. She thought about Nylon and Kinji. She knew that Nylon and Kinji were next. Kitty was an informant for the police. Juicy stared Kitty dead in the eye and spit in her face before surrendering to the police. Kitty wiped her face and smiled. She exited the car and did the honors of reading Juicy her rights. Juicy was taken to a New Jersey city jail where she was booked on drug trafficking charges and possession with the intent to sell crack cocaine. She was held on a three hundred thousand dollar bond. She was fucked up in the head. She wondered what would happen to her man. She called home collect but there was no answer. Juicy later found out that her and Kinji were arrested and taken to Newport News city jail where they waited extradition to New York city. Juicy‟s world was falling apart. She didn‟t know at that point if she was coming or going. She knew she didn‟t have the kind of money to bond herself out and the only person she did know that had the money like that was Nylon but he was also in a fucked up situation.

The rental car was being held for investigation and so was Juicy‟s cell phone. Her bank account also had a freeze on it. Detectives arrived to talk to her later that night but she wasn‟t being cooperative. She wouldn‟t tell them anything about her man. She ignored the many offers to have her charges reduced in exchange for her testimony on Nylon and Kinji. She felt betrayed by Kitty. She was still shocked that Kitty was an undercover cop. They shopped together, lived together and did other things together. Juicy wondered to herself if what Kitty did was even legal. The next day Juicy was taken to court for her first appearance. She was met by three officers. They issued her more warrants for hiding fugitives and maintaining a dwelling to store narcotics. Her bond was raised even higher. After court, Juicy tried to think of someone to call to hire her an attorney but her mind kept coming up blank. She had burned her bridges with everybody when she was getting all the money from the robberies. Big Al had moved away to Connecticut and she had no way of contacting him. She thought about calling her parents but she knew she hadn‟t talked to them in a while and she knew they probably wouldn‟t help her. She thought about Sharay. She knew Sharay had money left from the insurance money. She knew Sharaywouldn‟t leave her out back so she tried her luck. Sharay listened to Juicy sob and plead with her to help her out with her situation and she felt her friend‟s pain. What Sharaycouldn‟t understand was why Juicy was calling her for help. Sharay hated to feel used and that‟s exactly how she felt. She had heard that Juicy was talking about her saying she was a hypocrite and that she was still a whore in disguise. Sharay told Juicy that she had to pray about it and told her to call her back later on that night and she would have her decision. Juicy didn‟t want to hear that. She wanted a definite answer so she pressed the issue but, Sharay was firm in what she said. She had to consult with her Heavenly Father before she made a decision because she wasn‟t sure if Juicy was telling her the truth about being framed.

Juicy had never been to jail before. She was nervous as hell. She thought about all the stories she heard about jail and started to cry. She thought about what Nylon and Kinji were saying about her to the detectives. They were niggas and the average nigga would try anything to get themselves out of trouble. She would keep her mouth closed regardless because she didn‟t know what or what not to say. She knew she couldn‟t say much because she was caught red handed. She wasn‟t sure if more charges were coming her way or not. She cried harder until she fell asleep. When the guards came in to bring her food, she denied it. She didn‟t want to eat anything in that nasty jail. Women were lined up like they were at a buffet. One girl went over to Juicy and introduced herself as Kandy. She was only nineteen years old. She was in there for the same thing as Juicy. They talked for a while and exchanged stories. Juicycouldn‟t believe what she was hearing when Kandy told her she was about to be sent to prison for forty years. Juicy knew she had more drugs than Kandy so she was really scared to hear what the DA would offer her.

Juicy called Sharay back but what Sharay told her pissed her off and made her cuss Sharay out like she was a bitch on the streets. Sharay told her that she‟d rather not get involved in her situation. She apologized and offered to pray with her over the phone. Juicy slammed the phone down in Sharay‟s ear. She laid on her bed and cried her eyes out. Nylon and Kinji made bail and headed to Texas to hide out. They didn‟t think twice about Juicy. She stayed in jail ten months before she was tried and sent to prison for five years.

Juicy had given birth to a baby boy. He was awarded to her parents. Juicydidn‟t even get to hold the baby. She was so heartbroken that she tried to commit suicide. She had started to communicate with her family again and she also was talking to Sharay and Chocolate again. She received her GED and a trade in her free time. She also attended church and parenting classes. Juicy heard from a reliable source that Nylon and Kinji were living it up in Texas. She thought about snitching and telling the law where they were but she changed her mind. She had learned to make the best out of her situation and humble herself. She kept in contact with Kandy. They wrote each other letters on a weekly basis. Sharay and Chocolate visited her and sent her money quite often. Even though Juicy was incarcerated, she still had the mentality of a hustler. She sold cigarettes, black and mild‟s and whatever else that would make her an all mighty dollar. She also started writing a book about her life. She was determined to make the best out of a bad situation. Even though her parents never brought Nylon Jr. To see her, she thought about him day and night. She wondered what he was like, what he sounded like, what kinds of foods he liked, who he looked like and most of all, what he would think about her when her grew older. Juicy had turned gay and had a girlfriend name Laci. She was from Baltimore Maryland and had been locked up since she was eighteen years old. She was an OG. And she taught Juicy many things about the gay lifestyle. Juicy and Laci were cell mates so they spent all of their time together. Coincidently, they were scheduled to be released around the same time. They had sex so much that Juicy fell in love with Laci. She had never had nobody make love to her the way Laci did. At first it felt abnormal for a woman to be on top of her but that feeling quickly vanished. She was in love with Laci and there was no doubt about it. They shared more than just sex though. They had a lot in common and they had the same goals in life. Although Juicy acted the way she did, she always had dreams of becoming a dentist. She knew that with the felonies on her record that she wouldn‟t be able to pursue that dream but she saw no harm in going to school to get a degree just in case.

Juicy ‟s world was scattered one more time when Laci was moved to another prison. They had no way of communicating with each other because the prison system was aware of their relationship and made sure they couldn‟t contact each other. Juicy was depressed all over again. She talked to Sharay on a more regular basis which strengthened her wisdom, faith and understanding of the gospel. She began to have a whole new outlook on life. The more she read the bible the better she felt about herself and her situation. She knew she could very well gotten killed out there in the streets.

With the money Sharay and Chocolate sent her, she supported her son. It wasn‟t much but it helped. She sent a money order to her mother once a month. Once her mother saw that she was making an effort, she talked to her more and even started to allow her to have a relationship with Nylon Jr. Arrangements were made on Christmas day for Juicy to meet her son. She had never seen a picture of him so she didn‟t know what to expect. She wondered if he looked like her or his daddy. Visitation day finally arrived. Juicydidn‟t sleep at all that night. She was too nervous. It was around ten thirty when the correctional officer called her name to the visitation room. She felt the sweat dripping from her brow. When Juicy entered the visitation room, she could have passed out from excitement. Sharay, Chocolate, her son and her parents were all awaiting her arrival. She walked over to the table where they were seated and they all embraced her with warmness. She could feel the love in the atmosphere. Her baby boy held his little arms out and said,“Hi mommy.” Juicy stood there for a second speechless. She grabbed her son and gave him the biggest hugs and kisses. Her son was the spitting image of her . From that day on, Juicy knew her purpose for living.

Young Boy

The whistle was loud enough to wake up the dead. Inmates ran around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to stash their contraband. It was shake down get naked time. All the inmates had to stand by their beds with their hands on their heads while the guards searched their property. If they breathed too hard they would be put on lockdown for two months. Young boy and his bunk mate knew they had nothing to worry about because neither of them ever broke the rules. They studied the word together and helped keep each other‟s minds stay focused. Young Boy and his friend prayed together before the search because Young Boy was going to face the parole board for the first time the next morning. It had been five years and he really felt in his heart that he was going home. He believed in the grace of God and he knew God knew his heart. He was so at peace with facing the parole board that it seemed unreal to the other inmates. They expected him to be nervous and stressed but he had that unspeakable faith.

The shakedown was over after almost an hour. The rest of the day seemed to drag. Nightfall arrived and Young Boy tossed and turned trying to sleep. For some reason he started getting worried. He wanted so badly to go home with his family that the idea of his parole being turned down taunted him. He knew it was the devil causing him to feel that way but, he just couldn‟t get the thought out of his mind. He just wanted to get the whole thing over with. The time finally arrived for Young Boy to face the parole board. He walked in the room and took his seat as directed. His heart pounded. It felt to him as if you could see it bulging through his shirt. In front of Young Boy sat five people who had the power to let him free after only serving five years of his sentence. The questions began with a short stocky white woman with blonde hair and a voice that sounded like she smoked cigarettes all of her life.

“ If you will, state your name for the record.” “Christopher Lamont Johnson.”
“For the record, please refresh the men and women
of the panel of the reason for your incarceration.”
Young Boy was nervous at this point. He knew that anything he said or didn‟t say would ultimately make the decision for the board.

“ I am incarcerated for first degree murder,” he admitted.
“Why do you think we should allow you back into society after you committed such a heinousact?” Young Boy stood up. He wanted to make sure he was sincere and acted as such.
“First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to give thanks to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to present myself before you all today.”
One of the board members glared at his watch and sucked his teeth. He probably was familiar with what was taking place. Prisoners get in front of the board with this rehearsed speech and dishonesty all the time. The majority of them didn‟t have any intentions on getting out and doing the right thing. They just spoke whatever came to their minds. Whatever sounded like the right thing to say, but, Young Boywasn‟t standing there with a rehearsed speech. In fact, he hadn‟t even thought about what he would say. The only thing he did recite was a scripture from the bible that gave him encouragement. Young Boy continued with his plea for freedom.
“Since my incarceration, I have obtained my GED. I have also graduated two anger management classes and one drug abuse course which I feel will benefit me if I‟m allowed a chance back into society.” Young Boy continued. “My mother passed away at the beginning of my sentence, her death inspired me to change my life and give my heart to God. I have a very loving fiancée who‟s supporting our children on her own the best way she can. Last but not least, I am truly sorry for what I‟ve done. There is no excuse for my actions and never will I try to make one. I know there is nothing that I can do to change the hands of time. I‟ve prayed to a higher power to help the victim‟s family to find it in their hearts to forgive me just as our Father has forgiven me.” Young Boy was interrupted by another board member.
“Where will you live if you‟re released?” Young Boy found the question to be a trick question because he knew he had just mentioned his fiancée and their children.
“I will live with my fiancée and children sir,” Young Boy responded. The board member thanked him for his time and told him that he would be hearing something within eight to ten weeks regarding the status. Young Boy was escorted out of the room. He went directly to his bed and started to write Carla to tell her about the hearing. He wished he could talk to her but her phone had gotten disconnected because of all the collect calls.
Young Boy really hated the fact that Carla was out there struggling on her own. He wished Sharay would have given Carla some of his money but Sharay refused. She put the money in the bank for the children instead. They or nobody else could touch the money until Young Boy was released from prison. That was the way Sharay set everything up. She didn‟t trust Carla having access to any of the money because she didn‟t believe she would do the right things. She had already heard rumors about her messing around with guys and hanging out all times of the night. Sharay never told her brother about any of the rumors she heard because she didn‟t want to add any emotional stress on him.
Young Boy wondered if he would even get a response from his letter. He wrote Carla all the time but she barely wrote back. He prayed for his fiancée and put the situation in the Lord‟s hands. Young Boy and his bunk mate talked for a while then headed to the cafeteria to eat lunch. A guy from Young Boy‟s past walked swiftly behind him as if to deliberately aggravate him. They guy was so close behind him that if Young Boy stopped, he would have ran in the back of him. Young Boy‟s bunk mate stopped and turned to the guy and held his hand out as if he was directing traffic. Young Boy stopped too. He wanted to simply talk to Boo Boo and stop the beef that started when they were in high school over a girl. He started to speak but was cut short before his mouth fully formed the first word. Boo Boo stuck a jailhouse made knife directly in young boy‟s chest. There were inmates walking up towards the scene so Boo Boo ran and so did Young Boy‟s bunk mate. He was scared to death and didn‟t want to be a witness because he thought Boo Boomight do him in plus, he didn‟t want to be blamed for the stabbing.He couldn‟t afford any additional time. He himself was eligible for parole that next month.
Guards arrived moments later and Young Boy was taken to the infirmary to seek medical attention. The whole prison went on lock down until the investigation was over. Young Boy was able to identify his attacker before he went unconscious. He also told the guards that his bunk mate witnessed the attack. Boo Boo denied even seeing Young Boy that day and his bunkmate, well let‟s just say he knew what was best for him and kept his mouth shut. The captain of the prison had to view the cameras before he could charge Boo Boo with the attack. Young Boy lost a lot of blood and wasn‟t breathing on his own. He remained in the infirmary on a breathing machine. The prison contacted Mr. Johnson and Sharay to tell them about what happened. They both took the news rather hard because their love one was laying on his possible death bed and they couldn‟t be by his side. They were not allowed to visit him. They would only be updated on his condition if they called. Sharay called Carla to tell her about the attack. Carla acted as if she didn‟t care. Sharay was very disappointed at Carla and she made it known. They got into an argument and Carla said some very bad things about her mother and brother that pushed Sharay to the edge. She also told Sharay that she had a new man and that she and the children were moving to Ohio. Sharay could have jumped through the phone and chopped that girl‟s head off. Carla should have thanked her lucky stars that Sharay was a changed woman. Sharay decided to let it go and not to worry herself about it. She cared about her nephews but there was nothing that she could do. She put the situation in the Lord‟s hands and left it alone.
Sharay was on her way to pick the kids up from school when she decided to call the prison to check on her brother‟s condition. She asked to be transferred to the infirmary . She held the line for a few minutes before a woman came to the line.
“Can Ihelp you?”
“Yes, my name is Sharay Johnson. I‟m calling to check on my brother Christopher Johnson”.
“Yes, hold a minute please.” The woman said.
She was back on the line a few seconds later with a clipboard.“Ms. Johnson, your brother is stable but he is still not breathing on his own. We are keeping very close watch on him and we will keep you updated on his condition.”
“Well, that‟s what you all said when he first got stabbed and nobody has called yet!”
“I‟m sorry ma‟am I will make sure that from now on, you receive a daily update onChristopher‟s condition. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Sharay was feeling like she was being rushed off the phone. She asked for her name and tried to remember it because she was driving and couldn‟t write it down. She was planning to report her to a higher authority.
Young Boy‟s condition was not getting any better. The knife had pierced his heart. The doctors were amazed that he was still living but, Young Boy was strong. He fought to stay alive. He wasn‟t ready to give up. He had big dreams, big ambitions and big intentions on being with his children. Especially the one he‟d never met. He wanted to make sure none of them grew up like he did. He wanted better for his boys. He didn‟t want them to ever have a reason to go out and sell drugs or rob and kill. He had no idea that Carla was with a new man and planning to take the kids away but, Carla was tired of struggling to make ends meet and tired of being lonely. She tried to wait for Young Boy but she couldn‟t.
Sharay‟s house phone rang. She feared the worse because it was three am. She slowly answered the phone praying that it wasn‟t bad news. But, it was. Her father told her that the prison called to inform them that Young Boy slipped into a coma and died around two thirty in the morning. Sharay like her father was devastated once again. For some reason, Sharay didn‟t cry though. She was at peace knowing that her brother‟s soul was right before he passed. She even thought to herself that maybe that was God‟s way of removing her brother from a bad situation. She thought about how God knew her brother wouldn‟t be able to accept the fact that Carla was leaving him along with the children. Sharay smiled thinking about how awesome God was and she began to thank Him, she decided to let her father call Carla to let her know about Young Boy because of what happened between them a couple of days before. Carla shockingly took the news rather hard , at least that‟s what Mr. Johnson thought. The more he talked to her the more he realized that all she was concerned about was the money Young Boy had in the bank waiting for him. Mr. Johnson told Carla that everything in regards to the money would be handled by Sharay.
Young Boy‟s body was buried on the prison‟s grounds because the prison was not allowed to authorize the release of his body which Sharay found to be very weird. A few of the family members were allowed to watch them put his body in the ground. The prison was finally taken off of lock down. All except Boo Boo. He was charged with second degree murder and was sentenced to twenty more years. Larry, the bunkmate helped the guards clean out Young Boy‟s locker. He ran across Sharay‟s address and decided to keep it. He thought the information he had been keeping would be very helpful to the family. The prison had just done a shakedown the day before and had obviously overlooked the knife in Boo Boo‟s room. Therefore, the prison was responsible for Young Boy‟s death. Larry was moved to a new cell. He was put on protective custody because he feared for his life. He overheard a couple of guys saying he snitched Boo Boo out and word got back to him that he was next.
Larry and Sharay wrote each other quite often after she received the first letter from him. Sharay had sought legal advice and was in the process of suing the prison for her brother‟s murder. Carla kept her promise and moved on with her life not leaving a forwarding address or anything. Sharay kept her brother‟s money. She made a promise to her the Lord and herself that if she ever found out where Carla was living that she would try her best to get custody of her nephews.
Mr. Johnson sat on the porch one morning and was reading the morning paper when the mailman walked up to him and handed him the mail. One piece of mail stood out to Mr. Johnson because it read Department of Corrections. He called Sharay over to read the letter with him. When Sharay opened the letter, she burst out in tears. Her brother‟s parole had been granted. He was scheduled to get out on his twenty-fifth birthday. Mr. Johnson and Sharay held each other and shared a moment on behalf of their loved one. The good news didn‟t stop there. When Sharay went to court later that day for the law suit she filed on behalf of her brother, her and her father were awarded one million dollars for the loss of their loved one. Even though no amount of money was worth her brother‟s life, Sharay was thankful for the money. She opened up a men‟s shelter in remembrance and honor of her brother. She named it Christophers . It was to help young men who needed somewhere to stay so that they wouldn‟t have to rob and kill. Sharay knew her brother was looking down on her smiling as well as her mother. Sharay kept in contact with Larry. She was thankful for him and was planning to show him her appreciation because without him her and her father wouldn‟t have gotten justice.

Sharay

Sharay was overwhelmed with work at the shelter so she decided to hire herself some help. Chocolate was the first to be given a position of course. She was the receptionist. The other nine workers were a big help also. Sharay was a great help to the community and everyone was proud of her. Especially her father. In between the shelter and the children Sharay attended bible study, revival and anything else the church had going on. She was a remarkable young woman and her pastor and church members were planning to show her their appreciation.

Sharay‟s agenda was packed but being the type of person she was, she made time when Chocolate asked her to take her house hunting. Chocolate and Roger were trying to buy their very own house. They were happy together which pleased Sharay. She picked Chocolate up around noon. Their first stop was a three bedroom, two and a half bath, two story house with a backyard big enough to hold a herd of horses. It sat in the deep part of Virginia beach. Only white people lived in that neighborhood. If Chocolate and Roger were to purchase the house, they would be the only black family in the neighborhood. Sharay had to pick up her bottom lip when she spotted the house right next to Chocolate‟s dream home. She had no doubt in her mind that she could afford it so she jotted down the phone number and made a mental note to herself to contact the agent later.

The agent finally arrived to show Chocolate the house. She stepped out of her Jaguar wearing expensive clothes and carrying a brief case while sporting a pair of designer shades that made her resemble a mobstress. She was very sassy with her walk. It looked as if she had practiced walking with a book on her head. The fact that she was black intimidated Chocolate. She knew how nasty some black folks were when the had some sort of rank or authority. The agent walked right pass Chocolate and Sharay after looking at them up and down like they were beneath her and said, “follow me”. Chocolate began to say something but Sharay cut her off in mid-sentence. They exchanged giggles and followed the agent into the house. What Chocolate saw was breath taking. She knew at that moment that she had to have the house. She sat down with the agent at the breakfast bar to talk. Sharay explored the rest of the house in awe. Chocolate was getting aggravated because she felt like the agent was trying to lose her with all the big words she used but she held her cool because she wanted the house. The agent asked Chocolate what she did for a living. She smiled with pride and said, “ well, you see my boyfriend is a cop”.

“ Oh,” the agent said. “Where is he?”
“He‟s at work. He doesn‟t get off until seven.” “Isee. How many children do you have?” “Look, I just came here to look at the house

because my boyfriend asked me to. Maybe he can answer all of your questions better than I can. After all, he is the buyer,” Chocolate laughed.

“I‟ll have him call you as soon as he gets off.” “You do that,” the sassy agent said directing Chocolate to the door. Chocolate yelled for Sharay to come from upstairs. When Sharay walked past, the agent looked at her like she smelled bad. Sharay caught her dead in her stare and said “God bless you.”

Once out of the house Chocolate and Sharay laughed off the tension and took turns imitating the agent. They stopped at Chick Filet to get something to eat. Later that day Sharay remembered to call about the house she saw. Arrangements were made for the end of the week for her to have an inside look at the house. Sharay sat in her kitchen drinking coffee imagining how happy her mother would be if she was living to see her buy a house. Her son walked in to ask a question about his homework and noticed her crying. Sharay sat him down and had a long talk with him about a lot of things. He was getting olderand she didn‟t want him going out into the world blind. She thought about how different her brother‟s life would have been if he had someone to look up to. Mr. Johnson wasn‟t around much of their lives. He was out there in the world and used to leave them and their mother all the time until he turned his life around. Sharay and Nyshawn talked for a while about the birds and the bees and all kinds of other important things. Around six thirty Mr. Johnson arrived at her house ringing the bell like it was going out of style. The whole idea of company startled Sharay. She wasn‟t expecting anyone. Mr. Johnson told her to get the kids ready because he was taking them out. Sharay wasn‟t really in the mood for cooking so she accepted the invitation without too much hesitation. When her daddy pulled up in the pastor‟s driveway, she knew something was up. The sensor came on to the house, she saw a banner that read “Welcome Sharay, A Remarkable Woman”. Tears filled her eyes as she was greeted by church members and friends. She entered the party and almost had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn‟t dreaming. A six foot light skinned hazel eyed Mr. January look alike held a sign that read, Hello my name is Larry. She stared in amazement because Larrydidn‟t tell her he was being released from prison. They embraced each other for a minute too long. The pastor‟s wife cleared her throat. Sharay pardoned her behavior and continued to greet her guest. She was still confused as to why she was there and the purpose of the celebration. She didn‟t want to ask so she went along with the flow. The house reeked of soul food. If there was one thing that made her weak, it was some good down home cooking.

As everyone mingled, the pastor called for their attention. As the pastor spoke about all ofSharay‟s hard work and dedication to the church and community, everyone shook their heads in agreement and lit the room with applause. Sharay felt like a movie star as all eyes were on her. She cried with joy and gave all the credit to God. She spoke to the crowd and thanked them for the party. The party went on with everyone eating and having a jolly old good time. Sharay was overwhelmed once more when Larry asked everyone for their attention. He bent down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She wasn‟t sure how to respond. After all, it had only been about ten months or so since they started talking and besides Larry had just gotten out of prison and wasn‟t stable. In spite of it all, Sharay had been praying for companionship and she knew deep down in her heart that Larry was the one that God created for her. He was a God fearing man and loved the Lord with all of his heart and soul. A couple of older members of the church yelled,“Say yes!” Sharay blushed and finally said yes. Everyone clapped and hugged the new bride to be. Nyshawn, Chavonne and lil Sharay were happy for their mother. Chavonne asked Larry where is the ring. Larry bent down and explained to her that he didn‟t have money for a ring but he would make sure that he got her a pretty one when he got himself together.

Sharay needed a moment to herself. She grabbed her purse and headed to the bathroom. She prayed and thanked the Lord for sending Larry into her life. She then called Chocolate to tell her the good news. Chocolate of course was happy for Sharay but she asked her if she thought she was ready. “I‟ve never been so ready in my life,” Sharay said.

“ Well then do it girl!” I‟m so happy for you. You deserve the best!” They chatted for a few more minutes until Sharay told her that she had to get back to the party. Larry was busy talking to Mr. Johnson when Sharay approached him. She asked him if he was hungry. He said yes so she fixed him a plate fit for a king. They sat together and ate. The party lasted four a couple more hours. Afterwards, Sharay and the kids went home and fell asleep in the matter of moments.

Across the water in Norfolk, Larry lay awake at this brother‟s house thinking about Sharay and thanking the Lord for his many blessings. He cried tears of joy as he thought about how he was delivered from his old lifestyle. He was an ex-gang member that didn‟t care about nothing or nobody. He was determined to do right and make Sharay the happiest woman on planet earth. He wished Young Boy was alive to see the day they married but he knew his friend would be there watching them both from heaven.

Sharay was on her way to the shelter the next morning around ten. She always stopped at SevenEleven to get coffee but something told her to make a right turn. She knew that was out of the way but she listened. She turned the corner and knew something wasn‟t right because she had an indescribable feeling. She drove about one more mile and came to a brake screeching stop when an angel dressed in all white appeared in front of her car and pointed to the ground. Sharay was astonished as she stared at the figure in front of her. She stepped out of her car and the angel disappeared. She looked directly at her feet and almost jumped out of her skin. An infant baby laid in the street wrapped in a receiving blanket. The baby was sucking on her fingers like she was hungry. Her eyes resembled a sad kitten. Sharay lifted the baby off the ground and held her close to her. She hugged and kissed the baby like she was her own. She wasn‟t sure what to do with the little one. She fell in love with the baby instantly but she knew she had to do the right thing. She reached for her cell phone and called the police. As she waited for them to arrive, she wondered how long the baby had been laying there and why nobody else had saw her, and the angel, well, she didn‟t question that. She began to talk to the baby and also to her mother. She wondered what kind of a mother would just leave their baby in the middle of the street to die. She asked the baby that question. The baby looked directly in Sharay‟s eyes and made a noise as if she was responding to the question.

The police officers finally arrived. They asked Sharay a couple of questions and called social services to pick the baby up. Sharay handed the baby over to the worker and gave the worker her phone number so that she could be updated on the baby girl‟s status. She got in her car and just sat there. She had to gather her thoughts before she could get back on the road. She said a prayer asking for strength to get through the day. When she walked in the shelter, Chocolate stood up from her desk with her hands on her hips and said “Well, well, well boss lady, where have you been?” “ girl on a Godlyduty” Sharay laughed. Chocolatedidn‟t know what Sharay was talking about so she followed her to her office to ask questions. Sharay sat at her desk, put her feet up, leaned back and began to tell Chocolate about the miracle. Chocolate was messed up in the head about the angel part. She wasn‟t sure if she believed that part or not. She thought Sharay was taking the being saved thing too far but she wouldn‟t dare speak on it. She just listened to the story in amazement.

“ I think I want that baby.” Sharay blurted. “I mean, God wants me to have her or why would he let me be the one to find her?”

“ I don‟t know Sharay. You already got three little rascals of your own. What in the world are you going to do with another one, a newborn at that?” Sharay was hearing Chocolate but she wasn‟t listening to her. She wanted that baby and she was going to see about getting her.

Larry called the office phone to say good morning. That brightened things up. They talked for a few then Sharay told him about the baby. Larry told Sharay that he found that to be strange because right before he was released, he found out that he was sterile. He told her that he thought that was God‟s way of giving them their own baby together. Sharay was even more motivated to get the child after hearing that. She could hear her mother‟s voice in the back of her head saying,“Everything happens for a reason.” Sharay left the shelter and went down to social services to inquire about the baby. She learned that the mother was a fifteen year old homeless runaway and that the baby was four weeks old. She told the worker that she wanted to adopt the baby. The worker warned Sharay about the many steps she would have to take and about the dedication it would take to raise a child that wasn‟t her own. In spite of everything Sharay heard that day, it didn‟t change her mind. She made arrangements to start the procedure after she prayed about it and talked with her mother in spirit. Larry was happy and so was Mr. Johnson and the kids. They all wanted the baby.

Later that day, she met with the agent about the house she saw. She was approved very quickly. She took Larry over to see the house. He loved it. Everything was looking good for Sharay. The shelter was still a success. It was scheduled for an expansion because the number of men that were being housed there were overwhelming and Sharay hated to turn anyone away. Everyone that stayed at the shelter was grateful to Sharay and showed her much respect. Life was greater than Sharay had ever imagined. Her and Larry were to be married that February on Valentine‟s day.

Chocolate

Chocolate was loving the fact that she didn‟t have to work or dance anymore. Roger took very good care of her and her kids. The only thing she did was dress, rest and pump gasoline. Her probation officer had let her off of probation. Although she loved working for Sharay, she quit because she wanted to spend more time with the kids. Chocolate loved herself some Roger. In fact, she loved him so much that she was planning to ask him to marry her. She felt like he was the one for her. She always said that the man that slowed her down and helped her with her children would be the one that she would be with for the rest of her life.

Chocolate and the kids were getting ready to go with Roger to get the keys to the new house. She was dressing herself in the full body mirror when she stopped to examine herself. She didn‟t recognize the woman she saw. She had become an entirely different person. She was even thinking about going back to school. She snapped out of her glare as she thought about facing Mrs. Jacobs the agent. She didn‟t want to hear her sarcastic remarks and the slick things she said to Roger. The for sale sign was no longer stuck in the grass. Chocolate got out of the truck with her camcorder and recorded the house and the kids running to the backyard to look at the swimming pool. Roger stared at Chocolate and the kids from the truck. He was happy not only because of the house but because his baby was happy. Chocolate was the sparkle in his eye. He loved the ground she walked on and would have done anything to make her happy.

After leaving the house, Chocolate, Roger and the kids went out to eat. Roger ran into a friend of his who was accompanied by a young girl that looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old. Roger knew that the guy didn‟t have any children so he assumed the young lady was his girlfriend. Roger sat back at the table with Chocolate and the kids but couldn‟t help from mentioning his friends‟ company to Chocolate.

Chocolate summed things up in a few words, “She‟s probably a trick.”
Roger wasn‟t sure if he heard Chocolate right. “What‟d you say?”
“You heard me right, that girl is probably a trick.”
“How do you figure something like that?” Roger asked while cutting into his steak. Chocolate looked at Roger like he was stupid for not knowing.
“Think about it, what are the odds of your friend being with a pretty young lady like that without paying her as ugly as he is?” Roger laughed so hard that he had tears forming in his eyes. After he finished laughing, he told Chocolate how the guy used to get teased in school for having to buy girls. “That cat was so desperate that he used to give girls his lunch money and do their school work.” Roger looked back at the guy once more and laughed.
The kids asked Roger to take them to the dessert bar. They wanted more ice cream. While Roger and the girls were gone, Chocolate waved down a waitress. She asked her if she could get everyone‟s attention that sat in that section. The waitress agreed although she didn‟t understand what Chocolate was about to do. When Roger came back to the table, Chocolate stood up. All eyes were on her as she requested. Roger probably assumed she was going to get more food. She stood beside her man and dropped on both knees. She grabbed his hand and began to spill her heart out. She got teary eyed but didn‟t let that stop her. “Roger, baby you‟ve come into my life and made me happier than I‟ve ever been. You‟ve accepted me for who Iam and you‟ve accepted my kids also. I don‟t know where I would be if Ihadn‟t met you and Idon‟t know what I‟ll do without you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Would you do me the honor of being my husband?” Roger was speechless but he shook his head yes. Chocolateslid a ring on roger‟s finger big enough to put the whole diamond industry out of business. Everyone was clapping and chanting ooh‟s and awe‟s . Chocolate and Roger hugged each other and kissed as if they were already at the altar.
The happy family drove home that night in complete awe of their love for one another. Roger was very flattered that Chocolate had asked him to marry her. He thought he was the first man on the planet that had gotten a proposal for marriage. He couldn‟t rid himself of the smile that spread across his face. As soon as they got home, Chocolate gave the kids a bath and her and Roger went to the bedroom to get busy. They started by kissing very slowly and passionate. Roger caressed his fiancée‟s breast and pressed his hard on up against her mound causing it to throb like crazy. He s started to unzip her jeans to feed the craving but Chocolate had something else in mind. She grabbed his hands and told him to wait. Like the perfect gentlemen, he complied. She dropped to her knees and unzipped roger‟s pants. She pulled out his stiff stick and started stroking it. She placed her hands behind her back and closed her mouth around it and began deep throating it like crazy. He ran his fingers through her hair and caressed her scalp with his fingertips. The more she sucked, the deeper she wanted it in her mouth. She wanted to see him cum all over her breasts but roger couldn‟t take it anymore. He lifted his wife to be up and placed her gently on the queen size bed and wrapped her legs around his neck and licked and sucked her man in the boat until her legs quivered and she was near ecstasy. Chocolate begged Roger to put it in her but the begs only excited him and he kept sucking on her love button until she screamed with passion. He finally gave in and gave her what she yearned for. He stuck his nine inch cock into her soaking wet cunt and stroked her with long, deep passionate strokes. Chocolate could feel it in the bottom of her stomach and she loved every minute of it. She crossed her legs behind his back and held on to his broad shoulders and stared Roger in his eyes moaning so sexy that Roger had to stop himself from cumming three times because he wanted her to come first. They changed positions several times but Roger‟s favorite was Chocolate on top. He loved the way her breasts bounced up and down and he loved the facial expressions she made. Chocolate bent down and tongue kissed Roger and sucked his neck just the way he liked it. He like to hear the “ kiss sound.” That turned him on even more. Chocolate‟s insides were exploding on Roger‟s dick a few minutes later. The way her pussy contracted caused a perfect fit around his pipe causing him to join her in the moment. They both laid there breathing heavily and holding each other until they fell asleep.
Chocolate and Sharay drove up to the prison to visit Juicy. She had gained about ten pounds since the last time they saw her. Her faced glowed and she looked good. Chocolate and Sharay gave Juicy all the scoop on the good things that were going on in their lives. Juicy could believe Sharay was getting married but she was shocked to hear the same about Chocolate.
“Girl ain‟t you the same person that said you won‟t never getmarried?” Juicy asked Chocolate.
“Yeah, yeah, that was me, but I found a good man, and Imust admit, he is good!” Chocolate laughed. Sharay shot Chocolatea look and said “You ain‟t married yet miss lady.”
“Anyway,” Chocolate said. Juicy told the girls about her possible release within the next year on good behavior. She also told them about her cousin Big Al being killed by some niggas from up north for trying to set them up.
Overall, Juicy was doing good. Chocolate had to be at the new house by four pm to sign for the new furniture so they had to terminate their visit with Juicy a little early. Juicy was very understanding. She only hoped she would be released to see her friends get married. She returned to her cell and began to read her new book, “Loyalty and the Bed You Lie In”, by TR Nairn. She read mostly all day to occupy her mind and to stay out of trouble and had read absolutely everything by 21st Street and their hot new authors.
Chocolate was on fire when the delivery men brought her dining room table in the house. Some of the wood had been chipped and it had scratches all over it. Chocolate cussed the moving men out so bad and complained to the manager that half of Roger‟s money was refunded. All the other furniture was fine. She showed the men exactly where she wanted everything set up. She rushed them to leave because she wanted to go to the stores to get hanging pictures and little odds and ends for the house before she had to meet the kids at the bus stop. She also had to hurry back and get dinner started before Roger got home. She smiled at the thought of becoming a wife. Although she and Roger hadn‟t set an official date, the idea of having a double wedding with Sharay crossed her mind quite a few times. She wondered if Sharay would like the idea or not but she never asked. She thought that maybe Sharay wanted to enjoy being the center of attention at her own wedding by herself.
Wal-Mart was packed as usual so Chocolate shopped quickly for her items and checked herself out at the self-checkout. When the screen read, “what type of payment”, Chocolate smiled and pressed,“credit”. She never had her own credit card before and the thought of having access to one without it being stolen excited her. Not to mention Roger‟s credit line was very high. Chocolate knew she would love being married to Roger. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he loved her equally. Chocolate and the family ate pork chops, scalloped potatoes, sweet peas and Hungry Jack biscuits for dinner that night. Afterwards, they all sat in the living room on the brand new leather sectional and watched a movie. They enjoyed spending time together. They were a perfect little family. When Chocolate and the kids fell asleep on the sofa, Roger carried each one of his queens to bed and planted kisses on their foreheads. He intentionally left Chocolate for last. He carried her to the bedroom and undressed her. He didn‟t want to have sex with her, he just wanted to caress her soft body and feel her next to him. When it came to Chocolate, he was like a baby who needed his mother‟s breast milk when it came to Chocolate. He had to force himself to sleep . He couldn‟t stop staring at Chocolate as she slept but he knew he had to go to work early in the morning.
Chocolate brought up the subject to Sharay about getting married together. Sharay didn‟t have a problem with that. They decided to keep it simple and get married at the justice of the peace. After all, neither of them had enough friends for a wedding. They would celebrate together with a few of their family members afterwards. They did want to wear wedding gowns though so they went out together to find the perfect dresses. While inside ofDavid‟s Bridal, Chocolate started to feel light headed. She went in to the restroom and vomited hard. She didn‟t know what that was all about. She always kept an emergency pregnancy test in her purse. She pulled it out and took the test. While she waited for the results, she thought about how she had been eating like a pig lately and predicted that the results would be positive. They were. Chocolate smiled and left the bathroom to go find Sharay to tell her the good news. They both jumped up and down and screamed loudly. Chocolate called Roger to tell him of the news. He was ecstatic. They continued to look for dresses. When they left the store, they talked about baby names all the way home.
Roger decided to buy Chocolate another car. He was tired of her driving his spare car and thought she deserved better. They went to a place in Virginia Beach. As soon as Chocolate set eyes on a navy blue Navigator, she knew she had to have it. She saw no need to look at any other car on the lot. She didn‟t even look at the price tag because she knew it didn‟t matter because Roger would buy it for her without a doubt. They were approached by a smooth talking white dude name Shallow. The deal was made at ten thousand dollars. Roger paid for the truck with a check. Chocolate drove off the lot with Roger following. Once they got home, Chocolate parked the truck in the garage and went inside to call Sharay to tell her to come look at her new truck. Sharay said that she would be over later because Larry was over the house. She promised her that she would be over later that evening.

Golden Brown

Golden Brown was high as hell when her pimp name Fella walked up on her and sucker punched her in the back of the head. She had once again called herself running away. She was on the corner of Washington Avenue. With a female pimp name Big Mama. Fella and Big Mama were enemies from way back in the early nineties. Big Mama used to take all of Fella‟s whores and she was up to her same old thing again. Fella was always envious of Big Mama because she was paid out the ass. She drove a candy apple red Monte Carlowith 24‟ rims and a system that made your ears ring. She had Big Mama imbedded in the dash board, TV‟s in the sun visors and to top things off, the interior was Gucci.

Golden Brown didn‟t want to go back with Fella because he made her work from sun up to sun down. He expected five hundred dollars a day or more each night, if she was short, he would beat the crap out of her. Golden Brownwasn‟t used to being treated that way. She was used to making her own money on her own time and spending it how she wanted. She had really been considering going back home. She often thought about the Don Divas and her kids sometime but it was the drugs that held her down. She knew she was on the verge of dying at any time and sometimes she feared for her safety out on the streets. Some of the other whores were veterans and they knew who to fuck with and who not to fuck with but nobody ever schooled her to who was good and who was bad.

She was arrested for soliciting sex with an undercover cop for that very reason. She gave the cops a fake name and she was lucky enough to get only a summons. She knew she couldn‟t give her real name because she was on the run from Virginia. Fella took her back to the house where they lived. He ordered his main bitch lovely to beat Golden Brown‟s ass for causing him to go out looking for her in the middle of the night. Lovely was given the privilege of being Fella‟s bottom bitch because she was an ass kisser plus she made the most money. She would also tell on all the other girls just to get on Fella‟s good side. Lovely was only four-eleven and one hundred and twenty five pounds. Golden Brown or any one of the other girls could have easily whipped her ass but none of them would dare touch her because they knew they would have to answer to Fella.

Fella made Lovely watch Golden Brown suck his dick. He made her drank every bit of his cum and even made her wash him off with Dove body wash when he finished. Golden Brown was tired and for once in her life, she felt nasty. She asked Fella if she could take a bath and brush her teeth but he told her no. She felt so degraded that she started to cry. Even though she had indulged in hundreds of sex acts, she was never violated like that before. As Golden Brown laid awake on the cold floor that she was forced to sleep on that night, she made up her mind that she wanted to get away from Fella for good. She wanted to go back to Virginia but she feared for her safety. She knew that niggas were looking for her and they wanted her dead but she decided that enough was enough. She crawled into the bedroom where Fella slept to see if he was there. When she reached the bed she had to sit up on her knees to see on top of the king size bed. She didn‟t see him. She stood up and tip toed to the dresser which was across the room. She opened the drawer and pulled out a plastic zip lock bag filled with money. Her heart was beating rapidly at that point at the thought of Fella catching her scared the shit out of her but she had made too much effort to back out. She stood in the middle of the floor for a few seconds trying to figure out how she was going to get out of the house. She had no clue as to where Fella or the other girls were. She caught a glimpse of a window in the corner of her left eye.

Without a second thought, she walked over to it and looked down. She realized that she was on the second floor but she wasn‟t about to let that stop her. She put the bag of money under her arm and lifted the window. To her surprise, the jump didn‟t look far at all. She stuffed the money bag in her panties and swung her left foot out first. She sat on the window seal and looked down. After she counted to ten, she closed her eyes and jumped. She fell on her back but she really didn‟t feel any pain. She got up, looked up at the window and ran like hell. She wasn‟t familiar with the city because Fella only allowed her to work on one particular corner. She spotted a cab sitting at a store and ran over to it. She asked the driver where the nearest bus station was. He told her that it was about ten miles. She hopped in the cab and told the driver that she wanted to go there. She checked her back pocket to make sure she still had the fake ID that Fella had got for her. She smiled when she felt the sharp corners of it.

Once she arrived at the bus station, she paid the driver. She walked to the food counter to get her something to eat. She was starving. She couldn‟t remember the last time she ate something besides potato chips or cookies. After she ate, her foot long sub and guzzled down her coca cola, she approached the ticket counter. After learning that the next bus to Virginia was leaving in the next two hours, she purchased her ticket. She had no idea where she was going once she arrived in Virginia but she didn‟t care. She knew she had burnt her bridges with everybody but she thought to herself how long ago that had been. After all, she had been gone for three would be fine. years, so she figured everything She decided to check and see if

Chocolate ‟s cell phone number was still the same. She went to get change from the change machine and inserted the coins in the payphone. She dialed Chocolate‟s number and leaned back up against the phone booth expecting the worse. When Chocolate answered the phone, Golden Brown could have pissed on herself. Chocolate said “Hello? Four times before Golden Brown spoke up.
“Hey girl, what‟s up?”
Chocolate recognized the voice instantly. “I‟m good. How are you?”
“Well, not too good.” Chocolate could hear the tremble in Golden Brown‟s voice. Chocolate asked her where she was. “I‟m about to get on the bus headed to Virginia.” Chocolate kinda figured the reason Golden Brown was calling her was because she needed somewhere to stay. “Look, as soon as you get to the bus station here, call me. I‟m coming to pick you up okay?”
“Yes.” Golden Brown answered. She was overly excited that Chocolate had offered her a ride in spite of all the time that had passed since they‟d spoken.
Golden Brown arrived in Virginia the next morning. Chocolate picked Sharay up to ride with her. Sharay told Chocolateshe wasn‟t sure how she felt about Golden Brown still after all the time that passed. “But the God in me loves her.” Sharay said.
Chocolate and Sharay rode in silence until they were almost at the bus station. Then Sharay spoke up. “Isure hope she‟s changed her ways.”
“Yeah, me too.” Chocolate laughed.
They shared a memory about Golden Brown and even reminisced on a few of their own stories. When Chocolate and Sharay spotted Golden Brown in the crowd, neither of them could believe their eyes. The broad looked like a real live crack head from hell. Water filled Golden Brown‟s eyes when she saw her ex-strip mates. She was obviously crying tears of embarrassment and shame. She already figured that Chocolate and Sharay had changed their lifestyles because of their body language, so she wouldn‟t dare talk about any parties or VIPs. She was surprised to hear that Chocolate was pregnant. She was even more surprised that Sharaywasn‟t throwing insults at her and she didn‟t have her nose turned up like she normally did whenever she was in her presence. Once they pulled up at Chocolate‟s house, Chocolate decided to cook dinner and introduce Golden Brown to her fiancée. They all sat and ate dinner together exchanging stories, good or bad. They all talked about Bay-Bay and a lot of other things that evening.

Back Together Again

Sharay was approved for the house right beside Chocolate. Her and the kids moved in. Larry didn‟t move in right then because Sharay of course wanted them to be married first. She didn‟t‟ want them shacking up. It was like one big happy family between the two houses. All the kids were either at Chocolate‟s house or Sharay‟s house all the time. Larry would come over and Roger and him would hang out together while Chocolate and Sharay prepared dinner. They were all inseparable.

Juicy finally did get granted that good time she was talking about. Sharay invited her to live with her until she got herself together. Sharay gave Juicy a job at the shelter. She was very appreciative and worked very hard for Sharay. Golden Brown and Sharay‟s relationship grew fonder. Golden Brown confessed a lot of things to her. She told her that she wanted help. Sharay couldn‟t believe all the things the poor girl had been through. Golden Brown asked Sharay if she had heard anything from or about her kids. She hadn‟t. Sharay promised Golden Brown that she would help her get in contact with them. Chocolate and Sharay put Golden Brown into rehab after she turned herself in to the police. Golden Brown honestly wanted to live her life the right way so she made sure she got that time out of the way so she wouldn‟t have anything coming back haunting her once she started her new life.

The adoption agency finally gave Sharay the baby girl. Sharay and Larry were ecstatic. Sharay named the baby Ashley Charmeka Johnson. The baby was two months old when they got her and brought much joy to all that knew her. Sharay‟s other kids were glad to have her also. They loved to help out with her and admired her a lot.

Chocolate and Sharay‟s day finally came for their weddings. They both tied the knot on the same day at the Justice of the Peace and went out with a few of their family and friends to celebrate afterwards.

Golden Brown finally did complete her rehab after twelve months. Her mother let her visit the kids every weekend. She let her take the kids with her sometime. Even though the two younger kids didn‟t remember her, they learned to love her. Golden Brown was loving life and was determined to stay on the right path. Golden Brown started working at the shelter along with Juicy. She enjoyed working and earning honest money. She worked extra hard and even stayed longer hours whenever Sharay needed her to. She was so grateful for everything Sharay and Chocolate had done for her. She felt if it wasn‟t for them, she would have probably been doing the same old things once she got back to Virginia. Every year on the day that marked the anniversary of Bay-Bay‟s death, the girls had a candle light visual in her remembrance. They all decided to continue to call themselves the Don Divas….they each made a vow to each other that they would remain friends and stick together forever by any means necessary!
About The Author:

Lakeiser Lacole Howard aka Keisha was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, mainly in the Berkley/Campostella area, two of the roughest neighborhoods in Norfolk. She has overcome a lot of misfortune in her life and have witnessed or has been a part of lots of things. She is thirty years old, the mother of three daughters, the wife of Wayne Joshua Charles II and the step-mother of two boys. She grew up in a rush and has encountered all types of things….some good, but mostly bad. She has totally redeemed herself and wishes to mentor to young girls through her writings…

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Fast Lane By Shakeera Frazer
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Diamond and her friends, Meko and Rae are doing big things. Friends since child-hood, the trio have had a long lasting relationship and have managed to build themselves a small empire. Trust and loyalty are the main staples that hold these girls together and helped them achieve their success. When unexpected murders, sex and jealousy come into play, will the girls bond remain tight or will their strengths be tested? Author T R Nairn will have you engrossed from page one of this mesmerizing tale full of twists and turns. This book has all of the sex, drugs, murder and betrayal we have grown to love and expect from urban street lit. The difference is you will not only read this engaging tale, you will feel the emotions as you go on this roller-coaster ride of urban fiction at its best.

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