“Fans of Winter Santiaga are going to love Jaicyn Jones!” – Diamond Williams, Reviewer
“AHHH, I loved this book! Can’t wait for part 2!” – Angela Baker, author of City Love
“A strong male character in Rayshawn and an even stronger female character in Jaicyn makes this story compelling and edgy.” – Cheryl Hough, Reviewer
A Hustler’s Promise
By Jackie Chanel
Copyright 2012 Jackie Chanel
Start Reading
Copyright
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Sneak Peak
“In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.”
– Tony Montana
Chapter 1
The block was quiet. Jaicyn had spent enough afternoons sitting on her stoop watching the neighborhood to know that this type of quiet only meant one thing…
Johnny must have put out a new package, Jaicyn thought to herself. That explained the strange emptiness of the neighborhood. The dope fiends disappeared when a new package hit the streets. They’d be back soon, scurrying around the neighborhood trying to get some money for their next fix.
Jaicyn’s two little sisters would be home and safely in the house by then. Hopefully they’d do their homework and watch TV without incident. After the day Jaicyn had, she could not handle anymore drama.
“I can’t believe you got suspended again!” Autumn said to her best friend. “Your mother is going to kill you.”
“My mother is not going to know,” Jaicyn replied absently. She’d spotted two familiar gaits strolling down her street and she couldn’t take her eyes off of them.
“The school is going to call her,” Autumn warned.
“The phone is off. Like I said, my mother is not going to find out that I got suspended. I'll be back in school before she comes home from wherever she is.”
Jaicyn and Autumn were silent, watching the school buses rumble down the street. The junior high kids were coming home. The elementary kids were next. Jaicyn hated having to rush home after school to make sure she was waiting at the bus stop for her sisters. They’re old enough to walk a half a block home by themselves, but after a little girl got shot walking home from the bus stop last year, Jaicyn wasn’t taking any chances. Bullets don’t have names on them.
Washington Heights didn’t use to be so bad. When Jaicyn and Angelina first moved there, the neighborhoods were cleaner, brighter, and didn’t have the drug problem that they have now. The south side of Washington Heights got taken over by dope and ghetto boys in the early nineties and the neighborhood hasn’t gotten any better.
The air on the south side smelled acrid due to the exhaust and diesel fumes of the rumbling city buses that transported dozens of hard working residents to their minimum wage jobs on the other side of town. The constant smell of gun smoke did nothing to help.
As bad as the neighborhood was, Jaicyn didn’t mind it. She’d grown used to it. The neighborhood provide comfort for her. Even though most of her neighbors kept to themselves, whenever she needed something, she could depend on the community to help her out. She liked the fact that when her mother wasn’t around to do simple things like put food on the table, she could go to Mr. Jackson who ran a small grocery store and pick up a meal or two on credit so she and her sisters wouldn’t starve. Jaicyn depended on her neighborhood to keep her family intact.
“How many days did you get this time?” Autumn asked, referring to Jaicyn’s latest out of school suspension.
“Five,” Jaicyn answered. “I might not go back, though. I have to get a job.”
“You’re not old enough to get a job,” Autumn reminded her. “Plus, why would you want to be a high school drop out? That’s not sexy.”
“Someone has to take care of my sisters and we need some money. I can’t keep boosting clothes with Joy and Taylor.”
Jaicyn only left her neighborhood when she and her older friends went to the suburbs and boosted clothes and jewelry from different department stores. She didn’t like stealing, like Joy and Taylor, but she and her little sisters needed important things like clothes and food and her mother wasn’t getting the job done.
Jaicyn never expected much from Angelina. How much could a person expect from a drug addict who relapsed just as often as she recovered? The only thing that Jaicyn worried about was making sure that her sisters had a roof over their head and decent clothes on their backs. Jaicyn didn’t want her sisters to be the kids that everyone made fun of at school. They didn’t ask for this situation and it wasn’t their fault that their mother chose crack over them.
“Jaicyn!” Autumn yelled. “What are you thinking about?”
Jaicyn stared at her friend with the perfect “what do you think?” expression on her face.
“I’m thinking I should ask Mr. Jackson if I can come work in his grocery store.”
“Jay-Jay,” Autumn whined. “Don’t quit school. You’re too smart for that. Besides, why would you leave Lincoln when we have access to the finest boys in the city? Think!”
“I don’t care about those boys. Boys are the reason I keep getting suspended.”
“Your mouth is the reason you keep getting suspended,” Autumn corrected. “That and the fact that you refuse to walk away from a fight. What were you fighting about anyway?”
“Why should I walk away from a fight?” Jaicyn wanted to know. “Tawana had it coming. She’s been begging me to kick her ass since she and Cameron started messing around.”
Jaicyn added Cameron to her growing list of ex-boyfriends a couple of months. He was the star basketball player at Lincoln High. Jaicyn had started dating him in the summer. Six months later they were through and Jaicyn couldn’t care less. Cameron was too cocky and he wanted too much from her, namely sex. Jaicyn’s “No Sex” policy ended many of her relationships. Breaking up with boys because of her policy didn’t matter to her. Her virginity was worth more than giving some guy bragging rights.
Cameron moved on to a hood chick named Tawana who made it clear that she would drop her panties for him. At first, Jaicyn didn’t even care because Cameron bought her clothes and gave her money like she was his girl. He wanted the prettiest girl in school as his and would do anything to keep her. Then Tawana started running her mouth about the things that she did with Cameron. Jaicyn couldn’t have that. If Cameron wasn’t smart enough to keep his side chick in check, Jaicyn knew he wasn’t man enough for her. She called it quits. Tawana’s need to brag about how she “took Jaicyn’s man” was what prompted the fight in the cafeteria earlier that afternoon.
“I don’t know why you’re trippin’ over Cameron,” Autumn stated. “He’s not even that cute.”
“Yeah, but he had money and didn’t mind spending it on me. Now, how am I supposed to get the new shit if he’s not around?”
Autumn laughed. “But you and Joy just got all those clothes from Macy’s last week. What happened to them?”
Jaicyn glared at her best friend. She didn’t know that Autumn knew about the boost. Joy and Taylor must have been talking about it…again.
“I sold those clothes,” Jaicyn answered sharply.
“All of them? You didn’t keep anything for yourself?”
“I don’t keep any of the clothes. I sell them as soon as I can. You know that.”
“But-”Autumn started to say.
“No buts, Autumn,” Jaicyn replied. “I only did that because I needed some quick cash. They were about to cut off our lights and the other half of the rent needed to be paid.”
“I thought your mother was working over at the deli. What happened with that?” Autumn question, still not understanding why Jaicyn had sold all the clothes without letting her see them first.
Jaicyn’s eyes were still on the boys walking up the street. “I don’t know if she’s still working there or not. I haven’t seen her in a week. She wasn’t here when Paul’s crazy ass was banging on the door demanding the rest of his money. I did what I had to do.”
Jaicyn’s defensive tone and the defiant hunch of her shoulders warned Autumn to drop the subject, which she was fine with. Talking about Jaicyn’s family situation was uncomfortable for both of them. Autumn’s life was far from perfect but at least neither of her parents were drug addicts who disappeared for days at a time, leaving Autumn alone with her two younger brothers.
From the outside looking in, it appeared that Jaicyn had everything together. She worked very hard to keep up the front. Even though most people were aware of Angelina’s reputation as a known drug addict, Jaicyn never let anyone see her sweat.
She spent hours in front of the mirror practicing the latest hairstyles until her hair looked professionally done. She learned how to fashion together cute outfits so it never looked like she wore the same clothes all the time, when in reality she only owned three pair of jeans and a couple of skirts. She learned to work with what she had and got really good at it.
Jaicyn, not her mother, provide for her family. Most fifteen year olds couldn’t do it, but Jaicyn would do anything for her sisters. If she dropped out of school and got a job, she wouldn’t have to steal clothes to put food on the table.
“Look,” Autumn pointed down the street. “There go the twins.”
Rayshawn and Dayshawn Moore walking up her block made Jaicyn’s heart flutter a bit. Actually, only one of them made her heart skip a beat. Jaicyn liked Rayshawn from afar since she moved to Washington Heights, although she couldn’t remember ever having a conversation with him or his brother.
“The Twins”, as they were known around the south side, were brown skinned, tall, and gorgeous. At sixteen, they had chiseled African features that they inherited from their mother and walked proudly like they owned the world. The similarities stopped there.
Dayshawn talked more than his brother. He also dressed differently. Dayshawn looked like a frat boy; clean cut, almost preppy. Even when sagging jeans became the norm for most boys, Dayshawn never left the house without a belt. He maintained a 4.0 GPA. He focused on one thing; college. He had to go to college in order to get out of the hood.
Rayshawn lived and breathed for the streets. He went to school about as often as Jaicyn and spent most of his time hanging around his drug dealing friends. As far as Jaicyn and Autumn knew, he wasn’t selling drugs yet. He worked for the neighborhood’s biggest drug dealer but no one knew exactly what he was doing. The only thing that mattered to Jaicyn was that Rayshawn had never given her the time of day and she wanted him to…badly.
“I wonder they’re up to,” Jaicyn said out loud. “They don’t live over here.”
“Now that you’re Cameron-free, you should get with Rayshawn. You know you want to,” Autumn said to her friend. She hoped that Jaicyn wouldn’t punk out since Rayshawn was the only boy in the neighborhood that Autumn had ever seen Jaicyn get flustered over.
“Rayshawn doesn’t want a girlfriend or he’d have one by now,” Jaicyn stated.
“You don’t know that. You’ve never said a word to him!” Autumn shouted.
“Exactly,” Jaicyn hissed. “If he was even a tiny bit interested in me, he would have said something to me by now.”
“Whatever,” Autumn fired back, disgusted with her friend. “I bet you talk to him today. I’m calling them over here.”
Jaicyn panicked and grabbed Autumn’s arm. “Don’t you dare.”
“Let go of my arm. I’m doing it.” Autumn wrenched her arm out of Jaicyn’s grasp and stood up.
Jaicyn covered her face with her hands and wanted to run inside of her apartment as Autumn literally screamed for the twins to come across the street.
“Girl, get up,” Autumn demanded, nudging Jaicyn with her foot. “Here they come.”
Jaicyn peeked through her fingers and sure enough, the twins were crossing the street and walking right up to her stoop. She stood up and brushed some imaginary dirt off of her jeans and straightened her top. She knew that the second hand YSL top and jeans looked good, but cute must not be enough for Rayshawn. She’d been the cutest girl on the block for years and it did nothing to capture Rayshawn’s interest.
He might not speak but Jaicyn had a feeling that Rayshawn would like her if he got to know her. Their class schedule in school meant they had two classes together and their assigned seats in their Spanish class were right next to each other. Jaicyn often caught him looking at her but he never uttered a word, not even hello. He confused Jaicyn and she hated being confused, especially over a boy.
The situation was different for Autumn. She and Dayshawn were friends. They had the majority of their classes together since they both were Honor Students. She didn’t have a problem talking to either of the two boys. Autumn wished Jaicyn would get over her crush and just talk to Rayshawn. Then they could all hang out together.
“What’s up, Autumn,” Dayshawn said as they approached the stoop. “What you want?”
“Where are you going? You don’t live over here.”
“We’re handling some business for King,” Dayshawn answered and avoided the swipe that this brother tried to take at him.
Jaicyn watched the expression on Rayshawn’s face. Clearly, he didn’t like his brother telling his business.”
“So, you’re working for King now?” Jaicyn asked.
“None of your business,” Rayshawn grunted.
“That was rude,” Autumn replied. “What’s wrong with you?”
Rayshawn made no attempt to pay Autumn any attention. Instead, he focused his dark brown eyes on Jaicyn. His powerful gaze made Jaicyn a bit uncomfortable and she shifted against the railing.
“What?” she said in response to his uncomfortable stare. “Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t care if you’re working for King.”
“I heard you got in a fight with Tawana today,” Rayshawn replied.
“I heard it was over Cameron’s ugly ass,” Dayshawn added.
“It was not,” Jaicyn protested loudly. “Tawana has been talking so much shit that I had to do it.”
“Admit it,” Dayshawn teased, “you were fighting over Cameron.”
“No, I was not,” Jaicyn insisted. “I haven’t been with him in months.”
“Leave her alone, Dayshawn,” Rayshawn smiled. “Jaicyn’s got a wicked right hook. She’ll kick your ass for real.”
“Thank you,” Jaicyn smiled back. He hadn’t said anything to her, but at least he knew that she could fight. Rayshawn should respect her “gangster”. A girl who didn’t take any shit from people got a lot of respect on the south side. Jaicyn wanted Rayshawn to say more but she saw her sisters’ yellow school bus roll to a stop and had to break up the little party.
“Hey, I have to get my sisters,” she said.
Familiar with Jaicyn’s routine, Autumn picked up her book bag and purse.
“Come on, y’all,” she said to the boys. “Walk me home.”
While she waited for her sisters to step off the bus, Jaicyn watched Rayshawn trail behind his brother and Autumn. Another missed opportunity. One conversation, that’s all she wanted and could hardly count their encounter on her stoop as a conversation.
Oh well.
Dressed in matching jeans and Rugrats sweaters, six year old Rickie and five year old Bobbie hopped off the bus and hugged their big sister like they did every day.
“Guess what,” Rickie announced as they walked towards their apartment.
“What?” Jaicyn asked.
“I got an A on my spelling test. I got all of them right.”
“That’s good. I’m
proud of you.”
Rickie had never heard those words from her own mother but Jaicyn often told both the girls how proud of them she was. Despite having a drug addict for a mom, Rickie and Bobbie were normal kids. They loved school and they loved to read. They usually did what Jaicyn told them to do. Their only complaint was not having Angelina around regularly. They were still too young to understand addiction or why she left them for days at a time. They love their sister but she wasn’t Mommy. She didn’t want to be their mother either.
When they got to the apartment, Jaicyn turned on the television and parked her sisters in front of it while she figured out what they were going to eat for dinner. The contents of the refrigerator left a lot to the imagination. They had enough milk for the girls’ cereal in the morning, a couple of pieces of two day old KFC, and half a package of hot dogs. Half a bag of practically freezer-burned French fries sat in the freezer.
Hot dogs and French fries it is.
Jaicyn crept upstairs to the room that she shared with Angelina whenever she stayed home. She opened the closet door and sat down. After pulling up a loose piece of carpet and lifting a floorboard, she pulled out a metal cookie tin from her secret hiding place and opened it. Everything she owned that meant something to her was in that tin: pictures of her and her father, a few trinkets her grandmother had given her that she didn’t want Angelina to steal, and her money.
Jaicyn fingered the thin stack of bills. Only a hundred and fifty dollars left. She needed to buy food and pay the cable bill tomorrow. She didn’t have enough to get the phone turned back on. Plus the girls need new winter coats.
Jaicyn put her head in her hands and started to cry. Where the hell is Angelina? Why couldn’t she pay the bills and take care of her own damn kids? Almost as soon as the tears started, they stopped. Jaicyn would not dwell on what her mother was not doing. She had to get in touch with Joy, but without a phone, Jaicyn had to walk to the projects. She’d have to wait until tomorrow. Jaicyn wasn’t dumb enough to walk into the projects at night by herself.
A Hustler's Promise: Some Promises Won't Be Broken Page 1