Free Trife Life To Lavish (A King Production Presents...) by Deja King

many other objects she got a hold of, Tierra ran up
to her with fear and anger in her eyes.
    "What's wrong with you!" Tierra screeched
so loudly that it could've cracked every mirror in
the house.
    It was at that moment that reality kicked in
for Nicole. She realized that even though the love
of her life was now dead, they shared a daughter
who would now need her more than ever.
    "Baby, I'm so sorry," Nicole finally said, as
she stared at the picture she was about to destroy.
The memory of how happy she and Terrance were
that day brought a moment of calmness to her heart
that she desperately needed.
    "Mommy, what happened to Daddy? Only
he can make you this upset." A single tear rolled
down Tierra's cheek, and Calvin turned his head,
not wanting to succumb to his own need to break
down and cry.

    "Baby, Daddy's gone. He's not coming back.
The world couldn't handle a man like your father.
He's gone to a much better place," Nicole sniffled,
trying to hold it together.
    "I want to go to that place too, Mommy," Tierra
cried as she laid her head on her mother's stomach.
    "So do I, baby... so do I."
    Reflecting back to that day flooded Tierra with
so many emotions, she almost lost her balance
standing in the hallway. Not only did she lose her
father that day, but part of her mother died with
him. It was as if her mother lost all interest in love
and life. They moved out of their beautiful home,
and eventually ended up living in the projects in
Queens. Although Calvin and some of the other
dealers who ran with her father wanted to help
Nicole out, she refused. She now looked at all
profits made from pushing drugs as blood money,
the same money that took her husband away.
Nicole rationalized that if Terrance hadn't been a
drug dealer making all that money, he wouldn't
have been targeted, and would still be alive.
    Tierra understood her mother's pain, because
she too was in pain, but at the same time, she wanted
her old life back... a life that was full of expensive
cars, nice clothes and never having to worry about
money. That was the life her father showed her, and that was the life she felt entitled to.

    Because hermother had deprived herself of living
a lavish life out of some sort of commemoration to her
dead husband was beyond Tierra's comprehension.
She felt her father would instead want them to live
life to the fullest, like he always did. So as Tierra got
older, she decided to do just that. She hustled men
like her father hustled drugs, but yet it had come to
this. . .back at her Mama's crib. It didn't matter though,
because Tierra had the same determination as her
father, and she would once again rise to the top.

     

15in,

    Everything has a price. Whether it is the designer
stiletto boots that you can't afford, but yet they
keep calling your name, or the trendy Gucci purse
you spent two month's worth of rent on, only for it
to go out of fashion before being able to fully floss
in front of the ghetto-fabulous `hood patrol. So,
what's the price of ones' soul? No one knows until
they put it up for sale.
    It had been a week, and Nichelle still wasn't
getting any love from Carmelo. She knew he could
hold a grudge, but at this point, the shit was getting
ridiculous. As she stood in the kitchen washing
dishes, she thought about how nobody besides
her teacher and mother had wished her a happy
birthday. Nichelle didn't even mention how hurt
she was to Carmelo, because she felt it would turn
into an argument, and that was the last thing she
wanted. But her frustration was reaching a boiling point, and she didn't know if she could stand
another weekend of this madness.

    As she contemplated what her next move
should be, she heard Carmelo opening the front
door. She decided it was time for war, and turned
off the faucet, then dried her hands. Nichelle knew
she had to confront her man now, before she lost
her nerve and continued to remain silent.
    "Carmelo, I need to