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Chapter 1

This is my story and I’m going to tell it how I want to. My name is Brooklyn Shante’ Sullivan. My last name is the only thing my father ever gave me. I don’t know him and really don’t want to. He can’t do anything for me but leave me alone. He’s supposed to be in the NBA but that’s just what Loretta use to tell me. Loretta is the woman who gave me life I call her Loretta because I don’t see her as my mother. She was only fourteen when she had me other people had to take care of me.

Grandma mostly took care of me until she died when I was four, Loretta was eighteen. Loretta had to take on responsibility real early because she had to take care of her four-year-old daughter and her ten year old sister Tamari. I guess this put a lot of stress on her because she began to use drugs. It wasn’t really bad at first but when I was eleven Tamari and I moved out. Loretta had got hooked and Tamari couldn’t deal with all the drama that came along with Loretta’s problem. At first I didn’t understand why we had to leave but when I got my first visit from Loretta since we had moved out, I realized why. It was my thirteenth birthday and she showed up around one o’clock that morning.         

She was so high, all I could do was stand there, in the middle of the hallway, staring in amazement as Tamari tried to wrestle her into the bathroom to clean her up. Once she got her in the bathtub Tamari told me to get in the bed. Loretta looked up into my eyes. She mouthed the words I’m sorry, all I could do was walk away. Tamari followed me to my room and explained to me that it might be like this for a while. She tried to sugar coat it and say that Loretta was sick but I knew that my mother was a crack fiend. I just wasn’t sure if Tamari would admit it. I woke up the next morning and Loretta was gone.

I wonder how Tamari’s life would be if she didn’t have to take care of me. She would probably be in college and have a husband? Instead of working at a department store. I feel guilty at times but that’s just how life is. She does have a boyfriend though. He’s really nice his name is Brandon. He’s been around for a while and he’s kind of like my brother. He helps us out a lot with bills and stuff.

Him and Tamari are always telling me I’m going to grow up and be very successful. She wants me to have a better life and not have to put up with the bullshit she had to.

Kenya and Kendal Farmer are my best friends. They’re fraternal twins and they are exact opposites. Kenya is more athletic. She’s about 5’11’’, light skinned, and her hair is shoulder length but you would never know because it’s always in a ponytail. She is very pretty and always working out, I would kill for her abs. She always has the smart comments. But she’s really funny.

Kendal is the party animal. That girl could party all day and night. She’s the same height as Kenya, but more caramel skinned, she always wears her hair down. She’s more on the thick side than her sister but she’s not fat. She is definitely the more serious one. The only time she’s not serious is when boys are tryna get at her. They really try to get at her at the football in basketball games when she’s in uniform. She’s co-captain of the dance team.

Kenya’s not to lucky with guys, she’s just as pretty as Kendal but she’s more wrapped up into her sports. She’s the starting point guard on the basketball team and starting pitcher on the softball team. She never really talks about guys unless they’re famous sports stars or something. But she does have her boy crazy moments like when she had a crush on La’trell Hopkins. They actually went out for a little while but Kenya broke up with him because she said he took up too much time.

Kendal on the other hand rarely ever dates one guy at a time. She says that we’re too young to be tied down to one person. I usually look for relationships that could possibly go somewhere. We’re all different but we get along really well. We’ve known each other since me and Tamari moved into Pleasant Cove. They’re the only people that I’ve told about Loretta’s problem. They’ve actually been helping me through it. Life’s not exactly easy when you have a crack head for a mother.