At 17, Candyce's small worldview is maginifed when her big brother, Ace, invites her into his world as punishment. Ace may have been an overbearing big brother at home, but in the streets he was feared and respected as a young drug dealer, proving h...
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Chapter 2
When Ace pulls into the driveway of our house I'm just as pissed off as he is, if not more. I can't believe I let him pull me away from all my money. I could only imagine the way them hoes fought over my hard-earned dollar bills. Bitches are about to have a field day with my earnings.
I hop out of the car and storm off to the house. Ace catches me by the arm, and even though he's still avoiding looking at me, I can see his face has softened a little. I guess the silent ride home made him reflect on how much of an asshole he had been to me. Hopefully he was feeling guilty about letting all that money go to waste.
"Come here. I think Caesar keep some clothes in his trunk," Ace says.
He sticks the key inside the little lock and it clicks open. He was right too. There's a duffel bag full of plastic unopened white and black t-shirts, a basketball, gym shorts and a pair of Jordans in his trunk. Everything is way too neat to be a boy's car. He even has the T-shirts stacked on top of each other. I grab one and a pair of gym shorts, hoping they're not too funky as I slide them over my too-short shorts.
When we walk into the house I try to head straight up the stairs to my room but Ace doesn't give me a chance.
"Don't try to fucking run now. I let yo ass slide in the car when I shoulda rammed yo head into the window," Ace says.
He's no longer yelling which scares me more than anything. I'd rather him ram my head into the window like he said than to get quiet on me. I hated when Daddy used to talk to me all calm like that. I never knew whether to cry or run.
"Ace, look. I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front your friends. I should have told you what I was doing--"
"Shut up before I wind up sliding yo shit for real Candyce. How the hell you gon look me in my face and tell me you should have told me you was a stripper," Ace says.
"See this what I'm talking about. This exactly why I didn't tell you! I knew you was gon' judge and belittle me--"
"Judge you? You just took your bra off in the middle of a fucking strip club and you worried about me judging you? Shouldn't you care how you feel about yourself?"
His words sting at the soft spot around my heart I don't let too many people into. He knows it too but he keeps going.
"My potnas saw you naked Candy--I mean Candyce. I can't even call you by your fucking nickname no more cause you done slapped that stupid ass red wig on and made it something trifling."
"Why all of a sudden it's trifling when I'm up there but not when it was some random bitch? Huh?" I yell. I'm on the verge of crying and I only hope my tears don't fall in front of him.
Ace scoffs, "Candyce all them hoes up there is trifling. You see me pulling one of them hoes off stage and wifing them? No. Cause once a girl reveals to the world what she has to offer, she's done for. Washed up. Trifling and ran-through. You know what them hoes do for money?"
