Crackhead II: A Novel (30 page)

With Laci’s part in bringing down the girls who’d played her, the dossier that would have been used as evidence against Dink now had information pertaining to the South Bronx Bitches. The bank accounts and all street activity registered back to Tonette. When the girls went down, Officer Jones replaced the dossier that his colleague had with one of his own. The original dossier was burned, and no trace of drug activity would be traced back to Dink, Smurf, or Dirty.

Wayne and Dirty pledged to strengthen their bond as father and son on the streets. Dirty wanted to make up the seventeen years of time that he’d lost with his only son and the woman he loved.

Laci enrolled in counseling, because she’d never fully healed from ending up on the streets trading sex for a hit. She was still angry and hurt by her so-called friends and she needed more time to recover from the trauma of addiction. She took a semester off from school, and with every day that passed, her emotional life came closer to getting back on track.

Laci decided to carry her unborn child to term. It was something she had to do. Tonette and the South Bronx Bitches had changed Laci’s life by making the decision to take her life away, her innocence, but who was she to make that decision for the innocent life inside her?

First and foremost to Vickie Stringer for believing in me. Without your help in bringing the reality of addiction to literature, the story would never have been told. Because of you, people were able to identify with the harsh and nasty reality of addictions and seek help. Let’s reach more with this one.

Mia McPherson and the Triple Crown staff. Danielle Ferneau and Raegan Johnson for editorial guidance and support. Without your vision and ability to push me that extra mile, I don’t know where I would be.

My boys, Marlon McCaulsky, Quentin Carter, and Leo Sullivan. You three truly inspire me.

A special thank you goes out to Shirell Watson, who read every draft, never got tired of talking about Laci, and gave me serious constructive criticism and support. You encouraged me when I wanted to give up and for that, I truly thank you.

A special thank you goes out to my dear friend James Jones. Thank you for all of your support, input, and enthusiasm to finally see this work come to fruition. You have no idea of how much it means to me.

Last but not least . . . to all of my readers. Without you, I would be nothing.

We hope you enjoyed reading this Atria eBook.

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Atria and Simon & Schuster.

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com