Year of The Crackmom

By VJ Gotastory

Kaneesha and her boyfriend Jarvis find themselves struggling to care for themselves and their eight year old son. But after being forced out of a their home due to a foreclosure that their slumlord failed to tell them about, they end up in a small project called The Heights . Trying to fit in, they accept an offer from their first floor neighbors to go to their home. Once they enter the filthy, funky apartment, they want to leave but to avoid being rude decide to stay. That is until Kaneesha mistakenly ingests a roach after being offered a drink from a dirty cup. The couple flees immediately and it doesn t take long before they discover that trifling neighbors are the least of their concerns. After a few puff...puff...pulls, they lose their jobs, possessions and self respect. Their relationship crumbles when Jarvis leaves Kaneesha and his son all alone. In the hood, misery Loves Company so Kaneesha befriends Reds, a neighbor hood pregnant crack queen. Now she learns the ropes on how to use her body to feed her habit. Things go terribly wrong when Red leads Kaneesha to a hotel party to score drugs in exchange for sex, a decision she ll regret. Will the dangerous move cause Kaneesha to trade a life of peril to be the mother she always knew she could be? Or will she surrender to its power and seduction? Year of the Crack Mom is a brilliant debut novel, based on true events, that deals with the power of the human spirit to live against all odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cartel Publications
• Release date: Oct 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781945240928

Book preview

Chapter One

Within three weeks, Jarvis found a place for us to move. A friend from our job told Jarvis about a spot in Annapolis Maryland that was having a move in special that month. Jarvis filled out the paperwork and with God’s grace, we were approved. We didn’t need any additional money other than the first month’s rent. Me, Jarvis and my handsome son all moved into a two-bedroom apartment in another hood called the Heights.

My son Hysear, who we call Lil Man, was eight years old. The name, Hysear means to the highest flame. His name was poetic because his little ass decided to enter the world on July 7th, one the hottest months and days in July that year. He has beautiful eyes that resemble mine, long lashes, soft little hands and short curly jet-black hair. All the woman tell him how handsome he is. However, he hates that, mushy stuff as he calls it. Being only eight years old, he’s not into girls yet. Although Hysear is not biologically Jarvis’ son, he treats him just like his own. Jarvis had no kids, which was rare for a black man these days.

Jarvis is from Cherry Hill, a violent project in Baltimore City. He don’t take no shit and will straight step to you first before a word leaves his mouth as you have been exposed to. He’s a caramel colored brotha with sandy curly hair and six feet three inches tall. Jarvis loves keeping that body tight. His muscles are well defined and his body screams it out loud and clear. Shit, even a blind bitch can see his muscles. His six-pack is ripped into that perfect V that sits right in his pelvic area. His physique makes me wanna drop to my knees and please him anytime of the day or night. Whew, let me get back to the story!

Our new spot was okay. It was clean, and it served its purpose. But the walls were too thin and roaches tried to takeover. Somehow, we made it home. We made friends quickly with our surrounding neighbors. There was a particular family that lived on the first floor of our apartment building, known as the Dirty Bunch. They were called this because of how they allegedly kept their apartment. Two of the Dirty Bunch boys, Carl and William, quickly became friends with Jarvis. They also had a sister named, Rhonda who would often speak to me. One day Jarvis and I were coming home from work and ran into Carl.

Hey ya’ll, I just got a Mike Epps stand up comedy DVD. Carl said excitedly.

Oh yeah? I didn’t even know he had a new one out. We gotta see that. Jarvis responded tryin’ to make polite conversation. That’s where he fucked up.

Shit, Y’all can come watch it with us then. Carl invited.

Naw, man but thanks. We just gettin' home from work and wanna unwind a little. We don’t wanna hold ya’ll up from lookin’ at it either." Jarvis said silently hoping it would be enough.

Shit…We’ll wait. Y’all chill out and come down later. Carl insisted and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

We really weren’t tryin’ to go down to their crib and we didn’t know what to expect. We had heard stories but it looks like because of Jarvis’ big mouth, we were about to find out for sure.

Later that evening Jarvis and I went down to their apartment and knocked on the door. We didn’t want to go empty-handed so we brought some beer and wine in exchange for their hospitality. Carl opened the door and invited us in. We walked inside slowly as the apartment was almost pitch black and stunk of stale air. Only the light from the television illuminated the room. Right the fuck then I should have turned my black ass around and went back upstairs but I felt Jarvis push me in the small of my back to keep me moving further into the apartment. I made my way to the living room and tried to look around.

Come on in. I heard Carl’s voice say.

I didn’t want to go any further into this smelly-ass place, but before I could say anything in protest, the rest of the Dirty Bunch came from the back of the apartment to the living room.

Hey, Kaneesha! Rhonda said.

Hi, Rhonda. What’s up ya’ll? I said to everyone else.

Girl, have a seat. We gettin' ready to watch crazy ass Mike Epps. Girl, that nigga had me on the floor when I went to see him live down the arena. Wait ‘till you hear the shit he be talkin’ ‘bout. She laughed.

Yeah, I went to see him too but I couldn’t understand a damn thing he was sayin’ cause I was up in the nosebleed seats. I laughed back, and held onto the bag I brought for them as I plopped down on the couch. Jarvis remained standing.

Just as my ass touched the material on the sofa, I lost my balance and fell straight into a hole within the cushion. My ass hit that hard ass concrete floor and I thought I broke my tailbone.

Oh shit, I’m sorry, Kaneesha! Carl said as he and Jarvis grabbed my arms as they lifted me out of the hole.

Damn, man! What the hell? I laughed to play that shit off. The rest of the Dirty Bunch began apologizing, too.

It’s cool. I said. No harm done. Just pick up the bags from the floor and make sure they ain’t broke. We brought ya’ll some house favors. I stated.

Carl grabbed the bag and took it back to the kitchen area or at least that’s what I thought it was. It was so dark in there, I couldn’t really be sure. I leaned over and whispered into Jarvis’ ear.

I don’t know ‘bout stayin’ up in here, Jarvis! There might be something livin’ in this raggedy mutherfucka. I commented. Jarvis just nodded his head in agreement.

We sat carefully on the other end of the sofa. Jarvis chuckled as I scooted closer to him. Everyone had taken up a seat in the living room and was chattering away while Rhonda was busy fixing the DVD player. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I took the liberty to look around the place once more. A beat up loveseat was pushed against the wall opposite from where we sat. On the wall behind the loveseat, a picture hung haphazardly. It looked like any minute now, it would say fuck it and fall.

The coffee table’s glass top was non-existent and was just a frame. Why not just throw this shit away? You can’t put a damn thing on this mutherfucka anyway. What the fuck! There were no lamps, which explained why the only light I saw came from the TV. I couldn’t look at the filth any more and pretend to be interested in what Rhonda was doing with the DVD player. Jarvis and I stole looks at one another once again.

Here you go, Kaneesha. Carl said handing me a glass of wine from nowhere.

No, that’s okay. I don’t want any wine. I said in my attempt to avoid a disease I could catch by drinkin’ out of their glasses.

Awe come on and have a drink with us. Carl insisted.

I reached for the glass tryin’ not to be rude.

Jarvis, what you want to drink, man? Carl asked.

A beer is cool. Jarvis answered back.

Carl handed Jarvis a can of bear. I took a small sip of my wine and waited for the DVD to load. I had no intentions on finishing the rest. Since there was no glass top to the coffee table, I put the glass on the floor beside my feet. Twenty minutes later, Carl wanted to make a toast to his new friends, Jarvis and me.

Girl, give me your glass so I can put some more wine in it for you. He said.

Before I could reach down and get it, Carl grabbed it for me.

Girl, you ain’t finish the first glass of wine, go on and drink some of it down so I can pour you some more. I held the glass out in front of me and said, No I’m good.

Oh come on, you know damn well you want some more! Drink some down! He insisted.

Trying to get him out my face, I put the glass to my lips and swallowed. What the fuck? I felt something in my mouth and immediately spit the wine out in my hand. What the hell is this? I looked again and saw that a large dark spot covered the center of my palm. A fucking roach! A roach had climbed up in my glass. Not a fucking baby roach, but a big mother roach with the fucking egg sack still attached to her underbelly! I ran my tongue over the roof of my mouth and felt nothing but slime. I started gagging.

Kaneesha, the bathroom dat way! Carl said as he pointed down the hall.

I ran to the bathroom and was horrified when I turned on the light. The stench from the tub wafted through the air. The bathtub was full of stagnant water and clothes. The tub was so dirty that I thought the basin was the color gray instead of white. The toilet didn’t even have water in it. The bowl was brown and rusty and the top of the tank was missing. That wasn’t it! The mirror on the medicine cabinet was broken and the cabinet was hanging crooked on the wall. Floor tiles were missing in some areas and the sink was so dirty, that I gagged some more when looking at it. This was just fucking nasty! I turned around and ran back to the living room. Fuck these nasty mutherfuckas!

I returned to the living area and Jarvis was standing up waiting for me.

Jarvis, we need to roll right now! I told him.

Baby, you okay? Before I could answer him, Carl asked me the same question.

Naw, man, I just drank a fuckin’ roach. I’m ready to go! I yelled.

Y’all don’t want to stay and watch the rest of the stand up? Rhonda asked.

I snapped my head around to face her and Jarvis saw the look on my face. He knew I was getting ready to get ignorant.

Fuck no! I’m takin’ my ass home! I said as politely as I could. And thank you for the triflin’ invite. I continued to yell.

Well, if you wanna come back down later, come on then. Carl said.

Ya’ll too nasty for me. Don’t ever worry ‘bout us steppin’ foot down here. Dirty bitches. Fuck a polite!

Before I could say another word, Jarvis grabbed me by the arm and pushed me out their front door.

Keep movin’, Kaneesha. Jarvis said as he continued to push me up the steps.

You said one thing too many and I just wasn’t in mood to have to beat a nigga down tonight. Jarvis admitted.

We approached the last set of stairs before we got to the top of the landing and Jarvis laughed so hard he was crying.

Woman, you should have seen your face when you spit that roach out in your hand. He laughed.

I was trying to figure out what the fuck was funny.

That shit ain’t funny, Jarvis. Dem dirty muthafuckas need to be shot livin’ in filth like that! And we need to have our asses beat for goin’ the fuck down there! No wonder them nigga’s get talked about so bad, Damn! I yelled.

Man, fuck them dirty bastards. As long as you’re okay, that’s all that counts. Come on, I wanna blow a few smoke rings before Lil Man gets here. Besides, I’ve been waitin’ for a phone call. Jarvis said.

I kept walking up the steps when I asked, Who you waitin’ to call?

Ummm, Jarvis cleared his throat. The trepidation in his voice should have told me that he was hiding something.

Jarvis?

Yeah, Kaneesha?

Who is supposed to be callin’ you? I re-stated.

Stone. He answered with contempt.

Stone? Why is Stone callin’ you? Jarvis cleared his throat again and put the key in the door.

We gonna talk a little business that’s all, Kaneesha. He explained.

Hold the fuck up! What in the world would you want with that drug dealer, Jarvis?

Jarvis opened the door to the apartment and allowed me to walk in first. Before he could step foot inside, I turned around and awaited his answer.

Man, I ain’t tryin’ to have everyone up in my business. Jarvis said because he would be explaining while still in the hallway.

You not answerin’ my question!

Lower your voice, Kaneesha. He said ushering me inside, closing the door behind us. I stopped in the middle of our living room and turned to Jarvis again.

Jarvis, what type of business you got with Stone? I needed to know.

Damn, Kaneesha. It ain’t nothin’ big. I’m just gonna talk to him about makin’ some extra money. Maybe he could use another foot solider. Shit, I don’t know. He shrugs. That’s why I’m waitin’ to hear from him. He told me.

Jarvis, when did you decide that you wanted to dabble in bein’ a drug dealer?

Come off it, Kaneesha. You wildin’ out again. You act like I’m pushin’ major weight. I ain’t even done nothin’ yet.

"Nigga, lets get one thing clear. First off, you didn’t talk to me about jack shit, second, you sling any type of weight and get caught, your ass is gone. Third, you got a fuckin’ temper and the first time some shit go wrong, you gonna fly off the handle. Forth, your ass is gonna need protection.

So that means you gotta get a piece and I ain’t feeling that shit either! Lastly, I said pointing my finger at him, you got me and Hysear who love you and I ain’t trying to buy no fuck’n black dress ‘cause your ass is laid up in some casket.

Jarvis rolled his eyes to the top of his head and exhaled.

In an exasperated tone he replied, See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to say shit to you. I knew you was gonna act like this.

Act like what? You think I’m supposed to be happy that overnight my fiancé has decided to sling drugs part-time?

Jarvis walked away from me and into the kitchen. I was on that ass though, not missin’ a step. He opened up the cabinet and retrieved a glass and poured himself some water.

And furthermore, what the fuck you need to be out there slingin’ for anyway? It ain’t like we at death’s door or anything. There’s food in here and the lights and gas are on and the rent is late but that shit will get paid before the end of the month.

He slammed the glass down so hard on the counter that it broke in his hand cutting his knuckles across the top.

Shit, Kaneesha! You and your mouth! Can you please just shut the fuck up for a minute! Damn woman!

He let go of the broken glass and snatched his hand off the counter and rinsed it under some cold water. The blood ran clear for a moment and then the red returned full force. The cut looked pretty deep. I grabbed some paper towels and wrapped his hand up.

Kaneesha, listen. I wanna make some extra cash. I wanna get a couple of things. I don’t like you drivin’ that raggedy ass car out there. So I wanna make some extra paper to go to the auction and get a nice ride for you. Plus, I want some new gear for all of us and some paper to fall back on. I’m tired of workin’ that whack ass job all day to bring home nothin’.

Jarvis, that whack ass job is what pays the rent and keeps the lights on. I don’t care about the car. I can always catch a bus.

That’s just it. I don’t want my baby catchin’ no goddamn bus. I’m tired of livin’ fuckin’ paycheck to pay check. How much money you got in the bank?

I don’t know, I shrugged, maybe twenty dollars, Jarvis.

How much you got in your wallet? He continued drilling me.

None, I used the last for gas.

And as the man of the house, who is supposed to take care of my family, you think I’m happy with this? I remained silent because he was beyond angry.

Listen to me, baby, he continued, I know what I’m doin’. I’m gonna deal for a couple of weeks and put some paper up and then I’m out. Okay?

I ain’t got no choice now do I, Jarvis? You done already made up your mind. Jarvis sniffed hard.

He turned around to cut the water off and grabbed and wrapped more paper towels around his bloody knuckles.

No, but what I really would like is for you to have my back in this, Kaneesha. He softly said. He pulled me into his arms and looked down into my eyes.

Whatever. I said melting into his embrace.

I ain’t about to let nothin’ happen to me, you or Lil Man. He squeezed me tighter. You believe me right? You believe I got our family don’t you?

Yes. I said.

He smiled, bent down and softly kissed my lips as his one good hand found its way to my ass. We tongue wrestled briefly before he pushed me back up against the fridge. He smoothly slid the good hand down the front of my jeans and found my pearl. He gently stroked me with his middle finger making my hips wind to grind my clit against it.

Yeah, that’s it, baby. That’s it. Get yours! He cheered.

Before I could say another word, Jarvis grabbed my face and plunged his tongue in my mouth and worked it like he was deep sea searching for lost treasure. He continued to push his fingers in my wetness and rubbed his thumb over my throbbing button. I was on my tiptoes, against the fridge, getting finger fucked so good that I would have agreed to anything.

You got a nigga’s back right, boo? he asked me.

And with precision and rhythm, Jarvis worked his thumb over the top of my clit and his fingers in and out of my pussy making me cum so hard that I instantly yelled, Yes, yes, yes!

He pulled his hand out of my still quivering pussy and said, That’s what the fucks up. I knew you would come through for a nigga.

Jarvis, you’re a damn manipulator. You used sexual warfare to get what you wanted. That shit wasn’t right. I said as I pushed past him.

Jarvis chuckled and replied, You came like you was pregnant and your water broke. Look at the big wet spot in your jeans, girl. Jarvis laughed.

I looked down and sure enough my jeans were wet.

I need to clean up and change. I said as I headed to the bedroom.

On the way down the hall I heard his cell phone ring. Jarvis answered it and then I heard the front door of the apartment open and close. Several minutes later, I returned to the front room and Jarvis was gone. I opened the door of my apartment and peeked out in the hallway. I saw Jarvis talking on his phone in a low voice. I was surprised he chose to talk out there when all of ten minutes ago, he refused to discuss his business in the hall.

I was dying to hear the conversation but I knew if I stepped out, Jarvis would go the fuck off. Better to close the door and wait to hear what he’s going to tell me later. I might as well try to work with Jarvis because once he makes his mind up about something, he doesn’t stop until it’s accomplished.

Since Lil Man is coming home, I started dinner. Approximately fifteen minutes later the front door opened and I heard his voice.

Moooom, I’m home. I dried my hands off on the dishtowel and waited for him to round the corner. My son came bouncing through the kitchen with his jacket halfway on and his infamous book bag dragging behind him.

I’m hungry. What’s for dinner? He said looking around wide-eyed.

Darn, I don’t get a kiss or hello or nothing huh? Just what’s for dinner? I said playfully hitting him.

Awe, mom, shoot!

Shoot what? I stare. "And why do you always look like you’ve been wrestling in your clothes? Why can’t you stay neat,