Pretty Girls Love Street Kings: Hustle & Heartache

By D. Gamblez

Audriana Escobar, aka Audi, is the 18-year-old leader of the Gucci Girlz−a crew made up of her closest friends. Growing up in poverty, their only current goal is to find a way out of the poor town of Aetna and achieve a life of happiness, love, and luxury. When they cross paths with another crew named the Tru Aetna Boyz, all of their wants and desires seem to be coming true. 

DeAndre, aka Dre, leads the team that includes his friends Raheem, Devonte and Lyrical and, together, they make up one of the most dangerous gangs in their hometown. With their intentions set on gaining money, status, women and fame, meeting a group of women with the same goals in mind seems like the best kind of luck. Sparks fly almost immediately and, together, they quickly become a force that totally dominates the street game without competition or resistance… until they catch the eye of police sergeant, Naomi Mills. 

Pursuing money and love always comes with its own set of troubles, which the Gucci Girlz and Tru Aetna Boyz eventually realize on their own. As they begin to step into the lives that they always envisioned for themselves, everything is turned upside down when they become the trophy for a sergeant with a chip on her shoulder. Will they be able to step into their dream of luxury and true love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royalty Publishing House
• Release date: Jan 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781637181676

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Prologue

Gary, Indiana

5 Years Ago

I said get on the fucking ground, you little punk! Sergeant Hensley barked into the young 16-year-old black kid’s ear, slamming him down hard onto the gravel and knocking the wind out of his lungs. As he forced the young boy’s hands behind his back and proceeded to cuff him, the boy began to cry.

Please, sir, we just wanna go home, the boy sobbed.

Shut your goddamn mouth with that crybaby-ass shit! the sergeant spat in his ear. You’re gonna act like you’re man enough to be out this late on my streets, at least be man enough to take what goes with it.

We didn’t do nothing wrong, sir. Please, just leave me and my boyfriend alone and let us go home, the boy’s 14-year-oldgirlfriend pleaded, her arms held uncomfortably but securely in place behind her back by the unusually tight handcuffs linking her wrists together. They cut into her flesh from even the slightest movement. She was bent over the squad car with her head pressed firmly against the hood. We’re just trying to get back home so our parents won’t worry, that’s all.

The 6’2", black, baldheaded sergeant glanced up from where he was searching the young boy and headed towards the squad car where the girl was being held by two of his detectives−one male, one female, both black.

Hensley motioned for the detectives to step aside and then he grabbed ahold of the girl’s wrist and squeezed the handcuffs even tighter, cutting into her flesh. But the girl denied him the pleasure of seeing fear in her and even though it hurt, a lot, she stifled a cry of pain.

But her defiance seemed to only infuriate him more.

Impressed by the girl’s toughness, Hensley smiled inwardly. Oh, is that right? You’re a tough one, huh? He again grabbed the girl by her wrists, but this time instead of squeezing the handcuffs, he yanked her arms upwards with such force that he nearly dislocated her shoulder, lifting her off of her feet in the process.

The girl screamed.

Leave my girl alone, man! the young boy said with anger, the bloodcurdling screams from his girlfriend tearing at his heart.

Go teach that little punk-ass wannabe thug a lesson, he instructed the two detectives. When the female detective hesitated, the sergeant gave her a look that caused a chill to crawl up her spine. Is there a problem, Detective Mills?

No, Sergeant Hensley, sir, no problem at all, she struggled to say. I just think that they’ve learned their lesson...sir.

Hensley wrinkled his brow as if he had just heard some surprising news. I’m sorry, Detective Mills, but I’m a little confused.

W-What’s that, now, sir? she asked hesitantly as she was not sure what he meant by the statement.

I had no idea that somebody went behind my back and made you head of the Gang Unit. That is what happened, isn’t it? Cause that’s the only way you’d ever question my authority.

Detective Mills put her hands up in an attempt to stave off any confusion she might have caused her superior. I apologize, sir. I didn’t mean any disrespect.

"You know, there are a lot of badges on the force who I feel deserve this job way more than you do. Good, hardworking men and women who put their lives on the line every day and get no recognition for it. I would’ve considered any one of them as opposed to you, but when your father, the chief of police and one of my closest friends, begged me to let you in my unit, he assured me that I wouldn’t have any problems out of you. But I honestly don’t think you’re cut out for this kind of work.

Now, I know that we sometimes do things a little different in this city than most other cities do, but we do these things because it’s necessary. To protect our city, it’s what’s necessary. Our jobs are to protect these streets from rapists, murderers, drug dealers, gangbangers, and any other type of scum of the world, but the only way for us to do that properly is if we get our hands a little dirty every now and then.Sergeant Hensley emphasized his point by pointing out the young girl’s attire. You see the way she’s dressed? Like a fucking prostitute! If any one of these gangbangers who like hanging out at this time of night came across this girl while she was wearing this piece of shit cloth she’s using as a skirt, they’d be raping her until the sun came up. Then we’d be the ones to have to tell her parents that their daughter was gang raped and murdered."

Detective Mills shook her head to dislodge the horrific image of the girl being gang raped from her mind, but it was forever imprinted on her brain. Yes, sir, understood, sir, she said sheepishly.

Do you understand, Detective? Hensley snapped. Because it’s our job to make sure these kids are home safe and sound. And sometimes the only way to teach them that is by showing them some tough love. By showing them what actually could happen if they’re left alone to wonder these streets late at night.

Got it, sir, she assured him.

Do I need to remind you of whose side you’re on, Detective Mills?

No, sir, she stated firmly.

Then get your ass over there and have some fun for fucks sake! Trust me, these little punks nowadays deserve a good beating every now and then. Helps to keep ‘em in line. Their parents sure aren’t doing it. Now go ahead before I reconsider my decision for letting you in my unit, he nodded in the direction of the young boy on the ground, who was now being pummeled by the other detective, Mills’ partner.

After Detective Mills heeded his command, Sergeant Hensley turned his attention back to the young black girl bent over the hood of the squad car. Do you know who I am? he whispered in her ear.

P-Please... Please, just let me and my boyfriend go, the girl begged, realizing that it was her fault that her and her boyfriend were even in the predicament in the first place.

Since his family and her family all stayed within a few house of each other, their parents had agreed to let them go to a friend’s birthday party with the promise that they would be home before nightfall, but when it came time for them to leave, the girl had begged her boyfriend to stay there with her a little while longer. A little while longer had turned into three hours, two hours past their 8:00 curfew. When the boy had realized what time it was, he had grabbed his girlfriend by the hand and had nearly dragged her out of the house.

As they were bidding their friends goodbye, three unmarked squad cars had rolled up to the house and dispersed everyone who was not living there. When the tall black man, whom they now knew was the guy in charge and who went by the rank and name Sergeant Hensley, had found out that the boy and girl lived a block from where they now were, he had offered them a ride home. Accepting his offer to drive them home had turned out to be a mistake as the sergeant had not taken them home, but to an alley behind a gas station instead.

Oh, so you wanna go home now, huh? Well, you should’ve thought about that before you decided to peddle dope for E.T.C. Now you’re gonna have to learn firsthand how I respond to drug pushing and gang activity in my city.

We don’t know nothing about no drugs, and we’re in no gang. We were just hanging with friends at a birthday party. We don’t even know those guys, the girl cried as the sounds of her boyfriend’s screams reached her ears as the two detectives continued to wail upon him.

You don’t know who the Eastside Turf Crew is, huh? Sergeant Hensley said with mock surprise. That’s funny. Why would they allow you to hang out with ‘em all at their house if you don’t know who they are? Don’t really matter ‘cause whether or not you do know him, I’m still gonna have to teach you not to be out this late, and after tonight, I don’t wanna see you or your little punk-ass boyfriend around those fucking lowlifes ever again, you hear me? I better not even see you at that house, and if you just so happen to walk past that house, I want you to cross the street just to avoid it. Is that understood?

Yes, sir, the girl nodded furiously, praying that that would be the end of it. But her prayers would go unanswered as she felt Sergeant Hensley’s hand slide up underneath her black mini dress.

Hmm... No underwear, huh? Yeah, I forgot to mention−I don’t like whores either, he said as he roughly led the terrified girl to the back of his squad car. We’re gonna go for a little ride, huh? Let’s go see if you’re as tough as you think you are.

Terrified at the thought of being raped, the girl started to scream, but all the air in her lungs was suddenly forced out of her when the tall man shoved his fist into her side with such force that one of her ribs broke. She felt completely helpless and vulnerable as Hensley opened the door and tossed her onto her stomach in the backseat.

Sergeant Hensley turned his attention to his detectives and instructed them to halt their assault on the teenager.

That’s enough−he get’s it. Stuff his ass in the back and let’s head out to the Wild Deuces. I’m sure those shitheads are up to no good this time of night, he calmly instructed his detectives, not even a pang of guilt in his voice for what he was planning to suffer upon the young boy and girl.

Yes, sir, the detectives responded in unison. After placing the bruised and beaten young boy in the back of the squad car, they exchanged a look that neither one of them had to convey out loud; they had become the monsters they had sworn to protect this city from.

As Sergeant Hensley’s tires spun in the dirt, kicking up gravel in all directions, Detective Mills closed the driver-side door and put the GPD squad car in gear, then she and her partner followed their superior out to 22nd avenue in Gary, Indiana; aka the Wild Deuces.

---

---

After a long while, nearly an hour after the sergeant and his detectives had dropped them off in The Wild Deuces, the boy regained consciousness.

Oh...God," he grunted in pain as he forced himself up off of the ground. Battered and bruised, each movement sending ripples of pain throughout his entire body and nearly causing him to lose consciousness again, he spotted his girlfriend lying motionlessly underneath a tree and began to crawl over to her.

When he reached her side, he realized that she was completely naked, shaking and mumbling unintelligibly as tears fell from her eyes onto the unkempt grass.

Come on, Nessa, the boy began to cry. We have to get home.

With wet hands, she grabbed hold of his wrists and held them tightly, her mumbling getting louder and louder.

The headlights of a car shown in their direction momentarily as it passed by and in the light the young boy saw that what he thought to be moisture from tears, was actually blood that covered the girl’s hands all the way up to her elbows. He glanced down at her legs and saw even more blood. Then he began to panic.

Oh, my God! Nessa, what’d he do to you?

The young boy pulled his girlfriend close and that’s when he heard what she had been mumbling.

Kill me. Kill me. Kill me, she said repeatedly.

Help! the boy screamed, pleading for anyone to hear. Somebody help us! Come on, somebody, please! Please, she’s hurt real bad!

And as his pleas for help went out to the neighborhood, his girlfriend’s pleas grew even louder.

Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! she continued to scream."

What’s going on over there?a black man asked as he, a black woman, and a black tender-aged boy approached cautiously.

Ya’ll all right?the woman asked.

Oh, shit! the man exclaimed when another car passed by and the brightness of the headlights shown him, his wife, and his son the worst horror they had ever witnessed in his entire time living in Gary, Indiana. Erica, we gotta get out of here. These kids done been beat up real bad. I think this is some sort of gang initiation or something. Come on, Erica. Come on, let’s go!

Oh, my God, James! his wife gasped after seeing the naked young girl. James, somebody done raped this poor girl. We have to at least call the police when we get home.

Fine, we’ll call the police the moment we get home, James relented. Right now, let’s just get the hell out of here before whoever did this comes back.

James and Erica’s son just stared back in horror at the young boy and the young girl as his parents hurriedly led him away from whatever dangers that had caused so much pain and horror.

An hour later, the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.

But it was too late…

Audi

Present Day

Audriana Escobar is what my parents named me, but everyone referred to me as Audi. My mother told me that she gave me that name because I reminded her of an earthquake named Audriana that devastated Brazil and shattered half the country by leaving destruction and devastation in its wake. My mother also told me that because she had to have a C-Section in order for me to be born, plus the fact that she nearly died from blood loss due to extreme hemorrhaging in her uterus as the surgery was a very critical one, she considered me to be just like that earthquake. I know that seems a terrible thing to say about your child, but you have not had the pleasure of meeting my mother.

Even though I was nothing like my mother, I did look almost identical to her when she was my age. Maybe that was why she treated me more like I was an embarrassment and not a blessing at certain times−because I reminded her of how she used to look.

It was May 25 th and I had been giddy with anticipation all morning because today was to be a great day. My 18 th birthday was tomorrow, and I had overheard my mother on the phone with my father discussing the possibility of buying me a new car as a birthday present. Although my parents were divorced, they always made sure to come together for birthdays and holidays, if only for the sake of their kids. So, I was really hoping that the car thing turned out to be true. I already had a car, of course, but it was a boring silver two-door ‘97 Nissan Maxima. It used to belong to my sister, but after one of her many boyfriends−which were really nothing more than her sugar daddies since they were usually twice her age−had gifted her a bright yellow Corvette, she had given me her Nissan so that I could get to and from work and school.

I was also excited about the Wort High School prom coming up on Friday. So far I had been asked by five guys; Diego, Jamal, Ty Baby, JuJu, and Victor.

I wanted to go with Diego because he was the only Puerto Rican guy at our school with a Mercedes, plus he used to buy me expensive gifts when we were dating. He did not speak very good English, so he figured in order to compete with the black guys who were considered ballers, he would trick with the fine girls by spending money on them when the other guys would not.

I do not really understand why Diego chose to spend money on girls just to make sure he would get their attention when all he had to do was arrive somewhere and girls would be throwing themselves at him anyway. I mean, the guy was gorgeous! With long black hair that seemed to shine in the sunlight whenever he stepped out of his Mercedes S550, and a body like a Calvin Klein model from years of working out, he could easily get women to pay him to make sure he noticed them. If I took Diego to prom, girls would definitely hate on me for sure.

Only problem with that scenario was, in the brief two months that Diego and I dated, he had cheated on me with at least three of my schoolmates, so I was definitely not going to embarrass myself by going to prom with him.

JuJu, whom his homeboys nicknamed him after noticing that he carried a box of JuJu’s Sweet & Sour candy with him wherever he went, would have been my second choice. Only problem with him is that he’s got too much baby mama drama on his hands. He had three kids by three different women, all of them white girls, and he was not even out of high school yet. Yeah, JuJu was definitely out of the equation.

Ty Baby was the finest out of them all. He was Jamaican and Ethiopian and he was only a year older than me. Girls loved to play in his long, black dreadlocks. He was tall and light-complexioned. My mother said that she would not have minded me going to prom with him because he had good grades in school, but that morning he called and told me that he could not go.

I’m sorry, Audi, he had said to me. I didn’t know that me and my ex were gonna patch things up. If I had known, I wouldn’t have asked you in the first place. I hope you can understand that. And with that, he hung up. He did not even let me get a word in−just hung up. Although I was pissed at him about it, I did understand.

He and Jasmine had been together for the past four years until her parents had gotten divorced and decided to sell the house. Jasmine had been under the assumption that her mother wanted to move back to Arizona, to her hometown, and she did not see any reason for her and Ty Baby to continue seeing each other.

After being offered a manager’s position at Toys R Us, Jasmine’s mother had decided to stay in Gary, Indiana and keep Jasmine enrolled in school. When Jasmine had told Ty Baby the good news, they had decided to get back together. I know that sounds a little soap opera-ish, but who am I to get in the way of true love?

Jamal would have been my first pick had he not gotten arrested for attempted murder the very same day, just hours after he had asked me to prom.

Stupid ass Jamal, I said aloud to myself as my older sister began to cut the split-ends off my long, brown hair that, when unhindered, flowed down my back all the way down to the top of my big bubble-butt.

What’s that, Audio? my 23-year-old sister asked. She had been calling me that since I was a baby. At least, I think she has, I really do not remember. I know you ain’t cussing again. You know Roy-Boy don’t play that shit.

Of course, I knew that my mother’s current boyfriend, Roy-Boy, did not like it when I cussed in the house. Actually, he was not fond of anyone cussing in the house. But I did not give two shits about what he wanted, so whenever he was not around, I would cuss as much as I damn well pleased.

I mean, what kind of stupid-ass name is Roy-Boy, anyway? It’s not like his fat-ass is some kind of wrestler or something. This motherfucker was not even a biker. His real name was Royer. I know, right? What kind of lame-ass name is Royer?

He must have known it was whack, too, because he started calling himself Roy-Boy after he had noticed a sign above a tattoo parlor on Broadway. Roy-Boy’s Tattoo and Piercing Shop it said, which the storeowner fit the store name perfectly as he was a biker and tattoo artist. Plus, the owner had tattoos all over his body and about thirty-two piercings as well. But Royer did not have any tattoos or piercings, so I don’t know why he chose to dub himself with that guy’s nickname.

Okay, okay, I’ll stop cussing, I feigned concern for my sister’s sake.

She had a nasty habit of ratting me out for any little thing that I did. But if she did something that she could get in trouble for, she would just ignore it like it was okay because she was older than me.

Okay, my ass, my sister said. You better stop cussing and shit.

You’re not gonna tell on me, are you? I asked her, using the exact same words she had been using on me since before I can remember.I promise to try not to cuss. I’m just pissed because now I don’t have a date for prom.

Don’t worry, Audio, my sister said sympathetically. I’m not gonna say anything. But why you keep thinking about shit like that? Aren’t there more boys you could get to go to prom with you?

Ain’t that something? She cusses, it’s cool. I cuss, she snitches on me.Talk about a fucking hypocrite!

You wouldn’t understand, Mari. You’ve never had a problem with getting boys to like you, but Mom and Roy-Boy act like the boys that I’m interested in has to have a preexisting law degree or something. Plus, by it being so close to prom, nobody’s gonna be available now, anyways. Never mind, I’ll get over it, just like I do with everything else.

Hey! Marisol said, grabbing hold of my chin and tilting my head so that I was looking up at her. I was sitting on the floor in front of her, while she was sitting in the wooden dinette chair with the missing seat cushion. Don’t be saying that shit, okay? I’m sure you can find somebody before prom next week.

"Tomorrow, I corrected her. Prom’s tomorrow, not next week."

Oh, she blinked twice and sighed deeply. Yeah, that might be bad. Maybe next time, then, huh, Audi? Oh, wait! I got it. Why don’t you ask Victor? He and Tawny just broke up, like, a week ago.

He already asked me, I told her with a hint of a smile. But he said that if he takes me to prom, then I’d have to give him a little sumthin’ sumthin’ in return. I don’t think he was talking about just a kiss, so I won’t be giving him a little nuthin’ nuthin’ in return.

I guess, Marisol said with a shrug. Wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He’s hot!

I don’t care if he’s Michael Jordan, I’m not some cheap whore, I said with pride. Plus, Mom and Roy-Boy would kill me.

You got that right, Marisol agreed as she finished up the last of my split-ends. All done. That’ll be $250, please.

Put it on my tab, I joked back.

What about Dre? He’s available. I know because I saw him earlier today and he said that he wasn’t going to prom because every girl he asked already had a date. Besides, you know you both have little crushes on each other.

Are you serious? I glared at my older sister.

What? she asked with raised brow. What’s wrong with him? He’s cute.

He and I hate each other, remember?

Really? Since when?

Since he poured lemonade on the floor beneath the chair of my desk in English class last year while I was dozing off, then told everybody that I pissed myself.

Oh, yeah, Marisol laughed loudly, her large breasts bouncing up and down as she did so. Yeah, I forgot about that. That was so funny.

"That was not funny! I said, my voice edged in irritation. Everybody thought I peed in bed every night after that. They called me the ‘Wet Burrito’ for a whole year."

Marisol laughed even harder, throwing her head back and smacking her knee. "I know they did. I’m the one who