by India
THE
REAL
HOODWIVES
OF
DETROIT
A Novel By
INDIA
This is a work of fiction. It is not meant to depict, portray, or represent any particular real persons. Character names, places, events, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons living or dead, is absolutely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by India All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages.
Contact India
P.o. Box 18175
Fairfield, Ohio 45018
www.I-am-India.com
Cover design: Streets the Boss
Cover model: LaToya Johnson
Editor: Cassandra Williams
Typesetting: 21st Street Urban Editing & Publishing www.21StreetUrbanEditing.com
More Books by India…
*Dope, Death and Deception
*Still Deceiving
Dedication:
A’yanna, my #1 supporter. Mommy loves you more than you will ever know. It’s because of you that I hustle hard and strive for better things.
I want you to know that you can be anything that you want to be in life, as long as you trust in God and believe in His word.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I have to thank God for another chance to live my dream. It’s because of my faith the size of a mustard seed and trusting Him, that I am watching mountains move.
Michael, my rock, my love, and my best-friend. I thank the Lord for you daily and I am truly blessed to call you my husband. A’yanna, you are my joy and the light of my life! My parents, Lacy Sr. and Brenda, thank you for your undying support. To know that you have my back really means the world to me and keeps me motivated on my journey towards success! My in-laws, Michael Sr. and Cassandra, boy-oh-boy, where do I begin. From day one, you’ve treated me like a member of your own family and it really touches my heart to know that you hold a special place for me in yours.
To my friends and loyal readers, words can’t describe how blessed I am to have you. You all are the best, and you keep me in the game. Thank you for your feedback, reviews, comments, and questions. Thank you for taking a chance on a girl like me and my novels. Without supporters like you, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do, and that’s real talk!
To my street team, Queen B.G., Andreah, Travontaie, LaTia, LaToya, Grandma Arcola, Auntie Bunny, Auntie Nita, Auntie Erica, Auntie Regina, Valencia, and Margo you ladies rock and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support! Demar Luxury Pernell, I love you so much cousin, because at times I think that you believe in me more than I believe in myself. 2012 is our year!!!
Kelly, Janelle, Melinda, Lorie and Barb, I told you ladies that I would hold you down in my next book, and by golly I’m a woman of my word.
Last but certainly not least, where would I be without my die-hard Facebook supporters. Chunckytoodope, Janika Marshall, Carla Towns, Tawuana Parks, Gabrielle Gotemhatin Dotson, and Rhonda Harvey, you ladies really make writing an absolute pleasure and I pray that my novels continue to entertain or inspire in some way. Thank you for all of your reviews and kind words, you keep me going, believe that!
If I have forgotten anyone please charge it to my head and not my heart. Please forgive me and add your name here ________________________.
Love always and forever,
India
Introduction:
Welcome to Detroit, Michigan home of the grittiest, ill’est, hardcore, crime-infested, poverty-stricken neighborhoods in the country. Sometimes referred to as the Murder Capital for the huge murder rate that never ceases to surprise us, The Murder Mitten, or The Dirty Glove for the state’s shape on the U.S. map.
Detroit is home to many; scholars, rappers, athletes, parents, and concerned citizens, but the streets belong to those in the underworld; addicts, dealers, and the women who help run the show from behind the scenes…The Real Hoodwives of Detroit!
No! You won’t see these ladies on any television show, but you will see them make appearances in court for their mans’ hearing, or at the county jail on visiting day. You might even catch them riding shotgun, with a nine tucked in their Fendi bag…waiting to pop off and protect their men at any cost. And of course, they make appearances in the hood, twenty-four seven…three hundred and sixty-five days of the year!
Follow Nikki, Tonya, Chloe, Mina, and Gucci as they ride you through Detroit, one city-block at a time. Watch as the tales of the black and dangerous unfold right before your eyes. In Detroit, only the raw and real survive - living to see another day. These streets are known for breaking the weak and leaving them helpless, they aren’t made for everybody!
Scared? You should be….WELCOME TO DETROIT!
Chapter One
Nikki - The Boss‘s Wife
What up doe!” I’m Nikkita but everybody calls me Nikki. I’ve lived in Detroit all of my life, born and raised on West Seven Mile. I love my hood and where I’m from, but life for me was no picnic so I had plans to get out of the city right after high school. I hustled hard by selling the expensive items that I boosted from high-end department stores. I saved my money and planned to be out the very night that I graduated; but halfway through my senior year, I met a man that I knew I would never be able to let go of or leave behind. His name was Mario, and to be honest he had me wide open. Not only was he 6 ft. 6 in., brown-skinned with beautiful jet black wavy hair that hung way past his shoulders, and an award-winning smile that belonged on a Colgate commercial, he was also a sweetheart and he treated me like a queen. See when you come from a broken home where nobody says I love you or shows you any kind of affection, you want to hold on to the first person that does, and for me that was Mario. We dated the rest of our senior year and moved in together shortly afterwards. Rio, that’s what I call him, took care of me and I went from rags to riches the day that he became my man. I had a little money saved myself, but he had stacks on top of stacks. Rio was heavy in the drug game and it didn’t faze me not one bit, because I’d been around drugs my whole life. My mother sold pills and a little ecstasy from time-to-time to make ends meet and keep herself fly, so I wasn’t new to the game and I knew the rules. Hell, sometimes I would even pitch-in and make runs for him, that’s just how down I am for the cause! One day, to my surprise, Rio popped the question and of course my answer was yes. We’ve been married now for ten years and it’s been nothing but love. Three months ago we had our first child, Rio Jr., and we’re planning to leave this game before our lucky streak runs out. With all the shit going on in the D’, hopefully our family makes it out before our time is up!
Chapter Two
Tonya - The Hater
“Hey I’m Tonya, what’s good?” I see you been hanging out with Nikkita! That bitch thinks that she and her husband Mario can’t be fucked with but they will find out real soon that they shit ain’t as solid as they think it is. I’m an eastside bitch so I fights for mine, and as soon as my baby daddy, Roscoe, get out of jail we’re going to teach those muthafuckas a lesson and you can bet on that! Me and Roscoe have three kids together, Shana, Roscoe Jr., and Ciara. As soon as he touch down we’re going to have a few more because he wants a big family. “More soldiers for the family hustle,” he jokes. I love that man’s dirty draws and he knows it. We met at a club downtown a few years back, we got a hotel room that night and the rest is history. I hope that you don’t think I’m easy but if you do, I don’t really give a damn. When you see that sexy chocolate thug with muscles out-th
e-ass, you’ll see exactly why I love him like I do. Our relationship ain’t been perfect, but I know that I don’t want to let him go and I’m willing to do whatever he asks me to just to prove to him that I can play my position. He should be gettin’ out soon and I can’t wait until the day he comes home because it’s gonna be some smoke in the city. He and Mario started the H.O.F. organization together, which stood for Hand over Fist, and were partners until he caught a case for the possession of narcotics and intent to distribute to an undercover officer. We think that Mario’s ass set him up because that nigga has been doing nothin’ but shinning while his partner’s family sits over here and struggle. Roscoe has been gone for five years and Mario has only dropped off a little money here and there in between that time, so you know we’ve got to get even by any means necessary…
Chapter Three
Chloe - The Protégé
“Welcome to Detroit!” I’m Chloe, a real down-ass chick straight off of Schoolcraft. I’ve been rollin’ with my man Sam for two years and I just know that we gone be the next Bonnie and Clyde. Right now he works for Nikki’s husband Mario and we’re cool with that. Mario is a fair business man and he treats his workers good. Mario and Nikki are well-respected in the Detroit dope game and quite frankly, I’m addicted to his hustle! That shit keeps me in designer names so I make sure that Sam is always on top of his job and never gets caught slipping. I tell him, “if we want to be the best, we’ve got to hang around the best,” and right now, hands down, the best is Nikki and Mario. When Sam and I first started to date, he was a damn car wash attendant and I would’ve been left his minimum wage making ass, but he was too damn fine! He was brown skinned, basketball player tall, with beautiful teeth and his swag was all the way turned up. Not to mention the fact that he was tatted up like the subway in Harlem, as my girl B put it in one of her songs. One night he talked about how he wanted to get into the game and make money to take care of me, and of course you know that I encouraged him to take action. He made good on his word by joining the H.O.F. organization as a runner, later working his way up to Mario’s right-hand man and has been taking care of me ever since. I help him whenever he needs me to, just as I saw my mother do with my father years ago. My whole family was in the game, currently my brother is doing time behind bars. My mother died a hustler’s wife and I planned to do the same. My father died in the penitentiary, as state property, and I refused to let that happen to my man! You see, I’m not new to this, I was born into this lifestyle so I know how this works. I help cook the product, bag it up and sometimes I even distribute to the trap houses. I know that some people would frown on the way I live my life; but I also know if the tables were turned, they would do the same in a heartbeat. I understood that this lifestyle had its ups and downs, but no risk no rewards, right? I don’t mind playing dirty if I have to and that’s a fact!
Chapter Four
Mina -
The Innocent Bystander
“You’re at the point of no return now.” My name is Mina and I’ve been in Detroit for about five years now. I ended up here after following my husband Tre’ from our hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. We relocated here to escape a very bad situation back home. Tre’ got robbed one night and ended up losing a huge package that belonged to his boss, a very powerful man named Warren. Tre’s right-hand man Zeke, told us Warren wasn’t trying to hear that he was robbed so he put out a hit on Tre’ and myself. Needless to say, we left our home in the middle of the night and never looked back as soon as we heard that news. Our plan was to head to Canada, but we got turned around at the border because we didn’t have our birth certificates. Without any other options, we decided to stay in Detroit until things blew over.
After a year of staying low key, we had gotten into the swing of things and later found out I was pregnant with our son Tre’von. Tre’ decided to go legit and start up a business with the money we had saved during his hustlin’ years. We opened up a clothing boutique. Things were going good until six months after our son was born. Tre’von died in his sleep from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). That tore us up and really damaged our relationship. We barely talked some days. For about two years, I shopped like a maniac for therapy while Tre’ turned to drugs for comfort. So our money dwindled down to almost nothing. Finally, not wanting to lose the other man in my life, I snapped out of my grief-stricken trance. I fought hard to get my husband back and get him clean. So far I’m a success, but this morning Tre’ told me he wants to get back into the game and hustle. I’m scared to death that if he’s around drugs he’ll relapse, but what can I do? I have no one or nowhere to turn to for help, so I guess I’ll have to ride this one out.
Chapter Five
Gucci
The Boss’s Best-Friend
“What up, welcome to my city!” I’m Gucci, and no that’s not a fuckin’ nickname, that’s exactly what my mama named me and you can believe that my name rings bells around this city. See, I ain’t your average girl. I been out here hustlin’ with the big boys every since I was sixteen. Shit, all I know how to do is hustle and no matter what the consequence - my mission is always to GET IT! I work with my best friend Mario and his wife Nikki by day, but by night, I dance at the Doll House. I’m single and loving it! I ain’t settlin’ down until I’m good and ready. The nigga that I marry, must definitely have stacks on deck ‘cause I can do broke all by myself. I’m hated by most, but confronted by none, and that’s how it’s always been! You ask anybody in Detroit about Gucci and they’ll tell you, “shorty ain’t to be fucked with!” I’m small but I ain’t nothing nice. I live the good life and will take anybody out that threatens to put me or my people in danger, which is exactly why I can’t stand that bitch Tonya! The streets is talkin’ and they sayin’ she’s plottin’ on my peoples. That shit ain’t cool and she know it! Her raggedy-ass baby daddy ain’t made for this shit and he got caught up, plain and simple. She wants to blame everybody else for her troubles instead of that punk-ass nigga Roscoe.
I’m glad Mario ain’t his partner anymore because he was nothing but a liability and Mario is too much of a real nigga to be associated with a fuck-up like him. I speak highly of Mario because he got it like that! He was the man of my dreams and we messed around a few times but then he met Nikki and never looked back. It didn’t faze me because I knew she was good for him and Nikki had his back, but I’ve always been his bottom bitch. Until they put me in the ground, I’ll continue to ride wit’ him. I’m ready for whatever, whenever, and wherever.
Chapter Six
Nikki
“Hey Rio,” I answered as my cell phone rung. I knew that it was my husband because of the ring tone.
“What up Nikki, what you doing?” He asked in his gruff tone.
“Nothing boo, just paying the bills as usual, what’s good?” I said while putting the checks inside of the envelopes for the electric, cable, and phone company.
“I need you to go upstairs and take four thousand from the safe to give to Gucci when she gets there.”
“Why?” I asked with a bit of an attitude. I liked Gucci and she had never crossed me but for some reason I was always a little defensive when it came to her. She has been my husband’s best friend since they were kids. He has even told me that they messed around a few times, but he said that he never had serious feelings for her. I believed him and took him at his word because I had no reason not to, although she was pretty and petite! She was about 5 ft. even, light-skinned, and very curvy. She always kept herself up, which made me stay on top of my shit even though I knew I looked good my damn self. I was 5 ft. 5 in., caramel toned, and curvaceous myself. A lot of people have said that I remind them of the singer Alicia Keys, but I’m just a little thicker in the thighs and around the waist.
“Because Nikki, today is the day that she goes and puts money in the commissary accounts of our team that’s locked up.” He said, returning my attention back to the phone call. I smiled because my husband always looked after his people, he made sure their acc
ounts stayed full and their families stayed comfy. Feeling stupid I said, “Oh yeah, I forgot that it’s been a month already, my bad baby.”
“Yeah this month did go by quick, hopefully we don’t lose anymore of our soldiers. Nikki, Detroit is gettin’ wild. Niggas is either dyin’ to eat out there or gettin’ locked up left and right.” He added and I thought about Lil’ D, the young man’s funeral that we had just paid for. He was a nineteen-year-old who was shot in the head while walking his grandmother home from her church service, which was just three doors down from her house. The shooter was still at large but a few of the spectators and church goers said the killer looked to be no more than about twelve or thirteen. I shook my head at what my city had become and the type of children that we were producing. On one hand, it’s unbelievable and repulsive; but on the other hand, it’s almost expected in the hood for these children to step up to the plate and put food on the table. For the boys, it’s either dealing or killing and for the girls, it’s stripping or tricking!
“I know Mario, Detroit is gettin’ wild and people are going ape shit in this economy.” I chimed back into the conversation. Then as I was speaking of how wild things are, I switched gears. “Babe have you talked to Roscoe?” I asked thinking about Rio’s old partner. He should be gettin’ out soon and I wanted to make sure that he and Rio were on good terms. I didn’t want Rio to have any beef with the nigga because his baby mama Tonya made it seem like we weren’t paying her the whole time that he was locked up. Hell, just because that bitch is sneaky, I’ve been keeping copies of the checks that we give her every month, which to date, total about two hundred-thousand dollars.
