Falling for a Hustler: A Benton Harbor Love Story by Jerniqua K. Read Free Book Online

just give him back to you? Clearly, you are unfit! I gave them your number, they’ll be contacting you.”
    She turned around and slammed the door in my face. I felt like a fucking zombie as I walked toward Bird’s car. I slid in and as soon as the door shut, I broke down. One stupid ass decision had caused me to lose my son. I wasn’t even 18 yet, and I had no job. No judge in their right mind would give a child back to me.
    “What happened?”
    I filled Bird in and he pulled out of the driveway, angrily mumbling the entire time. I tuned him out as I thought about what our next move would be. When we got home, I ended up crying myself to sleep in Justin’s room.
    The next day, I woke up bright and early trying to put a plan together. The check for the life insurance money had just been deposited into Bird’s account. I figured we could use at least fifteen thousand from that to get a good lawyer to help us. I ran the idea past Bird, and he quickly shot it down. He figured since I was getting food stamps and Medicaid, the state would provide me with a free lawyer. Being young and stupid in love, I believed him and called my caseworker.
    I sat on the phone with her for all of ten minutes. She told me that there was nothing that DHS could do to assist with that, and I would have to talk to the CPS worker that was handling my case. I did as I was told, and was given a court date. I asked if there was a number I could reach the lawyer at, and she chuckled. I didn’t find shit funny, and I guess she caught on because she then told me that whoever I was assigned to would contact me the day before. I was pissed off, but there was nothing that I could do to change shit.
    Court came and went, and just like I thought, they gave my mother full custody. The court had granted me supervised visits, but my mother always stood me up so eventually I gave up. Everything was all bad! Even things with me and Bird turned into shit quickly, and he ended up leaving me. Before he left, he gave me ten thousand. I figured he wouldn’t be gone long and used most of the money as a down payment on a nice four-bedroom house. Unfortunately, I was wrong about Bird coming back, and my dwindling funds proved it. While he was out blowing through his money in strip clubs and on name brand shit, I had nothing and was left to struggle, so I got a job working at a call center. All I did was listen to muthafuckas complain about appliances that I couldn’t even afford. I hated the shit, but it kept the bills paid. Whenever I got paid, I would always set aside $150. Fifty was toward getting a lawyer for Justin, and the hundred was toward getting a car. I had been lucky that Keisha, a girl who lived four houses over, allowed me to ride with her for free. The rest of my check was used toward bills and whatever I needed.
    Once I had saved a thousand dollars, I went on the BH Yard Sale page on Facebook and saw that someone was selling a little Cavalier for $900, and ended up buying it. Since I had a way to get back and forth now, I enrolled in three classes at LMC. I didn’t have to work until eleven, so it worked out perfectly. I had an eight a.m. class Monday through Thursday, and a three-hour class on Saturdays. It was time I started getting myself back on track.
    I met Mariah, Brick’s sister, in our Child Psychology class. We had gotten partnered up for a group assignment and hit it off instantly. We quickly became friends, and she ended up inviting me to the party that changed my life forever. When she introduced me to Brick, it was like I had died and gone to heaven. His jeans hung low at his waist, but he wasn’t sagging. Giuseppe sneakers graced his feet, and his Jesus piece and earrings almost blinded me in the dim lighting. I wasn’t a gold digger but when I used to trick, I learned quickly how to spot a baller, and this nigga definitely smelled like money! When he smiled at Mariah, I noticed he had dimples to go along with his perfectly aligned