Tears of a Teenage Mother

Book excerpt: Like so many others, Florence, along with her two daughters Eboni and Ivory, felt trapped in the small, gated projects of Shady Oaks located in the worst part of D.C. It was a place where the grass didnt grow above the surface and most wouldnt rise above poverty. A place where teens gave birth and senseless murders occured so much that people grew up actually thinking it was the thing to do. As a result, they turned out to be just as shady and willing to try any drug if it promised to leave them higher than a tree. And the new drug on the streets for young people was called Money. Although there was nothing new about powder cocaine except for the name it now went by, the kids in the neighborhood made it seem like it was something no one else had ever done. In fact, they made it seem as if it was so new that the consequences of using it would turn out completely different. However, it wouldnt be to the person they would least expect to succumb to its harsh reality, causing their perspective to change. She was encouraged to try Money for the first time by her closest friend. However, she didnt know it would also be her last time. When she felt her eyes uncontrollably roll in the back of her head and her spirit start to rise above the level of ecstasy, it is then that she knew she had made a fatal mistake.