ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Derrick, Zell, and Al, this is for you. Forgive me taking ten years to drop this. I thank you mom for giving my elementary school teacher permission to whip my ass in case I got out of line in school because that gave me discipline at an early age. I love you so much, ma. I would like to thank Jimmy Chin and the Chin family for welcoming me into their home and allowing me to do my school work when I attended Matthew A. Henson Elementary because they gave me the appreciation of love and friendship that I continue to cherish to this day. I would like to thank Mr. Stahmer from Fallstaff Middle School for making me come to school a half hour early and stay after school a half hour later when I acted out of line because he instilled in me a strong will to learn. I would like to thank my dad for returning from Vietnam and always being my hero. I love you, dad. Much love to the Everharts. Mrs. Everhart, Core, and Shellll! I love you guys. Mr. Everhart, rest in peace. Thank you Professor Steele ‘BCCC’ for explaining the thin line between judges bangin’ gavels and dealers slingin’ drugs. I love you, Rashida, for giving birth to the world’s most beautiful and precious girl, Akira, and giving me a reason to live and strive. ‘Fear not, Baby Ak, daddy still here, I’m in na novel.’ I’d like to thank Chris Smith, Earnest ‘Cool Breeze’ White, Keith Harris, Alan Johnson, Charles Neverdon, and Kevin Dorsey for being the coolest cats ever to roam ‘The Castle on the Hill’. Go City Knights! Love to Jerome, David, Leo and Lucky for being some of the coolest friends on earth. Love to my uncle Kevin for slamming that pie in my face and teaching me not to take life too seriously. I would like to thank my little sister for still loving me after the many fights we had as children. I love you, Trena. Thanks to those two shorties in South Carolina who bought all those tacos and showed me a beautiful time on the Isle of Palms beach. You gave me my first impression of fun and romance. I would like to thank those two shorties who came up in 200 EAST askin’ for DJ and allowing me to appreciate and become addicted to that ménage love. Matter fact, thank all y’all shorties who came up in 200 EAST. I would like to thank Rochelle G. for rescuing me in a time of need and allowing me to see how beautiful the women of Ohio truly are. Sincerest love goes to Phil Nanzetta and Linda Wood of SBP, and all the beautiful people of Gaithersburg for allowing my dream of having a career as a writer materialize into reality. I would like to thank that shorty who had fun with me at that graveyard in Charleston, South Carolina because you instilled a horrific, sick, demented, sexy kind of love that played a heavy role in the making of this book. I would like to thank Duane R. Bell, Attorney at Law, for keeping me out of a New Jersey correctional facility. I would like to thank Zakiya for reinforcing the romance of ‘eyes meeting across a crowded room’ and being Delaware’s sexiest woman. Much love and respect to BlaqIsis, Roxanne, Paula V., Syreeta and Curtis, Brooks and Rio, Danielle of Auburn, NJ, Tia and Shawn, January Nicole, Naeema and Ayana, Naiyoga, Nikki, Tavanna and Star. Much love to Tamara B. What’s up to Angel. Stay thick and beautiful and know that I miss your sexy mole. Much love and respect to sexy Karen. Much love to Lisa C. Much love and respect to Christina. I would like to thank the Launch Pad family, Rome, HardCore, Microphone’s Illest Controller a.k.a. Gabe, and Constant Deviance, Fly Fly, B-Fine, B-Chill, Pumis Sweet Love, Chris, Black, Melody, a.k.a. Changa, ProFaze Ray Doze, Ook, Rhythmizer, Labtekwon, Supreme, and the Almighty Roc Dolo. I would like to say ‘what’s up’ to Micapone, Hugh Lord, Three the Hard Way, Ted and the TNT twins. Mad love to my cool cousin- younger brother, Phillip Mark III. Much love and respect to James Hope, Herb Cottom and family, the rest of my Druid family, and all the beautiful people in zone 17. Much love and respect to Tiffany Womble for page 2, paragraph 7 of Liquid Dreams because that allowed me to shy away from a crowd that was counter productive and focus more on my passion for writing. Love and respect to Cleveland Hardy, and the beautiful people at Raspeburg. Shea Allen, I miss you, homeboy. Rest in peace. My cousin Donald, rest in peace, young soldier. Crazy love goes to my lil’ bruvas, Jeremy and Brandon, my young sis’ Tiffany, Theresa, Jada and Warren, Brutha, Brian, Jermain, Jamere, my aunt Neicy and aunt Tam, my cousin Wanda, holdin’ it down, cousin Alicia, I miss you. My cousin Paul, rest in peace young warrior. Grandma Thelma, I miss you, and thank you for teaching me how to run your own business at such a young age. Uncle Claude, rest in peace God father, so much my dad, I miss you so much. Rest in peace, Aunt Joyce. God, bless the ones no longer here in the flesh. Much love goes to my cousin Duckie Aunt Jean, and Aunt Ann, for holdin’ it down. Sayin’ peace to my cousin Dameon ‘the lady killer’, Wayne, cousin Chris, cousin T’ Andrea, Jamal and Javon, my God son, lil’ Tre, you, Dashaun, an’ Akira, will be runnin’ this business after we pass on, my children, so pay attention. I love y’all! Hey, yo, Al, thank you, bro, for coming to B More the second go ‘round and sayin’ ‘let’s do this fellas!’ because I’m trynna run wit this shit, yo! Fuck all la bullshit. Let’s make dis muva fuckin’ chedda, yo!