Excerpt of my book "World's Apart"

Dominic made the decision that today he and his crew were going to have a day off. He watched the news daily, it was something he had picked up from his father and grandfather. They always told him “Dominic it’s important to know what’s going on around you, watch not only the local news but also the world news, in our line of business not knowing what is going on with the state of the world can cost you and our family it’s life.” He knew that being sloppy was not an option, and in his line of business there was no room for errors. Being sloppy could land him in one of two places, dead or in jail. He certainly didn’t want to end up in either of these locations. He was still a new to the drug game, and he had moved quickly from pushing drugs to distribution. His grandfather had learned about Dominic being out on the corner as a random low level street hustler, and decided that his grandson, a legitimate carrier of the Santino name would not be out on some corner selling drugs, that if he were to sell drugs he would need to be in a position of importance and power. After Sonny left, Dominic needed a way to make money fast, and he needed a lot in a quick period of time. With his father gone he had no choice but to go out and make money to support the lifestyle he was accustomed to. Things like having a place to stay, with running water and electricity were important to him. Dominic knew that no Santino ever asked for a fucking handout, as he father had reminded him as he walked out the door. At sixteen his grandfather was already a father, and was taking care of his family. He also knew that at sixteen his own father had enlisted in the Army, and started providing income of his own, so was it to far to assume that he to could make a way out of no way? He had sold drugs before under the guidance of his uncles’. Dominic experienced success with his endeavors in the drug game. He was able to sell enough to keep some change in his pocket and to buy his girls things to impress them. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to go out and get a real job and still get his education. How was he supposed to work, go to school and study at the same time? For the amount of money it would take to run the household he would have to work full time, killing himself just to make ends meet, then to think about having something left over, that would be impossible. Food, clothing, electricity, heat, transportation, all those things cost, and he knew working a minimum wage job would not be the answer. Fuck it he thought, I’ll still go to school and hustle just to cover the rent and bills. Dominic knew from the past that his best customers were the rich white kids that went to his school. Most people thought that the only people that popped pills and did coke were the feigns they saw on the street. He knew better, he knew that these spoiled suburban kids were his best assets and offered him unlimited income potential. I can do both, yeah he thought I can and will do both. And so he did, for a few months. He went to school and sold drugs, but doing both only gave him money to cover his expenses, nothing more. He figured that he would need to stop going to all his classes to devote more time to selling if he wanted to really make some cash. There were a few classes he didn’t need so he figured he’d just skip those classes, before long he made the decision to skip all his classes. Who needed history anyway? Not him, not when he needed to know how to figure out how to live today. The five day weather update on the local news stated that today was going to be the hottest day of the summer so far and the last thing he wanted was to be driving all around in that kind of heat. For weeks he had been driving all around Ohio and Michigan distributing his product and collecting his profits, most distributors had people that made these runs, but Dominic made the decision that he wanted to get to know the people he was working with, top to bottom. He didn’t trust anyone to handle his business, even with the Santino name and the small crew he loved liked family he still wanted to have a thorough understanding of the business, at the end of the day it was his ass on the line and he wanted to be knowledgeable on all areas of his new enterprise. I haven’t been swimming all summer long, he thought. The local pool was located right across the street from his house. All he would have to do is cross the street and then he could kick it at the pool. Maybe even get a tan so that his deep olive skin could become even more golden. People already wanted to know what color he was, this added bump in color would make his ethnicity even more of a challenge. The pool didn’t open for a few hours, that meant that Dominic had time to go in and rest up before relaxing by the pool, sometimes a plan comes into action and there is no work involved he thought to himself as he put in his favorite movie Juice and laid on the sofa to watch the movie and drift off the sleep.