Thugs And The Women Who Love Them (18 page)

A READING GROUP GUIDE

 

THUGS AND THE WOMEN WHO LOVE THEM

 

WAHIDA CLARK

 

 

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

 

The suggested questions are intended to enhance
your group's reading of this book.

1. Should Angel, a law student, be involved with Snake, a pimp?
   
2. Could Snake love Angel? Do you think he is serious about quitting the pimp game and settling down with her?
   
3. What do you have to say about Angel's side hustle of writing checks? Is it hypocritical? Survival? Greed?
   
4. Can a 14-year-old, like Kyra, and 22-year-old Marvin be soul mates?
   
5. Are you angry at Marvin for getting her strung out on dope? Or does Kyra get the blame?
   
6. Is Kyra using Tyler?
   
7. What should Kyra have done when Marvin knocked on her door?
   
8. What kind of man is Faheem?
   
9. Was Jaz's inviting Smooth over to Faheem's house an innocent mistake?
   
10. Jaz refused to start a relationship with Faheem until he quit the drug game. She began making drugs/meth. Is she hypocritical or was it survival?
    
11. Which couple do you think has the most promise? Why do you think so?
    

Up Close and Personal with Wahida Clark. Author of the
Essence
bestseller
Thugs and the Women Who Love Them.

 

What is the book about?

• Ghetto/street life, it's reality fiction. The underground reading population seems to have an insatiable appetite for it.

What messages are you hoping to portray?

• Even though it's reality fiction, for now I write to entertain and to make a living. When I have money, I'll write to uplift.

Are you still incarcerated? Why were you incarcerated?

• Yes, I'm still on lock. My charges are conspiracy/money laundering, mail and wire fraud. My sentence is 125 months, that's 10
¹
/2 years.

Where do you call home?

• New Jersey. Trenton to be exact. I had moved to the ATL and kicked it down there for four years. That's where I caught my case. I loved it down there. Looking forward to going back.

Was your upbringing average?

• What's average? I came up in the hood and you know how that is. Survival of the fittest, welfare, food stamps, government cheese, weed, boosting, partying. I had the average dysfunctional family (smile). I always had a roof over my head and clothes on my back. A single parent home in the projects, Donnelly Homes, until I was about nine or ten, then we moved to the West Side of town with my Aunt Ann and Uncle John. May he rest in peace. That was all love.

Who or what inspired you to be a writer?

• Who? My family. I'm a provider. What? The future. I'm confined but racking my brain trying to figure out how I can eat the day that I hit the bricks. I refuse to put myself in the situation when on that day, I'm trying to figure out how me and mines is gonna eat. That has to be already covered. So, my job at the time was prison librarian. And on days when we were short of help I would have to be there at 8 a.m. And nine times out of ten, I'd be in there all by myself. I would use that time to get caught up on my letter writing, magazine and book reading. In the magazines I would see the black authors and I would read their interviews. I told myself, “I can do that.” They would mention their struggles and I could relate.

Then I would look around at all the books on the shelves, admire the titles and the authors' names and would visualize my name on the spine of a book on a bookshelf. That's when it clicked. I decided that I would become a writer. I said its legal, its something that I can do and do now! Shortly afterward, a lady who used to be a literary agent (who was also an inmate where I was) had volunteered to give a Creative Writing Course. And the rest is history. It's something how when you put those thoughts out there, the Universe takes over.

Why did you choose
Thugs and the Women Who Love Them
to write about?

• Actually, the story was originally supposed to be about four girls from the hood who vowed not to become victims of their environment. I wanted to show that they were strong and how they overcame hard trials and kept on striving. But as I kept writing, each of the female characters took on a life of her own, but it turned into
Thugs and the Women Who Love Them
in which the male characters sort of took over.

Snake was off the chain! What's up with that?

• (Laughs) That style or mode of writing was my paying tribute to the trailblazers of ghetto fiction; Donald Goines, Iceberg Slim, Nathan ‘Booby' Herd.

How do you feel about being in prison and writing such a powerful book?

• I'm glad it's considered powerful (smile). As far as being in prison and writing a book: a sista had to do what a sista had to do! It wasn't something that I actually planned to do, so that makes me feel good. And writing a hot novel while on lock makes it feel that much better. Especially when I get letters from brothas and sistas in my situation who say that I inspired them. Now, that's what's up!

Have there been many obstacles to overcome?

• With any new venture there are always gonna be obstacles. We should welcome obstacles. They are one of the things that make the great great, when we can overcome them to succeed. The great ones never make excuses as to why something can't be done. Plus, I am blessed to have a wonderful team outside of these walls that allowed me to reach my goals much sooner than I could have without them. I have a very good team. I'm blessed.

Are there any beefs in the writing game similar to those in the music industry?

• It's crazy, but yeah I've heard of several of which I have no understanding. Just because a reader is a fan of mine and buys my book, in no way does it mean that the same reader won't go buy another author's book. That's ridiculous. There are too many good books out there to read, and like I mentioned earlier, the reader's appetite is insatiable. Us authors can't get our books out fast enough to satisfy their appetites. And that's a good thing. There is enough money out there for all of us. You feel me? I recall teasing an author, telling him since he blew up he can't write a sista no more. He said you down with the enemy, referring to another author. All I could do was laugh. Unbelievable! I said I'm in prison. I know you're not threatened. I'm a fan of yours!

Do you have future projects coming our way?

• Definitely. There is my third project that's FIRE, called
Payback Is a Mutha
. Then my fourth joint, is a short story called “Enemy in My Bed.” And I got Part III to my Thug series, the book after the sequel
Every Thug Needs a Lady!
Everybody's dying (hint, hint) to know what happens to Snake, Trae and Kaylin. You know I like to keep my peeps hangin', anticipatin' and feenin' for my next joint. The title is
Payback Is a Mutha
was originally called
Don't Knock Tha' Hustle
but someone else got that title.

Do you think one or more of your books may end up on the screen and stage?

• Oh, fo' sho'! That's one of my goals. I would like Roc-A-Fella Films to holla at a sista as well as a few others. You know who you are!

Are you coming home soon?

• I'm presently waiting for an answer from my 2255 motion. I took my case to trial and lost. That's right. This sista here lives by the code: Death before dishonor. However, I lost two appeals and worse case scenario, I can't hit the bricks until '07. But I'm claiming '05 especially with these new Supreme Court decisions
Blakely vs. Washington
and
Booker & FanFan.

I take it that you don't have no love for snitches?

• Not at all. When everything is good, they eatin', ballin', bills are getting paid, they are taking care of their families, it's all gravy and they are happy to play their part. But as soon as the shit hits the fan their weakness and hypocrisy gets put on blast. The sad thing is without snitches the government ninety-eight percent of the time doesn't have a case. Snitches tell shit that the government wasn't even aware of. If everyone on my case would have stood tall, we all would have walked.

What were you into before you were incarcerated?

• Running my businesses and working. Ironically, working is how I caught my case.

Has your time in prison affected your views on life?

• Definitely. I appreciate being with and having a family that much more. I no longer take the simple things in life for granted. Freedom. My physical freedom is truly valued. If you have been locked down or did time with a loved one, you understand what I'm saying.

I heard you hung out with Martha Stewart. What is she like?

• I didn't hang out with her. I met with her on several occasions in an attempt to put together a business seminar, with her allowing us to pick her brain. And I met with her to go over my business plan for my publishing company. She gave me some very valuable feedback. Martha is cool. She did her little five months like a trooper and was always willing to help you out if she could. Plus, my agent used to date her niece and told Martha to look me up when she got here. Which she did. The first day she hit the compound she was asking who knows Wahida Clark. By that evening I had got the message, and I went to meet her. I thought she was going to be standoffish. But, to my surprise, she was the total opposite.

How did the inmates treat her? Were they hatin'?

• Like I said, I didn't hang with her. Whenever I got with her it was always on a business tip. So I didn't always see how the rest of the population was treating her. You always gonna have your haters and I would hear different comments. But me? I'm not a hater. I'm a congratulator. I'm trying to get where she is. She is big time. Certified gangster for real. Whenever you can do time and turn on the preview channel and see your TV show getting ready to air: that's big! Whenever you can do time and your magazine is coming out every month: that's big! Whenever you can do time and two major retail chains carry your products, merge and you make a billion: that's big! Whenever you can do time and your stock from your company is steadily rising: that's big! Whenever you can do time and when you set your foot out the gate a TV show is waiting for you: that's big! Whenever you can do time and bounce on your own private jet: that's big! I'm sure you get my point. I think she's a brilliant businesswoman.

Do you believe in God? If so, has your belief played a major role in your writing career?

• My God is Allah, the Supreme Being. I asked him to bless and to guide me to write tha bomb book. He answers all of my prayers. In time and on time.

So, you're Muslim. Who do you follow?

• Yes, I am Muslim. I don't advocate many different kinds. There is only one Muslim: the one who submits with all his heart and soul to Allah and Muhammad.

How old are you?

• I'm ageless.

 

You can write Wahida at Wahida Clark, P.O. Box 8520, Newark, NJ 07108.

The following are sample chapters from Wahida Clark's
highly anticipated upcoming novel
PAYBACK IS A MUTHA.
This book will be available in April 2006
wherever books are sold.
ENJOY!

“G
urrll, guess what?” Shan was almost jumping up and down as she shouted at her best friend, Brianna, through the phone.

“Why are you screaming?” Brianna asked with obvious agitation.

“I got the job, girl! I got the J, mutha-fuckin' O, B!”

“Which one? You done interviewed with damn near fifty thousand people.”

“The computer instructor for the prison. They just hung up.”

Brianna sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “It took them long enough. I would have changed my mind. I don't see why you want to work for the prison system or work, period! All these niggas out here with money.”

“Bitch, please! Everybody ain't a gold diggin' ho like you. I need my own cash and I don't want to suck dicks to get it!”

“You better get with the program. That's why your broke ass got two niggas and you can't even pay your bills now.”

“Bitch, just because you was in prison and I choose to work for the prison, don't hate. Congratulate! Plus, I've only been kickin' it with Calvin for a month. He likes me because he sees it ain't all about the cash with me. I'd rather get my own and have my own.”

“Please! Do you hear yourself? Like I said, you better step up your game and get with the program. You can fall for that weak shit if you want. That nigga knows it's all about the cash. Niggas ain't nothin' but tricks.”

“Do you, B, ‘cause you know I'ma do me, so are you down to help me celebrate or what?”

“Like I said, if you were on top of your game…”

“Girl,” Shan interrupted, “I bet you even hustle niggas in your sleep! Don't you?”

They both burst out laughing. Brianna knew for sure that Shan was telling the truth. “Let me make a few phone calls and I'll call you around nine. Dress to impress. You know I gotta kill two birds with one stone. I'ma celebrate with you and see who I can get with later,” Brianna said.

“Yeah I know how you do. But don't worry about me dressing to impress. You just make sure you are here by nine. Don't call at nine. Be here at nine! Peace out.”

“Wait. What are you getting ready to do?” Brianna asked.

“Take a beauty nap. What you think?”

“Whatever, ho. Do you.”

“I'm trying. Peace.”

 

After Brianna hung up the phone with Shan she headed for the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror as she pinned up her $1,200.00 weave. “Where should we go tonight?” She asked the mirror. It was Friday night, and she wanted to take full advantage of it. Her girl, Shan, loved the hip-hop clubs, but B's first preference was anything where the
real
ballers hung, so she knew she had to choose the spot.

She and Shan had been friends since the third grade. Everyone thought that they were family. Shan was closer to Brianna than her own blood sister. Unforeseen forces bound them close together like when Shan's parents were killed in that fatal car accident, and when Brianna got pregnant in the seventh grade and her mother put her out. They really leaned on one another. Even though Brianna lost her baby, her mother still wouldn't take her back. When social services came and took Peanut and Shan away, that left Brianna homeless. When a relative came and rescued them from the group home, that's when Brianna was taken off the streets. They made sure Brianna came with them. But her mother didn't allow her back home until she went to tenth grade.

The two friends were night and day in just about every way. Brianna was tall and Shan was short. Brianna had to wear Gucci, Prada and Chanel while Shan preferred Sean John, Baby Phat and FUBU. Brianna had the weave, fake nails and a boob job while Shan had the locks, sported her real nails and refused to do the makeup thing. Brianna went to prison while Shan now chose to work at a prison. Brianna lived large off the ballers while Shan preferred the legit businessman or blue collar worker. Which is why everyone couldn't figure out how they remained so close over the years.

During Brianna's eighteen-month prison bid the only two people who stuck by her was Shan and one of her sugar daddys by the name of Nick. He kept money on her books and allowed her to run up his phone bill. She had mad love for Nick, but she had been out now for a little over a year and he felt like she still owed him. Brianna had recently told him that she gave him enough pussy to consider her debt paid in full.

Upon hearing the phone ring, Brianna snatched it up. “Hello.”

“What up, B?”

“You.”

“You don't even know who this is.”

“Oh, I know who this is.” She teased. “There is only one Shadee.”

“Act like you know, girl! I thought I was gonna have to tap that ass. I need to swing by later on.”

“Around what time? Me and my girl is going out. Can you come before six?”

“That'll work.”

“Be on time please.”

“I got you.”

She sucked her teeth. “Yeah, right.” She hung up and immediately called Hook.

When Hook answered Brianna said, “Okay, nigga, I don't owe you nothing else. Your boy said he'll be here around six which means eight. So handle yours.”

“Handle mines?” He asked sounding pissed off. “We straight as long as it's worth my while.”

“Look, nigga, that ain't got shit to do with me. I called you and it's on so now we are even.
Ya heard?”

Hook didn't say anything for a minute. “Bitch, it's over when I say it's over!
Ya heard?
”

Brianna sighed as she slammed down the phone. “How in the fuck did I ever got involved with a sorry-punk-ass nigga like that?” She said through clenched teeth.

 

Shadee didn't show up until a quarter after eight. When Brianna opened the door he grabbed her by her hair and gave her a big sloppy kiss. “What up B?” He asked while squeezing her ass.

“I'm on my way out. My girl is waiting on me. When it comes to me you never have a concept of the time do you?”

“Time is always on our side, B. And its time to break me off a little sumthin' sumthin'.”

“I don't think so. If you would have come a little earlier, time would have been on your side. But I'm dressed, ready to go, and my girl is waiting on me.”

“So B it's like that?”

“Right this minute? Yeah!” She tried to move his hands off her ass. “You always puttin' me on the back burner.”

“Let me break you off then.” He whispered into her ear. “You can spare a few minutes for that, can't you?”

Brianna really didn't have to think that one over because Shadee could give tha bomb head. It felt like he had two tongues and like he put his nose in it.

“That got your attention huh?” He laughed, sucked on her luscious lips some more, then picked her up and took her to the bedroom. “When are you gonna settle down for me?”

She slipped off her skirt as soon as he put her down. “When can you settle down for me?” She flipped it.

“Why you gotta always answer my question with a question?” He slapped her on the ass.

“Oowww! Why'd you do that?” She rolled her eyes at him.

“Answer my question.” He watched her nipples stick out as he played with them.

“That feels good.” She slid back onto the bed, spread her thighs and ran her feet across his chest. “Can I answer you later?” She moaned as he licked the inside of her thighs.

“Yeah, I guess you can do that.” He said as he spread her swollen pussy lips, smiled at the sight of her clit sticking straight out and sucked one of his favorite juicy pussies until he couldn't suck anymore.

 

As Brianna washed up, Shadee began to pack six kilos of powder, and 8Gs in a bag. He took two of those and threw them on the coffee table for Brianna. “Yo, B!” he called. Brianna's apartment was one of the spots he used as a stash spot.

As Hook and his boy Rob sat in the car waiting for Shadee and watching his Benz, Shadee was kissing B on the lips. “Can I come by later?” he asked.

“Call me, okay?”

“Give me another kiss.” He leaned over and kissed her then headed out the door.

“Here comes our boy.” Rob, was anxious as hell as he grabbed his pipe and they sprang from the car. As Shadee went to unlock the car door, Rob smashed him over the head with the pipe causing Shadee to let out a loud grunt as he fell over. Hook grabbed the black duffel bag, then Rob stuffed Shadee's limp body onto the back seat. Hook started the car and as soon as he got it out of park, a forest green Hummer blocked him in and out jumped five of Shadee's boys.