Read Candy Licker for Free Online Page A

this job. Believe me, the state won't come looking for you, and if they do, they won't look long. Stick with me and you can live a whole lot better than the way you're living right now.”
    Hell, I didn't need no whole lotta convincing. I woulda followed Nicky into the pits of hell if it meant I'd have the money to finally make a demo. I didn't pack so much as a pair of drawers when I left neither. The next morning I snuck out of my foster family's house and jetted with Nicky to L.A., taking nothing but my singing voice and the clothes on my back, which was pretty much how I'd been traveling anyway.
    When we got to L.A., Nicky fronted me some ends for a small apartment and some decent clothes, and a week later I was on my feet and on my new job. I was only seventeen, but I had the body of a temptress and soul of a woman. And thanks to Mama, I'd seen enough ugliness in the world to keep the innocence off my face.

Chapter 4
Runnin’ Cash
    S ix months after I ditched the foster system and followed Nicky Gabriano out to L.A., Mama got her act together and Caramel was released from state custody. I was taking some computer classes at night, and the minute Mama's parental rights were restored and Caramel was back in her hands, I sent for both of them to come out West and stay in my small apartment.
    Money mules made okay cash, but not no high yardage. I only carried drugs when I absolutely had to, so that meant I had to work extra hard to support the three of us. To keep some fun in my life, every now and then I would take a gig singing in small clubs, at weddings, or at a local talent show, and that helped.
    But the more money I spent taking care of me, Mama, and Caramel, the less I was able to stash away to help my girls gear up for the Scandalous! demo. Vonnie and Dom were struggling too, so they understood. All three of us were consumed with getting a contract and cutting an album, and I asked them tobe patient a little while longer and promised that when we did make it we were gonna be
large.
    It took Mama almost four months, but she finally got herself together and found a small place for her and Caramel that was only ten minutes away from my apartment. Mama had recently completed a drug rehab program that came with a job referral, and she managed to land a job at a twenty-four-hour convenience store that didn't pay a whole lot but kept a little change in her pockets. She was always complaining about being broke and whined about needing a cell phone, which she wanted me to pay for. She also bugged the shit out of me to let her make a few of my cash runs, but that was out of the question. The most I could do was give her a few extra dollars, help her out with her rent, and make sure Caramel asked me for the little bit of stuff she wanted instead of going to Mama.
    Caramel was doing good too. She seemed to really come alive in L.A. She had started taking piano lessons while living with her white foster family, who claimed she was some kinda child prodigy in music. Mama swore to God they was right. After all, Mama had an excellent voice and Daddy used to be in a band, so music was in our blood. Caramel kept begging me and Mama to buy her a baby grand piano and hire a professional pianist to teach her full-time, but we didn't have it like that yet. I satisfied her by making a few extra cash runs to buy her a slamming electric keyboard, then gave her enough money for six months’ worth of private lessons at a music store at the mall.
    All in all, things were rolling for us in a way they never had before. I was satisfied mainly because we were together, but also because I was doing the things I loved most. Studying computersand working on getting a career. I had a computer manual in my hand by day and a mic in my hand by night. In between I jetted from city to city carrying Mob money then came home and hung out with Mama and Caramel. Who could want more than that?
    But then Dominica called and said Hurricane Jackson had offered