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speak her mind.
    “From the beginning I was against Grandma selling drugs outta the apartment,” Carmen continued with her rant.
    Andrew’s mother, Maria, was in and out of jail so often she wasn’t too concerned about his arrest.
    “Would you listen to Princess Di,” Maria snapped, shooting Carmen a nasty look, “the walking contradiction.”
    Carmen turned around to glare at her younger sister. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, hands on her wide hips.
    “You talking holier than thou, but your man’s a mule for the Colombians,” Maria replied. “What? You thought nobody knew, bitch?”
    Even though Carmen didn’t approve of Grandma selling drugs, Carmen’s boyfriend, Guido, smuggled drugs from Colombia to the United States on commercial flights.
    “Mind your business, you crackhead bitch,” Carmen shouted.
    “Fuck you!” “Not here,” Uncle Tito said, stepping between his two sisters. “Have some respect for Ma.”
    Both women seemed to hate each other. Maria envied her older sister because Carmen had her shit together, holding down a decent-paying job as a secretary.
    Thanks to the loud argument, one of the nurses on duty politely asked the family to leave. Everyone said good-bye and left the older woman to her much-needed rest.
    The next afternoon Ms. Lewis was back at home, going about her business like nothing had happened. Unfortunately for Andrew, he didn’t get out of jail for another two days. When he did get released, he headed right back out on the block that same night, trying to knock off a bundle.
    Gigi hated to admit it, but her grandma’s decision to hustle had had a big impact on Andrew, and he took to hustling with a passion, even though she was against it.

Chapter Two
    W hen Gigi’s alarm sounded at eight o’clock, she woke up and hopped out of bed, more excited than if it was Christmas Day. Three days had passed since the raid, and the family was getting on with life.
    After taking a quick shower and throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Gigi headed down the long hallway, where she found Grandma in the kitchen making a hot breakfast.
    “Good morning, Grandma,” she said, kissing her on the cheek. Not only did her grandkids call her Grandma, so did everybody else on the block.
    “Hey, baby,” Grandma said, giving her a bright smile. “You ready to go shopping?”
    Gigi couldn’t help but laugh. “Why you messing with me?” she said. “You know the cops took all our money.”
    “I know … I know,” Grandma said, her Spanglish accent coming through, “but I still got my disability check. Hurry up … eat. You gonna need your energy.”
    Grandma hadn’t worked since being diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of fifty. She depended on the disability check she received every month, but she knew how to stretch the money. Even after her own kids were all grown, she helped raise Gigi and Andrew.
    “I don’t want you wasting money buying me clothes.”
    “Hush,” Grandma said. “No argue with a sick old lady.” She was determined to make sure her grandkids got everything they wanted for Christmas.
    Gigi grinned as she sat down to pancakes, sausages, and eggs. She had already taken a few bites when she looked at her grandmother. Despite the smile the older woman always wore, Gigi realized she wasn’t looking too good.
    “How you feeling today?” Gigi asked.
    “I’m fine,” Grandma said, settling down to a plate of wheat toast and tea.
    Gigi stared at the food. “That’s all you’re eating?” she asked, knowing something was definitely wrong. “Grandma, you know I understand if you don’t wanna go shopping today.”
    Before she could even get the words out, her grandmother was shaking her head. “We’re going,” she said. “I been waiting weeks for this.” She reached over and stole a piece of bacon off Gigi’s plate and popped it in her mouth, making a show of chewing it.
    “You sure?” Gigi asked worriedly.
    “Hurry up,”