If you put your hands on anybody in the family you would get jumped by the next oldest person in our family, and so on and so on. Plus it was plain and simple common sense. We never had to worry about getting into fights because around our way we had reputation. As far as we were concerned it was live for all of us to be chilling in the same building, or at least the next building over. I had three aunts, four uncles, and a whole slew of cousins. We lived in the projects but we were cool with that.

It was important for me to know I deserved the best, no slum jewelry, cheap shoes, or knock-off designer stuff, only the real thing. My moms said that my fingers were too small and soft to even hold a ring in place, but he insisted that he had a guy who would have it adjusted just right. The same night I got home my pops gave me a diamond ring set in 24-karat gold. My father, Ricky Santiaga, was so proud of his new baby girl that he had a limo waiting to pick my moms up from the hospital. I came busting out of my momma's big coochie on Januduring one of New York's worst snowstorms. Let me take my time and tell my story.īrooklyn-born I don't have no sob stories for you about rats and roaches and pissy-pew hallways. Hell, you can't smell nobody's breath through a camera. When it comes right down to it, those are the ones who really count, the people who was there, who seen it all. All of y'all are too quick to jump to her defense without knowing what somebody up close and personal thinks. Don't go jumping to any conclusions either. Before I get heated just talking about her, let me make it clear who I am and where I stand. She the type of female I'd like to cut in the face with my razor. I never liked Sister Souljah, straight up. Unwilling to lose, this ghetto girl will do anything to stay on top.įeaturing a Special Collector’s Edition Reader’s Guide-including an author Q&A, detailed character analyses, and the author’s own remarks about the meaning of her story. But when a cold Winter wind blows her life in a direction she doesn't want to go, her street smarts and seductive skills are put to the test of a lifetime.

Quick-witted, sexy, and business-minded, she knows and loves the streets like the curves of her own body. Ghetto-born, Winter is the young, wealthy daughter of a prominent Brooklyn drug-dealing family. I came busting into the world during one of New York's worst snowstorms, so my mother named me Winter. Renowned hip-hop artist, political activist, and bestselling author of Life After Death brings the streets of New York to life in a powerful and utterly unforgettable first novel. “50 Most Impactful Black Books Of The Last 50 Years” - Essence Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

The coldest winter ever book series