Nine year old Daquan has been raising himself and his five year old brother in New York's subway tunnels since his mother was shot, abducted and murdered four years earlier by a crooked cop after a deal gone bad. Since then, the street smart kid has had one obsession, to get his genius brother into the most prestigious school in Manhattan like his mother wanted. The problem is Naquan doesn't have a parent, and there is no way Daquan will get him enrolled in Saint Mary's without a legitimate adult. Enter China, a once extraordinarily beautiful ex-schoolteacher turned official crack head. Can Daquan recruit China, and convince her to teach and play mother to his younger brother? And if so, will he be able to rehabilitate and transform her into a wealthy looking parent long enough to get Naquan into Saint Mary's?
For his plan to work, Daquan makes secret alliances with various elements of the drug trade to get his own crew, and take over Hunts Point. It's a tall order, and there are a whole lot of obstacles for Daquan to overcome. There's the past with his mother's tragic death, and the distraction of juggling two women. There's Romereo Denareo, a crooked cop with political ambitions, who's skilled at shaking people down, and has a hard on for his partner's wife. Top of the list however is 'Madd Dogg' Rachet, who has a reputation for doing whatever it takes to hold on to his territory: murder, extortion, torture, and feeding victims to his dogs. Once, China used to be his and the last thing 'Madd Dogg' wants to see is her come up after all he went through to bring her down.
Can Daquan overcome and prove that age ain't nuthin but a number? Here is a well written tale where plot and back stories are woven so seamlessly that you realize that this is more than just another example of gritty urban fiction.
