MEMOIRS OF THE DARK CHOCOLATE YEARS Part 1 THE BEGINNING

Book excerpt: Take a heartfelt journey with Lorina Simmons, otherwise known as Chocolate, who was raised in one of the roughest housing projects in Queens, New York, and see her life through her words. She bares her struggles and her painful, poverty-stricken life, in which she suffered abandonment and many phases of abuse. After being raised by her grandmother and her drug-addicted mother, she landed in the foster care system. Tossed from ghetto to ghetto, her life became a series of battles, which included promiscuity, petty crimes, drugs, violence, survival, education, and love. Will self-destruction be the outcome for young Chocolate for years to come, especially when she met Maurice Sparks, a handsome red bone with ulterior motives, or will C.J. (Corey Jeppard), another stunning man and veteran be the key to life-altering decisions? Will a world full of deceit and betrayal make or break her? Through turmoil, however, music became her guide and sanctuary, as she continued to survive in the belly of the beast, known as the streets.