Altered Destiny: A Hustler's Choice Read online

  ALTERED DESTINY

  A Hustler’s Choice

  Sherylynne L. Rochester

  Outskirts Press, Inc.

  Denver, Colorado

  This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

  Altered Destiny

  A Hustler’s Choice

  All Rights Reserved.

  Copyright © 2010 Sherylynne L. Rochester

  v2.0 r1.1

  Cover Image © 2010 iStockphoto.com/EricHood

  All rights reserved. Used with permission.

  This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Outskirts Press, Inc.

  http://www.outskirtspress.com

  ISBN: 978-1-4327-4330-7

  Outskirts Press and the “OP” logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.

  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

  Acknowledgements

  Well, first I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It’s been a rough and long journey, but you got me through it. Thank you for always being there and always caring. Thank you for forgiving me when I did wrong and thank you for just being You. You’ve been so good in my life and I just want to thank you.

  To my Dad, a wonderful preacher, writer, bass player, and GREAT dad. Thank you for your love and support. I know that very soon and I do mean soon you will blow up. Get ready! (Very soon people will be flocking in the millions to get your books, Secret Sexual Sins: Understanding A Christian’s Desire for Porn and The Minister’s Crucible).

  To my Mom, a wonderful preacher, teacher, editor, writer, and a GREAT mom. You have always been there talking me through the hard times and I thank you. Thank you for your love, support, the late night talks, and for putting up with me all these years. Thank you for making this book even better. Your hard work and dedication will pay off very soon and you shall reap all the benefits. I can’t wait for all of the books you have in you to be published and hit the bookshelves.

  To my grandmother, Lessie B. Dye, thank you for everything. Thank you for your prayers, concerns, and love. You are truly a wonderful and lovely person. Thank you for taking care of me during the years and the many doors you have opened in my life. I love you!

  To my family (Dye & Rochester), thank you for your love and continued support. Uncle Vernon (it’s going to get better, just wait and see; can’t wait for your books too!), Aunt Pam, Brandon (I love you), Uncle Larry Dye, Uncle Barry, Uncle Larry Rochester, Uncle Jeff, Nette Nette, Reggie (you are such a talented young man. Keep God always. I can’t wait to see you on tour playing drums. LOL!), and Cousin Peggy and the Newton Family.

  To my Prevailing Word Bible Church Family, thank you for your love and support. Special thanks to Minister Harold and Elder Charlene Pickel :), Minister Everett and Jeanette Fleming (24 buddy), Brother Reggie, Sister Michelle and Bayley Family, Deacon Murdock, Kelli Fortier, and Deacon and Deaconess Yvonne Bush and family. Thank you all for the encouragement and help through the years. You do not know how much your words and prayers have helped me. When others criticized me you guys always and I do mean always encouraged me at the right time and at the right place and I thank you so much!

  To my friends, Angelica Arseno, Quincy (Quincy-Wincy :) such a wonderful, kind, and sweet person, my best friend), and Angelica Resto. Thank you for calling and always being there. To Kendall, thank you for everything, the late night talks and making me laugh during this time.

  To Harlem Tabernacle (Pastor Barbara & Kyria), Zion Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY (Pastor Peace, Mrs. Peace, and the Missionary Ministry), Sword of the Spirit (Pastor Roger and Denise Jamison), Ark of Safety (Dr. Linda Abernathy, Minister Thompson, Aneesa Abernathy—we definitely got to get together and talk, and Pastor Michelle Covington), New Life Ministries (Pastor Katherine & Bernard Corbett and Bishop Bivens), and Lost Sheep Christian Center in the Bronx (Apostle Bryant, Co-Pastor Bryant, Evangelist Edith and Evangelist Scott). Thank you!

  To Shawn, I can’t wait for this album to drop. These songs are going to touch so many lives. You are a talented musician. Keep doing what you’re doing.

  If I forgot to mention you please do not be mad at me, feel neglected, or left out. I love everyone that has been in my life and I am truly grateful to have experienced everyone’s love and support. God Bless! The best is yet to come!

  Last, but not least this book is dedicated to my grandparents who have passed on and are with the Lord. Shirley Lucille Rochester, William Dye, and Eric Rochester.

  Sasha

  Prologue

  A Word From Sasha

  Living in Brooklyn was rough and sometimes unbearable. There was an old saying in my neighborhood that ‘if you make it out you’ve succeeded and if you don’t then you’re stuck’. At a young age you start to believe that motto and have that mentality. You start thinking that you can’t get out of the situations you are in. So, you start to accept it and do things like stealing, shooting, and hustling, whatever it took to survive.

  See, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York in the Bedford Stuyvesant area, also known as Bed-Study, Do-or-Die. Drugs were sold on the street corners, gunshots were heard almost every night, and crime was definitely high. There were vacant lots and run down buildings. Don’t get me wrong, some parts of Brooklyn were just beautiful, but, in the area I lived, it was far from its true beauty. Even though this was what my neighborhood was like, still, it was home.

  I loved living in Brooklyn. It was still a place where you could hang out, the birthplace of some great musicians and athletes, and where you could learn the latest fashions and dance moves. It was one of a kind and at times I was proud to say I was from Brooklyn, New York.

  Then, there were other times when it was just bad. Those times made you think that you couldn’t get out of Brooklyn no matter how hard you tried.

  You know, opportunities and doors didn’t open up like it should for many like me. Doors always closed and nothing opened. I asked myself time and time and again how I could be successful or become successful when I live in a place full of death and destruction? My environment said I couldn’t and people said I couldn’t. So, I just accepted it and did what I had to do to make it.

  See, there was the hood mentality; drug dealers who took over streets and homes, and young kids who sold drugs. It was just terrible. There was also prostitution, dope fiends, and killings everyday. That’s what I saw, that’s what taught me, and that’s what I lived and became. What was I suppose to do if all I saw was that?

  Some people even told me, “you could find a job to get out of this environment”, but didn’t they know that finding a good decent paying job was impossible. They wouldn’t hire a girl like me. They wouldn’t even give me a chance. They said I was too young and inexperienced. I tried that and that didn’t work. Just to have money, so that I could get by, I had to hustle. Sometimes, I had to be with someone that could take care of me the way I wanted and the way I needed to be whether I loved them or not. To have a decent life, to have the latest clothes, money, cars, or whatever I needed, I had to do me.

  I found something that was good for me and that worked for me. The streets were good for me and to me and it worked for
me. Living the street life, selling drugs, and being with men who had money helped me to be financially stable. I was getting paid and I was the baddest chick on the block. So after getting all I needed and wanted from the streets, who needed a 9 to 5? I didn’t! I was getting paid on the regular. I had a reputation on the streets and most of all I was making it.

  The streets taught me how to get to point B a lot faster than school. Yes, it was the dangerous route, but I got there. I had people who showed me the way, took care of me, had my back, and made it good for me. I had a car, a place to live, and more money than a person working 9-5. All of that was because of the streets.

  There was a time when I ran the streets and hooked up with those that could take care of me and had my back. I didn’t have parents the way society portrayed it. I didn’t have the picketed fence, with the mother and father, and a dog. My mother was killed and my dad didn’t want anything to do with me. Sometimes I wondered, maybe if I had parents who cared or was there for me I could have seen things differently and been different. Life definitely might have been different than it was. I might not have ended up the way I ended up if I had the kind of parents that cared or at least someone that cared. But, everyone was out for themselves, including my parents. So, I had to be too.

  With no one there to guide me positively, I didn’t see what could have been out there for me. At times I wanted the perfect life and I wanted that love from a mother or father, but I just didn’t have that. It did hurt that I didn’t have parents. In my mind that led me down a wrong path. That led me…well, here.

  People said over and over again throughout my life that I was going down the wrong path and that I better get it right, fast. They said, “Sasha go back to school because education would be the best thing for you right now.”

  So, I tried it, but it just didn’t get me to point B faster. The streets looked good and had everything I needed so why go to school? Then, the school system was just terrible. Teachers were only there for their paychecks. They only taught you what didn’t help you out here in this world. They taught you about America and all its history, but how could you apply all that to where you were living? I asked them that and they always responded ‘it does teach you things. History repeats itself and you can learn from it.’ They even said, “study it and then apply it to your situation and you may even see a way out from it all.” I had to ignore them because it wasn’t teaching me anything.

  They even told me about God. They said, “if you just call Him, He will show up in your life.” Yeah, I remember calling him one time before. God didn’t “show-up” as they said He would. Everything they told me I took it as a lie. I didn’t believe it and that unbelief, well, it made me say ‘forget God.’

  Now that I am able to look back and since I have so much time on my hands to think, I see that I was wrong and my thinking was wrong. I paid a heavy price just to live the fast life, just to get paid, and just to be something. I paid a price no one should have to pay. If you take the route that I took it can cost you something. Believe me, I know! It could alter your destiny.

  Here’s my story,

  Sasha Miller

  Chapter 1

  “W hat do we have here?” Dr. Stanley asked.

  A young woman was brought into the Hospital in critical condition on a gurney. Her pulse was faint and her body was filled with bullets. It did not look like she would last long. She was lifeless and very limp as the two doctors and nurses rushed over and began to work on her. The nurse rushed to place an IV in her arm as the doctors began to look over her body. Blood gushed from all over her as the doctors and nurses worked hard to save her life.

  “We have a female. Nineteen years of age. Her name is Sasha Miller,” said one of the nurses, as she looked over her chart.

  As the doctors looked over her body and her wounds they were shocked at how long she stayed alive. The wounds she had should have killed her instantly, but she seemed to be fighting for her life. She wanted to live.

  “What happened to her?” Dr. Stanley asked.

  A nurse rushed to assist the doctors. “She was found in a vacant lot with gunshot wounds. No witnesses, but they believe its drug related.”

  “Not another one,” Dr. Howard said. He had seen too many of these cases before and was getting tired of it. Seeing so many under the age of twenty-one coming in and dying was starting to bother him.

  “She is losing a lot of blood,” Dr. Stanley said. “Doesn’t look like she will make it.”

  “Let’s get her stabilized,” Dr. Howard shouted out.

  She needed surgery quickly just to stay alive. They needed to remove the bullets that were still in her before it was too late. It would be a hard task, but it needed to be done to save her life.

  “Let’s do all we can so that she can make it. Let’s get to work,” Dr. Stanley said.

  “Her blood pressure is dropping and her heart rate is decreasing,” said the nurse as she looked at the monitor in front of her.

  “Come on lets get these bullets out of her and get her stabilized. Don’t die on my watch,” Dr. Stanley said. He wanted her to live and experience life. He would do all he could to make sure she would.

  * * *

  I saw and heard them in the hospital room working on me as I began to slip away. As I moved away I saw myself on the gurney. The room looked somewhat dark and blurry as I slowly drifted away. I had blood all over my body and my clothes were torn so that the doctors could remove the bullets. I’ve never seen so much blood. I looked so helpless, but I never felt any pain. Even as I drifted away I didn’t feel pain. The doctors were working on me intensively trying to save my life. The nurses rushed around franticly as the doctors gave orders. It was real and something I’d never thought I’d go through—Me, shot up and on the verge of dying. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like I was dreaming, but I knew I was not. I hovered over for a little while looking at everything and everyone, but then something caught my attention. That something was drawing me nearer and further away from my body and from the operating room. What was happening? I didn’t know. I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t return to my body. I was just floating towards what was drawing me. I was fighting it because I didn’t want to go. Not like this and definitely not now.

  “Come,” said a voice in the distance. “Come I have something to show you.”

  The voice was very calming, peaceful, yet strong, but for some reason I didn’t want to go any further. It wasn’t because it was dangerous, but because I just felt like I couldn’t face Him. I just couldn’t face Him. Suddenly, two angels appeared by my side. One had the appearance of a man and the other an appearance of a woman. Both were very tall. The angel who had the appearance of a woman had wings and the wind was in her wings. She had wings like a stork and they reached high. They were so beautiful and not scary at all. The other angel who had the appearance of a man had no wings and his clothes gleamed like lightning. It was an amazing sight. As I looked up at them, I remembered that I had seen them before while on earth, but didn’t know when or where. I stared at them trying to figure it out and the angel that had an appearance like a woman ended her silence.

  “His word says ‘do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.’ You have entertained us, not very well I might add.”

  My head dropped and they continued to guide me to a room that was straight ahead. The room had bright lights. The light was white and somewhat blinding, but it was magnificent. It brought me to my knees. The angels who were by my side picked me up and held my arms gently as they guided me forward. Neither of them smiled at me nor did they say another word to me. I sensed that they knew what was coming and that was why they looked straight ahead with sad faces. Not once did they look at me, but they did look straight ahead at Him. The light was so blinding that all I saw was a silhouette of the Person they were looking at. He was tall like a man, but much greater. As my eyes adjusted to the light I saw a man, dresse
d in a robe that reached to the floor. He had hair that was white like wool as white as snow. Still, after seeing the back of this Man, I didn’t want to go any further, but the angels kept ushering and pushing me along to Him. I was too ashamed. I tried to hesitate, but they wouldn’t let me. I tried to stall but I couldn’t. Finally, the angels let go of me and I tried to run but my legs wouldn’t move one step. He was right in front of me standing with His back turned. Then, he turned around and looked at me. All I could think about, as he looked at me was how beautiful He was. More beautiful than the men I’d been with on earth. His body looked like a special gem and His face looked like lightning. Across his chest was what looked like a gold waistband and his feet glowed like polished bronze, as it is refined in a furnace. Rays of light flashed from his nail scared hands and His eyes were like flames of fire. He began to speak to me with a voice that was the sound of many waters and all I could do was listen to the cadence of his heart.

  “I tried so many times to warn you. I sent people, I sent angels, I myself even whispered in your ear and you dismissed it. I tried to warn you, but you did not heed to it. You ignored Me so many times. You did not listen,” He said.

  He touched my face gently. Tears began to roll down His cheek as well as down mine. I knew right then and there what this was about. The time had come for me to face Him.

  “I gave you an everlasting love that no one on earth could give you. But, you rejected Me time and time again. You didn’t want anything to do with Me. I had all that you needed and wanted. I offered it to you so many times, but still you said no, pushed my hand aside, and turned your back on Me. All day long I opened my arms to you, but you were disobedient and rebellious.”

  His voice remained strong as he stood so gloriously, but His face was sadder than before. I had tried to say something to Him, but no words would come out. Even if I could speak at that moment what would I say? I was too ashamed and too scared for I knew what was taking place. This was just too soon.