Delrhonda Hood - A Hood Tale: Beyond B.E.T. With Big Fifty

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

Wahida Clark Presents Publishing

P.O. BOX 383

Fairburn GA 30213

1(866) 910-6920

www.wclarkpublishing.com

Copyright 2020 by Delrhonda Big Fifty Hood

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data:

A Hood Tale: Beyond B.E.T. with Big Fifty

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-957954-06-6

Ebook ISBN: 9781957954073

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910913

KEYWORDS

1. Gangsta 2. Love 3. Relationship 4. Family 5. Abuse 6. Sickness 7. Secrets 8. Friendships 9. Drama 10 Street life

Cover design and layout by Temper Tantrum Tina & Nuance Art, LLC

Editor: Chase Bolling, Alan Nixon

Book design by www.artdiggs.com

Printed in United States

Created with Vellum

For whatever reason you were drawn to this book, I want to say thank you for picking it up. My name is Delrhonda Hood, and some people may know me as American Gangster: Big Fifty. You might have even seen the movie or the American Gangster Trap Queens special about me on BET. One of these days I'll sit down, write a memoir, and give you my real-life story. For now, I wanna take you behind the Hollywood and hood pageantry into the testimony. I've been a lot of things and wore more hats than a man covering a bald spot. I didn't have time to chase clout; I chased money and did what I had to do to make sure me and mine were straight. I did the wrong thing more times than I can count, but I'm sitting here talking to you, so I guess I did something right.

Langston Hughes once wrote Life for me ain't been no crystal stair in a poem called Mother to Son. I find it powerful because in it the mother lays out how hard her journey has been while encouraging her son to continue his own with hope in his heart. Its a call to perseverance and resilience that still resonates almost a hundred years after it was written. We are a long way from the days of the Harlem Renaissance, but our communities are still rife with many of the same issues, and a few new ones besides. Now more than ever we need encouragement and reinforcement. With all this talk of micro aggressions, triggering, privilege, and representation, it feels like everybody is talking about mental health, but the world gets more crazy.

When I was coming up, we didn't have safe spaces, and self-care meant washing your ass and triggered didn't have no context outside shooting people. The world is so different now, so much has changed. I can say that the pain and the anger is still the same as I'm talking to you now. My life hasn't been no crystal stair either. Shit, I don't know anyone who's had one. There was plenty of concrete, asphalt, bad tile, and maybe some broken glass though. But this isn't a sob story or pity party. Instead, this is my opportunity to speak to my fellow survivors and to those who were or are about that life. For my ex-cons, current cons, dope boys, and trap queens. If you let me, I will speak to the youth, the curious, and the old dogs still tryna learn new tricks. I want you all to feel seen and heard. I want you to know that youre not and never will be alone in what youre going through.

I bring you these words not to glamorize a lifestyle or romanticize the streets. I'm not gonna tell you to do as I say and not as I've done. It's your life, and youre going to live it as you wish. I can't promise wisdom but to share some things the movie didn't and walk you through the anatomy of the trap queen it portrayed. I can't promise I'm gonna change your life, but if I can make you think, then it was well worthwhile.

I want to start by saying as the Official Queen of Street Lit its been my honor and pleasure to work with the legendary DelRhonda Hood A.K.A. Big Fifty. Her story is not only inspiring but refreshingly real and unique. I dont know many that can do what she has done. Especially not with her unique style and flair! Its truly a great experience to get to highlight celebrate a fellow queen. Like Delrhonda herself this project was bold and ambitious. We set out in mid-May to get a book done before the Essence Festival. It wasnt easy but stories this good almost write themselves. With hard work and a whole lot of hustle here we are!

My team and I are pleased to admit that we were energized by the life and adventures of Delrhonda Hood. As pioneers in literature, we had been searching for the right voice and personality to launch our newest literary endeavor. A Hood Tale: Beyond B.E.T. with Big Fifty is the first of many exciting new projects where we infuse epic true crime stories with our signature Street Lit flava! DelRhonda is a true American Gangster whose life and testimony made her an obvious first choice. She reached a queen pin status that few if any have ever approached. Thats why we had to take yall beyond the film with the Godmother herself!

I could always remember the old commercials that used to come on hyping up Detroit like it was the greatest place in the world. The fancy restaurants, expensive shops, ritzy attractions, and exciting skyline they portrayed looked like a dream. But even as a young child, I knew the reality. They tried to sell the dream of Detroit. Like someone handing you a shattered toy and telling you to pretend it's not broken.

My Detroit was full of broken things. Broken dreams led to broken lives and broken people. To those of us who lived in the cracks of a shattered society, it was never about that fake-ass slice of life they offered in the commercials. That's not my Detroit! In the real Detroit, it was all about survival. I should know. Detroit is my hometown. I learned how to survive, and I knew I had to get my money by any means necessary. It wasn't easy, especially for a woman. The life I lived forced me to use my gut instincts, training me to listen to that inner voice that helped keep me alive. When that failed, I resorted to violence when it was necessary. Most of all, you learned that you had to use your brain, because being smart beats being hard. Every time. I used to run these streets, at least I did in my younger days. Now rather than inspiring respect and fear in the hood, I seek to inspire the youth. I tell them my story. My name is Delrhonda Hood and in the streets, I was known as Big Fifty. I'm here to help others avoid the mistakes that I made. I'm here to save you, not just from a life of crime, but to spare you from what I went through and -- most of all -- to save you from yourselves.

I remind myself of this each time I prepare to sit down with a group of young ladies. I often see so much of myself in the faces that stare back at me: the attitude-laden scowls, masking pain, the sparkle in their eyes belying ambitious hearts, or the dullness speaking of hope lost. These young women are like a mirror. They remind me of who I am, where I've been, and where I come from. It's who I'm trying to be that gets me up and keeps me motivated to use my life story as a testimony and a lesson.