Sydney took Izzy into downtown Kensington. Since people would be out shopping in that area, there was a better chance of them making a little more money from begging. As the two of them sat on a busy street corner, Rock, the drug dealer friend of Syd’s father, approached them. People called him Rock because he specialized in the sale of crack cocaine, or “cookie,” as the drug was known on the streets. He looked every bit the picture of a man involved in a shady business. He wore his black hair long, combing it back with a greasy hair-care product, and kept a full beard and a mustache. Even in the heat of summer, he never went without a leather jacket. He patrolled Kensington Avenue regularly, keeping a close eye on his street dealers and “whores,” as he referred to the prostitutes working for him, and was always on the lookout for young people to make money for him. “Hey, Syd! You get hotter every time I see you. You know, if you’re tired of making nothing begging I can offer you some work.
