Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx

by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc

there had been the suspension, followed by probation and counseling, and then the roof had caved in—literally. A whole chunk of Coco’s kitchen ceiling came down, after a weekend’s rainstorm. And then roaches—wave upon wave of roaches—made use of the sudden hole. Coco left increasingly desperate messages for her landlord, but the landlord never called back. “That lady have a habit of not returning calls,” Coco observed dryly. Then Coco and Frankie broke up again, but this time they’d even parted on kind terms, exhausted from the recriminations and arguing. Next, Coco lost her job: Garden Way closed. Not long after, the authorities discontinued Pearl’s SSI benefits; “She does too good in school,” Coco said. Within weeks, Rent-A-Center retrieved the velveteen green sectional couch that had effectively furnished the living room, and cable cut off access. Frankie brought milk and Pampers for La-Monté and called every night to calm him because he had trouble falling asleep without his father; then the phone company shut off the phone. In the barrage of trouble, Coco’s worries about Mercedes had once again been eclipsed.