From BROOKLYN, by Tracy Brown. Copyright © 2024 by the author, and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
CHAPTER ONE
Church Girl
December 1995
The church was rocking like a rap concert. People were on their feet finishing the pastor’s sentences like lyrics to a song they all knew.
Reverend Elias James stood tall in the pulpit with the Bible gripped firmly in his hand. His deep, melodic voice boomed across the sanctuary, eliciting shouts of “Hallelujah!” and “Amen!” from the crowd.
Brooklyn Melody James was a seventeen-year-old beauty. Named after the borough where she was born, she seemed to embody the spirit of the place. Tough, trendy, edgy, and popular. Although she was born there and bore its name, she had few memories of the place. Her parents had moved to Staten Island, the city’s forgotten borough, when she was just a child. In a place with such an interwoven community, her golden skin, bright eyes, and dimpled smile made her a magnet for just about every type of attention. Boys wanted to date her, girls wanted to be her friend, and everyone seemed eager to be liked by her. As the middle child in her family, she felt like the black sheep at times.
Amir was the firstborn, a son, the heir to Daddy’s throne. His name meant “ruler” in Arabic, a sign that the bar had been set high for him from birth. He had graduated high school the year prior and was taking some time off from school while he decided what to do next.
Hope was the sweet baby girl of the family. The gentle and sheltered one. She was respectful, always following the rules of the family and of the church. She had a pure and gentle heart that made her popular with children. It also made her a favorite of the church elders, who often held her up as an example of what God wanted the youth to strive for.
Of the James siblings, Brooklyn was the most outgoing, the most outspoken, and by far the most challenging of them all. She questioned everything, never failed to speak her mind, and had no problem challenging authority. Without realizing it, she managed to do everything her mother didn’t have the courage to.
The church her father was preaching at today was a Baptist congregation in the Bronx, celebrating their elderly pastor’s thirtieth anniversary. It was clear to Brooklyn as she watched the reaction from the packed house that they hadn’t heard such a rousing sermon in a long time. Half the sanctuary was on their feet, hooting and hollering so heartily that the sound shook the room.
Brooklyn watched her father work. She had heard him preach this sermon before. It was an old favorite that he often reverted to when he was invited to churches as a guest preacher. This was one such Sunday.
She sat on the cushioned front pew next to her mother Sabrina. Her brother Amir and her sister Hope sat to the right of her. To the world, they looked like a picture-perfect family. A postcard for Black excellence. But Brooklyn knew the truth. Behind their carefully crafted public image of stellar Christian living were many twisted secrets.
Elias reached the grand finale of his sermon as sweat seemed to drip from every pore of his body. Brooklyn’s gaze roamed to the choir stand, aware that it was now the moment they had all been waiting for. Scanning the soprano section, she found her best friend Erica and watched as she calmly stood up, stepped to the microphone, and unleashed her anointing—a voice so angelic and clear that people began to weep.
As Erica sang her song, Elias summoned the congregation to the altar for prayer. Brooklyn watched as the flood of people rushed forward, many of them falling to their knees. Her mother Sabrina stood and joined the host church’s aging first lady at the altar. Together they stood with their hands interlocked and their heads bowed, ad-libbing as the prayer went on.
Brooklyn watched it all, thinking that this was one big well-orchestrated production. Her father was the main attraction, but the choir was always the crowd-pleaser. No matter how stale the sermon or how recycled the scripture, even the worst Sunday service could be salvaged by some good old-fashioned singing. Once the altos and sopranos came together with the musicians, and the rhythm of the drums and tambourines hit the sanctuary, it was time for church.
She glanced at the drummer Jordan as he looked at Erica and nodded, signaling that it was time to hit the song’s crescendo. His tempo sped up a notch, the beat of his drumsticks intensified, and Erica hit the high notes effortlessly.
Elias shouted “Amen!” and the spirit moved freely through the church. Brooklyn had seen it all before. The fainting, shouting, hands raised to the sky, mouths parted wide with praise. All while the ushers rushed forth with the offering baskets, urging everyone present to empty their pockets in Jesus’ name.
“Will a man rob God?” Elias quoted scripture as the ushers moved slowly down the aisles.
Brooklyn watched as her mother demonstratively dropped a hefty envelope into the basket, setting a fine example for everyone else to follow suit. Brooklyn had to resist the urge to laugh, aware that her mother knew full well that that money was going to find its way right back into her household in one way or another. The trustees of both churches were already waiting in the back to split up the loot the moment the shakedown was over.
As the ushers conducted their business, the choir joined Erica for the chorus of “At the Cross.” The whole room was on their feet now, and Brooklyn clapped her hands to the beat of Jordan’s drum. She made a mental note to compliment him on a job well done during the ride back to Staten Island. Today’s service had been a well-executed performance on everyone’s part, which meant the envelope her father would be taking home would be a hefty one.
By now, Brooklyn understood that money was the name of the game. Sure, the goal was to save souls and spread the Gospel. But growing up as a preacher’s kid had taught her that behind all that was a desire to increase membership, thereby increasing the tax-free tithes and offerings they could rely on each week. The goal was to book popular guest preachers and to go “on tour” and do preaching engagements at other churches where the offerings were often higher than the ones they got at home. In Brooklyn’s eyes, it was all a hustle. One big game with everyone fighting for status, power, and prestige, which all equaled cash. And her father was the greatest hustler she had ever seen.
Tracy Brown crafts a tale about a master manipulator and serial survivor, who will scorch earth to get what she wants. The question isn’t who murdered her; the question is who wouldn’t?
Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became.
Brooklyn learned the art of hustling from her parents who used the church to get money. Idolizing her father and despising her mother, Brooklyn’s determined to be the type of woman who makes her own rules. When her back’s up against the wall, she sacrifices her family, takes the burnt offering that remains, and runs away. In NYC, young Brooklyn charms her way into the inner circle of hustlers and stick-up kids, learning tricks along the way. She catches the eye of a major player in the drug game, Hassan, and they have a breathless love affair. Brooklyn becomes integrated into his operation, earning the trust of Hassan and his associates. But when she gets the keys to the kingdom, driven by unfettered ambition and a ruthless desire to survive, Brooklyn snatches the pot of gold, leaving bitter retribution promises behind her.
From DC to Maryland, Brooklyn burns bridges and breaks hearts. What she doesn't realize is that someone is prepared to end her reign of terror. As she faces her killer and her fate, Brooklyn’s stunned that justice comes from the least likely place.
Women's Fiction Contemporary | Fantasy Urban [St. Martin's Griffin, On Sale: February 27, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781250834959 / eISBN: 9781250834966]
Tracy Brown is the Essence bestselling author of Aftermath, Snapped, Twisted, White Lines and Criminal Minded. Writing has always been her passion, and she finds it an honor to depict for her readers the things she’s seen and heard. She is a native New Yorker, born and raised in Staten Island.
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