need of short-term loans, to pay for
this or that for the family. Again,
they’d rather deal with us than with
some gangster loan shark. Moms
knew we weren’t going to break
anyone’s legs if they couldn’t pay.
We didn’t believe in that. Also we
weren’t capable of it—let’s not
forget that part. But that’s where
Bongani’s brilliance came in. He
always knew what a person could
provide pending their failure to pay.
We made some of the craziest
trades. Moms in the hood are
protective of their daughters,
especially if their daughters are
pretty. In Alex there were girls who