Rahsaan Stink Jones was given a second chance at life when he moved from his slum ridden North Carolina neighborhood to Newport News, Virginia to live with his grandparents. It didn t take long for him to see that all ghettos across America were just the same. After being introduced to a crack epidemic sweeping through the country, he met Cross, a crazed New Yorker who would stop at nothing in his thirst for life's finer things. Cross embedded his sadistic way of doing things into Stink's life. However, after meeting the beautiful Bonni, Stink's focus on life began to change. Faced with the reality that his lifestyle would only lead to death or prison, Stink was ready to make a choice. With the atrocious acts of his partner looming over his head, Stink was sure that he too would be Crossed--P. [4] of cover.