African American Literary Award Winner for Best Biography/Memoir
As a youth, Corey Pegues was a criminal. As an adult, he became a high-ranking police officer.
In this fascinating look at life on both sides of the law, Corey Pegues opens up about why he joined the New York Police Department after years as a drug dealer. Pegues speaks honestly about the poor choices he made while coming of age in New York City during the height of the crack epidemic. He’s equally candid about why he turned his life around, and takes you inside the NYPD, where he becomes a decorated officer despite bureaucratic pitfalls and discriminatory practices. Written with the voice and panache of someone who knows the streets,Once a Copis a credible and informative look at the forces that lead some into a life of crime and what it means to make good on a second chance.Once a Cop
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Suburban Sugar Hill
No kid grows up dreaming of being a crack dealer. I certainly didn’t. My mother did everything she could to put me on the right path, to teach me the difference between right and wrong.
She made us go to church every Sunday. She’d wake us up early—so early that we’d all have to shower the night before. The next morning we’d be running around getting dressed while she’d yell from downstairs, “Hurry up! The Lord don’t have no time to wait for you!” There would be fights over the bathroom, because there was only one in the house for me, my parents, and my five sisters.
Ma would have breakfast ready when we came downstairs. We’d eat real fast and rush out the door. Poppa rarely came with us. Every Sunday she tried to get him to go, and every Sunday he’d say, “Eva, I ain’t goin’ to no damn church.&#lă'
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