She say cuz you my baby I be stuntin like my daddy (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} trace_) wrote,@ 2020-06-16 17:58:00 |
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Setting: The neighborhood of Austin in Chicago. 1985. Spring. Action: A prostitute gives birth to a baby boy in the back seat of a 1975 Cadillac. Her pimp throws her out. A knock on the door of a dilapidated apartment building. Enter: Father of the baby boy, a drug dealer who traded drugs for sex with the prostitute. Action: Prostitute and child move in with father. Prostitute becomes a meth addict. Prostitute sent to jail for multiple counts of assault and breaking and entering. Pan far left and refocus: Father now left to raise a child not even positive is his own.
Trace Richard Arnett was born to Tracey Barker, a 19 year old hooker, and Richard Arnett, a drug dealer with no ambitions in the very heart of Austin, the most crime-ridden neighborhood in all of Chicago. Trace's childhood was riddled with exposure to drugs, crime and numerous bad influences but given his parental situation and where he lived this came as a surprise to no one. His parents weren't in love and barely even liked each other but the worse of it was how much Tracey disliked her son. What had started off as a loving relationship quickly deteriorated with Tracey not able fight her drug addition nor wanting to. Due to this she often lashed out and with Richard not always around she focused all her hate on Trace, abusing him verbally and physically until she was caught by Richard. In an effort to protect their child Richard sent Tracey away when Trace was five and she was quickly rounded up and imprisoned.
Trace suffered heavily from the abuse his mother inflicted upon him as well as being abandoned by her. Richard tried to be a caring father, but being a single father with no real income was more than he could handle, especially when he didn't believe Trace was truly his. He even went as far as about to drop him on someone's doorstep when an old friend reached out to him. Tonya Jenkins came into Trace's life and filled a void created by his mother. Share cared for him when Richard was away and welcomed them both into her family. With the help and encouragement from Tonya and her family Trace began to thrive and a strong bond began to form between father and son.
As Trace grew older, he gradually became wiser to his father’s profession. Even with the help that Richard was getting from Tonya he still couldn't keep Trace from noticing the junkies and fellow drug dealers that would frequent their apartment or the constant brawls Richard would have with his clients. Trace became a quiet observer to the life his father led, taking in every sight and every sound. He learned quickly that selling drugs in a neighborhood that depended so strongly on them provided a decent living. Despite still going through multiple hardships, the drugs Rich would sell were keeping them fed, keeping the utilities on and keeping them clothed. Therefore, it was of no surprise to Richard when he caught Trace stealing his stash and selling them to people at school and it was no surprise when he didn’t stop him.
Despite Tonya's best efforts, the world around Trace was growing ever more successful in molding him into a callous and unforgiving person. He had made no friends outside of his family, his living situation with his father was only growing worse after their apartment building suffered a rash of robberies and even with both him and Richard selling drugs, sometimes it barely put enough food one the table for just the one of them. Since neither Trace nor Richard was ever willing to take a hand out or ever ask for any kind of help sometimes they were both simply forced to go without. In high school, things only got worse as Trace struggled to make friends. All his attempts proved fruitless and only singled him out as a target, resulting in him being jumped by someone almost daily. Trace suffered through this for about a year, his smaller size not allowing him to fight back. When his sophomore year came around he worked hard to make himself stronger, filling out his frame so he could not only take the beatings that still occurred but defend himself as well. A few people began to notice this and soon Trace was given an invite into a local street gang. Still craving people who would accept him and needing friends to help protect him, Trace eagerly accepted and at age 15 became the youngest member to join.
Trace was initiated by quickly proving his loyalty to them and after a while became completely ingratiated into the gang. He took on their mannerisms, their style of dress and their attitudes in general and in return they stood up for him, having his back if anyone dared try to touch him. With their support Trace became more brazen, never backing down from anyone who challenged him and bit by bit lost any ounce of human decency that was left within him. That’s not to say that Trace was suddenly a ruthless killer but he certainly was no longer a gentleman, if it was possible to ever call him one. He was knee deep in drugs, both selling and using, owned a gun, which he regularly used to threaten people, and showed an utter lack of disrespect for anyone except for himself. His attitude got so bad that after a few years Richard couldn’t handle it anymore and gave Trace an ultimatum to which he responded with moving out of his apartment and into his own just a few floors down.
With the gang still having every influence over Trace and him doing everything that they told him to, he began to rise in the ranks and get even more involved. Everything he did earned him respect but nothing earned him more than when he was arrested. He was 19 the final time he was arrested and actually forced to serve jail time. Despite being tried as an adult, the offense only carried a short sentence and Trace was released before he was 20. While he was in jail, he was taken very good care of and initiated into yet another gang, earning him a set of tattoos that covered his shoulders. Even though he had little to no trouble inside, once he was released Trace's look on life actually began to change. He never wanted to go back to prison if he could help it and decided the only way to do so was to drop his gang.
It wasn’t an easy decision and wasn’t an easy one to execute either. The other gang members weren’t exactly understanding of him simply wanting to leave now that he knew their intricate workings. They threatened to kill both him and his father but Trace was determined to be his own man. He left them but after getting a severe beating, he agreed to return. He remained in the gang for another several years until a busted drug exchange and a bullet through his side made him change his mind. Trace fled town and his gang, letting them believe whatever they wanted about him until he felt the heat died down enough for him to return. Once back in Chicago, Trace finally had a chance to get his life together and didn't let it slip by. He used his skills at fixing things get him hired as the super of his apartment building and adopted a stray kitten he found as his pet. Trace was surprised at the changes he was making but the biggest of all came from a girl.
Initially Nessa and Trace despised each other, but after he came to the rescue one night and saved her life, they slowly became friends. As their friendship grew stronger, so did Trace's feelings for her until finally a dance audition brought them together and a kiss was shared. From there their relationship blossomed and remained strong even enduring hard times, such as Trace being drafted back into his gang and Trace being shot and nearly killed when testifying against them. Trace didn’t know what he would have done had he not had Nessa by his side during that time and she never was anything but there for him. Their love was even able to overcome multiple attempts at women from Trace's past doing all they could to tear them apart, in fact if anything it made them stronger.
When Trace decided to put his skills to use and actually open his own repair shop, no one was more supportive than Nessa and when his business actually began to grow Trace felt confident enough to take their relationship to the next level. It took him a while but once he finally summoned up the courage and proposed to her, making a grand spectacle of the act, Nessa gave him an enthused yes. Within months the two were married and had even purchased their first house together where they currently live in wedded bliss with their pets plotting the rest of lives together day by day.