SCHEMIN
Confessions of a Golddigger
-From “Pay-less” to Paid For.
Schemin’ is the story of a black woman, Jalita, who decides that in the absence anything GOOD in her life, she’s going to create her own fate. She’s been blessed with a beautiful face and figure, and an obviously sharp but misdirected mind. She decides to capitalize on what she thinks she’s worth, and lands near the top of the heap with a professional basketball player. Along the way, the book introduces us to a number of characters and notches in her belt, who ultimately determine her path. We meet her mother (the word is loosely used), her rivals, her lovers, and eventually, her mentors. The book is a wild ride on the wild side, and ends up with a woman who eventually realizes that all that glitters on the end of a gold digger’s shovel is not…you know the rest. The story wraps up with a bit of a shocker, but oddly, the shocker, as surprising as it is, is only half the prize. The real treasure is in the last five pages, but, , not nearly as satisfying unless you read the first 300. Don’t cheat yourself; do the work, you’ll be glad you did!
Suffice it to say, the author has done her homework, and even though the book seems to stretch credulity, it doesn’t. These people represent as much a real slice of human life as any others. The writing is compact and forceful, done in a first person format. We see the world through Jalita’s jaded, but uncannily omnipresent eyes. She offers straightforward opinions and rationale, without embellishment, that make sense. There are no odd leaps of logic or faith, and she provides enough background for the reader that her decisions flow naturally.
I enjoyed the book, and devoured it for its style and content. As a reader, I appreciated the author reveling in her craft. As a woman, I found parts of the book disturbing. The book is about a woman who decides that money and ‘getting paid’ is her goal. Of course, people decided to prostitute themselves for a number of reasons, for a number of currencies (money, influence, social standing, power). As much as I wanted to understand Jalita, or people like her, I found myself, in the end, unable to get a grasp of what made her tick. At its heart, this is a story, not a tutorial, which is as it should be. Presumably, this is what makes Jalita so successful at her vocation. I was uncomfortable with her, as a person, and perhaps, that was the intention of the book. I think that that discomfort is a good thing, because its is that kind of sand in the oyster that makes the most beautiful pearls. This book is a pearl of the first water.
Schemin
Andrea Blackstone
Dream Weaver Press
ISBN: 0-9746847-0-8
Published 2004
Reviewed By: Angela Hailey
Black Butterfly Review