When I started writing Cash, I knew I wanted to tell the story of a young girl who was forced to grow up long before she was supposed to.
A lot of times, when we read stories about childhood trauma, the trauma has to be extreme. We expect drugs, physical abuse, or sexual abuse to justify why someone struggles as an adult. But I wanted to tell a different story.
Sometimes, a hard childhood is simply having a parent who wasn’t willing to be a parent.
Cash’s mother wasn’t addicted to drugs. She wasn’t abusive in the traditional sense. She simply decided that motherhood wasn’t what she wanted. Instead of raising her children, she handed that responsibility to her oldest daughter and walked away emotionally.
That kind of abandonment leaves scars, too.
I wanted readers to see that trauma doesn’t always look the same. Sometimes it’s being ten years old and realizing that if you don’t make dinner, nobody eats. Sometimes it’s learning to become responsible before you’ve even had the chance to be a child.
I also intentionally wrote Ms. Sharon the way I did. She wasn’t a perfect woman, and I never wanted her to be. But I wanted to show that guidance, good or bad, doesn’t always come from inside your home. Sometimes the people who help shape your life are neighbors, teachers, coaches, mentors, or complete strangers who see something in you that nobody else does.
Another thing I wanted to explore was the idea of hustling.
People often separate “street hustles” from “legitimate hustles,” but at the end of the day, a hustle is a hustle. Cash built businesses doing lashes, wigs, and beauty services. Milan built wealth through investing, real estate, and trading. They both understood what it meant to work, sacrifice, and create opportunities where none existed. The difference wasn’t that one hustled and the other didn’t—it was where they chose to invest their energy.
I also wanted Milan to represent something we don’t always get to see. He’s a man who came from similar circumstances, looked at the road in front of him, and consciously chose a different direction. Sometimes wisdom comes from watching what happened to someone else and deciding, “That won’t be my story.”
More than anything, though, Cash is about learning to receive.
So many of us become so accustomed to surviving that we convince ourselves we have to carry everything alone. We tell ourselves that because one person let us down, everyone else eventually will too.
But that’s not always true.
Every person deserves the opportunity to show you who they are. Use discernment. Protect your peace. But don’t let yesterday’s hurt rob you of tomorrow’s healthy love.
Whether that support comes from a partner, a friend, a sibling, or your community, let people show up for you.
Because one day, the weight you’ve been carrying will become too heavy for one set of shoulders.
And when someone genuinely reaches out to help carry it, I hope you’re brave enough to let them.
I think that’s the real heart of Cash.
Not that someone came to save her.
But that she finally allowed herself to stop carrying everything by herself.
— Sasha
If you haven’t had the chance to read Cash yet, I’d love for you to meet her. I hope her story reminds you that survival isn’t the end of your story—and that it’s okay to let people on love you along the way.
Start reading Cash today on Kindle Unlimited.
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