Institute History
Description
You gotta know how to fold suits over your sleeve, put the top hanger under, stick it in your girdle, get the beepers off, use wire cutters. Ink don't do nothin', just bring it to the tailors.
On city streets where Moschino is better known than Malcolm X, a young Black woman named Niecy "boosts," making money and admirers but little headway in life.
Almost all of the boosters in Boston know one another and most compete—Niecy doesn't have to. Her one bedroom apartment is filled with boxes of stolen clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories—all ready to be sold if needed. Twenty-five, strong and slick, Niecy has a high school education, a legitimate job in the sportswear section of a downtown department store and a personality that dismisses the fact that she boosts to those who would hold it against her. She doesn't boost for drugs or rent, she does it because she can. She's a good person, she just doesn't realize she's good enough not to boost.
Camille, Niecy's best friend and partner in crime, is a mother of one who can only be loosely classified as a parent. Still in love with her abusive, womanizing ex-boyfriend (the father of her child), Camille tends to steal clothes and keep them for herself, even when rent is due. Niecy's own ex has recently discovered crack and finds stealing the stuff Niecy stole to get rock easier than stealing himself. Christian is the ringleader of a crew that regularly sweeps stores. He wants Niecy to join one of his teams but she'd rather remain independent.
Niecy's Aunt Lily, a married mother of two, knows exactly what Niecy is doing and wants her to think about her future. Niecy's mother Elaine doesn't care what Niecy does as long as it serves her. Niecy's grandmother Francine just wants her to know she'll be there.
In the end, Niecy's designer clothes, car and jewelry can't mask the truth. She's not sure what she wants out of life or what she wants to do with it. And she needs to make up her mind before someone or something else does it for her.