Content Warning: This section of the guide contains references to child neglect and abuse, rape, sexual abuse, underage sex work, substance misuse, and domestic violence.

Cupcake Brown is the author of A Piece of Cake, her autobiography detailing her experiences from the time her mother died until the day she graduated law school. Between these two points are two decades of harrowing and traumatic experiences that shaped the person Cupcake became in both positive and negative ways.

Cupcake was 11 years old when she found her mother lying dead in her bed. Unsure how to react, she held her mother and sang to her. Cupcake felt angry toward God for allowing this to happen, and this anger is something she harbored for years. Cupcake was taken away from the only family she had left and sent to live in foster care, where she was systematically abused and neglected. Those experiences pushed Cupcake toward substances and alcohol to numb her pain and forget her past. With each passing month, more and more horror unfolded in her life. She was raped, starved, and attacked while pregnant, resulting in a pregnancy loss. Cupcake eventually became involved in a Crips gang and learned how to commit serious crimes, including drive-by shootings.