Cheryl Marks couldn't believe how far her life had come. As a young girl she'd spend hours at a time sitting in the window of her family's apartment on the top floor of a large Chicago housing complex. Like a little anonymous bird, she'd watch the comings and goings of the residents of Diamond Row, an upscale area near the complex, and dream about one day being like one of them. While the view of the fancy cars and shops lining the boulevard was clear, the reality of the luxurious lifestyle was painfully out of her reach. Now she seems to be a young woman on the verge of getting just about...