 |
|
|
MILLER PUBLISHING CO. PRESENTS...
UPDATES!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>THE SEQUEL TO A TASTE OF BITTERSWEET FRUIT, VENOMOUS , HAS BEEN NEWLY RELEASED BY MILLER PUBLISHING CO.!!!
Purchase online: www.millerpublishingkharisma.com
>>>> A TASTE OF BITTERSWEET FRUIT AND VENOMOUS ARE BOTH BEING FEATURED AT THE DOWNTOWN RICHMOND LIBRARY, 101 EAST FRANKLIN STREET. IF YOU CAN'T PURCHASE THE BOOK, PLEASE CHECK IT OUT FOR FREE!.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Venomous Preview
Chapter 1
Khaila
More than two months had passed since my world had been turned completely upside down. My baby boy was gone, just like that, and with him a part of me was gone as well. Things never were the same after the kidnapping. Although D.C. and I were still together, we were both hurt and depressed. We made sure to take it out on each other daily. The arguing increased as time went by. Playing the blame game, we constantly blamed each other for what happened to Khyon. I would blame him for having us in court that day, and he would blame me for letting Tracie handle the baby. I blamed myself for that too, she wasn�t the most responsible person I knew. We both knew how stupid and ghetto she could be.
D.C. and I realized eventually that we were acting out of anger and grief. We both knew Fefe would have found an opportunity to get at us one way or the other. She had found the perfect opportunity to hurt us by kidnapping our son.
Fefe disappeared with Khyon without a trace immediately after the court incident. We knew she had to have been planning the whole thing for a long time in order to pull it off. When we went by her apartment about twenty minutes after we discovered Khyon was missing, she had moved all her stuff out. Same deal with Tonda. Nobody knew where they went, or least they weren�t saying if they did. Most of Fefe�s family lived up north like New Jersey and New York, so it was hard to pinpoint exactly where they were with Khyon. D.C. contacted his friends in New Jersey and New York right after the kidnapping, but we didn�t get any word of where she was. She was probably laying low with a new identity and everything. We lost all faith in the legal system. The police and court hadn�t done anything to help us with our situation. How much more evidence do you need to convict, and put Fefe away for a long time? My sister could positively identify both of them since she had seen them close up in the court bathroom. The only thing the police did was put Khyon�s name on the National Missing Children�s Registry.
The whole thing was especially hard for me in the beginning. I requested a leave of absence from work with no pay or benefits, so I could try to deal with the stress of losing my son. I�d do nothing but cry, lay around the house, eat everything in sight, and then cry some more. I had always been a slim person, but two months after Khyon's disappearance I gained more than thirty extra pounds. D.C. basically took care of bills, working two jobs, his full-time job at Dickie�s, and a new part-time job at Rose�s as stock clerk. Of course, his working so hard and me not working at all took a toll on our relationship. Although he knew I had issues with anxiety and stress, I believe he felt I was being lazy, while he worked like a dog. Our bills were out of control. Even though we didn�t have the baby we still had baby-related bills. The hospital bill, a rent-to-own crib, and a layaway bill for some other stuff we thought we would need for the baby. We didn�t get rid of the stuff because we kept hoping Khyon would return home someday.
Cocoa tried to be the best support she could, but her and Reese had to get their own family issues straight. Even though they went through spiritual counseling, Cocoa never did fully trust Reese after his affair with Wanda.
D.C. didn�t really have any support other than myself. His brother, Vey, went back to being an asshole. He was more concerned with himself, than his own nephew. At first he played the angry role, talking about he was 'gonna hunt the crazy bitch down.� But we all knew he wasn�t going to do anything. Then of course �Q�, D.C.�s boy, was talking about violence too, but he landed himself in jail a few days after Khyon�s disappearance for some other stuff he did. Tracie told me it was only a petty theft charge, so she was expecting her man home from jail in a year or two. Since it was not a felony, he was saved from the Three Strikes Rule, which would send him to prison for many years.
Jyree and D.C. would never be best friends again after their falling out. In D.C.�s eyes, Jyree could have been in on the whole kidnapping scheme. He was really acting strange. He was especially bitter, because he couldn�t be in our wedding as the best man. Jyree couldn�t understand how D.C. could forgive me for cheating, but not him. We both broke D.C.'s trust by having sex with each other and hiding it throughout my pregnancy. When Jyree found out the baby was D.C.�s instead of his, he was really upset about that too. Every now and then we would bump into Jyree at the store or on the street. You could see the bitterness in his eyes, hear it his tone, and feel it seeping from his pores. He wouldn�t say anything out the way though, because he knew he was the one in the wrong by coming on to me. He didn�t like the fact we were married and at one time were a happy family. We questioned whether he even cared about our family tragedy, although he tried to act like he was concerned about the baby.
D.C.
I never was much for drinking and I rarely cried, but I found myself doing a lot of both when my first-born son was taken. I thought Khaila�s cheating hurt, but you can never know pain like the pain of losing a child, even with all the shit I had been through in my life. I had been through it all, living with circumstances like having no father in my life, and a mother who suddenly died young. Running the streets ducking bullets, serving time in the Richmond City Jail, dealing with Fefe and her bullshit, not to mention the situation with my best man who fucked my soon-to-be wife. The list goes on and on.
At the age of only 27, I was going through what some people hadn�t dealt with in their entire lives. Never did I imagine losing my son. I still believed he was alive somewhere, but it felt like I had lost him forever. We still had some hope left though, when Fefe called from a blocked number out of the blue one day. Of course she said she had Khyon and was holding him for ransom. Not a monetary ransom, but an emotional ransom. She still wanted to be with me. Talking crazy shit about us being a happy family. Just her, the baby, and me. You know I played along to
get my son back but she got hip and hung up the phone. I guess it was the desperate tone of my voice or Khaila�s in the background that tipped her off to what was going on. That was about a month and a half after she took Khyon. She never called back. We didn�t see or hear from her again until�
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RAVE REVIEWS FOR "A TASTE OF BITTERSWEET FRUIT":
U. Baskerville from Richmond, VA writes...
"This book kept my interest all the way through. I think we can all relate to the situations that take place in the book. I can't wait to read the sequel. In my opinion, you are up there with some of the best authors, (Eric Jerome Dickey, Nikki Turner, Terry McMillian, etc.)
E. Mcgee from Ettrick, VA writes...
"This book was very exciting to read and it kept me on my toes the whole time. Drama after Drama....I'm placing my order for the sequel now."
C. Wiggins from Richmond, VA writes...
"The novel you wrote was very exciting, dramatic, and a little bit sweet. It kept my mouth open from beginning to end. I'm looking forward to reading Part II of your novel."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
CLICK "BUY NOW" BUTTON BELOW TO PURCHASE ONLINE, OR
VISIT ANY OF THE LOCATIONS LISTED BELOW:
DOWNTOWN RICHMOND LIBRARY
101 EAST FRANKLIN STREET
RICHMOND, VA 23219
PRECIOUS MEMORIES BOOKSTORE
3229 IDLEWOOD AVENUE
RICHMOND, VA 23221
(804) 726-8501
URBAN KNOWLEDGE BOOKSTORE
230 SOUTH PARK CIRCLE
COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VA.23834
Phone: 804-524-9797
NATURAL BEAUTY
4857-B FINLAY STREET
RICHMOND, VA 23231
804) 222-2424
PREVIEWS ARE FREE!!!
BOUND COPIES ARE ONLY $5!!!
PAPERBACKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR ONLY $10!!!
IF YOU ENJOYED THE NOVEL, PLEASE LEAVE MESSAGE IN THE GUESTBOOK!!!!!
A TASTE OF BITTERSWEET FRUIT
VENOMOUS
Precious Memories Bookstore
Kharisma's Fan Club!
Official Website!
Send E-Mail to: miller_publishing@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2007 Kharisma. All Rights Reserved