!!! I HAVE A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS! PLEASE READ!!!
As you guys know, this story is entered into the Wattys 2016. Voting starts TOMORROW for the People's Choice category, so stay tuned. I will be lowkey busy tomorrow, but I will try to post an update about how to vote. Which brings me to my next topic.
School is starting in two weeks and I start a new job soon. Meaning this book will have less frequent publishes. I try to stay on top of this book due to popular demand, but you guys need to bare with me. I will try to update as frequently as possible.
Also, there's not many chapters of this story left, so I decided to probably try writing another story. Almost like a part 2 but more so a sequel. New characters, new challenges, but I want it to POC based (of course) and have some deep meaning.
Comment down below some suggestions on what to make my story about. I would like to do a POC challenge sequel using another races/nationalities (Hispanic/Latinx, Asian, Native American, etc) but all I know is black. That'll be a challenge within its self.
But this is my strongest book on here and you guys are VERY supportive, so your voices matter. Please give me some feedback and when the product is published, please show some support. Read my other stories as well.
Anyways, enough with the chit chat and let's get into this update. Hope you enjoy. (We're close to 90k reads)
Tension in the house remained thick. Everyone continued going their separate ways. Tameka and Parish kept their distance from each other. Ebony stayed locked in her room. Apryl was gone more frequently than usual. She was really serious about possibly leaving the house.
This was becoming the new normal. Parish even stopped cooking. Tameka picked up the slack. She wasn't so spiteful to let her family starve, plus she had to feed her daughter. They didn't use the dinner table; everyone ate in their rooms.
Times like this Tameka missed her mother. Edna kept the family together. Whenever Tameka and Parish couldn't think straight, Edna kept them in line. Edna cooked. She gave advice. She provided unconditional love.
Tameka never felt so lonely. She lost the love of her life and her mother. All she had was Ebony. It felt like she lost her sister and niece, too. Tameka never really knew her father since he decided to dip on her and make babies with another woman.
Since she was a little girl, all she wanted was a flawless life. At one point in time, it felt flawless. She dealt with her ex-husband's family crap, but at the time it didn't matter because she had her own family. She even had a steady job and everything.
All of it was taken beneath her. After social security wouldn't provide any more money for her daughter, she had nowhere to turn. That's why she and her baby moved in with Edna.
Her mother always took good care of her and Ebony. Edna was always a nurturing person. Tameka missed it so much. Even as a grown woman well into her 30s, she just missed her mother. It's nature.
She decided to visit the cemetery to talk to her mother. This would be the first. She just had so much on her chest and it always felt like her mother was her only listening ear. It was like only Edna knew everything that was heavy on Tameka's chest.
Gripping the bouquet of red flowers, Tameka's heart pumped a thousand times a minute. She felt so emotional. Tameka hated feeling that way. She liked to keep her emotions under control. Being an emotional wreck wasn't her thing.
On the way to her cemetery, her palms grew sweaty. It felt like her body temperature rose 10 degrees. God, please watch over me as I go visit my momma. Tameka pleaded. Before she knew it, she made it to her destination. The cemetery wasn't too far from the house thankfully.
She exhaled deeply before exiting the car. The wind swiftly brushed her arms, sending a small chill down her spine. Tameka examined the tombstones she passed by. Some names were familiar. Most of them were family and friends. A lot of family were individuals she hadn't met, but a lot of the friends were people she grew up with. One name stood out from the rest.
Angela Vasquez.
Angela was Tameka's best friend growing up. They met in kindergarten and stayed close since. Their bond was completely inseparable. They shared and held each others' secrets. There was nothing in this world they wouldn't do for each other.
Five days after Tameka's 22nd birthday, the duo headed out to enjoy a few drinks. Angela took a flight to visit her family in Miami, so she missed her best friend's birthday. Everything was all good because Tameka knew she would make it up to her.
After spending a good three hours out, they decided to call it quits. They gave each other a big hug and promised to call each other once they got home. They took two separate cabs home and hoped to hang out again that following day.
Tameka was still tipsy, but she made sure to keep her phone close for her friend's call. She waited and waited. No response. She even called a few times. Still no response. After fours hours of attempts to wait, Tameka fell asleep.
She woke up the next morning. No feedback from Angie. At this point, Tameka grew worried. Tameka contacted all of Angie's family members and even some close friends. No one had heard from Angie.
The day after, still no sign of Angie. Angie would never randomly disappear. She had too much going for herself. She was young, beautiful, out-going, intelligent and had a nice paying job. For someone straight out of college, Angie seemed to have all of her ducks in a row.
Three days after the girls' night out, Tameka received a phone call from Angie's mother. When Tameka answered, Angie's mother was distraught and overwhelmed.
"Angie! She's dead!" She cried through the phone before bursting into tears. Tameka was completely confused.
"Wait, what do you mean? How? What happened to her?"
When the two departed that night, Angie waited for a cab to come pick her up. She had been waiting outside the club for about twenty minutes before her ride came. She got in the back seat of the cab and told the driver her destination.
About half way through the ride, the cab driver sparked a little conversation with Angie. Her being the polite person she is, she engaged in talking with him. The cab driver picked up some vibes from Angie that was misinterpreted as sexual.
Angie politely declined the gesture. The cab driver became extremely enraged. He was going to get what he wanted. He pulled over on the side of the road, jumped in the back seat and assaulted Angie.
He slapped her, knocked her unconscious, then raped her. Three minutes into the sexual assault, Angie regained consciousness. She tried to fight the man off of her. They struggled and fought until he wrapped his thick hands around her neck.
He squeezed tightly until Angie's face was blue. The cab driver watched as oxygen exited her body. He was awkwardly thrilled by the looks of the corpse, so he continued to sexually assault her then dumped her body into the trunk.
The lunatic drove two hours outside of the state and dragged her body into the woods. A few days after the attack, a man and his dog went into the woods to go hunting. The poor old man discovered the body and immediately contacted the police. It took a while to find any identification of the corpse in the databases, but when they did, Angie's mother was the first person they called.
Tameka remember that tragic day like it was yesterday. She felt so disgusted that someone could do something so gruesome. She missed her best friend so much since then. Angie would have been a good shoulder to cry on with all of this drama and loneliness Tameka faced currently. Tameka rubbed Angie's tombstone and continued to her mother's burial site.
She finally made it to Edna's tombstone. She squatted down and brushed the dirt off of the grave. Tameka smiled. She set the bouquet on top of the grave and exhaled.
"Hey momma. I finally came to visit you. It's been a few months but I have been so stressed. I swear I feel so lonely. I miss talking to you so much. I miss you so much, you don't even know it. I would give everything just to have you back.
Everyone's doing fine. You know Parish and I are still going at it. It's disappointing because I need her more than anything right now. Instead, we just argue. I know she hates me. I just wish we didn't have all of this going on. We need to stick together. We are all each other have now.
Even though we're not on good terms, can you please watch over her? For me? Please? I can't afford to lose anyone else. It kills me internally each day. Watch over my baby and Apryl too. Don't bother watching me. I lived enough of my life already. If anything, I'd be better off in heaven. Everybody that really cares for me is there anyway.
I miss you mom. I miss all those times we spent together. Good, bad or otherwise. I wish I could go back and change it all. I wish I didn't give you all that trouble when I was younger. Hell, even as an adult. I would trade it all to hold and kiss you." A tear escaped her right eye.
"I know if you were here, you would tell me not to cry. I'm trying not to. I need to be strong. For you I will. I love you mom. I will be back again. You can guarantee that. Be good, baby." Tameka said.
She kissed the top of the tombstone before turning around to get back into the car.
Meanwhile, Dylan was still confused by Ebony's erratic behavior. It was like a demon jumped into her body. He had no idea what was going on and how to fix it.
Ebony, on the other hand, avoided Dylan at all costs. She didn't want to be bothered. She didn't want to be taken advantage of. What would Dylan possibly want from her besides sex? Most guys her age only cared about what was between her legs. Ebony didn't completely believe this innocent and friendly persona Dylan portrayed.
She felt even more hurt because she actually developed feelings for him. It would hurt her to know that her crush was just using her for sex. She wasn't ready for a relationship but she did want to eventually make it clear that she had some feelings for Dylan.
In her second period Art class, the entire situation played back in her mind. What if Gloria was telling the truth? It was reasonable after all. Then again, Dylan was her only friend. He seemed loyal...or maybe that was part of his plan. He was going to pretend to care about her feelings, get her at her most vulnerable state then take advantage of her.
Ebony was not having it.
She asked the teacher if she could use the bathroom. The teacher approved so she exited the classroom. Ironically, Dylan was in the hallway, drinking from the water fountain. Shit, not now. Ebony complained.
Dylan looked up and smiled when he saw Ebony. This was his chance to have a one on one with her and see what was up. He didn't like the way she had been treating him.
"Hey E. What's up?" Dylan greeted. Ebony froze. She did not want to talk to him.
"Hey. What's wrong? Cat's got your tongue?" Dylan chuckled. Ebony didn't laugh. She didn't even move a muscle to smile. Dylan knew something was seriously wrong then.
"Baby, what's-"
"I ain't your baby." Ebony snapped.
"It wasn't a problem from before." Dylan replied.
"Ugh, whatever. Just get out my face. Stop talking to me."
"What is wrong with you?"
"I don't want to associate myself with you anymore. Leave me alone, you opportunist!" Ebony yelled. She stormed off. Dylan couldn't recall a time when he was more confused.
Ok I hope this update was good enough. Over 2k words so no more short updates lol. Excuse any mistakes