Sharks and Wolves

A strategic plan,

schemes and themes,

circle then injure,

unsuspecting stranger,

outsmart the wolves and sharks?

A wide grin,

greed and malice light bright behind those eyes,

seemingly persuasive wordsmith,

yet intuition and paranoia warns discretion,

advises isolation and self protection.

Thicker skin,

a voice of thunder from years past calls out,

“Remember…..Remember who you are”,

must go on even through the pain,

Royals?, Such ancient terms,

not a keen to get lost in a town called, Life,

for the appropriate Kingdom Title,

seeks authentic warriors,

nothing more but Honor and Pride,

to die by the Sword,

and released at sea on Fire,

true convictions here.

Standards are of the utmost high,

for such acquired Grace from generations of plenty of gold,

the Surname of most respect,

wear the Family Crest like the most coveted Family Jewels.

Sharks and Wolves,

enemies clear and hidden,

the wise keep their wits about them,

not fooled by the propaganda, rumors and lies,

shall not be silenced nor dethrone,

high intelligence dodges the wolves,

superior physiques build strong legs to out-swim and outrun,

the Kingdom lays dormant in longing for the rightful Heir,

but much torture could lure a sinful despair,

yet solutions and wits are in abundance,

Honor and Pride act as an impenetrable force shield,

however the War has just begun.

What monstrous creatures lurk here?

Ridden with jealousy, envy, greed and hatred,

pilings of flesh,

stolen gold and a poisoned  Prince,

tyrants on high horses,

breeding monsters with blood money,

ugly ghastly creatures they are.

Dragons lying in wait,

searching for the Wise,

for the stale bread yields no fruits,

humming rattles the ancient birds,

then silence…

“To live and Die by the Sword”, echoes out

and so she marches on.

 

 

 

 

Breaking Point

We thought she coincidently came into our lives; wishfully hoping for someone to save us from our tragedies. The latter was a huge misinterpretation on our parts for she slithered into our worlds like a snake. When she was done with us she left us completely bewildered and damaged. Never thought I would fraternize with a she-demon, but I have come to realize that life is full of unexpected surprises. It was like we were under some enchantment but I knew better. Never been the one to believe in fairy tales and wasn’t going to start now. Nevertheless, I admit I was submissive to her charm yet still remained skeptical about her.

It was on one September morning that she walked into the offices of Wildon Barks Accounting. I was at the front desk when I noticed through my periphery someone coming towards me with wild curly brown hair. I turned to see and there she was walking towards me with wild curly brown hair with front honey blond highlights. Her skin was of a olive texture and she had an ample sized body. She was wearing a black v-neck top with a straight leg denim.

“Hi, I’m Ericka” she smiled at me. She has a nice smile, I thought. I was stunned by her beauty and envied her for it. I guess that is why I never kept much girl friends around because they were all prettier than me and I don’t like sharing the spotlight.

“I’m Jordan” I smiled back at her. She went on to tell me that she was a new hire and was excited about the opportunity to meet new people. Over the next few months we grew “close”, I used that word lightly. I mean she was nice and all but something in my gut told me she wasn’t right. She never got mad when Becky insulted her; Becky was one of the supervisors on the third floor. Becky was a red head she-devil that would run you over if you didn’t please her every whim. A real character, that Becky. I figured her out the first time I met her. She might be nice to you but that’s all a ruse to extract your secrets and use them against you. She’s a conniving blood sucker and she still hasn’t figured me out. Here and there I spread some insignificant details about my life to keep her at bay but I’m a master at living a perfect lie. I digress.

Ericka never got mad at anything; she was always so calm and happy. How can a person be so happy and stress-free? I wondered many nights in my bed. My problem is that I like to think too much and know too much. Apparently, the solution was to psycho analyze her. I began to study her behavior and habits. You might think I’m just paranoid but I was paranoid for a reason. She was just too good to be true and that is a very dangerous sign. During our time together, I didn’t feel any emotional connection until she opened up to me about an affair she had with three of our co-workers. One of them was Roberto, which Jenny had a crush on. Jenny and Ericka knew each other before she started working there. Ericka knew Jenny liked Roberto but she still went after him. She told me she didn’t do anything but I didn’t believe her. I couldn’t believe it. It was like an episode from a very dramatic scene in Gossip Girl. I wasn’t really shocked by what she did because I knew she wasn’t a “good girl” for lack of a better and nicer term. Foolishly, for some reason I opened up about my traumatic past in high school and that’s when all went to hell. I told her not to tell anyone but she did.

Everyone at work got word of my past by later that evening. They indirectly made comments to me about certain isolated incidents which I disregarded as just coincidences. Truthfully, I knew it wasn’t a coincidence but couldn’t muster up the strength to confront her. I’m not one to express what I feel because I compartmentalize. I keep everything in but that just seeps out into psychotic temper tantrums when I get completely fed up with everything. Summer came along and things really got heated. She started sleeping with Markus, our Assistant Manager. Perhaps it was even before then but I still figured something was going on between them. I suppose she thought I liked him because she would insinuate to the latter and tried to evoke a reaction from me. She would flirt with him and bring him up during conversations, sometimes indirectly. She thought she was clever but that was her mistake; she underestimated me.

Essentially, her perspective of me was that I was poor sad Jordan who couldn’t get a date and had no close friends. I agreed to her consensus that I was an emotional wreck ravaged by years of rejection and pain. Needless to say my emotions stayed out of the matter because I was her temporary pet. Yes, she stroked my ego and filled my head with beautiful nothings but the fantasy never really engulfed me. My skepticism kept reality vivid. I decided to confront her one day while exploring the city. I told her about everything that I knew and what she really was.

“So, you think you know me” she laughed. “What you think you’re so perfect?!” she screamed. It was the first time she ever let her true feelings show and it was an epic sight. I took off her mask. She went on to belittle me and point out all my indiscretions. I let her scream and yell at me. Suddenly, she did something I did not expect. She started to cry and then punched me in the face. We got into a brawl only to be separated by street cops.

In my moment of anger, I printed out the texts she sent me of her affair and sent them to our boss. I told everyone about her affairs. I didn’t want to hurt Jenny, but she had to know that the person she thought was her friend was not a friend at all. Roberto, Clive, and Maurice humiliated her at work for her deceit. They pronounced her as the office whore. Markus broke off the agreement he had with her because she wasn’t worth him losing his job. He advised her that if she tried anything he would destroy her. The damage was already done, she had left him in more distress than he started with; broke and still living with the folks.

Jenny slapped Ericka when we went to work the next day. Our boss, called Ericka into his office later that afternoon, and fired her. I thought that was the last of her but I was wrong. I was home alone one night watching TV when the door bell rang. It had been three months since I got rid of Ericka. I went downstairs to open the door and came to face with the mouth of a Glock-47.

“Everyone has their breaking point” (shots fired).

The Perfect Happy Family: Chapter 3

PHF: Chapter 3

I came around a while later to James splashing my face with water from a spritz bottle. My eyes were blurry and I felt like I had a really bad hangover. “Why does my head hurt so much?” I asked wearily. Somehow I had blocked all sounds because James had been screaming at me the whole time.

“Are you okay?!” James yelled at me.

“Whoa! Not so loud, dude” I responded feverishly.

“I slapped your face a couple of times but you wouldn’t wake up. I was about to call mom and dad….” James’ voiced trailed off.  So that’s why my head hurt so much, I thought to myself. Why hadn’t I woken up? A slap to the face would surely wake me up but James said he hit me a couple of times.

“So, I didn’t move or anything when you hit me?” I asked James

“No, it was weird. You lay there like a dead body.” He responded with a concern look on his face.

“Well I’m not dead, see!” I joked even though I was actually perplexed by what had happened.

“Did you eat?” James asked.

“Uh, yeah” I lied.

“So what were we talking about before I fainted?” I asked.

“I told you I was planning to marry Mark” James said with a smile on his face.

“You can’t marry him. You can’t.” I hissed.

“I thought you’d be happy for me! I guess I was wrong.” James murmured.

“You really think this is a good plan? You know what they’ll do to you at school?” I screamed. Suddenly, my bedroom door drew open and mother rushed in with a scowl.

“Shut up and go to bed!” she shushed at us. She then turned and walked back to her bedroom. We waited until we heard her close her door. James got up and headed towards the door also. I grabbed his arm.

“You can’t tell anybody about this. We’ll be ruined. You’ll be ruined.” I whispered in a harsh tone.  He just looked at me then shook away from my grip. I watched him as he walked to his bedroom to the other side of the house. No one could ever know that my brother is a gay, I thought. We would be the laugh of the town if anyone ever found out. Oh, the tragedy.  So there and then I made it my mission to be my family’s keeper. My mother is an adultery, my father is a cross dresser, and my brother is a gay. It was all too much for one day and I threw myself on my bed without changing into my pajamas. I hold my family’s secrets like the government keeps theirs. It was two in the morning by the time I feel asleep but I didn’t sleep for long. I had to wake up early for school three hours later. It was a typical Monroe morning. Father was already at the clinic, mother was exercising downstairs in our top of the art gym, and Clarisse had already made breakfast for me and James.

“James is not going to school today” Clarisse said as I walked into the kitchen.

‘What’d you mean?” I responded. “He was fine last night.”

“Well he told me he won’t be going to school today” Clarisse retorted in an annoyed tone. I retracted back up our marble steps as fast as I could to James’ room. I didn’t even knock-I just burst in.

“Yeah, see you later” I caught him saying to his phone before he hung up.

“Knock much?!” he yelled at me.

“No, you know me. Miss no manners” I mocked. “Why aren’t you going to school?”

“I’m sick.” He said with a facetious cough.

“Loser” I said as I walked out of his bedroom and made my way back to the kitchen. When I got back to the kitchen Clarisse was jumping up and down with giddiness.

“I got good gossip!” she yelled.

“What?” I ran to her with intrigue.

“Miss Sahib found panties not hers under her bed. She’s angry with Mr. Quinn!” Clarisse gushed. My heart stopped. Those were mother’s panties.

“So, is she kicking him out?” I asked Clarisse.

“I heard she wants to know the woman’s name so she could kill her” Clarisse exclaimed. Clarisse was all about the drama and neighborhood gossip. She never revealed her sources; she was smart like that. A few seconds later the door bell rang. I went to get the door but stopped in my tracks in horror when I saw that it was Sane Sahib. Did she know? It would be an insult to injury in Sahib’s case because she was one of mother’s closest friends. I regained my posture and attained all the courage I could muster as I opened the door.

“Hi” I said with a shaky voice. Sane just looked at me through her dark brown eyes. She was crying. Her usually flawless golden brown hair lay messy around her shoulders. She was a complete mess in her ripped blue jeans and stained white t-shirt.

“Is your mother home?” she sobbed.

“Uh….” I murmured but was interrupted by mother.

“Hey, oh honey, come in” mother gestured at Sane to come in. “What’s wrong?”

“Quinn cheated on me and won’t tell me with whom!” Sane screamed.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that” mother said to Sane while comforting her. I looked at mother in disgust.

“Don’t you need to be off to school?” mother asked me.

“Yes, of course!” I replied and ran to get my book bag. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. My mother was sleeping with her friend’s husband and didn’t show any remorse. How could she be so vile? I wondered.  As I walked out my house I saw Mr. Quinn heading towards me.

“You have some nerve” I hissed at him.

“Me. What about your mother?” he asked seeming appalled. “What about your father?”

“What you mean my father?” I asked.

“I know your father’s secret” Quinn smirked at me. “Your father is a cross-dresser” he laughed.

“You wouldn’t dare” I threatened.

“Or would I? Don’t test me child.” He retorted. I then knew I had to get rid of him.

“What do you want?” I asked

“Let’s just say you keep your secret and I’ll keep mine” he responded. There was no way I was going to trust him with such a huge secret. I had to get rid of him one way or another; even if it meant taking drastic measures. He had to disappear. He had to die because no one is suppose to know but me. No one can ever find out the truth about my family.

Secrets

Secrets

        This is the story of three high school students that keep terrible secrets. First is a junior named Malcolm, a loner and foster child that is a serial killer in the making.  Second is a sophomore named Stacy, which is envious of her mother so she starts having an affair with her mother’s husband.  Third, is a senior named Patrick who hates his father and plans to kill him to take over the family business so that he could inherit 100 billion dollars and marry his father’s girlfriend.

            Malcolm: I can’t fathom the purpose for my being. I stray away from people because I’m scared they will not accept me for who I am. I’m not quick to give up my life story. My words are mostly insincere. I won’t let anybody get close to me because I’m bound to disappoint them. I’m tired of being this way. I have no friends. The truth is eating me up inside but I would never give it up. I make up clever stories for the bruises on my body because no one needs to know that I cut and beat myself up when I feel insecure. I got no reason, no shame, no family I can blame for my sorrow.  I think I’m a borderline psycho path. I kill neighborhood pets on my free time and I like it. I’ve been doing it since I was nine and haven’t been caught yet. I’m 16 now.  At night I dream of my death. I’m guessing lethal injection because one day I will evolve from killing animals to humans. This time I’m writing everything down; I’m giving all my secrets away. The headline reads: Malcolm, the Serial Killer.

            Stacy: My mother has had many husbands. She goes through them like water. After she’s taken all their money she moves on to another one. She chases a dream for her two daughters to live the enchanted life.  Mother always got what she wanted. Everyone praises her for her beauty. I hate her. She cheated on my father and left him with nothing. She moved us away from him and won’t allow him to see us. She’s had 8 husbands and so many boyfriends that I’ve lost count. We, meaning my sister, Ashley and I get ridiculed at school because everyone knows our mother is a gold digging whore. When I turned 15 she introduced us to her new boyfriend, Matthew. She had been only dating him for three months and he was already moving in with us. He was 25 years old while mother was celebrating her 40th birthday. I was fed up with her. I started sleeping with Matt a couple of months after he moved in. I wanted to hurt my mother and teach her a lesson. She needs to feel pain like no other.

Patrick: Father thinks he can do whatever he wants. I’m about to prove him wrong. He thinks he can have a 21 year old girlfriend just because he’s a corporate tycoon. He left mother when I was 12 years old. He didn’t give her a dime. She killed herself that night he told her he was leaving her for a 21 year old. At first, he didn’t want to take care of me; he wanted to ship me off to Russia to live with his mother. His mother made him take responsibility for his actions so he got stuck with me. I started sleeping with his 21 year old girlfriend, Nostalgia, when I was 15. He didn’t treat her well. He cheated on her with strippers and other loose women he encountered on his “business trips.” He would also beat her when he got drunk or when she disagreed with him. The economy downturn hit him hard since he’s an investment banker/broker. He owns his own investment firm and other reality establishments. Everyone at school thinks I’m this happy rich kid but I’m about to give all my secrets away. I plan to kill my father so that I can inherit the family business, a 100 billion dollar inheritance, and marry Nostalgia. The blueprint has already been made; it’s fool proof.

The Bus Ride

The Bus Ride

Everyday I take the bus to school. It’s a forty-five minute drive to Larks Technical High School. I have to wake up at five in the morning because I have to be at the bus stop by seven. It’s normally a pretty quick ride, but one day the normal bus ride to school went from just a typical day to an eerie and extreme day. It was the first day back to school from summer vacation.  It was September 3rd if I remember it correctly. I was so happy that it was my last year at Larks Technical High School. Even better, I was getting a new car from my parents for my birthday in a few weeks. Trust me, I was stoked. As I headed out my house with a smile; oblivious to the unexpected events that would soon change everything in my life forever-I walked the two blocks to the bus stop.

“Kevin, my man, what’s going on?  Dude.”  Nigel screamed at me as I walked towards him and the rest of the kids waiting for the bus on Elm Street.

“What’s going on, man?!” I yelled back with a smile. Nigel has been my best-friend since kindergarten. We’re both on the soccer team. If you saw him you’d think he was a football player.  He’s a big guy; broad shoulders, thick strong legs, and just an overall fit body.   He works out every day and can bench-press 250 pounds! Girls are all over him at school. They think he is cute. I guess he is a handsome guy but I’m not a homo.

“Ready to hit those books, again?” Nigel smirked at me. We both laughed. It was a sunny day but then out of nowhere it became dark and foggy.

“Wasn’t it suppose to be sunny all day?” a girl said

“Yeah” everybody else responded in unison. Nigel and I looked at each other in our bewilderment.  It was pretty creepy how it just went from sunny to gloomy in a few seconds. We could barely see across the street. Suddenly, the fog got thicker and we heard the sound of an engine come from the left side of the street. We had to strain our eyes but then we realized it was our yellow school bus coming through the thick mist.  For some reason a chill ran down my back. I didn’t feel so happy anymore; something was definitely wrong.  When it finally got in front of us the doors stayed shut for ten long minutes.

“Open the door!” Nigel screamed after ten minutes of waiting. The doors opened and we staggered into the bus.

“Hi, kids!” A red-haired woman greeted us. She had the palest skin I’d ever seen. When she smiled at us we got a glimpse of her rather sharp front rotten teeth.

“Why did you too so long to open the doors?” Nigel asked her.

“Sit down, dear” she responded and Nigel obliged. I was astounded. Nigel would have never backed down just like that. He was a stubborn hard head to the core. Something was certainly wrong-I could just feel it. I made my way to where Nigel was sitting.

“Hey, why did you back off so fast?” I asked him.

“Huh” Nigel said with a blank stare. What’s going on I wondered.

“Sit down, children. Off to school we go!” the bus lady chirped with a cold laugh. That laugh was like ice cold water.  It gave me chills. I looked around to the other kids; they had the same blank stares as Nigel. It was like they weren’t really there mentally or physically. It was unexplainable.

“I knew you were going to be a bit of work, Kevin, but I’m always up for a challenge.” I heard the bus lady say. Then, she turned and smiled at me. Her eyes turned bright green.  I gasped in fear. Then everything went black.

Dear Jamie

Dear Jamie

Chapter: 1

 

I try to think of something to contest. My passion for her was rather unexplainable. She came out of nowhere into my life but due to circumstances I had to leave her. It hurt me more than anybody could ever know; the pain was great. Our story; our love will forever be sacred in this vintage journal I took from my little sister, Emma. A string of words I conveyed to express the things I think and project the right effect. These memoirs are what keeps me from forgetting her; Oh my Jamie.

I was a young lad of 17 in 1939 when I had met Jamie. Father was a marine so we moved a lot. We had moved six times by the time I was nine years old. Finally, we settled in a small town in Maryland named Hancock.  It resides in Washington County with a population of less than 2,000. It is also located on the western part of Maryland and only 2 miles wide. At first, I hated it because there was nothing much to do there, but when I met Jamie everything changed.

“Why of all places do we have to end up here?” I asked impatiently to my father.

“You know the answer to your own question, Richard” my father replied.

“There’s nothing here!” I yelled as I stormed up to my room from the kitchen.

“Oh, dear” I heard my mother call out.

“Turn on the radio!” I heard Emma scream. My mother obliged to her request; then we heard it- Nazi Germany had just invaded Poland.

“Germany invades Poland!” said the announcer through the scratchy sounding radio we had propped up on the tile kitchen table. I ran back downstairs to see if it was really true what I had just heard.

“Is it true?” I asked to no one in particular.

“Oh my god” my mother gasped as she put her right hand to her mouth.

“You’d think they come here?” Emma asked.

“If they do try-they’d be sorry” my father responded with a cool look in his eyes. Then the kitchen back door opened and a woman about my mother’s age burst in followed by a younger girl about my age.

“Did you hear, Martha?!” the older woman asked my mother.

“Yes, I did, Bonnie. Its unbelievable.” my mother responded.

“Father is in shock. We have family there.” said the younger girl. I had no clue who these women were. I suppose because I was always locked in my room since we moved here, oblivious to my mother’s rapid friendships with just about everybody that lived in this ghastly town. Nevertheless, I was hypnotized by the younger girl’s beauty. She had dark brown hair than ran to her shoulders and the most beautiful green eyes. Well, they were actually green and grey. She had this silky caramel skin and a smile that could light this whole town. I’ve never been one to fall in love but I was falling for this girl even though I didn’t even know her. I mean she was just so gorgeous.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. You must be Richard. I’m Jamie,” the beautiful girl smiled at me.

“Uh, yeah. I’m….I’m….Richard,” I stuttered. God do I have to be such a dork, I thought. However, to my surprise she smiled at me again.

“Nice to meet you, Richard” she said. “So I’ve heard you’re enlisting in the army”

“Who said that? My mother, of course.” I said exasperated.

“She doesn’t want you to get hurt, that’s all” Jamie said.

“It’s my life. I do what I want.” I told her.

“Ok, Mr. Macho man.” Jamie joked. I tried not to smile. Our parents were now sitting in the living room drinking tea and eating corn bread while intently listening to the radio.

“Hey, do you want to head out to the porch? It’s such a nice day, today.” I asked Jamie.

“Sure,” she responded with a grin.

“You do smile a lot. People might think you’re simple.” I teased.

“I’m happy and there’s nothing wrong with being happy, right?” she said with a smirk.

“No there’s not,” I told her as I opened the door leading to the front porch. We each took a rocking chair to sit in and talked for a while. She said she wanted to be a lawyer someday, travel the world, and have a lot of kids.

“How many you want?” I asked

“Oh, maybe 4. Three boys and one girl,” she said while she looked at her watch.

“Shoot! Its 5:30 and I was supposed to be at the Constance residence twenty minutes ago to babysit their kids!” she yelled. “I have to go” and then she ran down the porch steps. As she ran she yelled out, “Bye, Richie!” I watched as her silhouette disappeared around the corner and did I mention she had an amazing body.

The Origami Cupcake

The Origami Cupcake: Chapter 1


Mother never stayed for long. She always came dressed in her exuberant outfits and never matching high heeled shoes. “Flats are for ordinary women. I’m not an everyday woman,” she would say. Father let her do whatever she wanted. He never said no to her because he was afraid she would leave if he ever did.  He bent to her every whim and once drove from our home in South Jersey to Brooklyn to get her a cheesecake. She only ate Junior’s cheesecake and nothing else. You see mother grew up on the upper east-side of Manhattan. She is the daughter of a very successful and rich broker. You’d think she’d marry to a rich man but to her parents’ and her surprise she married my dad, Henry.  Henry was a server at this Italian restaurant called Vinnies when mother met him. He didn’t have a rich family like she did and had to work two jobs to pay for college.

They met one day in September of 1965. Mother had decided that she would go out to eat with her friends to eat after her last class. Her parents were very over-protective of her. They didn’t want her roaming around the city without a body guard with her. She hated being followed by a steroid using huge dude that scared her more than the strangers her parents were afraid of.

“Sasha, let’s go to Vinnies,” her friend Carmen suggested.

“We can’t go to Brooklyn, dweeb, my mother will freak!” my mother scolded.

“Oh c’mon, Sasha; It’ll be fun,” her other friend, Julia, begged.

“We always have fun at Vinnies. All those cute guys in Brooklyn; you know you want to go,” Carmen teased.

“Ok, ok. I give in,” my mother raised her hands in defeat. They took mother’s limo to Brooklyn. Indeed, she had a fabulous life. She didn’t know that this trip to Brooklyn would change her life forever. When they finally arrived at Vinnies; mother was having second thoughts about breaking her mother’s rules.

“Relax, S” Carmen told my mother.  Vinnies wasn’t an extravagant restaurant. It was pretty low-key but with an old touch feel. Inside it looked like one of those old diners with the tile floors and walls. It was pretty authentic and the cool spot for college kids. Everybody knew about Vinnies.

“Hi, may I take your order?” Henry asked my mother and her friends.  When he saw her he was so hypnotized by her beauty that his hands started to shake. Mother and her friends just stared at him. He was handsome. He had dark brown hair and blue green grey eyes.

“I love your eyes!” Julia gushed at Henry.

“Yes, they are lovely” Sasha told Henry. They looked into each other’s eyes and smiled.

“So, are you just going to stare at me all day or take my order?” Sasha asked Henry with a smirk on her face.

“Can I do both?” Henry responded.  Sasha blushed.  Julia and Carmen ordered chicken salads.

“I’m not a salad type of girl. The only salad you’ll see me eat is on my hamburger” Sasha said to Henry.  “You’re my type of girl, then” he responded. They both blushed this time. It was 12 pm by the time they left Vinnies.  Henry asked Sasha out sometime that evening but she declined.

“Why did you reject him? He was so cute.” Julia asked Sasha.

“What would my parents think?! They would never approve.” Sasha responded. She really did like Henry, but she knew her parents will never let her go out with him. She could picture it now what they would say.

“Absolutely not, you will not go out with that boy!” her father would yell.

“Honey, he’s just not good enough for you.” Her mother would tell her.  They controlled everything in her life, such as, what she ate, who she made friends with, what she wore. She thought that going away to college would lessen their grip but it just got tighter. They had people spy on her.  It was driving her crazy. Once they put a tracking device on her car and she had found it. To teach them a lesson she put it on this hooker’s car. Her mother went crazy when she thought her daughter was in Harlem.  As my mother remembered this she smiled. It was the most fun she’d had in weeks. She didn’t regret coming to Brooklyn and eating at Vinnies. She loved being with her two best friends and meeting her future husband, Henry.

“He was cute…..” mother said to no one in particular. Julia and Carmen looked at each other and smiled. They had never seen their friend Sasha so happy. She smiled all the way back to their dorms at NYU.

Chapter 2: The Perfect Happy Family

I just ran and ran as tears ran down my face.  The cold wind was like having somebody smack my face repeatedly. I couldn’t believe James was a gay. I mean I have nothing against homosexuals. I was mainly angry at him for not telling me this little secret of his. We told each other everything, like how he hated playing football. He only joined the team because that’s the only way he could get father’s attention. I was furious with mother. She was cheating on dad again and now with Mr. Quinn. If the neighbors ever got a whiff of my brother’s and mother’s secret it would be the end of us. What a tragedy?  When I got home, Clarisse, our nanny, was waiting for me in the living room. She was so angry that I had left without telling her where I was going.

“Where you’ve been?!” Clarisse screamed at me.

“Out for a run…I needed some air,” I said.

“I was so scared. You should have told me you were going out.” Clarisse responded

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled as I ran up the stairs to my bedroom. I was having a panic attack. My life would be over if the word got out that my brother was a gay and my mother was a home-wrecker. Our family would be shamed and we would lose our place and status. I couldn’t let that happen. I just couldn’t. I had to keep us safe; I had to keep my family’s secrets safe. No one could ever know. Suddenly, I heard a noise coming from outside my window. I went to see what all the ruckus was about. As I peered out my window I saw a tall muscular figure trying to get into the basement. I poked my head out to see better and I saw that it was a woman. Well, it looked like a woman. She had long reddish brown hair and was wearing a red sequin dress and black stiletto heels. She had some huge feet, I thought. Then, I put my hand over my mouth in shock when I saw her face. It was not a she but a he; and that he was my father! He climbed into the left backside window that leads into the basement. I don’t think he saw me, though.  I backed into my room again and threw myself on my queen sized bed.

“Oh my God!” I screamed.  My father is a drag queen! This day couldn’t get any weirder. I bet those were my mother’s shoes. Those must have been her new Manolo Blahniks. He was eying them when she brought them from the store last week. I thought it was weird but didn’t really pay any mind to it. We all have big feet. My mother and father have the same shoe size 12. I couldn’t believe what I had seen tonight. I felt like I was in a twilight zone episode or in a circus.

“Please let this be all a bad dream,” I said to no one in particular.

“Hey, honey,” I heard someone say and I turned to see my father standing by the door with a big smile on his face. He still had some red lipstick on his lips which he failed to completely wipe off. I wondered as I looked at him; how could a guy like him be a drag queen? He drives motorcycles for God’s sake! I still couldn’t believe I just saw my father dressed like a girl.

“Hi, dad,” I smiled.

“What have you been up to dear?” he said.

“Nothing much; just went out for a run.” I responded.

“Good girl,” he smiled.  “Well, I’m beat sweetie. Rough night at the clinic, you know. I’m off to bed. Have a good night, honey.”

“Night, dad,” I said. I heard him walk to his room and close the door. A few minutes’ later mom and James came home. Mom went straight to bed and yelled goodnight to James and I. James came into my room while I was eating my pain by way of a bowl of cookie dough vanilla ice cream drowned in whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

“What’s up?” James asked me. I didn’t even look at him. I just kept stuffing my face with ice cream.

“Hey Lisa, What’s going on?” he questioned.

“I saw you. I saw you with that man.” I responded in a harsh whisper. His eyes shot wide like he had just seen a ghost. Abruptly, he drew closer to me and lowered his face close to mine.

“You can’t tell anybody,” he whispered. He was so scared. I felt so bad for him because if kids at school found out he was a gay his life would be over. They will beat him up or worse.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked James.

“I was going to tell you but I needed to be sure….” His voice wandered off.  He then told me how he had been dating the man I saw him with for five years now and that he thought he was the one.

“Five years, James, Five?!” I screamed. “Where did you meet this guy?” I asked. James went on to tell me that they met at this gay club downtown when he was 14 years old.

“His name is Mark,” James said to me. “I love him, Lisa. Dad can never know about this. He will freak especially when he finds out that I’m dating his protégé.”

“Mark!” I screamed. “You’re dating Mark Beyer?!” Mark Beyer was our father’s main man at the clinic. Mark was father’s assistant. There would be blood if dad found at Mark was sticking it to his son. James and I didn’t speak for a while. We just sat there on my bed. Then out of nowhere James grabbed my arm and said, “We’re getting married, Lisa.”  I fainted.

 

 

Ocean Eyes

Ocean Eyes

I always wake up to the 5 a.m. waves. The sound of them splashing against the rocks by the Murder Dive Cliffs is a peaceful yet scary sound. The Murder Dive Cliffs is where the high school kids jump off from to a world pool of water. It is the scariest yet coolest thing ever. It was the cool spot for all the high school students of Aquatica High. That was until that horrific day in October when six students died and 3 others acquired life changing injuries. They closed off the pathway to the Murder Dive Cliffs and nobody knows exactly what happened but me. I know the secret of the man that came from beneath the ocean.  The memory of him seems so vague now in my mind; it’s like he never existed-just like he said it would happen.

It was my senior year at Aquatica High and I was hoping something exciting would happen for once in this ghastly town. Aquatica would seem like a beautiful place to live but when you hear the stories of all the bad things that happened here you’d run for the hills. People disappear or turn up dead here. There is an abundance of unsolved cases that go back 100 years.  My brother had this theory that there was a monster in the water that took anybody who jumped off the Murder Dive Cliffs.

“I’m serious Jenna. I read in a book about Aquatica that a lot of people had witnessed something taking people under when they jumped off those Murder Dive Cliffs.” My brother said to me.

“Really, Brandon, you actually believe that crap? A sea monster is terrorizing Aquatica. Don’t be silly.” I said. I mean sea monsters only exist in fiction stories and on Syfy TV.  They aren’t real.

“Ok, so let’s jump at night then.” Brandon suggested to me. People who had jumped at night from the Murder Dive Cliffs never came back up. They vanished under those unforgiving dark waters to the uncertainty that is the ocean.

“Fine, but you owe me ten bucks if no ‘sea monster’ takes me under.” I told Brandon.

“You’re on!” Brandon yelled. I had jumped from those cliffs hundreds of times before but for some reason today I had this sick feeling in my stomach. We hooked up with some of my brother’s friend at the climb. It was a cold summer night in August and I was wearing a grey thin sweater with my swim suit underneath and my billabong board shorts.  As we walked up the steep pathway I felt like my heart was going to beat out my chest. My brother looked at me and saw the crazed expression on my face.

“You scared, Jenna?” Brandon asked me

“No. Be ready to fork over those ten bucks.” I responded.

“Dude, you still spreading that hocus pocus crap about sea monsters? My man I love you but you’re crazy.” Nick said to Brandon. Nick has been my brother’s best friend since kindergarten. Couldn’t believe I was spending my day with sophomores. All my friends went to the Benton Cabin at Ruder Lakes.  The Benton Cabin was a senior favorite because it was the infamous “make-out cabin.” Specifically why my parents didn’t let me go; so I got stuck with my brother and his friends jumping off Murder Dive Cliffs.

The cliffs aren’t that scary-they are actually quite beautiful. The view is amazing. I love the water because it is teal in color but tonight they were tar black and menacing.  The waves are a killer though so you must be a good swimmer if you dare to jump these cliffs. The rocks are so soft; almost marble like. However, they are very slippery so you have to grasp at them with your feet so that you don’t fall to your death, hence the name, Murder Dive Cliffs. As we drew closer that sick scary feeling was still tormenting me but I just shook it off.

“We’re here!” Brandon yelled. There were warning signs everywhere. “Unsafe grounds”, “Dangerous”, “Don’t Jump these cliffs”, “Death precedes you if you jump.”  So many have jumped off these cliffs; some have come out with major bragging rights and others aren’t so lucky. I was the first girl in Aquatica to jump these cliffs. My jump was so sick. I even jumped from the highest point on the cliff and did a triple twirl in mid-air. It was my freshmen year and I wanted to be cool. After that, I was so in with the guys at surf practice.

“So, Jenna, are you going to jump or just stand there?” Brandon said to me with a smirk on his face.

“Relax, dude. I’m just warming up.” I responded. Truth is, I was scared but wasn’t really sure why. Maybe because I never jumped these cliffs at night. There was a storm coming and the waves were rough. I climbed higher to the mid-level of the cliff. It’s pretty high; about 15 feet. I counted to three as Brandon and his friends cheered and yelled for me to jump.

“Jump, Jenna, Jump!”  I heard them taunt. I took of my sweater then took a few steps back.  I made for it and sprint for the edge but I slipped, hit my head on the edge, and fell down into the black pit of water. I thought for sure that I was a goner. The water was so cold and it was overwhelming. It engulfed me and I couldn’t get to the surface. I kept on sinking deeper and deeper. Suddenly, I felt something grab by right arm and pull me up. It wasn’t Brandon or Nick or any of Brandon’s friends. It was a man but not quite. He didn’t have legs but a fish tail. His hair was long and glowing red. I was hypnotized by his eyes. They were changing color as he lifted me up towards the surface. One second they were red; the next second they were glowing green. When we got to the surface he slid back down and I got one last look at his fiery red eyes.  I was about to say thank you but he disappeared into the dark waters.

“Jenna, are you okay?!” I heard Brandon scream. I turned to see him and the other guys swim towards me.

“We saw you slip and hit your head” Nick yelled.

“I thought I lost you” Brandon said when he got to me. He gave me a bear hug.

“I did hit my head. I thought I was a goner down there but this man saved me” I said.

“What man? We didn’t see any man.” Brandon said.

“It wasn’t actually a man. He had a fish tail and red glowing hair and multi-color eyes.” I said breathlessly. Brandon and his friends erupted in laughter.

“Are you telling us that you were just saved by a merman?” Nick asked me.

“I know it sounds crazy but that’s what I saw,” I said. Then to all our surprise the merman jumped out the water and for a split second we all got a view of his fish-like body. He looked at us then disappeared again under the dark waters. The boys screamed.

Personal Ad

Personal Ad

 

            Everyone has a personal ad but some of us are not sure of what we actually want. I mean we have a complete list of criteria’s that our perfect match should adhere to. However, over time we grow and we change. My friend, Lisa, always knew what she wanted. She wanted to marry a rich guy with good hair, taller than her, intelligent, funny, sophisticated, and powerful. She’s one of the few girls in this world that actually get everything they ever wanted. Of course, she’s a complete princess but I still love her. We had met at an orphanage in New York in 1972. It was the worst thirteen years of our lives. We both had been abandoned by our parents and we had nobody but ourselves. We were both five years old when we were emitted into St. Claire Orphanage located in Queens.

            I met Lisa when I was eight years old. I had gone to clean my clothes at the local Laundromat and as I finished loading my clothes into the washer I realized that I had not eaten all day. I didn’t have much money to go and buy myself something good to eat. I hated the food that they served us at the orphanage. They always served us the same thing; smashed potatoes or oatmeal and milk. I couldn’t take it anymore! I wanted a nice big juicy burger so bad. So, there I was looking at my stomach as it loudly growled to be fed.  I turned to see if my clothes were ready and there she was with a big juicy burger in her hand. I guess she saw the ravenous expression on my face.

“Would you like a piece?” she asked. “Its way to big for me and I has hoping to share with someone.”

“I guess I could have a bite,” I responded. She tore the burger in half and handed me a half. It was hot and juicy. As I bit into it my mouth exploded with flavor. I never thought something could ever taste so good. I thought I was in heaven. I savored every bite because I knew this would be my only meal for the day and I licked every single drop of ketchup off my fingers.

“My name is Lisa, by the way” she said. “What’s your name?”

“Jessica” I responded. “Thank you for sharing your burger with me. You don’t know how much it means…..” my voice trailed off. I didn’t want to seem needy. I had prided myself on being self-sufficient.

            “I know exactly what you mean. I had to save for weeks so that I could buy it.” Lisa exclaimed. “I’ve seen you around at St. Claire but always too shy to say hi”

“You’re at St. Claire?” I asked. “I’ve never seen you. Wow.” Who would have thought that I would become friends with the future Lisa Bordet? At 21 she would have married a real estate tycoon and run a successful multi-billion dollar business. At just nine years of age she knew what she wanted but never imagined it would be so magnificent.  I didn’t have her ambition because I was just trying to get by another day. I didn’t know it then but Lisa would change my life entirely. We would embark on a journey that would take us from rags to riches just because there was more to life than just to live.