Sylvia's Literary BlogSpot

Friday, December 16, 2005

Teach Me To Love - Chapter 16 Part 2

“So you have no idea why your husband continued to take the children on the weekends to Canada, but in truth using their bags and clothes to transport my cash, drugs and chemicals,” Carne said.

Rachel gasped frowning as she thought about the many times in the past three years, Robert had insisted on going back to Canada with the kids to check on his mother. First excuse was an illness and then to keep up with things for his mother – supposedly. Those had been all lies in order to use the twins.

“And you don’t know that Robert used his college education to help produce my Ecstasy?” Carne further admitted.

“Why are you here? To cause trouble in Robert and my marriage? Well, you’re already too late for that,” she seethe facing him.

“I want my money,” Carne said, coming up very close to her.

She looked at Robert needing to hear this admission from her husband’s own mouth. “Do you owe him some money, Robert?”

Carne answered her instead, “Eighty thousand, not including the usage of my lab, my own ingredients and, of course, interest.”

Rachel knew off the top of her head she didn’t have that kind of money saved and Carne didn’t look as if he was interested in a payment plan.

The room was silent because Rachel knew Robert wasn’t about to speak while Carne was there and Rachel was devastated at what she had now just discovered. What else could go wrong in her life?

“Tell you what,” Carne said, gathering his coat speaking as if he were going to do an enormous favor for her. “Since you look like the smart one, Mrs. Herlong, you’ll both have forty-eight hours to get me my money or you’ll be owing me your body for services until you’re dead.”

Challenging him, Rachel asked, “And if I won’t do it?”

Carne smiled knowingly as if he had that secret she was dying to know. “That won’t even be an option to discuss, Mrs. Herlong, because you have to consider the other lives you have at stake.” Going to the bookshelf where there was a current school picture of Jessica and Justin. “And don’t think about running – either of you. I’ve got connections everywhere.”

Going to the door, his men followed him.

“Isn’t there something else we can do to resolve this misunderstanding, Mr. Smith?” Rachel pleaded desperately.

Carne clicked his tongue and shook his head pathetically. “She really is innocent, isn’t she, Robert? That was one thing you weren’t lying about. Too bad.”

“But his debt isn’t even mine,” Rachel beseeched. “I had no idea what he was doing.”

“You’re married, Mrs. Herlong. Ignorance is not going to get you out of this.”

Rachel watched him leave and angrily turned to Robert. “What is going on?” she demanded to know. “What have you done to this family now?”

Robert finally stood up and actually had the nerve to look cocky. Approaching her in two steps, he backhanded her to the floor. “Shut the fuck up,” he sneered, shaking all over. He was looking apprehensively every once in a while at the front door as if Carne Smith was about to come right back through it. “Carne is a bitch. He won’t do anything, but talks big fucking game.”

Tasting the blood in her mouth, Rachel cowered on the floor at Robert’s feet hoping he wouldn’t strike her anymore; feeling frustration and fear well up inside of her with no way to get it all out.

Robert went over to get a bottle of Wild Irish Rose from the high cabinet not bothering with a glass, but took it to the head. “Fuck this shit,” he muttered under his breath and started for the door.

Getting up, Rachel asked, “So what do we do? Just wait?! What if he comes back? What if he tried to hurt the children, Robert? Tell me what I’m supposed to do!”

“You can shut your crying, Rachel!” he barked. “I told you he won’t do nothing.”

Bravely moving up to him, she asked, “Did you steal the money, Robert? Did you do what he said you did?”

He shrugged it off as if it meant nothing. “So what if I did. It’s not as if I didn’t deserve it. He was only giving me two percent of the cut he was making. I’m the one that set up that lab and made the shit he was selling on the streets.”

“But with his money, Robert! Where’s the money you took?”

Robert rolled his eyes in exasperation as if Rachel should know.

“Where is it?!” she demanded to know not caring if he hit her again. The lives of her children were at stake. She didn’t give a damn about hers and she sure as hell didn’t care about Robert’s life right now. It was Jessica and Justin that were important to her. “For the sake of our children, Robert,” she implored, grabbing his arms. “Tell me what you did to with the money.”

He snatched away from her and hissed, “I spent it. I smoked it. I snorted it. I gambled it all away.” He opened the door and looked back at her in disgust. “What the fuck you think I’ve been doing wit hall the money, Rachel?!” he asked incredulously.

“Is there any more coming in?” she asked, remembering the phone conversation Robert had with Fletch yesterday. She wasn’t going to admit she had listened in on the phone call.

“I got loan sharks to pay off with a cut I got coming in. If I don’t, I’ll be dead by morning.” He opened the front door to go out. “I’ll figure this shit out, even if we have to send the kids to Canada with my mom.”

“And me Robert? What did he mean about me owing him my body? Prostitution? I can’t do that?”

He snorted perversely, “You ain’t used it for nothing else. Might as well do something for me.”

Rachel flinched as the door slammed in front of her. She was glad he was gone, because she really didn’t want to even see his face any more. She was mad, scared, aggravated and so shaken up she didn’t know what to do.

First thing was first; she had to find out a way to get all that money.

Teach Me To Love - chapter 16 Part 2

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://SylviaHubbard.blogspot.com or http://LoveABlackWoman.blogspot.com

Want to promote your book: http://HubBooks.biz

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Thursday, December 15, 2005

Teach Me To Love - Author Interuption

Okay, its that time again! Comments people.

I'm eagerly wondering what you all are saying Sans one who left a comment in chapter 15 Part 2 (thank you very much Kassey - like that name!)

I know I've turned the tables on you and you're just wondering what my crazy mind is up to.

I'm working really hard on getting the chapters to you faster cause the story's got a twist now and you know once I put in the twist all hell is gonna hit the fan. Ha ha. (cracking myself up at how wicked i'm going to be able to become.)

I've got options with this situation. Lots and lots of options and i know I'm gonna make y'all mad. Real mad but when don't i?

So tell me what'cha think and as always, if you like what's going on, tell a friend or buy a book or hey, DO BOTH!!! cause the car fund still needs some funds and I defintely need a new computer at home because the last one BLEW UP!! (That's why you've been getting your chapters so slow.)

Love that you guys are coming back and reading it, now help a sistah out before I get really vicious and just don't post...

Welll that's kind of extreme, but i'd appreciate anything you can do to help me!

Till tomorrow and Enjoy!!!

Your author

Teach Me To Love - Chapter 16 Part 1

Arriving at her job the next day, Tonya pushed a Crain’s Business Magazine to Rachel and offered to help her with her things up to her classroom to give them a chance to speak alone.

The cover was enough to let Rachel know exactly why Tonya had given her the magazine.

As they stood outside the office, Rachel stopped and started at the cover of the magazine. Her eyes were at first not believing what she was seeing and then admiring the picture.

Leaning again a very large oak desk, Derrick James was on the cover, proud and arrogant. He looked directly in the camera as if he was taking the picture just for her. Those deep mahogany eyes of his were sensual and direct.

“You should call him,” Tonya suggested.

“Why? He doesn’t’ need me. Look as if he’s doing well by himself.”

“He’s heading up the US offices for his father’s company which will soon be his. He probably would love to see you.”

Rachel snorted and started walking towards her classroom. “I was just his high school teacher, Tonya. No one ever remembers their high school teachers.”

“I don’t think so, Rachel,” Tonya said. “You were also mine and you’re just not someone to easily forget.”

Stopping in the middle of hall, they faced each other. “What makes you think he hasn’t?”

“He never breaks a promise. He took something from me and promised to return it. Since it’s been so long, I know he still has feelings for you.”

Rachel found the whole thing ridiculous. She was not going to even dwell on Derrick James and his little high school crush. “What could he possibly have that would make you think that foolishness?”

“A picture of Jessica and Justin you kept in your drawer at school. You had it in the box I was supposed to send you when you left Davenport High School, but he took the box. When it was time for him to go to court, he brought it back to me and told me to send it to you, but kept the picture. That’s why it took so long to send it to you. He was depressed a long time after you left and I let him take the box. I thought something of yours would make him feel better because of the crap he was going through. When I asked why he took the pictures he said that he couldn’t keep the box when he went to jail, but he could keep the picture and when he got over you he would return it to me,” Tonya explained.

“That’s stupid, Tonya.” She started to walk again.

Proudly, Tonya said, “Derrick doesn’t break his promises, Rachel. He still has the picture.”

“How do you know?” Rachel challenged.

“I just know,” Tonya assured her. “I should let you know I called him about a week ago.”

Gasping, Rachel asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to see hat he felt about you, but rest assured he never returned my call.”

They began to walk again and Rachel bit her tongue to fight the urge to question Tonya some more about getting in touch with Derrick.

Tonya reiterated, “You should call him. I think it would do you some good because if you apply one more layer of makeup to your face, people might mistake you for Dionne Warwick’s twin.”

“You’re not funny, Tonya.”

“I wasn’t trying to be, Rachel,” she said seriously. “Don’t think I didn’t see what the two of you had. You and he had something special. You didn’t look at him like you looked at us when we were students. He was a friend to you. A friend that you needed and still do.”

Abruptly, Rachel stopped again in the hallway and glared at Tonya angrily. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you. I want that spirit back. I want that brilliant smile you graced us with ever day in your classroom to return. I can’t stand to see you become some lifeless shell trudging around here like it’s your last days. Jesus, Rachel, just because you were born with a bad lot in life, doesn’t mean that you’re destined to keep on the path. You and I both know that Robert will never love you and if you think you have it bad now, just wait until five years from now. It’s going to get worse.”

Rachel snatched her items from Tonya and brusquely walked away heading to her classroom. At her break, she noticed the magazine was on her desk and she picked it up tenderly to touch the photo of Derrick James and then put it in the garbage turning her back to the container pretending she had never saw it.

When the end of the day came, the twins came up to meet her in her room to go home. She taught fifth graders and it was very convenient that the children were with her at the end of the day. They spent time doing their homework at the desk in her classroom while she finished her grading and preparing for the next day. Justin would always finish his homework first and help his mother clean and straighten up the room while Jessica finished up her homework.

Justin came to her desk with a handful of trash after he had finished cleaning up and waited patiently while Rachel finished fathering all her items up to leave before he spoke. “Momma, do you like your job?”

“Yes, Justin. I love my job.”

He looked bothered and she asked, “What’s the matter?”

“I kind of knew that. You don’t look like you do when you’re at home. You look so happy here.”

“What do you mean by that, honey?”

He shrugged his small shoulders and dumped the trash in the garbage can by her desk. The magazine caught his eye and he knelt and picked it up staring at the picture of Derrick in awe. “What did he do, Momma?” Justin asked.

“He owns some company that makes generic products for different companies, I believe.” She knew a little about the business that Jerald James ran when she had looked him up in the past. Not all the details because it had been so long ago when she had looked all the information up before giving up on her search for Derrick.

Justin must have found what she told him interesting and tried to find the page that stated the article, but he because confused and couldn’t understand what he was reading. She was impressed by his attempt to find it and took the magazine from him and found the beginning of the article. Justin stared at the article for a long while before he looked up at his mother who was carefully watching the expression on her son’s face.

“I can’t understand the words, Momma.” He actually looked very frustrated.

“Well, it is a bit advanced for you, Justin. Why do you want to know about him?”

“Because I like his face. He’s got funny eyes.” He went and showed the picture to Jessica who smiled.

“He’s cut too,” Jessica said, giggling covering up the beautiful smile that was just like Rachel’s.

Lately Rachel had nothing to smile about. “Well, why don’t I read the article and then tell you about him when I’m done tonight or tomorrow,” she promised.

Justin smiled. “Thanks Momma.” He went over to help Jessica, leaving Rachel to think about Derrick James once more.

Getting home after dropping the twins off at their after school activities, she was able to do a thorough cleaning and work a little on her business plan. Popping a frozen meal into the oven that she had cooked at the beginning of the week, Rachel started on her studies for her final exams tomorrow night.

She was finishing up her masters in psychology, with a minor in business entrepreneurial. With only one more class to go, she would be able to walk across the stage by the time the twins finished school this year. She had used the summer from school to do her internships and completed the entire extra curriculum that she needed to do in order to get everything.

It felt so wonderful to know she had accomplished this practically on her own despite her husband negativity against her going back to school so much.

Soon as the twins came home, they changed out of their school clothes, straightened up their room, ate their dinner and went back into their bedroom to play until bedtime. It was Thursday and Robert wasn’t due home until late. Even though he never told her what kind of hustle he was into, he still kept a certain schedule that she had quickly picked up on.

Grabbing the magazine, she ran her bath; she lit jasmine scented dollar store candles around the tub and eased herself into the warm water until it was up to her neck. Thoughts of the day’s events flowed through her mind and when she was tired of that she looked over the edge of the tub to the magazine that was on the floor with the cover of Derrick James staring up at her. Reaching over the edge of the tub, she tenderly caressed the picture leaving watermarks all over the cover. Closing her eyes, she touched her own lips remembering the deep kiss he gave her and how delicious he tasted.

A door opening and closing startled her and she quickly sat up in the tub to hear Robert talking with someone who had come in with him. Ignoring that, she turned on the waterproof radio by the tub, opened up the magazine and read the article. Derrick was going to head the offices for his father and their US headquarters would be located in Detroit.

She thought about fate and how Derrick had said in the past that it would all work in his favor. Had fate brought him to Detroit? Would his words become truth?

Putting the magazine down, she sighed forlornly. It was stupid to think about that. The past was the past and it should stay there. She took her time in the bathroom combing out her thick brown shoulder length hair while listening to the soulful sounds of Angie Stone from her first CD Mahogany.

Hollering in the front room made her jump and she hurried to finish putting on her nighttime clothes. Coming out the bathroom, she could see three men in dark suits sitting in chairs staring at Robert who was sitting across from there looking rather uncomfortable.

Walking through the dining room towards the front room drawn to the man in the middle of the other two men, Rachel found herself unable to take her eyes off of him but all types of warning bells were going off inside her head. Her gut was screaming, “Danger! Danger!” The closer she got to the man, the more familiar he seemed, but she couldn’t’ place his face to save her life., yet wondered if he recognized her.

“Rach, bring me a beer,” Robert growled.

“She jumped a little, nodded and rushed to the kitchen to grab a beer from the refrigerator. She peeked in the twins’ room to see that they were fast asleep. Returning to the living room, she handed Robert a beer and looked at the man one last time. He had these black onyx eyes that narrowed at the sight of her and looked her from head to toe.

Rachel had to walk past the man in order to leave the living room, but just as she did, he grabbed her arm and smiled lewdly down at her. Instantly, she remembered that this was the man who was at Derrick’s house that last day she had seen Derrick. She remembered that day six years ago as if it had been just yesterday as the same hand that was now grabbed onto her arm had hit the roof of her car interrupting the passionate embrace she and Derrick had been in.

“Mrs. Herlong,” he said, giving her an avaricious glare. A brief moment of terror gripped her as she thought he had recognized her and would tell her husband of her kissing another man. “I’m Carne Smith, please to meet you.”

She tried to take her arm away from him, but his grip became tighter. Almost borderline painful if she yanked any harder.

“You wouldn’t happen to have seen any large amounts of money lying around this apartment, did you?” Carne asked.

Her voice became very dry as she forced as she forced out a small, “No sir.” Although Carne couldn’t have been much older than Robert – maybe a few years younger – he had this very direct confidence about him.

Rachel had no idea what money Carne was talking about. Why would money just be lying around like that? Who exactly was this Carne and why did she feel so scared knowing that Robert owed money to this man?

Rising from his seat, Carne’s eyes peered through her reading her like a book. “You have no idea what little Bobby does in his spare time,” Carne said moving around her looking at the room in distaste. “It’s obvious he doesn’t take care of you, by the look of this place...” His eyes moved back to hers and his hand reached up and touched her bruised cheek. “...and you.”

She didn’t move but his fingers felt ice cold on her skin sending chills down her spine. Rachel felt like a hunted animal and she really felt that this man took sick pleasure in corrupting people for his own need. Shaking her head, she watched the devil dance in Carne’s black soulless eyes as if he knew the secret to eternal life and would never tell the world.

Robert was sweating profusely and avoiding all eye contact with Rachel as if he had done something really messed up.

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://SylviaHubbard.blogspot.com or http://LoveABlackWoman.blogspot.com

Want to promote your book: http://HubBooks.biz

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Teach Me To Love - Chapter 15 Part 2

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Rachel applied the deep brown concealer to her skin. It was amazing what six years of unhappiness could do to a person. Six years of trying to make it through another day.

This day was almost over. Checking the clock, she saw she had five more hours to go.

Brushing her hair back in place, she noticed her nose had begun to bleed again. Quickly getting a Kleenex, she wiped her nose and forced herself not to cry.

Today, Robert hadn’t even given her time to get in the door before he was tried to connect his fist to her face.

What she had done to anger him this time, she didn’t know.

“Can you hurry the fuck up!” Robert growled. “I’m hungry as hell, bitch, and these damn kids are going crazy in here.” He hit the wall outside the bathroom making her jump. “Get the fuck in here!”

She took another deep breath to collect herself mentally before leaving the bathroom and going to in the kitchen across the hall. Living in the four family flat in Virginia Park in Detroit, Michigan was very different from their Davenport, Ohio home, but anything was better than being in a house with Elizabeth Herlong. Also they were back in the States again, which Rachel loved because her teaching degree could be easily accepted and she could get a job instead of depending upon Robert all the time for money.

Three years ago Robert decided to move from Canada back into the United States. It was then that Rachel found out Robert’s true reason for demanding to marry her.

His visa had been about to expire six months before they married and the INS had been in the process of deporting him for his gambling ring in college. He had gotten expulsion from college for the ring, which she had never known anything about. If he had not married her or if he gets a divorce, he will lose his US citizenship because of all the crimes he is suspected of committing before and after they married.

Since the information had been revealed to her, she had seen a different side of Robert. While he still never paid any attention to her physically other than to knock her around every once in a while when his stress level was over the top, he constantly threatened to take away the children if she even thought about leaving him.

“You’ll never see those bastards again,” he would sneer.

Trapped with nowhere to go! If she had family this would probably be different. If she had someone to care for her, this would probably be different, but Rachel had no one.

Her only sunshine – other than her children – in her dreary life after moving back to the states and landing a job at an elementary school in the Detroit Public School system was that she found out that Tonya worked as a office manager in the main office of the school Rachel had been assigned. Yet, Rachel never told Robert this and she had ordered Tonya to never come to or call the house.

Tonya had grown so much and although she never said anything about the past because Rachel couldn’t stand to think about it, Tonya was Rachel’s only friend.

Would Tonya see the new abuse? Hopefully not! Her former student always became so mad when Robert hit Rachel.

Serving Robert his food, Rachel had lost count of the times she wished he would choke on it. His pot bellied stomach now looked as if he was nine months pregnant and he had some strange growth on his shoulder. For a black man, he was very hairy all over including his arms and back. Rachel knew Elizabeth had some strong Italian in the family and Robert had picked up some characteristics from the bloodline.

After getting the twins ready for bed, she cleaned up around the apartment until Robert barked at her to cut the vacuum cleaner off because he couldn’t hear the Pistons playing basketball.

The twins had come into their color and resembled Robert’s darker skin tone, but with Rachel’s looks. Rachel hoped in a way that Justin didn’t get his father’s height of only five foot eight, although the doctor said the twins – now going on eight this year – were tall for their ages.

Trudging back to the small bedroom in the back of the apartment, she tried her best not to think about the horror with which her life had become. If she thought too much about it, she didn’t know if she could make it to the next day. Peeking in at her children, who lay in a twin size bed together in the back room of the apartment behind the main bedroom and adjoining kitchen, she watched them in their sleep.

Justin was now an avid reader. They had started first grade in the same school she taught in and were pretty much very independent. She was always so proud of them and although Jessica was a bit slow at the studies, Justin was always there for his sister. Jessica had her own talents. She had won an art’s scholarship and n the afternoon a bus picked her up to take her to a center where she was educated in art, music and dance. Justin’s after school activity was at a day camp down the treat and if he came home early enough, he used the basement as his own laboratory. His interest was in science and Rachel was so pleased with him at only seven to know what he wanted so early in life.

Going into her room and to get in bed, she set the alarm and started to lie down until she heard Robert’s raised voice in the living room. Looking at the phone by the bedside, it indicated that Robert was using the other line in the living room.

Just out of curiosity, she picked up the line and pressed the mute button to hear what he was saying.

“...ain’t gonna do a damn thing, Bobby?” a deep voice was asking. It sounded like Fletch, who lived two blocks away. “Once I get to Chicago, I’ll call you and you can make the transfer into your name, but just stay low until I can get back.”

“When is that?” Robert asked impatiently.

“In two day. I’ll finish selling off the shit and Western the money to be picked up by you.”

“Don’t you worry ‘bout nothing, Fletch,” Robert said. “Carne ain’t shit. He talks big game, but he knows I’m invaluable to him. I helped get him up and running and the money I stole from another big fish put him where he’s at now. I think it’s ‘bout time, I got my proper cut. So the hell that I used his lab to make my stash, I think I got every right to do whatever the hell I want to. Just get the shit sold and I’ll give you your share when you get back.”

Hanging up the line, Rachel shook off that intuition that told her that something bad was going to happen. Getting in bed, she tried to read a book hoping Robert didn’t try to jeopardize their family again. Whoever this Carne was, if he was big game, she knew her time in Detroit would be short if she stayed with Robert.

Teach Me To Love Chapter 14 Part 2 (c) 2005 Sylvia Hubbard

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://sylviahubbard.blogspot.com/ or http://loveablackwoman.blogspot.com/

Want to promote your book: http://HubBooks.biz

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Teach Me To Love Chapter 15 Part 1

Seven Years Later

Derrick’s father convinced him to stay in Canada after his parole was over when he turned twenty-one. Even though he was on parole, he was allowed a lot of freedoms on the conditions that he didn’t fuck up – again. How his father had managed that, Derrick didn’t care. He had gotten another chance and he wasn’t going to do anything to fuck that chance up, especially since he knew he’d never see Rachel again. After parole, which was short and sweet, he worked to earn his Master’s Degree in Business Administration and he played in the European Football League. After he graduated early, he started working for his father.

Jerald was honored that Derrick wanted to run the business and after a year, Derrick had the profits up by fifty percent and started to expand in the discount store business around Canada, but soon moved to the US with Detroit, Michigan being their port way. Derrick had pointed the company to reach the hundred million dollar mark in les than two years and his father couldn’t be happier.

When Derrick received word that Carne wanted to speak with him, he decided to take his time in responding back to his stepbrother. Last time he had been around Carne he ended up in jail again, but Derrick refused to harp on that. He knew that one didn’t allow anything to happen to them and he had been asking for it by smoking that drugged joint.

“Why do you feel you have to move to the states in order to run the business over there?” Jerald asked. “Why don’t you let me?”

Derrick stood his head and zipped up the suitcase. “Because you don’t know the states like I know the states and I’ve gotten a great relationship with the mayor. He really wants our offices in Downtown Detroit. I want to scope out some locations and I should be back within a month.”

“Gabrielle’s going to miss you,” Jerald said.

Derrick shrugged, “She’ll go buy something until I get back and then we can sit down and make plans for marriage.”

“So you still plan on marrying her?” Jerald asked excitedly.

“Yes, sir, those are my intentions.” He called the car around and walked up to his father. “Don’t worry about me, Pop. Things are going to go perfect like they’ve always done and I’ll be back by Cinco De Mayo and we can go down to the Keys to celebrate in the street like we always do.”

Jerald only nodded and watched his son leave. Derrick took the car to the airport and flew in to Detroit City Airport on a private plane in less than an hour from Toronto, Canada.

He took another car straight to his temporary Detroit offices in the Fisher Building and made several calls to notify the people he needed to notify that he was in town. His temporary secretary came in looking perfect. Sine hiring Beverly Keith, he never saw one hair out of place and the make up was always perfect. Never faded or nerve there. He wondered if she slept in the make up.

“A young lady called her asking for you. She said you knew her from high school” Beverly said, placing all his morning phone calls in front of him.

His immediate thought was Rachel Herlong, but was surprised to see Tonya Butcher on the message.

“Put that in my palm so I can call her later,” he ordered Beverly.

She nodded and gave him a strange look from her exotic lavender eyes that contrasted with her light almond skin. Her eyes reminded him of the actress, Elizabeth Taylor, but Beverly was black and could be no relationship to the actress.

“What’s that for?” he asked noting her strange look.

Beverly was never one to hold her tongue and always spoke her mind. “You tell me to make sure you avoid your brother like the plague, but you immediately put some woman’s phone number in your most personal technical device.”
“Are you trying to understand me, Beverly?” he questioned doing his best annoyed frown at her.

“Trying.”

“Don’t.”

She huffed and walked out the office leaving him mildly amused.

Derrick sat back and thought about the past. He had tried not to do it as often as he used to when he was locked away, but with Tonya calling he had to wonder why she had looked him up. Maybe because he was moving to Detroit? The phone number she left was in the three-one-three area code, so it meant she stayed somewhere in the Metro Detroit area.

Reaching in his wallet, he pulled out a picture of twins with the widest brown eyes smiling up at him. They looked just like their mother...

Beverly buzzed in interrupting his thoughts.

“Crain’s Business Magazine reporter, Ernshaw Walker, is here for your two o’clock,” Beverly said politely.

“Send him in,” Derrick ordered.

Ernshaw came in resembling Shaft. After shaking hands, the reporter took a seat in front of Derrick’s large desk and began the interview. The reporter asked the same business questions the Free Press and Detroit News had asked of him earlier in the week. Derrick had become a hot bachelor business commodity for the city of Detroit once it was known the James Enterprise wanted to come and set up shop in the city. The current mayor was all for getting business to come to the city despite the plague of crimes and murders Detroit was known for.

“Can I ask some questions about your personal life?” Ernshaw asked.

“Sure,” Derrick said.

“The number of palimony suits against you in the past two years have started to dwindle. Can you explain this?”

It was an odd question for a “business reporter” to ask and had caught Derrick completely off guard, but the shock didn’t resonate on his face at all. Trying to remain in control, Derrick replied, “I like to quote my father by saying shit always floats to the top, Mr. Walker. What you keep in the dark will eventually be revealed. I on the other hand have nothing to hide from the public in business or personal. I never father any of those children and it was revealed that the mother’s liked.”

“Do you still have intentions on marrying?”

“In the future. My father says I need some settling, while I’m still ripe.”

Do you think it will be soon? And is there a woman out there for you?”

Familiar words crossed his mind. “There’s a woman out there for me and fate will lead me to be her husband.”

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Teach Me To Love Chapter 14

Elizabeth Herlong was a pain in the ass. That was the only way to describe her mother-in-law, who tried very hard to get in the way of raising the twins. Robert, of course, saw nothing wrong with this. Trying to argue with Elizabeth about what was best for the twins was a lonely and tiring battle for Rachel. From getting their immunizations to giving them sweets at night right before going to bed, Elizabeth tried to make parental decisions for the twins.

A year into their stay, Elizabeth actually had the nerve to bring a document to Rachel and instructed her to give up her rights to her own children. Rachel refused and the argument almost escalated to blows being thrown. Robert had to drag her to their bedroom they shared in the attic where it was cold and damp, but Robert didn’t sleep in there. He slept in the living room in front of the television, while the twins occupied his old room.

“Just shut the fuck up!” he sneered slamming their door because they could both hear Elizabeth still yelling from the remarks Rachel had made quite eloquently of where her mother in law could stick that custody document.

Very tired of being the only one to fight against Elizabeth, she screamed back at her husband, “You shut the fuck up!”

Robert hauled off and knocked her to the floor with a fist to the side of her face. Rachel was more shocked than ever that he had done something like that and wept in frustration at her situation as Robert left the room.

The next morning, she walked the twins with her to the local post office station to pick up the mal from the states. It was a ten-minute walk there and ten minutes back, but it gave the twins time to run off their extra energy. She was surprised to see that Tonya had finally delivered the box from the school to her. Rachel had been unable to make any calls to the United States from the house phone. When she was ever allowed to go to town with Elizabeth, because her home was located in a rural section about an hour away from Windsor, Canada, she didn’t have any money to buy the expensive phone cards to call the United States. Robert kept careful control of the money, if he had any and anything she needed she either had to have Elizabeth buy it or ask Robert to buy it. Once she went three weeks with sanitary napkins and was forced to go old school and use an old cloth.

Reluctant to dig through her boxes where she had hidden her stash of about $5000 American dollars for fear of Elizabeth finding that out, Rachel just put up with the fact that she was always broke and hoped to get a job soon teaching again.

She had tried to apply to teach at a local school and had even received accreditation with Canada on a teaching certificate, but Elizabeth had cut that dream short because she was on the local school board and had too many connections. Her application was currently sitting on someone’s desk because they were all too scared of Elizabeth Herlong and making her upset.

When she came back home, she opened it after putting the children in cribs for an afternoon nap. As usual, Robert wasn’t home and Elizabeth was out on her flea market sprees – the penny-pinching bat!

Tonya had written a letter to Rachel:

Dear Mrs. Herlong,

We really missy you and can’t wait for you to come back. Our last semester as twelfth graders has been really difficult for Arwin and me. Our new teacher isn’t as creative as you were. I’ve decided thought that when I graduate I’m going to work in the school system in some capacity. Wish me luck.

At the bottom of this box, I’ve included some newspaper that I thought you would like to read. Arwin says I shouldn’t send them, but I thought you needed to know about Derrick.

Hope to see you soon, before I graduate, if not, then hope to see you at least at our reunion in ten years.

Love you Mrs. Herlong. We all love you and miss you.

Tonya Mae

Rachel dug through the box. It had been almost a year and she ha thought Tonya had decided not to send the box. It had been almost a year and she had thought Tonya had decided not to send the box. Why the girl had kept it so long was a mystery since Rachel had even given her extra money to send it by mail to Canada.

The first newspaper was the first shocker as the headlines read: THE MISTAKES OF THE SON: Son kills Stepfather in Self-Defense, shoots mother by mistake.

Slumping on the bed, she noted that the paper was dated the day after her departure.

From what she read and saw in the paper, Derrick was brought into the Sawyer County Courthouse chained from wrist to ankle looking unemotional for the self-defense shooting of Ernest Smith, his stepfather, and the accidental shooting of his own mother. Davenport Times Newspaper went on to report that when the youth was questioned about the incidents, he only recalls that there was a big argument between his mother and stepfather that he tried to intervene. When things got violent, Derrick used the gun to ward off his drunken stepfather, but his mother got in the way and he shot her. Ernest wrestled Derrick for the gun and he was shot three times.

Rachel read another paper where the sentence was finalized. Derrick would be sent to prison for three years and then reprimanded over to his father until he was twenty-one.

Sneaking into Elizabeth’s bedroom, she used the only computer that had Internet. Rachel looked up everything she could about a Jerald James in Canada, but as she started to gather the information, she wondered what the hell could she do? Derrick would be in prison for the next two years and then what? Would she really be allowed to see him? Jerald James wouldn’t allow his son to see an older woman who used to be his son’s teacher.

Give it up, she told herself and just accept the cards life had given her. Turning off the computer and sneaking out, she went into her cold dank room, lay on the bed and closed her eyes. She would accept it and not think about Derrick James ever again.

Teach Me To Love - Chapter 14 (c) Sylvia Hubbard

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://SylviaHubbard.blogspot.com or http://LoveABlackWoman.blogspot.com

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Teach Me To Love - Chapter 13 Part 4

Short and sweet!

That what this is.

Originally when I ended this chapter in my head, I ended it with the last part, but i was really bothered at what were Rachel's viewpoints when she got to the train.

So I am adding a part to this.

Enjoy....

Getting to the train station, she was consumed with saying good-bye to tearful Mrs. White and then getting the excited twins to settle down as the train started up. Robert had arranged for a friend of his to drive the car up to Canada, while they rode the train. Rachel was apprehensive about turning her car over to one of his friends, but her husband looked as if he was going to pop her in the mouth in public if she dared disobeyed him or questioned him.

Sitting in coach, Rachel had to hide the wrenching of her own heart as it started away from the city of Davenport.

“Keep them brats quiet, Rachel, and I don’t want to hear your fucking mouth asking me silly ass questions as to why we left,” Robert growled under his breath, before laying back in his chair and promptly going to sleep.

Rachel looked away from the window not wanting to know if Derrick had come to the train station or not. Leave it, girl. Leave it all behind. This is just another opportunity in life for you to become stronger. You can do this.

As positive as her words sounded, she didn’t believe one word.

She could feel herself dying inside as the train moved further and further away from Davenport and she knew she would never be this alive ever again.

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://SylviaHubbard.blogspot.com or http://LoveABlackWoman.blogspot.com

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Teach Me To Love (Reader ???/Author Interuption)

This was sent by a reader regarding the story and I thought I should reply to everyone since there were other comments sent to me:

READER wrote:

Sylvia,

Greetings to you from me. Thanks for sending me the chapters directly .I am seriously following this story. But to be frank with you l am not happy with this latest chapter giving a side of Derrick that suggest to me that he is not a stable person if he can succumb to taking a sniff at that thing prepared by Carne.

I thought Rachel should find joy in Derrick in the long run and not a case of jumping from fryng pan to fire as we in Nigeria refer to situaton that is worse instead of better Any way the story is still unfolding. l say this because Carne is not a good influence on Derrick and one of the problem with Robert is that he misuses drug.

Chapter 13 part 2 was very touching. l felt like crying when Rachel was begging Derrick to release her and that great kiss scene is beautiful though you have been very modest about the romantic scenes in this book. Is it because the main actor Derrick is young or you do not want to offend some reader's sensibility?. Stay blessed . Hoping to get your reply soon though l appreciate the fact that you have a very tight schedule

AUTHOR REPLY:

I'm sorry you're not happy, but as always, I put a sense of realism in the story. Given the situation myself as a mother and needing my job, I would have to make a choice between what my heart wants or what my responsibilites are. I would have to sacrifice my heart because I needed the job. On top of that, Rachel is a person who has had no one in her life, until Robert, so just because she knows she doesn't love him, she still has a bond with this man no matter how bad he treats her or what he does. She's had nothing else - of course until Derrick.

I think I offended the reader's sensibility a long time ago when i did Dark Facade and even at the beginning of this book, people were saying they were going to read it because of the subject.

But you forget I always have something up my sleeve and things are certainly going to be different.

If I worried every time I started a story I offended someone, then you'd all be pretty bored wouldn't you, LOL.

Is Derrick a stable person? Number one, he's young although he's mature for his age, you still have to remember a lot of things are done under peer pressure and stress when you're a teenager and true he should be smarter than that, look at what's going on in his life.

Things are never what they seem and true the "romantics" are less than what I usually give you, but keep riding the freeway, the signs are about to change.

Have a wonderful day, stay warm (if you're in a hot zone, stay cool) and drink a cup of hot chocolate for me, cause am craving some right now and I can't get any.

Sylvia Hubbard
Author of Stone's Revenge just newly re-released @ http://lulu.com/StonesRevenge .

Check out my blogs: http://SylviaHubbard.blogspot.com or http://LoveABlackWoman.blogspot.com

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