A Broken Girl's Journey
- Written by -
Nicole Jackson
Copyright © 2014 by True Glory Publications
Published by True Glory Publications LLC
First Edition
Facebook: Nicole BeyondAmbitious Jackson
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This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblances to actual events, real people, living or dead, organization, establishments, locales are products of the author’s imagination. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously.
Cover design/Graphics: Michael Horne
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by information storage and retrieval system without the written permission from the publisher and writer.
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The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank God for blessing me with this talent and making this all possible. Next, I would like to thank my family. My children, Briuna and LaDaveon: I love you so much and I thank you both for all of the love and support that you show me each day. My brother Monderious: Love you my right –hand. I couldn't do this without you. My mama Phyllis: I love you so much and I thank you for pushing me and believing me...and also for inspiring me, love ya mama!
I would also like to thank someone who believed in me from the start. He saw something in me that I didn't even know I possessed and he pulled it out of me and I will forever be grateful to you Mr. Shameek A. Speight. Thank you for taking a chance on me, motivating me, and showing me that I can be even greater than I ever imagined.
To my TGP family: I love you all and thank you for the support. Let's continue to make history.
Also thank you and love to my grandma Catherine Russell, Aunt Lula Elliott, lil brother friend: My day 1, my bestie Nina Jones: I can always depend on you no matter what. Love ya! Latasha Burg: my June! Lol, My cousins; Antonio, Byron, Quinny, and Tay-Tay: Thank you all for your support throughout this project, Ganelle Mitchell, Mr Peer Pressure, and TRMT: The Money Movement.
Special thanks to the editors and to my readers both present and future. Thank you all so much and I hope that you all will continue to support me as I pour my heart out on to the pages of my books.
Dedication:
This book is dedicated to my dear aunt, my kindred soul...the late Devon Russell-Wirt. You inspired me to write before I could truly understand how powerful words were, telling your words can be weapons. I understand that now.
Thank you for believing in me, allowing me to share your passion of writing with you, for showing my how to write with my feelings, and most of all....thank you for loving me! This is for you auntie. I love you!
R.I.H.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 1
Lakea could smell gun powder in the air as she sat in the window of her family's one-bedroom, upstairs apartment. That was nothing new for where she lived. Gun powder and marijuana were common scents in her hood. You had to expect anything in the jungle called LMG or LeMoyne Gardens to outsiders. You had to be ready for any and everything in LMG because anything imaginable could happen at any time.
Sitting there, Lakea remembered when she was ten and how she saw a boy burning alive on a light pole in the middle of her apartments. The boy was a teenager from Lamar Terrace, a rival project. He was someone Lakea knew and he was dying before her eyes. That really changed how she looked at death and life for that matter. Lakea could still smell the stench of burning flesh and hear the sizzle his burning skin made, four years later. All of the horrible memories of her life were fresh, like new wounds. She barely remembered how the good times felt. That period of time when her mother really loved her and she had a chance at a real life. Those times were like decades ago.
Lakea looked down the block to the right as two junkies began to fight over what had to be a rock. Cursing could be heard from one end of Williams to the other. Some of the block boys had a dice game going on the porch next door, and children with nappy heads, dirty faces, and snotty noses ran around playing.
It was a typical day in the hood. Just then a boy in black pants and a blue shirt came running up the block. Lakea could tell right away he was in trouble because he obviously didn't know her hood with all the blue he had on. She could see the fear in his eyes as he cut through the field and turned the corner headed down her street.
Just as he turned the corner and was facing her window, a black Impala came speeding up the block. Lakea fell to her knees so that she could peep out of the window. She knew what was about to happen and she wanted to see, but she didn't want to get shot in the process. The car caught up to the boy right under Lakea's window. When the car window came down the boy was hit in the back of the head with two bullets from a .44 revolver before she could blink her eyes. Brains splattered all over the sidewalk and children screamed and ran in all directions. The block boys didn't move. They just kept shooting dice.
“Get your ass down!” Lakea's mother Felicia yelled as she entered the room. “What fool shooting now?” Felicia asked crouching down beside Lakea as they both peeked out of the window. “He dead?” Felicia asked whispering to Lakea like the people shooting were inside the house.
“Uuhh, yea ma. The fool got shot in the head twice. I think he’s dead.”
Felicia rolled her eyes at Lakea for being sarcastic as usual. Lakea smirked. She loved getting under her mother's skin. She deserved it. As they both looked back out the window a white Cadillac pulled up and two boys jumped out of the car right next to the body. The boy lie there motionless. Lakea couldn't take her eyes off him.
The tall boy who got out of the car asked the block boys a question but got no answer, so they picked the body up, put it in the car, and sped off.
“Hell no. What just happened?” Felicia asked getting up off the floor.
“That was crazy as hell. Some shit always going on over here. Go get your brothers and tell them to come eat.” Felicia said patting her weave.
“You cooked ma?” Lakea said perking up.
Lakea loved when her mother cooked. She loved when her mother did anything that a real mother did. Showing love and being responsible just wasn't common characteristics of Felecia anymore. Somehow Lakea's mother had changed into a ghetto mother without even growing up in the ghetto. She loved her image and her men more than anything else.
Felicia was 5'6’’, 180 lbs, caramel complexion, with long auburn hair. For the past few years she was very concerned with her looks, in efforts to keep her young boyfriends. That's all she cared about; living the ghetto life and laying up with different dudes. Lakea really missed how things once were, but she knew that things could never be the same again. Lakea had seen and been through too much to ever regain her innocence.
“Yes, I cooked lil mama.” Felicia said playfully, flicking Lakea's long black hair to one side.
Lakea began to glow because despite how dysfunctional her life was, she remembered there were good times. It was those good times t
hat gave her a glimmer of hope that she kept buried deep inside.
Lakea went into the little bedroom that she shared with her brothers Rasheed and LaQuan. Rasheed, or Ray-Ray as everyone called him, was Lakea's big brother. He was 16 and a true street boy in every sense of the word. He was a very handsome and tall boy standing about 6'2”, with an amazing talent in basketball. He probably could have been an excellent NBA player someday, but now he was a member of the LMG mafia.
He had been arrested several times, shot at, and even stabbed once in a gang fight. LaQuan, or Quan was Lakea's younger brother. He was only twelve but he was also very handsome. Grown women would give him money when they saw his big brown eyes and thick wavy hair. And he was a real charmer. However, Quan was much different from Ray-Ray, and Lakea for that matter. Quan was not very street, at least not in the open.
Most of the time Quan was reading, working on inventions, and watching old movies. Sometimes he would go to the community center to work on the computer. Quan was gifted. Everyone called him a genius because even though he was only twelve, he was in the 9th grade with Lakea and had straight A's.
As Lakea put on her white Air Force 1's, she remembered back to the good ole days when her mother worked and they lived a much different life. Before Felicia started smoking so much marijuana you would think a Rastafarian lived with them, and before the beatings they were happy.
Back then Felicia had everything. She finished school and was a RN by the age of twenty-three and a single parent of three children ages: five, three, and one. No matter how much she worked back then, she was still active in their lives. They had fun with their mom. She would take them out and even play games with them. She was their everything.
Their father Marvin was killed when Quan was just two months old. He was shot seventeen times in a gang fight in Frayser. Hard-working guy for MLG&W out with his brothers at a barbeque having a good time. Guys crash the party, gang fight starts and he tries to break it up but he is killed. His death really crushed Felicia, but she continued to work hard. With the insurance money from his death she bought a beautiful house in Harbor Town for her and her children. Their life really got back on track then. Back like it was when Marvin was still alive. Back then Lakea, Ray-Ray, and Quan had the best of everything and went to the best schools. They were finally feeling normal again. That normality last about 5 years, then the unthinkable happened.
Lakea shook herself out of her flashback and continued to get dressed to go and find her brothers. She had on her black leggings, AF1's, and her off the shoulder red, black, and white Marilyn Monroe shirt. As she stepped in front of the mirror on the little dresser sitting beside the door, she admired the beauty she had but usually ignored. Lakea was a very beautiful and shapely, cocoa complexion girl. Unlike her mother and brothers whom were all caramel complexion. Lakea had big breasts to be 14, already a 42C and she had a huge ghetto booty with a tiny waist. He long black hair and slanted hazel eyes were features that made her look exotic. She had never noticed that before. Although Lakea had all of this obvious physical attractiveness, she still had image issues. Anyone would if they lived her past.
After putting on her big brother's red hat with the black and white A on the front Lakea left the house to find her brothers. As she walked down the 5 steps of her porch she was almost knocked over by her little brother Quan as he came flying up the steps at full speed laughing hysterically.
“What the fuck nerd?” Lakea yelled at Quan as he turned and smirked at her while yanking their apartment door open and running up the steps. “Who are you running from?” Quan never stopped running. He had something metal in his coat that made a clacking sound when he ran. “Ima jack yo ass up as soon as I find Ray-Ray!” Lakea yelled up the stairs into the house then she slammed the door shut.
As she turned to walk down the steps for a second time, a police car came speeding up the street with its sirens on. They didn't come too far in though because they knew LMG was dangerous, even too dangerous for them. So they made a u-turn on Williams and Neptune, and left out of the apartments. What has my bad, genius brother done now Lakea thought smiling. Quan didn't get in trouble often but when he did it was always because of some black power radical shit, or some crazy scientist, tagger, inventor shit. Whatever it was, Lakea knew it was good and she wanted to find out.
Lakea walked down Williams and around the block looking for Ray-Ray. She knew that there was one on or two places Ray-Ray would be. Over his best friend Quint's house. Or at the basketball courts were he sold his weed and pills. Lakea decided to go to the park first. Although she dreaded going there. She hated how aggressive all the boys were. Past abuse made her so sensitive to those things she hadn't even had a boyfriend yet. The “Thickness” and “Aye Bitch”, yells started the moment Lakea's foot hit the field. Lakea didn’t care, she just kept walking, she hated their dusty, disrespectful asses.
“Aye lil fine ass girl,” a tall light-skinned boy with a mouth full of gold teeth said blocking Lakea's view of the court with his body.
“Uuhh, hey.” Lakea said in an irritating voice turning up the corners of her lip and looking past him at the court, trying to spot her brother or Quint.
The court was packed with hoopers, block boys, thots, gangsters, and the occasional junkie. Lakea looked to the side of the court and spotted her brother's old friend Jermaine standing by a fence.
“Uhhh, move uglass.” Lakea said to the boy who was now on her right side as she pushed past him. She didn't even turn around when he called her a funky bitch. She kept repeating, ‘Don't Spazz, Don't Spazz’ over and over again in her head. “Wasup Jermaine?” Lakea said leaning on the fence looking at Jermaine. Jermaine and Ray-Ray had been friends for a long while, but Lakea hadn't seen him around her brother or his crew for a while. She didn't pay any attention to that, but little did she know they were beefing and the streets were saying Jermaine wanted to kill Ray-Ray. The beef was over money and turf. Jermaine's pride had gotten hurt when he talked smack and Ray-Ray smacked him like a bitch. He wanted to hurt Ray-Ray badly, and here was this pretty little bitch in his face. Ray-Ray's heart. This was Jermaine's opportunity to hurt Ray-Ray deeper than he could ever imagine.
“Ain’t nothing up but me and you lil mama.” Jermaine said smiling and revealing his mouth full of gold teeth. Jermaine was extra black, skinny, and rude as fuck, not Lakea's type at all. She never looked at him or any of her brothers' friends like that, but all of them looked at her that way.
“Boy, please. Drink bleach, witcho uglass. Burnt ass tick,” Lakea said waving her hand in Jermaine's face. All of the people standing on their side of the court laughed.
“Quit trying to be so siddity, bitch,” Jermaine said reaching around and smacking Lakea on her ass.
Lakea delivered two precise punches into Jermaine's gut and jumped back in defense mode as he doubled over. All the boys in her hood thought they could just touch people any time they wanted, but they knew she wasn't going. They knew she would pop off!!
“Look, nigga, I just wanted to know had you seen my brother or Quint?”
“Damn, long head ass bitch! You didn't have to hit me like that with your crazy, psycho ass!” Jermaine yelled at Lakea as he stood up.
His body and pride were hurt. He wanted to beat her ass, but he knew that none of the block boys would allow that.
“Fuck you! Ole black, dirty, dish rag smelling ass nigga!” Lakea yelled walking off the court.
“Aye Ke-Ke!” Jermaine yelled catching up to Lakea. He couldn't let this opportunity to get Ray-Ray and her for fucking with him. Lakea turned around with an ugly scrunched up expression on her face. She hated when people called her Ke-Ke, especially if they weren't family. “Damn, my bad.” Jermaine said with his hands in the air.
“What is it, Jermaine? I don't have time to keep fucking with you,” Lakea said rolling her eyes with her arms folded, shifting from one foot to the other.
“I just wanted to tell you where your brother is. He over that
nigga Larry house,”
“Larry who?” Lakea asked rolling her eyes.
“You know, junky Larry. The one live in the back and drive the blue car with the red hood. The one the block boys be riding in,” Jermaine said with a sly look on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing sending that girl to that house with those stone cold junkies. But what he didn't count on was Lakea having seen and experienced enough in her life to help her through any situation. Even what was to come.
Chapter 2
Lakea embraced herself as she went across the field, up the steps, through the alley and to the back of the apartments where Larry lived. She shivered as she turned the corner and stepped onto Larry's porch. That night was kind of eerie, something felt off, but Lakea couldn't put her finger on it. Besides, it was kind of cold out. It was mid-October in Memphis, TN, so the temperature had changed from mild to cool really quickly. Lakea wished that she had worn a jacket, but she was happy she had put her box cutter in the pocket she sewed into the rim of her tights. Her mother had always told her and her brothers to Stay Ready to Keep from Having to Get Ready. That's why Lakea kept some type of weapon on her at all times, and knew how to use it.
Felicia always wanted her children to defend themselves against the born and raised hood kids. That's why before they even moved to LMG Felicia had all three of them enrolled in karate and kickboxing. Each of them took it serious too and were pretty good, but Quan was a master in karate. He liked the meditation and disciple. Ray-Ray was a natural at kickboxing, so he rarely had to use his skills in the hood. All the boys knew what he was capable of. Lakea was good at kickboxing too, but her new passion was MMA fighting. She loved the thought of pounding someone's face in. She had been practicing with her brother at the gym and was getting pretty good. Lakea, Quan, and Ray-Ray all had the ability to seriously hurt someone, or even kill them with their hands; but up until that point Ray-Ray was the only one who had used that ability.
A BROKEN GIRL'S JOURNEY Page 1
