Stephanie Freeman's Blog, page 19
April 19, 2020
The Choice
Mama birthed her under the cover of darkness at the outskirts of our village. Mama was considered one of the sullied because she had been carried off, stolen by The Militia.
Family can be a loyal beast until it is not. One moment they miss you, grieve for you, and the next, you are little more than shards and slivers of memory.
But then, Mama found her way home.
They welcomed her with open arms, but only just. ‘You did not fight back. You did not die rather than be dishonored’, they reasoned. The promises of help from the government for Mama’s sort faded when the world turned the channel. But the whispers? The whispers grew. The silence and the distance did too.
I get ahead of myself. My name is Idrissa. My family name is as unimportant as the pushpin marking the cursed earth I came from. I am not here to defend myself.
The strings on my guitar are stained with the choices I made.
The tale I share is of the babe Mama bore… my sister…. My Elizabetha. I called her Bimbi because she was the word, glorious! Mama carried her back to our home lit only by the stub of a candle. I could hold Bimbi in the palms of my hands. Her cry was so weak and yet, I saw strength there.
By morning Mama was dead. I thought sure Bimbi was too. When her tiny hand closed around my finger, the choice was there before me. Some would have called it a mercy. I gave her to a woman in a neighboring village instead.
Years passed, but I checked on my sister and the woman who raised her. Gave them what little money I could make. And just as I thought. Bimbi grew strong and wiry. At 4, she could run faster than the other girls and her smile rivaled the sun.
Sabina the woman that raised her made a red jumper for her and a little yellow shirt with flowers all over it. I complimented her on her skill. Sabina smiled and said. ‘ Every girl needed a pretty frock for her wedding day‘.
Bimbi was betrothed to a man in his forties in exchange for fresh water and several bags of corn.
I stole into the village that night and gathered Bimbi from her sleeping pallet and faded into the jungle. We walked for days, singing and playing in the tall grass; eating the good plants, and berries and what little meat I could hunt. I showed her how to drink the nectar from honeysuckles and good water from the succulents. But then Bimbi got sick and the choice was before me again.
That is when I remembered Music.
That is my name for Olivia. Watched her for days wading into a sea of outstretched hands… giving medicine, stitching wounds, and handing out food from the green and white tents. Rarely spoke, but day and night, she’d sit among us playing her guitar. And I thought, “If I could get Bimbi to her… if only…”
The last thing I remembered was pushing Bimbi into her arms before the world went black.
When I came around three days later, my arms were oddly empty. And just as I filled my lungs to call for my sister, one of Olivia’s nurses covered my mouth and pointed with her head.
“Dr. Calderon hasn’t slept since you came here. Between surgeries and caring for you and your sister? Let her and that baby sleep. You should too.” she said as she pinched my lips together.
There, sitting in a chair pulled close to my bed was Olivia with my sister in her arms. Bimbi’s red jumper and yellow shirt had been replaced with a pair of clean pink pajamas. Again, the choice was before me.
Watched from afar as another year passed and Bimbi blossomed under Olivia’s care. I delighted at Bimbi following Olivia around with her thumb screwed tightly in her mouth and her tiny fingers curled around Olivia’s braid.
Where Olivia placed a guitar in my hands, The Militia replaced it with a rifle. I try to remember Olivia playing guitar and Bimbi perched on her lap. In the shimmering heat of a burning home, I try to remember Bimbi putting her ear to Olivia’s heart or the guitar as she hummed along, but the screams…. The screams rival the buck of gunfire and the roar of flames.
We materialized out of the thicket. My directive was clear: ‘harvest the crop’.
Olivia and Bimbi are sleeping. My rifle is a reluctant reaper’s scythe.
And again, the choice is before me.
Excerpt from Season of the Blood: Necessary Evil Part III by Stephanie Freeman
Copyright 2020 by Stephanie Freeman April 2020
All rights reserved.
April 8, 2020
Otherness
I am not one or the other.
Names are petty and mine never fit no how. It’s enough that I exist. Profound and profane is good enough for me. I am perfect in my otherness, believe that.
I am something else.
Such a simple truth that dogged my steps from the time I was born. Can’t say my parents loved me, you understand. On the outside I resembled every little girl all decked out in barrettes and bows. Under my skirts… well that was another story entirely. Never thought anything was right or wrong with me until the games started with Daddy.
I won’t bore you with the particulars. Spare me the tears and the guilt that passes for sympathy. All you need to know is that by my twelfth birthday Daddy was in the ground and I put him there. Planted him better than any undertaker or gardener. You don’t get to know how I finished him neither. All you need to know is that he died screaming. Made damned sure of that. I even joined him at one point… in screaming that is. Laughed a little too.
Mamma married again and you’d think she’d trade up. Hearing the grunts and groans and the occasional gag before she bolted to the bathroom served as a marker. What she couldn’t abide, and more or less let slide I was assigned to.
To keep the peace…. Hell, maybe to take her place on account of the new baby on the way. Out with the old and in with the new, I guess. Hoped it wasn’t true. Prayed it wasn’t , but then I heard the floor creak and my doorknob turn. You know how the story goes.
Can’t stay anywhere for free.
Frying pan to the fire. Rolled out with the clothes on my back and a sweaty, crumpled five in my pocket. Won’t tell you how I earned that or about my first night’s peace. You see my otherness had its perks and buyers. Some meaner than others, but it was business; nothing personal.
Snuffling back blood and spitting out a tooth or two makes you humble or mean. I chose the latter and had a good run until I didn’t
That was where she found me. Hair like flames; green eyes like hellfire. Never said a word. Just sat there in an alley that reeked of piss, vomit and my own fear. Sat there as fine as you please on a wooden milk crate next to the pile of garbage I’d been thrown in.
Followed her I don’t remember how many city blocks.. It was almost daylight before we got to where she was going. She unlocked the door to an apartment and went in leaving the choice to me.
It is one I will never regret.
It’s why I’m here with grey eyes, sagging breasts and a silver beard to match. Filed my teeth down to points and forked my tongue. Can lick many things in many directions and I often do. People think me a monster, and I am. I live, lie and fuck all in equal measure.
Male…female or something else on the menu, I ain’t particular and I don’t discriminate.
I run it all; buy and sell it all. It’s what I am, who I am and what I do.
And I’m good at it.
With a shot glass in one hand and a blunt dangling from the corner of my mouth I am the one your Mamma couldn’t conjure in her worse night terror.
But to her…. Not Mamma, you dumb shit. The one that saved my life and straightened my crown of bones. To her I am Blood. I’d kill or die for her and that’s even after I betrayed her.
Now mind you she ain’t no saint. She rocks her sins like a Sable, and we, the ones she saved worship her for it.
Which is what make our history with this child between us so sweet and strange. Neither of us birthed her, but that little girl is ours just the same. Imagine… two demons raising a little girl. She grown now. Her hands are worth 2 million apiece if you can believe that.
To save her life she gonna have to let one of us go.
But which one… which one?
Not much time left.
Sins be like chickens coming home to roost.
Hell, more like a season of the blood; a fine season of sacrifice.
Excerpt from the book Season of the Blood Necessary Evil Part Three by Stephanie Freeman
Copyright © 2020 Shadowlilly Publications
Copyright© 2020 Stephanie Freeman
All rights Reserved
June 3, 2019
Congratulations to Inspirational Fiction Author, Aracyne Kelly! Heaven’s Girl is a Hit!!!
Catherine Robinson and Mason West are strangers living a parent’s worse nightmare; the loss of a child. Grief drew them together. Will love drive them apart?
February 8, 2019
Heaven’s Girl is a Smashing Success!
Wow!
Five Stars!
I enjoyed this book. It is said that the blind can see things that people with sight can’t and others are blinded by pain and hurt.
Ms. A
Verified Kindle Purchase
October 20, 2018
Aracyne Kelly is Back!
After a four year long hiatus, Christian Romantic Thriller Author, Aracyne Kelly is back with a new novel! Heaven’s Girl!
Catherine Robinson and Mason West are strangers living a parent’s worse nightmare; the loss of a child.
Grief drew them together. Will love drive them apart?
July 17, 2018
July 10, 2018
She’s Back!
After a long hiatus, bestselling author Stephanie Freeman returns with an unabridged, special edition of the Romantic Suspense Classic, Necessary Evil !
Available on Kindle and in Paperback!
Kindle:
Paperback:
February 19, 2016
Bestselling Author, Andrea Yvette is back!
Diva in the House! Diva in the House!
Quill’s Edge is back with an exclusive interview with bestselling Author/Poet, Andrea Yvette!
This talented author took time out of her busy schedule discuss her new book, Empty Spaces; a collection of poems that offer a refreshing take on the human experience.
Yvette’s collection of poems is in a word…. Awesome! Andrea Yvette displays a unique talent of harnessing the essence of pleasure and pain with such style and grace. Every page is a gem. Every poem is a symphony all its own.
Quill’s Edge: Thank you for joining us Andrea.
Andrea Yvette: Wow! Thanks for the intro! It’s great to be back!
Quill’s Edge: Everyone on staff here at Quill’s Edge loved your book Lounge Time Stories.
Now you’re back with this awesome collection of poems called Empty Spaces. Our Editor and Chief tells us that you had your book launch party. How was it?
Andrea Yvette: Fantastic! We had a great turn out! We also collected bottled water for the residents in Flint Michigan.
Quill’s Edge: Awesome! Giving back to the community and celebrating your new book. Win win for all involved!
Andrea Yvette: Thanks. I think that if you are blessed to have a platform, you need to use it wisely. Giving back is like breathing to me. Not only is it the right thing to do, sometimes it is the only thing we can do.
Quill’s Edge: Now Quill’s Edge has a vast readership that includes veteran authors and those currently on their journey to publication. So tell us, what constitutes good writing?
Andrea Yvette: What constitutes good writing to me? Material that immediately grabs my attention keeps it and leaves me satisfied. I love material that is unique in content and character.
Quill’s Edge: Do you have a specific writing style?
Andrea Yvette: I strive to be unique and non-stereotypical. I strive for vivid expressions and a multi-faceted story line.
Quill’s Edge: What do you as an author and a poet find particularly challenging?
Andrea Yvette: I find it challenging to gain the support of The Black Woman.
Quill’s Edge: What gets you in the mood to write?
Andrea Yvette: What gets me in the writing mood? Every time I hear one of my readers say “I couldn’t put it down!”
Quill’s Edge: So what’s up next for you; any appearances or book tour info?
Andrea Yvette: On February 19, 2016 (yes, tonight!) I’m sharing the mike with some way talented folks over at the Battiste Lafleur Galleria. http://www.blgflowers.com
These entrepreneurs are from Kingstree, SC and have the only black-owned flower shop here in Central Ohio. Once a month they have an open mike event. Check them out! Beautiful floral arrangements for any occasion!
Quill’s Edge: Here that people? Head over to Battiste Lafleur Galleria to hear the soulful poetry of Andrea Yvette. The show starts at 7pm. Come on out and support this fantastic lady and the folks over at Battiste Lafleur Galleria! Thank you for joining us Andrea. Before you go, tell the Quill’s Edge fans out there how to get their own copy of Empty Spaces?
Andrea Yvette: They can email me at: andrea.holman@yahoo.com
Quill’s Edge: All right writer and readers you got it? Now go get your copy!
Launching a book? Interested in the mechanics of writing? Looking for that bit of encouragement to get you through those rejections letters? Stop by Quill’s Edge and ‘spill some tea’. Let us help you toot your own horn while picking up some great tips on writing.
October 8, 2013
Quill’s Edge Author Spotlight: Andrea Yvette
Hello and welcome to another edition of Quill’s Edge! In our Author’s Spotlight today we have Self Published Author, Andrea Yvette.
She’s here to promote her fantastic mini novel, Lounge Time Stories.
Andrea Yvette is a self published Author who decided to make good use of a talent she has allowed to lay dormant for years. After being forced to quit her job due to her 10-year-old son’s Chronic Asthma, Andrea was determined to find a way to make a living and be there for her son without the fear of losing her job hanging over her. “At times, Employers expect you to choose between your job and your family. That is simply not an option for me!” says the Author, Wife, Mother of five and grandmother.
Stephanie: Thank you for joining us today Andrea. Let’s jump right in. What constitutes good writing for you?
Andrea: What constitutes good writing to me is interest, first and foremost. If a story, be it fiction or non-fiction, does not capture the reader’s attention then chances are it will go unread.
Stephanie: Tell us about your writing style.
Andrea: My writing style is equivalent to my reading style. I write short fiction stories that are designed to capture your attention immediately, keep it throughout the story and offer a fabulous ending leaving you wanting more. My mini novel “Lounge Time Stories” is just that.
Stephanie: So tell us more about your book, Lounge Time Stories
Andrea: Lounge Time Stories consists of three short stories that can be read in one to two hours tops. By the time you have finished the book, you are longing for another volume of stories.
Stephanie: What message do you want your readers to grasp upon completing your book?Andrea: The only message I want my readers to grasp is that I have a vivid imagination that allows me to see various points of view from an incredibly diverse perspective. My imagination allows me to relate to any situation in life.Stephanie: What do you find most challenging about writing?Andrea: What I find most challenging about writing is maintaining a wholesome standard that allows me to appeal to Men as well as Women, Young ones as well as Mature ones. I want All to be able to find my work entertaining, respectful and worth their hard-earned dollar.Stephanie: Too true. In this day and age finding something wholesome for people of all ages, both male and female is difficult to find. So tell us Andrea, do you have any special habits or rituals or traditions that help you get in the mood to write?Andrea: No I do not follow any traditions or rituals to get me in the mood for writing but I do Pray that my writing does not bring reproach in any way on My Heavenly Father’s Good Name or on that of my Parents.Stephanie: Describe your favorite writing environment.Andrea: My favorite writing environment is any quiet space. It can be in or out-of-doors.Stephanie: One of our traditions at Quill’s Edge is to ask a “fun question” at the end of an interview to give fans a bit of insight into their favorite authors. So tell us what type of music get you in the mood to write?Andrea: I love all types of music so it can be anything from Southern Soul to Country playing on the stereo at any time.Stephanie: Thanks Andrea for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit Quill’s Edge. We wish you every success in your writing career! Stop by anytimeInterested in reading Lounge Time Stories?
Contact Andrea Yvette directly at the following email address:andrea.holman@yahoo.comFollow her on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrea-Yvette/215485625289551Thank you for joining us for another edition of Quill’s Edge!
