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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781467035040 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 06/05/2013 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 118 |
| File size: | 176 KB |
| Age Range: | 3 Months to 18 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
To Forsake the Truth
By Beata Marks
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2013 Beata MarksAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4670-3503-3
CHAPTER 1
Commencement Day: New Beginnings
Commencement Day, 1993. Alicia's graduation ceremony was about to begin at the Olsten Convention Center. As she walked from the parking lot to enter the main entrance Alicia saw the crowd of educators and relatives of the graduates. She entered the auditorium, following the signs directing graduates to the stairwell that led to the lower level of the auditorium. The air-conditioned basement room felt like a refrigerator, and the voices of the graduates filled the space with anticipatory excitement. Alicia stood there quietly viewing her peers, many of whom she'd never seen or met while attending Mason Junior College. She waited to hear the instructions for everyone to form a processional line.
Soon enough, everyone proceeded to the upper level of the auditorium. There in the center were rows of chairs where all the graduates would sit. As each graduate walked past they stopped briefly in front of the American flag for a photo. Each student gazed into the camera with a smile expressing the joy and accomplishment of the moment. The photographer captured Alicia's mood, her bright smile showed her pride in wearing the graduation cap that barely covered her long woolly hair. As she approached the row where she was to sit she scanned the rows of guest seats up above. Soon she spotted a short gentleman in a gray suit, his light-brown wrinkled face beaming as he motioned to get Alicia's attention. Alicia smiled and waved at her great-uncle, William. Her father, Todd, and his wife, Annalise, sat next to her great-uncle, as did her cousin, Ahmir, Uncle Will's son. Alicia smiled and waved at the rest of her relatives. Her great-aunt, Joyce, wasn't able to attend the commencement ceremony, but Alicia had received a bouquet of flowers and a fruit basket with wine and cheese the day before. Joyce and William were divorced, and Joyce had remarried and now lived in another state.
Finding her seat, Alicia focused on the commencement proceedings. The ceremony lasted for three hours. Afterward the graduates moved into the aisles, making their way toward the lobby of the convention center where their relatives waited. Alicia walked into the lobby, looking for her family. Hearing Ahmir call her name, she turned to see him standing next to her father. "You two could pass for twins," Alicia said as Ahmir smiled, congratulating her and patting her on her back. Todd stood silent, but Annalise walked over to embrace Alicia. Alicia thanked her for coming.
Uncle Will pushes his way through the crowd, eagerly asking Alicia, "How about we all meet later tonight? Where do you want to go?"
"I don't have a particular preference," Alicia said.
Uncle Will added, "Oh yeah, I'm sorry Linda and Pam couldn't make it. Pam's job transferred her to Akron, and Linda could not get any time off from work. She'll be able to meet with us tonight."
"I understand, Uncle Will," Alicia said.
That evening William, Todd, Annalise, Ahmir, and Alicia met at a local jazz club and restaurant. Linda called William on his cell phone, telling him that she was on her way.
"Here," William said, handing Alicia an envelope. "Don't open it until you get home. It's from me and Ahmir."
"Thank you both," Alicia said. Turning to Ahmir, she asked, "So how's Mesha?" Mesha was Ahmir's fiancée of two years.
"She's fine. She said to tell you congrats and she's sorry she couldn't make it," Ahmir replied.
"No problem," Alicia said. "I figured she was busy with work."."
"Yeah, her company sent her out of town again." Ahmir said with a frowned.
"Hey, girl!" Linda greeted Alicia, who stood up as her cousin approached the table. Alicia moved away from the table to give Linda a hug.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make it earlier," Linda apologized.
"That's not important. I'm just glad you're here," Alicia said. "Everybody stop apologizing! Let's enjoy our meal and the rest of the night."
"So what are your plans? What are you gonna do with that degree, girl?" Linda wanted to know.
"Since my major is business administration, I plan on getting an entry-level administrative position," Alicia said.
"Well, there's quite a few administrative positions open in several departments at the company I work for," Linda remarked.
"Really?" Alicia asked.
Linda nodded. "Come to human resources office on Crawford Road tomorrow morning between eight and ten. Dress professionally!" Linda paused to give the waiter her order, and then she continued. "Recruiters might be there. Sometimes they will ask to interview people right after they fill out applications. That happened to two of my coworkers," Linda said.
They were quiet for a bit as the waiter served their food, and everyone began to eat.
"How's your meal, Dad?" Alicia asked.
"You've been awfully quiet, Todd," Linda said.
Todd just looked at the both of them, giving them a phony grin in response.
Alicia and her family stayed at the restaurant until closing.
The following morning, Alicia went to G.roup & P.artnership, A.ssociation [G & P A Insurance]
Incorporated, the insurance company where Linda worked. Alicia applied for the position of claims processor, which would require her to assist with negotiating and settling auto and medical claims, primarily processing and submitting the paperwork to finalize claims for payment of vehicular damages and medical injuries. She was hired after three successful interviews.
Two weeks after obtaining employment at G & P A Insurance, Alicia was driving home from work, to the apartment she'd lived in ever since her first year at Mason Junior College. It was late Friday afternoon, and Alicia was surprised to find a brand-new navy-blue Honda Accord coupe parked in her usual space in the apartment building's parking garage. Annoyed, she found another parking space and pulled in. Just then, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket, pulled out the phone, and answered.
"Do you see the gift Todd left for you?" Uncle Will asked.
Alicia was confused. "No. What gift?"
"You didn't see the brand-new car parked in your space?"
"Oh! That gift!" Alicia said into the phone, a grin spreading across her face. She had not expected a gift of that size from her father. She got out of her old Buick Regal and walked over to the shiny new Accord, her cell phone still pressed against her ear. Looking at the car and smiling, Alicia told her uncle, "Tell my dad I said thank you."
"Drive over here and tell him yourself!" William said. "We got another surprise waiting for you."
Alicia, elated but not sure what the other surprise could possibly be, closed her cell phone, put it back in her pocket, and got into the Accord. She found the key under the driver-side floor mat, started the car, and drove to her father's home. While en route, thoughts of the past came into her mind, and she listened to her thoughts and memories.
Alicia could hear the tune, "Happy Feelin'," blaring from a distance. That song always conjured up memories of her mother; just seeing that pale-blue bungalow—4598 Carol Street—brought back the mellow mood of the past. She pulled up to the driveway and got out of the car. Everyone greeted her with hugs and shouts of congratulations. Not wanting to appear antisocial, she hung around outside and talked, but she felt such an intense need to go inside her father's house and stand in the hallway right in front of her old bedroom. After thanking her father for the car, Alicia walked up to the back door, entered the house, and stood in the hallway. The sound of the music playing in the backyard faded as the memories of the summer after her mom's passing consumed her mentally.
Todd and Alicia had attended a jazz festival where he met Annalise, his current wife. She remembered how Todd scoped the crowd, his eyes gravitating toward a voluptuous woman with a smooth mahogany complexion. He attempted to get the woman's attention. Alicia hoped that he'd gotten the message when the woman didn't respond. Not wanting anyone to replace her mother, she held on tight to Todd's arm. Persistent in his desire to attract the woman, he wiggled his arm out of her tiny hands. Keeping up his determination, he focused on the woman, making his move during intermission. "Wait here," he told Alicia.
She could still feel the anger she'd felt then, standing there watching him approached the woman. They began to talk, and not once throughout their conversation did he look back at Alicia.
When he walked back to where Alicia stood waiting, she ignored him, continuing to look in the direction of the stage. She felt her father looking at her but didn't acknowledge him.
Finally, Todd asked, "You want something to snack on?" She answered with a flat no, still not looking at him.
He never asked her what was wrong, just kept right on enjoying the concert. During the other second intermissions he'd left Alicia again she knew where he was going. Todd's disregard for her feelings infuriated Alicia. Later she came to realize that her father missed her mother—Annalise resembled her mom physically and shared some of her personality traits too—but that night Alicia had been too hurt and scared to notice.
Sitting on the living room sofa now, Alicia stared out the large bay window, watching the light traffic and listening to Marvin Gaye sing "The Children." Gaye expressed his concern for the future of the children, and the future he sang about was now the present. Alicia's generation was to be the promise, the fruit of the political, economic, and social struggle, but they had become the inheritors of a materialistic playground. Her father's search for happiness, his willingness to be temporarily neglectful in order to soothe his pain, reminded her of those lyrics. As she listened to the song she connected her past with its meaning. The lyrics spoke of pain and the human need for love, showing how selfishness created the distance between people, leading to a future with no compassion and a "me first" mind-set. Which was exactly where the world was now.
Other songs wafted into the house from the backyard as Alicia continued her musings, looking down at the brown leather sofa she sat on. Her father had replaced the old one, the one from her childhood. The soft, beige fabric sofa had been so comfortable to curl up on. The brown leather, with its constant shine, was nowhere near as inviting. Her mind again drifted back to that same summer.
Three weeks after the jazz festival, her summer vacation was almost over. She had expected to be with her father for the entire summer, right up to the end, but on the Friday evening of the last weekend of summer vacation, Todd got ready to go out.
Alicia sat on the living-room sofa—the old beige one—and Todd walked into the room, ready to leave. "There's some chips and pop in the kitchen if you get hungry," he said. "Don't open this door for no one. Do you hear me?"
She looked back at him without responding, watching him leave. She watched television for an hour and then went into the kitchen. Taking the chips off the kitchen table, she walked to the fridge to get the pop, taking the half of a submarine sandwich that she found next to the bottle of pop. She only ate part of the sandwich but finished the chips. After drinking a glass of pop, she went back into the living room, watched television for three more hours. By midnight, her eyelids were heavy. The television screen had changed to snow, and she fell asleep on the sofa.
When she opened her eyes she heard laughter coming from her father's bedroom, followed by a woman's soft voice and then a whisper. Alicia tiptoed to the red recliner next to the sofa. She settled into the chair, adjusted it to a comfortable position, and attempted to fall back to sleep, but to no avail. Alicia laid there on the recliner in the living room, with her eyes wide open the rest of the night. She turned toward the window to watch the sun rise as the darkness of the night sky faded. Eventually she drifted back to sleep, waking up again, this time to the smell of pancakes.
Her father came into the living room, interrupting her memories when he called out, "Alicia! Why you sittin' in here? Everybody's asking about you."
Alicia smelled the alcohol on her father's breath as she got up from the sofa. He staggered toward her, and she attempted to assist him.
Snatching his arm away from her, he said, "I don't need your help!"
"Why not? You can barely walk," Alicia retorted as she and Todd walked into the backyard.
"Where did you disappear to?" William asked Alicia.
"I was in the house," Alicia replied, seeing her grandmother, Evelyn, sitting in a lawn chair a couple of feet away from the barbecue grill, two empty bottles of beer next to her chair, a third beer in one hand, and plate of food in the other. Alicia went over briefly to greet her grandmother. Evelyn gave her granddaughter a quick hello, congratulating Alicia on her graduation, but she didn't further the conversation.
Alicia turned to sit with her great-uncle and cousins, letting her mind wander again as everyone around her kept talking.
After six months on the job at G & P A, Alicia began to understand that surviving in the corporate world meant doing what her supervisor expected, but the work soon became tedious. Although the pressure of resolving the majority of claims was a lot like running a race, Alicia often found herself overcome by the boredom of her job—to the point where she actually became drowsy. Her life was too repetitive, too dull, too unfulfilling. She wanted to venture out to find something new. Instead of looking for a new job, she tried brainstorming to find alternatives. Nothing seemed economically feasible.
One night after work Alicia stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few items, and she bumped into Jacob.
"Hey, girl!" Jacob called out to her. They stood in the same aisle of the produce section.
Alicia quickly looked up, hearing Jacob's familiar voice. "Hey," she said reaching out to hug him as he moved closer. "I haven't seen you in a while. What've you been up to?"
"I'm not livin' in the States anymore."
"For real?!" Alicia asked.
Jacob nodded. "For real," he confirmed. "I'm commuting between Harare, Zimbabwe, and Luanda, Angola."
"How long you been livin' there?" Alicia asked.
"I moved to Africa a few years after high school," Jacob told her.
"What do you do there?" Alicia asked.
"I'm a teacher I trained under Maliq X. He's the gentleman I told about when we first met at Harvard High. You remember? He and his wife started that educational pilot program I was in," Jacob explained.
"Yeah, I remember," Alicia said.
"He and I've been working to develop a transitional school in Zimbabwe for the youths attending the center here in Cleveland," Jacob said.
"Really? Wow!" Alicia said, impressed.
"Right now we're working with an architectural firm and construction company. Both companies are in Zimbabwe; we decided we're going to build the school near Harare," Jacob said.
"That's wonderful, Jacob. I'm glad to hear your doing well," Alicia told him.
"Here," Jacob said, handing Alicia a business card. "If you ever decide to come to Harare or Luanda, let me know."
"Thanks," Alicia said, taking the card. "How's your family?"
"Everybody's doing well," Jacob replied. "Well, I have to go." Hopefully we'll be able to get together soon."
"Sure, okay see ya later!" Alicia said. She looked at the business card he gave her; the address of the learning center, Epic, was not far from where she worked. She noticed that Jacob's cell phone number was also on the card.
The next day during her lunch break Alicia went to Epic, where she met Imani X, Maliq's wife. Imani took Alicia on a tour of the center, asking if Alicia considered enrolling her child. Alicia explained that she and Jacob were old friends, reiterating what Jacob had previously told her about the center. Imani encouraged Alicia to continue looking around.
As she walked around the center's environment intrigued her: incense permeated the lobby area and the entire building and bright colors filled the space. She heard the voice of an instructor coming from one of the classrooms. The lobby housed several shelves of books and DVDs, and Alicia scanned the titles. The walls of the center bore a design of bright green, red, and gold, the central figure of which was a golden bird that appeared to be a dove. Wooden ornaments etched with the symbol of the ankh appeared throughout the center as well. Alicia had noticed that Imani wore a ring, the head of which was also in the shape of the ankh.
Before leaving Epic, Alicia asked Imani if the center sponsored trips to Africa. Handing Alicia a brochure with Epic's logo and photos of Africa, Imani replied, "We sponsor trips to Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Ghana, and Egypt every year; we provide lodging, so you would only need to pay for your meals and airfare." Seeing Alicia's smile, Imani continued. "You can make your flight reservations through us or through a travel agency. The dates of the trips are inside the brochure."
"I'll make the flight arrangements through you," Alicia said.
"Do you want to do this now?" Imani asked.
"Yes!" Alicia told her, shocked by her own spontaneity. She made a tentative booking, realizing that she hadn't made any arrangements for time off from work.
CHAPTER 2
The Motive Is Selfishness
A year after graduating from high school Alicia moved into Nikki's apartment in spite of Todd's prior objections. The two shared the condominium purchased by Nikki's father. A year after Alicia moved in, Nikki began allowing people to use her keys to the condo; who were acquaintances she had not known for a long time, as well as her fiancé, Mario Browne. Some of Alicia's money, jewelry and clothes began missing, which led to constant arguing between Nikki and Alicia. As a result, the two would not speak to each other for months at a time. Alicia eventually moved out of the condo and into a one-bedroom apartment two blocks away, where she lived now. It had fewer amenities than the condo, which had two and half baths, a large kitchen, dining and living rooms, but Alicia liked living there.
Meanwhile, Nikki and Mario now lived together. They lay in bed, wide awake and unable to sleep because of the summertime humidity. The air conditioning was on the fritz. The two had been in their relationship for two years. When Mario began regularly staying at the condo, Alicia told Nikki she wasn't comfortable being in the unit with Mario when Nikki wasn't there. Nikki just ignored Alicia's concerns, Alicia didn't realize at the time that Mario was a ploy to encourage Alicia to move out. Mario never imagined himself attempting to seduce Alicia. Nikki looked across the bed at Mario now. With a smirk on her face, she asked, "Did you and Alicia ever ...?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from To Forsake the Truth by Beata Marks. Copyright © 2013 Beata Marks. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction: Narcissism, Vanity, Discord & Bitterness.................... vii
1: Commencement Day: New Beginnings.................... 1
2: The Motive Is Selfishness.................... 11
3: The Formation of a Real Alliance & the Act of Self-Sabotage............. 25
4: What Would You Do for Money?.................... 34
5: A Covert Operation.................... 43
6: The Battle Begins.................... 52
7: Mind Control.................... 65
8: WAR.................... 79
9: Friends Only When It's Convenient.................... 85
Glossary.................... 89
About the Author.................... 91
About the Book.................... 93