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TM Creative Design offers a wide array of services to help promote your brand or customize your personal events. My goal is to create visually appealing design projects with well written content that bring your ideas to life. I also work with individuals and non-profits looking for solutions to help communicate or attract an audience. Tracie is also available for one on one branding or author consultations. |
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Patrice is running from a failed marriage. Malcolm has managed to outrun his past and reinvent himself in a way he never thought was possible. The two of them start an unlikley friendship that soon turns into more and the missing pieces of their lives begin to fall in place.
Kevin and Sydney Grant have been married for seven years. The former high school sweethearts have what most would consider an ideal marriage until Sydney discovers Kevin has kept a secret from her. A secret that starts to unravel their marriage and uncover lies from the past.
Ben and Regina are two of Houston's top lawyers both haunted by tragic events in their pasts. Will these courtroom rivals trust each other enough for a chance at love or will a high profile case end their relationship before it has a chance to get started?
My name is Tracie Momie and I am a writer, designer and creative spirit. This website was created to share both my writing and design passions. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication with a focus on writing and digital media.
I am a freelance graphic designer with experience in multimedia, marketing and print design. I have a collaborative work approach and I am accustomed to performing in deadline driven environments. I believe design should not only be visually appealing but also functional. My clients have included entrepreneurs, chefs, lawyers, judges, bloggers and more. Take a look at my portfolio!
I am also an author and have been writing stories since I was 13. I find writing to be therapeutic and a necessary form of escapism. I write fictional stories about relationships (not just romantic but also family and friends). My stories take place in familiar surroundings and feature characters that are relatable. I feel I bring a different perspective and wry sense of humor to my stories leaving my readers both enlightened and entertained. I've published stories on a few forums under a pseudonym and I have a digital short story, Prelude to Forever currently available on Amazon. My first full length novel, What Was Missing was released in May 2015, my second novel, Nothing I Can Say was published December 2015 and my latest book, An Emotional Appeal was published in May 2017. All three books are now available on my website or via Amazon.
Writing and design are an extension of who I am and both mediums allow me to express myself in an creative way! (In addition to being an author and designer I am also a voracious reader check out my reading list! It keeps growing and growing!)
I am a freelance graphic designer with experience in multimedia, marketing and print design. I have a collaborative work approach and I am accustomed to performing in deadline driven environments. I believe design should not only be visually appealing but also functional. My clients have included entrepreneurs, chefs, lawyers, judges, bloggers and more. Take a look at my portfolio!
I am also an author and have been writing stories since I was 13. I find writing to be therapeutic and a necessary form of escapism. I write fictional stories about relationships (not just romantic but also family and friends). My stories take place in familiar surroundings and feature characters that are relatable. I feel I bring a different perspective and wry sense of humor to my stories leaving my readers both enlightened and entertained. I've published stories on a few forums under a pseudonym and I have a digital short story, Prelude to Forever currently available on Amazon. My first full length novel, What Was Missing was released in May 2015, my second novel, Nothing I Can Say was published December 2015 and my latest book, An Emotional Appeal was published in May 2017. All three books are now available on my website or via Amazon.
Writing and design are an extension of who I am and both mediums allow me to express myself in an creative way! (In addition to being an author and designer I am also a voracious reader check out my reading list! It keeps growing and growing!)
The months after the incident at the arcade, my mom became obsessed with me learning self-defense. I wasn’t really sure why it was necessary– especially since I had technically won the fight. If it was even considered a fight. She signed me up for karate classes and we started running together every day after dinner. She said it would help with my endurance. Again, not sure why I needed endurance either.
We were coming back from a run one day when we ran into Little Darryl. I hadn’t seen him since that night after the arcade.
“Hey Drew and Drew’s mom,” he smiled widely. I noticed he had a gap in his front teeth. I had totally missed that the night I met him.
My mom didn’t seem too happy to see him. But I was happy to see him. I had a feeling we would become good friends.
And I was right.
I'd even invited Little Darryl to celebrate my birthday with me and my mom at one of the pizza places in town (I had gotten to pick the restaurant). Afterwards we went back to my house for cake and to open my present from my mom. It was an Xbox gaming system! I'd been asking for an Xbox for months because I was never going to set foot in the arcade again. I knew Tyrell would probably be looking for revenge.
Me and Little Darryl hung out a lot the following summer playing video games. I'd learned a lot about him: like he was actually one year younger than me. He also had three little sisters and he was named after his dad, Big Darryl. Big Darryl wasn’t in Little Darryl’s life but it was because he had died at work. Someone shot him. He was a policeman. Not a loser like my dad who just up and left his family. Little Darryl’s mom worked at a nursing home three nights a week and his grandmother watched his sisters but he stayed at home alone because he said he needed a “break” from all those girls. Well, he used to stay home alone but then he’d spend the evenings at my house until his mom picked him up.
“Man, you’re lucky you don’t have to go to school. Why don’t you have to go to school? Are you too smart? And why don’t your mama have to work?” Little Darryl questioned me one day while we were hanging out at my house. We never hung out his apartment because his sisters were always crying or making a bunch of noise. It made me grateful to be an only child. Sometimes. Sometimes I thought it might be nice to have a brother or sister. That way you’d always have a friend.
“My mom works from home she does sales calls. And I do go to school. I’m home schooled,” I replied to him while stretching my legs out in front of me. I was sitting on the floor in my room and Little Darryl was on the bed.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to get up early or catch the bus and go across town and then spend the day with a bunch of rude, crazy kids,”
I didn’t tell him but I wished I could go to school. I wouldn’t even mind the rude, crazy kids if it meant I’d get to spend time with kids my own age and feel normal just for a little while.
Actually, I did feel normal for a little while, having a friend, playing video games and even riding the new skateboard I’d gotten for Christmas at the skate park. But about a year later, things changed.
One day instead of working on school work my mom decided she was going to show me how to change a tire on the car. She said since I was now fifteen I needed to learn about cars, so that I could get a driver’s license next year. The thought of driving a car scared me. I told her I’d just stick to my skateboard.
“That skateboard will only get you so far. And what if it’s dark or the weather is bad? That skateboard can’t protect you,”
“I don’t think that car can either. That’s why people are always crashing when it rains or at night because they can’t see,” I’d argued.
She sighed. “This is not up for discussion. Let’s go,”
Not many things were up for discussion with my mom.
I went to the garage and watched her use a something that she called a jack to raise the car a little in the back. And then she took a tire from the trunk of the car that I didn’t even know was in there. She said it was a spare tire. Then she used a tool to start loosening the tire but she suddenly stopped.
“Hold on, let me make sure-,” she muttered something before she laid down on her back and slid under the back of the car where it was raised off the ground.
“Whoa- mom what are you doing,” I asked walking to the back of the car. It seemed really dangerous for her to be under the car like that. “You know I can just Google this and I’m sure there is a YouTube video online. I think you should-,” And before I could finish my sentence I heard a click and the car started to drop.
“Mom! Get from under there!” I yelled.
“Drew! I think I’m stuck! You’re going to have to lift the car,” she screamed.
“What? I- I don’t- do I press the lever on the side?” I hurried back over to the jack.
“No! Just come back and lift the car!”
“Lift the car? I can’t- no- I- I’m going to pull you out,” I said walking back to her. I kneeled down and looked under the car, it was a couple of inches from her face. I couldn’t believe that it hadn’t totally crushed her. “I’m going to grab your legs and pull you out,” I placed a hand on her ankle and she kicked her leg.
“No! Lift the bumper! Just grab it and lift the car,” she said and she sounded angry.
“Mom, I can’t lift a car!” I said as I placed my hand back on her ankle.
The car dropped another inch and I screamed. This time tears filled my eyes as I looked under the car and realized I couldn’t see my mom’s face.
“Mom!” I yelled. She didn’t answer. I should have just opened the garage door and screamed for help but when I heard the faint sound of my mom’s voice calling my name something I can’t explain happened inside of me and I placed both hands underneath the back of the car, bent my knees, closed my eyes and I tried to push it up with all my strength.
I kept chanting over and over in my head, “Please don’t let my mom die, please don’t let my mom die.” Then my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my mom’s voice.
“It’s okay, it’s okay- I’m okay. Put it down. Slowly, gently-,” she was whispering.
I opened my eyes and realized I’d not only lifted the car enough for her to slide from underneath but I had both back tires at least three feet off the ground. My eyes widened and I quickly let go of the car but instead of it crashing to the ground it moved so slow that it seemed like it was floating. I looked at my mom and she had her hand up like she was guiding it.
I stumbled to the corner of the garage and I looked at my hands. My fingertips were black but I felt the same. Even when I was holding the car- three feet off the ground- it felt like I was lifting a can of soda. I let my arms fall to my side and stared at my mom.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Is this- am I dreaming?”
She shook her head.
“That car didn’t really fall on you, did it?” I asked staring at her.
She shook her head again.
“So, I am dreaming- what -,” I clenched my eyes shut. “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” I said slapping myself in the face. It stung really bad.
“Drew stop it!” My mother yelled and my eyes flew open. We were still in the garage.
“Mom- what is going on?” I asked as tears filled my eyes once again.
“Come inside. We need to talk.”
I hesitated but followed my mom back inside the house. I sat down on the couch and she headed towards the kitchen. I laid back on the couch and closed my eyes still convinced I was dreaming.
“Here,” I heard my mom’s voice and opened my eyes. She was holding an ice pack towards me.
“What’s this for?” I frowned.
She winced. “Your face,”
I stood and walked over to the mirror in the hallway. My cheeks were slightly swollen and one had a purplish bruise. My eyes widened. “Did the car do that?” I asked confused.
She cleared her throat. “No, when you were slapping yourself in the face,” she said scratching her neck nervously.
I just stared at her before I felt my legs start to give out and I sank to the floor. I was there for a few minutes before I felt my mom forcing the ice pack in my hand and then on to my face. I looked up at her as my vision clouded with tears.
“Is there something wrong with me?” I asked as my voice cracked.
“Oh sweetie, no- no there is nothing wrong with you at all,” she said sitting next to me and wrapping an arm around me.
I had grown almost two feet taller than my mom, so the position we were in felt awkward. She slid over to the wall and sat with her back against it.
“Come here,” she said leading me to her lap. I laid in her lap while she gently placed the ice pack on my cheek.
She sighed. “I guess there is no easy way to say this- you’re not a normal boy Drew. You’re special,” she said and I’d heard her voice sound that way before when I’d done something she thought was cool. She was proud.
“I don’t understand? I am a normal boy. I’ve always been a normal boy. I look like a boy, sound like a boy, I like video games, I don’t clean up my room,” I rambled on and on.
She laughed lightly. “Well, that’s sort of the way your DNA is made up with you being part human.”
I sat up and looked at her like she was insane.
“Part human? What exactly does that mean mom- what is my other part made of?” I shrieked.
“Dracosian.”
“Dra-what? Is that a European country?” I asked. She’d never taught me that much about geography.
She smiled faintly before she stood. “Let’s sit on the couch where it’s more comfortable,”
I hesitantly followed her. I’d totally abandoned the ice pack as I sat on the edge of the chair instead of next to her.
“Dracosia is a planet in the-,”
“Dracosia? That is not a planet mom! Why are you doing this? Is this a joke? Are we on TV?” I asked looking around the living room for a hidden camera.
“It’s not a joke. Listen to me and when I’m done if you have questions or doubts I’ll address them then,” she said sternly.
I sighed and sat back in the chair scowling at her.
“Dracosia is a planet at the end of the second quadrant of the galaxy. It is not listed on any human records of the universe. It’s between the Milky Way and Andromeda. That is where I am from. My destiny was to give life to the designated, reconnaissance, evolved weapon that will save Earth.”
“What?!”
I’d had enough.
“I can’t listen to any more of this!” I yelled. I got up and walked towards my room and just as I made it to the door, it slammed it my face like someone had closed it from inside.
I stopped and my mouth dropped open. I looked over my shoulder and mom stood there with her palm up like she did with the car when we were in garage.
“Did you do that- mom-? What did you do with my mom?” I asked backing away from her.
“I came to Earth seventeen years ago. The Sovereign had fixed it so that I would meet your father. We started a relationship and had you-,”
I covered my ears. “No, no, no! Stop!”
I felt my arms move away from my ears and they were pinned to my sides by an invisible force. I felt helpless and couldn’t move. I was so scared as I looked at this woman, who was supposed to be my mom but there was no way she could be my mom. She had to be an alien or something to move things with her hands.
“You know, I’m kind of shocked at your reaction to all of this. I would’ve thought you’d be excited about having powers,” she frowned.
“I don’t have powers,” I said as my voice shook. Maybe if I did what this alien wanted she’d bring my mom back. Or maybe doing what she wanted was the way I’d wake up from this nightmare. “You’ve got the wrong kid.”
“You have super strength and other powers. Your powers were supposed to be activated upon your sixteenth birthday but I noticed there were early signs they were already starting to surface. Unfortunately, right now your strength only happens when you’re afraid,”
I was afraid now. And I definitely didn’t feel strong. I remained silent.
“Every one thousand years The Sovereign send-,”
“The Sovereign?” This alien lady was really crazy.
“They are the supreme enforcers of peace in the universe. Every one thousand years they send someone to protect the populated planets in the universe from a force that has been trying to destroy the universe since it was created. Every one thousand years, there is a small window of opportunity for this destruction to happen and the only person that can stop this from happening is the designated, reconnaissance, evolved weapon. That’s you. That’s what your name means, you always asked me why I didn’t name you Andrew-,”
“And my mom always said it was because adding "An" to the front of my name was a waste of a syllable. The same reason her parents named her Steph instead of Stephanie.” I said hoping hearing that would make my mom somehow reappear.
She sighed. “Drew I am your mom. And Steph is also an acronym it stands for speedy, telekinetic, evolved, prototype human.”
“So you’re telling me you’re my mom and you’re what a robot?” I laughed. “Oh yeah, and that I am a superhero sent here to save Earth?”
Suddenly I felt whatever force that was holding me release and I almost fell to the ground.
“I know this all sound unbelievable but-,”
“Because it’s not true!” I yelled as I pushed past her and ran from the house. I ran all the way to the skate park a couple of miles away and stopped to catch my breath. I needed to get to a police station. When I stood and looked over my shoulder I shrieked. My mom- or this prototype of my mom was there.
I opened my mouth but before I could say anything, she spoke: “I have super speed. You can’t outrun me. Listen we don’t have time for this. I know it’s all really overwhelming and I didn’t think we’d have to deal with this until you were sixteen but I’ve been informed that Telegon is already in the galaxy, which means he is already preparing his sycophants for an attack. We need to find a-,”
I took off in the opposite direction and ran as fast as I could. Maybe this is why my mom told me I’d need endurance to outrun crazy aliens.
I looked over my shoulder and didn’t see her but as soon as I turned my head she appeared next to me. But I didn’t stop running and neither did she but instead of exerting a lot of energy like I was, it looked like she was just walking. My legs were suddenly being forced in another direction and I found myself in the middle of a trail covered with tall grass and bushes. I felt paralyzed like I had back at home and I realized the alien lady must be doing it. I looked at her and her expression was blank. I felt something start to wrap around my feet and I thought it was a snake but I wasn’t able to move my legs or my arms. Whatever was wrapping around my feet was also wrapping around my legs and then my waist and my arms until I was totally bound. I lowered my eyes and saw that it was part of a chain link fence.
After a minute or two my body went limp and I realized I had control of my arms and legs again but I still couldn’t move.
“Why are you doing this?” I cried. “Help!” I screamed.
“No one can hear you Drew. You can free yourself. Just rip it a part,” she shrugged.
“I can’t! I can’t! I don’t have super strength and you are not my mom!” I screamed.
“There are rats in this field. I know how afraid you are of rats. You don’t want them to crawl up your pants do you?” she asked in a teasing tone.
I was terrified of rats.
I started to struggle against the fence so that I could wiggle my way out. One of my hands slipped through an opening and I tried pulling it away but it wouldn’t give. I heard a squeak and when I raised my head there was a big, brown vicious looking rat right in front of my face– just dangling there in mid-air. I felt the same surge of energy I'd felt when I lifted the car in the garage; I grabbed part of the fence with my free hand and I pulled it way like it was tissue paper.
I stared down at my hands in disbelief and then everything went black.
I was only ten years old when my mother decided I would no longer attend public school.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Show your work? Why does it matter how you got the answer if the answer is correct?”
It wasn't a question she actually expected an answer to, so I didn’t say anything. I just continued to stare out of the window.
“I don’t know why humans make everything so difficult. Weak, arrogant, losers” she muttered.
I looked over at her. “You act like you’re not human,”
She shifted nervously and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “It’s just a saying Drew,”
I looked at her for a little while longer studying how tightly her jaw was clenched and the way her lips were pressed into a tight line.
“Maybe I can go to another school? With better teachers?” I suggested.
Actually, the teachers weren’t the problem. It was all me. I just wasn’t getting it. All the other kids- even the ones who I didn't think were that smart- they all understood the new concepts that we were learning.
It was the first time that had ever happened to me. Up until that school year I’d been one of the top students in my class acing every test. But this year, it was like my brain decided to take a vacation without telling me.
So, my mom started helping me with some of the math but she showed me a quicker, easier way to do it and I finally felt like I wasn’t an idiot.
I used this new technique on our first test and I got all of the answers correct but instead of seeing a bright red “A” on my test, in the upper right-hand corner was an “F”.
After the dismissal bell rang, I stayed behind to ask the teacher why I got an F and she said, “Because you didn’t show your work,”
I stared at her confused. “But I got the answers right, isn’t that what counts?”
She went on and on telling me that it’s important that I learn the concepts the way she teaches them because they will be the foundation for my academic career and there are no short cuts in life or her classroom.
When I told my mom this her entire face turned red and she started shaking so bad I thought she might pass out. That’s when she said, “You’re not going back.” I didn’t realize it at the time but she didn’t just mean I wasn’t going back to Hallbrook Middle School, I wasn’t going back to any school.
Mom started home schooling me the next week. No matter how much I protested she wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t particularly sad about not going to school but I was sad about not seeing Doug, Noah, and Hayley Jefferson. I’d known Doug and Noah since we first moved to Hallbrook two years ago. They were good friends and we were all really into video games.
Hayley Jefferson wasn’t really my friend but she was nice to me. And she was the prettiest girl in all of fifth grade. I was going to miss sitting behind her staring at the back of her neck wondering if her smooth brown skin was as soft as it looked and the way she smelled like honeysuckle or some other sweet flower.
I knew most ten–year-old boys still believed girls had cooties but I was prepared to get cooties if it meant I could hold Hayley Jefferson’s hand or touch-
“Drew! Are you listening to me!” My mother screamed and snapped me out of my daydream.
Homeschooling actually wasn’t that bad except my mom wasn’t the most patient teacher. She told me I wasn’t using my full brain capacity and that I needed to focus. Focus was her favorite word. We actually started doing meditation during our class time, she said it would help me get centered. I had no idea what she was talking about but I played along.
I started seeing less and less of Doug and Noah especially the next school year. Mom and I moved again. We’d lived in at least four different cities since I was three. She always said it was because of a better job opportunity but each time we left in a hurry like we were trying to get away from something or someone.
I never really pressured my mom or caused any trouble because I figured it wasn’t easy raising a kid on your own. And at least she’d stuck around. She said that my dad didn’t want to be a dad and that he’d left before I was born. Sometimes I’d ask about him, like if he was still alive or lived nearby and she’d look like she was about to cry. She told me not to spend time thinking or worrying about someone who wasn’t doing the same for me.
The years passed and although mom was teaching me all the things I needed to know academically, I felt my social skills hadn’t developed much at all.
On my thirteenth birthday, she took me out to a restaurant to celebrate. Just the two of us. It was a quiet run down little Chinese restaurant, I didn’t even really like Chinese food. I’d seen on Noah’s Snapchat that he’d celebrated his thirteenth birthday with a pool party and a bunch of kids that I remembered from school. And Hayley Jefferson was there! All I could see was part of her body from waist up as she smiled and wished Noah a happy birthday. And then she kissed him on the cheek.
I immediately unfollowed him. That should have been my kiss.
Later that evening my mom came in my room and sat on the edge of my bed. I was curled in the fetal position feeling sorry for myself. I was becoming a hermit. I would never have any friends, ever have a girlfriend or get married. And in that moment, I blamed the petite woman sitting on the edge of my bed. I felt like I was her prisoner.
“You okay?” she asked placing a hand on my ankle.
I moved my leg away from her touch.
“Come on Drew talk to me,” she sighed.
I sat up and stared at her and something in my expression must have bothered her because she stood and moved closer to the door.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.
“Doing what?” she asked calmly.
“Keeping me here? I don’t have any friends, I barely get to leave this house and I hate Chinese food!” I yelled.
“I’m not keeping you here. You are free to go out and make friends Drew. And you never said you didn’t like Chinese food,” she frowned.
She was right. I had never actually said I didn’t like Chinese food but I just thought it was something she should have picked up on. But I was more interested in what she said about making friends . . .
“So, I could leave right now and go to the arcade?”
“You sure can. Just be home by eight o’clock,” she said softly and then she turned and left the room. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It was a little after six.
I stood at the front door for almost ten minutes contemplating my next move. I’d never actually gone anywhere without my mom since back when I was in school. What if I got lost?
I grunted as I gripped the doorknob. I was thirteen. Not a baby.
“Do you have money? For the games?”
I jumped at the sound of my mom’s voice.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said holding a twenty-dollar bill towards me.
“I wasn’t- you didn’t scare me,” I lied.
She smiled faintly and extended the twenty farther.
I sighed and walked over to grab it. She quickly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it. I was always surprised at how strong my mom was to be so small.
“Be careful,” she said softly. “And text me when you get there,”
“Okay,” I stuffed the money in my pocket, opened the door and walked out into the night air alone.
The arcade was only about five or six blocks away. We lived in a pretty safe neighborhood but the farther I got away from our small two-bedroom house the neighborhood seemed to change. It looked much different as the sun started to set. Once I made it out of our neighborhood, the buildings seemed taller, darker like they were swaying. It was pretty creepy.
I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie and walked faster. Pretty soon I was standing outside staring up at the neon light of Lantern Arcade. I smiled. I’d made it there safely. Without my mom.
I pulled on the door handle and opened it. As soon as I entered I frowned. It smelled like smoke and Frito’s. And there were only about four games. The old school games. Pac Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders. There were two pool tables in the back and a dart board next to what looked like a snack bar. The overhead fluorescent lighting was blinking and one of the lights over the pool table was out.
It was awful. Nothing like the bright, busy and modern arcade back in Hallbrook. I started to turn around and head back home but I didn’t want my mom to know it was a bust especially after I’d made such a big deal about it. There were two guys in the back playing pool and one guy at the snack bar. I decided I would play a few levels of Pac Man and then head home. The games were only fifty cents and I had two dollars worth of quarters in my pocket plus the twenty my mom gave me. I texted my mom before putting two quarters in the game.
I was on level three when the door opened and a group of rowdy guys came in. They looked like troublemakers. I was so nervous that I missed my chance at catching the ghosts and got gobbled up. I only had one life left, which was for the best since I needed to head home.
When the next level started up a guy suddenly appeared next to me.
“Hey. You pretty good on this game. Where you from? I ain’t never seen you around here.”
I tried to remain calm but my heart was beating really fast. He didn’t seem all that dangerous but his voice was thick and scratchy, like it belonged to an old man instead of what I suspected to be a young teenage boy. He also wore a sweatshirt and jeans that looked two sizes too big. I wondered if maybe he was in a gang. He wasn’t with the guys who had entered a minute ago, they definitely looked like they were in a gang.
I cleared my throat. “Um, yeah. I’m new here,” I said as I continued the game and tried to keep my hands from shaking.
“I’m Lil’ Darryl,” he leaned against the game invading my personal space.
“Drew,” I said eating a pellet and chasing the ghosts around the maze.
“Oh no, keep cool. Here comes Tyrell and his crew,” he whispered.
Before I could ask any questions, the group that had entered the arcade were making their way towards us. There were four of them.
“Hey fellas, look a here, Little Darryl has made a friend. What you boys doing out so late on a school night?” One of the guys, who I assumed was Tyrell, asked.
My hands fell away from the controller and I let Blinky dissolve my last Pac Man.
“I was just leaving,” I said.
“Oh, is it past your curfew? Where you from? You know this is my arcade. Nobody gets in or out without my say so,” he came closer to me and I took a step back.
He was an inch or two taller than me and probably not much older. He wore a baseball cap turned backwards and was sucking on a Blow Pop.
“He’s new around here. L-l-l-leave him alone Tyrell,” Little Darryl stuttered. I could tell by how shaky his voice was that he was scared of Tyrell, which made me scared of Tyrell.
“Shut up, you stuttering fool!” Tyrell yelled reaching past me to push Darryl. The guys with him started laughing.
“Like I said, I need to go,” I tried to go around him.
“Like I said, you get out only if I say so. How much money you got?”
I clenched my fists in the pockets of my hoodie holding on to the twenty that my mom gave me. Tyrell pushed me.
“Answer me,” he demanded.
I looked back at the snack bar but the guy that was there earlier had disappeared. And the guys at the pool table couldn’t see us since we were on the other side of the games.
“I just want to go home,” I said.
“I just want to go home,” he said mocking me. At least I think he was mocking me. He sounded more like a little girl.
“Give me your money and you can go,” He pushed me again and I stumbled backwards.
I’d never been in a position like that where I’d been picked on. I wasn’t sure I knew how to fight but I wasn’t giving Tyrell my mom’s money. She worked too hard for me to give it away to a bully.
“No,” I said firmly.
“Oh, we got us a tough guy fellas,” he said turning to face his friends. They laughed.
When he turned around I saw his hand move and before he could push me again, I grabbed his arm and pushed his shoulder so hard that he flew backwards and knocked down two of his friends. My eyes widened and I heard Little Darryl laugh.
While they were on the ground, I took a chance and headed for the door. Then I started running. Once I was outside I shot off down the street. A few minutes later I realized I’d turned the wrong way and was in the middle of an unfamiliar neighborhood.
I was lost.
“Hey, hey! Andrew! Andrew! Man, hold up!” I heard someone behind me and I got scared. When he came closer, I realized it was Little Darryl.
“Man, you run fast. Hold up, let me catch my breath,” he bent over at the knee breathing harshly.
“Are those guys coming?” I asked looking past him.
He shook his head.
“Nah, Tyrell just try to act bad. He’s only fourteen and he picks on kids smaller than him,” he said taking a deep breath. “He ain’t gonna ever gonna pick on you again,” he laughed then he sounded like he was gasping for air.
I ran my hands over my head.
“You live over here?” Little Darryl asked still out of breath.
“No, I think I turned the wrong way,”
“I think I need to- I live at the end- the apartments- my asthma is flaring up,” he wheezed. He looked like he was about to pass out.
“Are you okay?”
“I just need my inhaler,” he started walking down the street.
We made it to the small apartment complex around the corner and Little Darryl let himself into an empty apartment on the first floor. He went straight to the kitchen and pulled an inhaler from a drawer. He took two deep pulls from it and soon his breathing sounded normal.
“Sorry about that. I don’t usually run that much or that fast. So you know karate or something?” he asked.
“Uh- no, I don’t know what happened back there. I need to go- I should probably call my mom,”
“You the man Andrew, I ain’t never seen nobody stand up to Tyrell like that. You know his daddy owns the arcade that’s why he acts like that,”
“It’s just Drew,” I took the phone from my pocket and called my mom. I asked Little Darryl for his address and she said she was on her way. She got there in less than ten minutes.
“Mom- how- how did you get here so fast?” I asked confused. It had taken me almost ten minutes to walk to the arcade and Darryl lived about ten minutes past the arcade.
“Never mind that. Are you okay? What happened?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“Hi Andrew’s mom,” Little Darryl waived at her.
“It’s just Drew,” I reminded him.
“Um hi, who are you?” my mom asked looking down the dark hallway of the apartment.
“I’m Lil Darryl. Andr- Drew’s new friend. He protected me from a bully tonight,”
I turned and frowned at him. If my mom knew I’d gotten into a fight, I’d never be allowed outside alone again.
“You got into a fight?” she asked. But her voice sounded weird. Not like she was mad but more impressed.
“It wasn’t a fight- can we go?” I asked walking past her outside. “Um, mom? Where’s the car?”
Once we left Little Darryl’s apartment, we walked to the end of the block to make it back to the street where the arcade was located.
“How did you get over there so fast? And you walked?” I continued questioning my mom but she ignored me.
“So tell me about this fight?” she asked not slowing down. Her legs moved pretty fast to be such a short woman.
“It wasn’t a fight. A guy was being a jerk. He pushed me and I pushed him back. No big deal,” I said hoping she would drop it.
“What happened when you pushed him?” she asked.
I sighed. “He um, he fell down. I didn’t think I’d pushed him that hard but he fell pretty hard and knocked down two of his friends,” I actually felt bad about it and hoped they weren’t hurt.
A laugh came from my mom surprising me. “You knocked down three guys? How big were they?”
My eyes widened. “Mom! I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be yelling at me, telling me not to fight or get into trouble or something like that,”
She waved me off. “I wouldn’t call that much of a fight. Besides, I’m proud of you. You can’t let evil win,” she frowned.
“Evil? Mom they were kids around my age. Just a group of bullies,” I said.
She only smirked in response. We were quiet for the rest of the walk home. Later that night I took off my shirt and stared at my upper body in the bathroom mirror. I flexed to make a muscle. I didn’t really have any muscles or even feel that strong. Just the other day I had to ask my mom to open the top on a sports drink. I had no idea how I was able to push Tyrell so hard. Maybe it was an adrenaline rush. It was just weird. But that was nothing compared to how strange my life became after that night at the arcade.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Show your work? Why does it matter how you got the answer if the answer is correct?”
It wasn't a question she actually expected an answer to, so I didn’t say anything. I just continued to stare out of the window.
“I don’t know why humans make everything so difficult. Weak, arrogant, losers” she muttered.
I looked over at her. “You act like you’re not human,”
She shifted nervously and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “It’s just a saying Drew,”
I looked at her for a little while longer studying how tightly her jaw was clenched and the way her lips were pressed into a tight line.
“Maybe I can go to another school? With better teachers?” I suggested.
Actually, the teachers weren’t the problem. It was all me. I just wasn’t getting it. All the other kids- even the ones who I didn't think were that smart- they all understood the new concepts that we were learning.
It was the first time that had ever happened to me. Up until that school year I’d been one of the top students in my class acing every test. But this year, it was like my brain decided to take a vacation without telling me.
So, my mom started helping me with some of the math but she showed me a quicker, easier way to do it and I finally felt like I wasn’t an idiot.
I used this new technique on our first test and I got all of the answers correct but instead of seeing a bright red “A” on my test, in the upper right-hand corner was an “F”.
After the dismissal bell rang, I stayed behind to ask the teacher why I got an F and she said, “Because you didn’t show your work,”
I stared at her confused. “But I got the answers right, isn’t that what counts?”
She went on and on telling me that it’s important that I learn the concepts the way she teaches them because they will be the foundation for my academic career and there are no short cuts in life or her classroom.
When I told my mom this her entire face turned red and she started shaking so bad I thought she might pass out. That’s when she said, “You’re not going back.” I didn’t realize it at the time but she didn’t just mean I wasn’t going back to Hallbrook Middle School, I wasn’t going back to any school.
Mom started home schooling me the next week. No matter how much I protested she wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t particularly sad about not going to school but I was sad about not seeing Doug, Noah, and Hayley Jefferson. I’d known Doug and Noah since we first moved to Hallbrook two years ago. They were good friends and we were all really into video games.
Hayley Jefferson wasn’t really my friend but she was nice to me. And she was the prettiest girl in all of fifth grade. I was going to miss sitting behind her staring at the back of her neck wondering if her smooth brown skin was as soft as it looked and the way she smelled like honeysuckle or some other sweet flower.
I knew most ten–year-old boys still believed girls had cooties but I was prepared to get cooties if it meant I could hold Hayley Jefferson’s hand or touch-
“Drew! Are you listening to me!” My mother screamed and snapped me out of my daydream.
Homeschooling actually wasn’t that bad except my mom wasn’t the most patient teacher. She told me I wasn’t using my full brain capacity and that I needed to focus. Focus was her favorite word. We actually started doing meditation during our class time, she said it would help me get centered. I had no idea what she was talking about but I played along.
I started seeing less and less of Doug and Noah especially the next school year. Mom and I moved again. We’d lived in at least four different cities since I was three. She always said it was because of a better job opportunity but each time we left in a hurry like we were trying to get away from something or someone.
I never really pressured my mom or caused any trouble because I figured it wasn’t easy raising a kid on your own. And at least she’d stuck around. She said that my dad didn’t want to be a dad and that he’d left before I was born. Sometimes I’d ask about him, like if he was still alive or lived nearby and she’d look like she was about to cry. She told me not to spend time thinking or worrying about someone who wasn’t doing the same for me.
The years passed and although mom was teaching me all the things I needed to know academically, I felt my social skills hadn’t developed much at all.
On my thirteenth birthday, she took me out to a restaurant to celebrate. Just the two of us. It was a quiet run down little Chinese restaurant, I didn’t even really like Chinese food. I’d seen on Noah’s Snapchat that he’d celebrated his thirteenth birthday with a pool party and a bunch of kids that I remembered from school. And Hayley Jefferson was there! All I could see was part of her body from waist up as she smiled and wished Noah a happy birthday. And then she kissed him on the cheek.
I immediately unfollowed him. That should have been my kiss.
Later that evening my mom came in my room and sat on the edge of my bed. I was curled in the fetal position feeling sorry for myself. I was becoming a hermit. I would never have any friends, ever have a girlfriend or get married. And in that moment, I blamed the petite woman sitting on the edge of my bed. I felt like I was her prisoner.
“You okay?” she asked placing a hand on my ankle.
I moved my leg away from her touch.
“Come on Drew talk to me,” she sighed.
I sat up and stared at her and something in my expression must have bothered her because she stood and moved closer to the door.
“Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.
“Doing what?” she asked calmly.
“Keeping me here? I don’t have any friends, I barely get to leave this house and I hate Chinese food!” I yelled.
“I’m not keeping you here. You are free to go out and make friends Drew. And you never said you didn’t like Chinese food,” she frowned.
She was right. I had never actually said I didn’t like Chinese food but I just thought it was something she should have picked up on. But I was more interested in what she said about making friends . . .
“So, I could leave right now and go to the arcade?”
“You sure can. Just be home by eight o’clock,” she said softly and then she turned and left the room. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. It was a little after six.
I stood at the front door for almost ten minutes contemplating my next move. I’d never actually gone anywhere without my mom since back when I was in school. What if I got lost?
I grunted as I gripped the doorknob. I was thirteen. Not a baby.
“Do you have money? For the games?”
I jumped at the sound of my mom’s voice.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said holding a twenty-dollar bill towards me.
“I wasn’t- you didn’t scare me,” I lied.
She smiled faintly and extended the twenty farther.
I sighed and walked over to grab it. She quickly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it. I was always surprised at how strong my mom was to be so small.
“Be careful,” she said softly. “And text me when you get there,”
“Okay,” I stuffed the money in my pocket, opened the door and walked out into the night air alone.
The arcade was only about five or six blocks away. We lived in a pretty safe neighborhood but the farther I got away from our small two-bedroom house the neighborhood seemed to change. It looked much different as the sun started to set. Once I made it out of our neighborhood, the buildings seemed taller, darker like they were swaying. It was pretty creepy.
I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my hoodie and walked faster. Pretty soon I was standing outside staring up at the neon light of Lantern Arcade. I smiled. I’d made it there safely. Without my mom.
I pulled on the door handle and opened it. As soon as I entered I frowned. It smelled like smoke and Frito’s. And there were only about four games. The old school games. Pac Man, Galaga, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders. There were two pool tables in the back and a dart board next to what looked like a snack bar. The overhead fluorescent lighting was blinking and one of the lights over the pool table was out.
It was awful. Nothing like the bright, busy and modern arcade back in Hallbrook. I started to turn around and head back home but I didn’t want my mom to know it was a bust especially after I’d made such a big deal about it. There were two guys in the back playing pool and one guy at the snack bar. I decided I would play a few levels of Pac Man and then head home. The games were only fifty cents and I had two dollars worth of quarters in my pocket plus the twenty my mom gave me. I texted my mom before putting two quarters in the game.
I was on level three when the door opened and a group of rowdy guys came in. They looked like troublemakers. I was so nervous that I missed my chance at catching the ghosts and got gobbled up. I only had one life left, which was for the best since I needed to head home.
When the next level started up a guy suddenly appeared next to me.
“Hey. You pretty good on this game. Where you from? I ain’t never seen you around here.”
I tried to remain calm but my heart was beating really fast. He didn’t seem all that dangerous but his voice was thick and scratchy, like it belonged to an old man instead of what I suspected to be a young teenage boy. He also wore a sweatshirt and jeans that looked two sizes too big. I wondered if maybe he was in a gang. He wasn’t with the guys who had entered a minute ago, they definitely looked like they were in a gang.
I cleared my throat. “Um, yeah. I’m new here,” I said as I continued the game and tried to keep my hands from shaking.
“I’m Lil’ Darryl,” he leaned against the game invading my personal space.
“Drew,” I said eating a pellet and chasing the ghosts around the maze.
“Oh no, keep cool. Here comes Tyrell and his crew,” he whispered.
Before I could ask any questions, the group that had entered the arcade were making their way towards us. There were four of them.
“Hey fellas, look a here, Little Darryl has made a friend. What you boys doing out so late on a school night?” One of the guys, who I assumed was Tyrell, asked.
My hands fell away from the controller and I let Blinky dissolve my last Pac Man.
“I was just leaving,” I said.
“Oh, is it past your curfew? Where you from? You know this is my arcade. Nobody gets in or out without my say so,” he came closer to me and I took a step back.
He was an inch or two taller than me and probably not much older. He wore a baseball cap turned backwards and was sucking on a Blow Pop.
“He’s new around here. L-l-l-leave him alone Tyrell,” Little Darryl stuttered. I could tell by how shaky his voice was that he was scared of Tyrell, which made me scared of Tyrell.
“Shut up, you stuttering fool!” Tyrell yelled reaching past me to push Darryl. The guys with him started laughing.
“Like I said, I need to go,” I tried to go around him.
“Like I said, you get out only if I say so. How much money you got?”
I clenched my fists in the pockets of my hoodie holding on to the twenty that my mom gave me. Tyrell pushed me.
“Answer me,” he demanded.
I looked back at the snack bar but the guy that was there earlier had disappeared. And the guys at the pool table couldn’t see us since we were on the other side of the games.
“I just want to go home,” I said.
“I just want to go home,” he said mocking me. At least I think he was mocking me. He sounded more like a little girl.
“Give me your money and you can go,” He pushed me again and I stumbled backwards.
I’d never been in a position like that where I’d been picked on. I wasn’t sure I knew how to fight but I wasn’t giving Tyrell my mom’s money. She worked too hard for me to give it away to a bully.
“No,” I said firmly.
“Oh, we got us a tough guy fellas,” he said turning to face his friends. They laughed.
When he turned around I saw his hand move and before he could push me again, I grabbed his arm and pushed his shoulder so hard that he flew backwards and knocked down two of his friends. My eyes widened and I heard Little Darryl laugh.
While they were on the ground, I took a chance and headed for the door. Then I started running. Once I was outside I shot off down the street. A few minutes later I realized I’d turned the wrong way and was in the middle of an unfamiliar neighborhood.
I was lost.
“Hey, hey! Andrew! Andrew! Man, hold up!” I heard someone behind me and I got scared. When he came closer, I realized it was Little Darryl.
“Man, you run fast. Hold up, let me catch my breath,” he bent over at the knee breathing harshly.
“Are those guys coming?” I asked looking past him.
He shook his head.
“Nah, Tyrell just try to act bad. He’s only fourteen and he picks on kids smaller than him,” he said taking a deep breath. “He ain’t gonna ever gonna pick on you again,” he laughed then he sounded like he was gasping for air.
I ran my hands over my head.
“You live over here?” Little Darryl asked still out of breath.
“No, I think I turned the wrong way,”
“I think I need to- I live at the end- the apartments- my asthma is flaring up,” he wheezed. He looked like he was about to pass out.
“Are you okay?”
“I just need my inhaler,” he started walking down the street.
We made it to the small apartment complex around the corner and Little Darryl let himself into an empty apartment on the first floor. He went straight to the kitchen and pulled an inhaler from a drawer. He took two deep pulls from it and soon his breathing sounded normal.
“Sorry about that. I don’t usually run that much or that fast. So you know karate or something?” he asked.
“Uh- no, I don’t know what happened back there. I need to go- I should probably call my mom,”
“You the man Andrew, I ain’t never seen nobody stand up to Tyrell like that. You know his daddy owns the arcade that’s why he acts like that,”
“It’s just Drew,” I took the phone from my pocket and called my mom. I asked Little Darryl for his address and she said she was on her way. She got there in less than ten minutes.
“Mom- how- how did you get here so fast?” I asked confused. It had taken me almost ten minutes to walk to the arcade and Darryl lived about ten minutes past the arcade.
“Never mind that. Are you okay? What happened?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“Hi Andrew’s mom,” Little Darryl waived at her.
“It’s just Drew,” I reminded him.
“Um hi, who are you?” my mom asked looking down the dark hallway of the apartment.
“I’m Lil Darryl. Andr- Drew’s new friend. He protected me from a bully tonight,”
I turned and frowned at him. If my mom knew I’d gotten into a fight, I’d never be allowed outside alone again.
“You got into a fight?” she asked. But her voice sounded weird. Not like she was mad but more impressed.
“It wasn’t a fight- can we go?” I asked walking past her outside. “Um, mom? Where’s the car?”
Once we left Little Darryl’s apartment, we walked to the end of the block to make it back to the street where the arcade was located.
“How did you get over there so fast? And you walked?” I continued questioning my mom but she ignored me.
“So tell me about this fight?” she asked not slowing down. Her legs moved pretty fast to be such a short woman.
“It wasn’t a fight. A guy was being a jerk. He pushed me and I pushed him back. No big deal,” I said hoping she would drop it.
“What happened when you pushed him?” she asked.
I sighed. “He um, he fell down. I didn’t think I’d pushed him that hard but he fell pretty hard and knocked down two of his friends,” I actually felt bad about it and hoped they weren’t hurt.
A laugh came from my mom surprising me. “You knocked down three guys? How big were they?”
My eyes widened. “Mom! I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be yelling at me, telling me not to fight or get into trouble or something like that,”
She waved me off. “I wouldn’t call that much of a fight. Besides, I’m proud of you. You can’t let evil win,” she frowned.
“Evil? Mom they were kids around my age. Just a group of bullies,” I said.
She only smirked in response. We were quiet for the rest of the walk home. Later that night I took off my shirt and stared at my upper body in the bathroom mirror. I flexed to make a muscle. I didn’t really have any muscles or even feel that strong. Just the other day I had to ask my mom to open the top on a sports drink. I had no idea how I was able to push Tyrell so hard. Maybe it was an adrenaline rush. It was just weird. But that was nothing compared to how strange my life became after that night at the arcade.
2017 Summer Calendar
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Patrice Toussaint moves across country after running away from a failed marriage. Malcolm Dupree has managed to outrun his past and reinvent himself in a way he never thought was possible.
When these two meet their mutual dislike for each other is more than obvious but after Malcolm rescues Patrice from a sticky situation, they develop an unconventional friendship that soon turns into more and the missing pieces of their lives start to fall in place.
{READ AN EXCERPT}
When these two meet their mutual dislike for each other is more than obvious but after Malcolm rescues Patrice from a sticky situation, they develop an unconventional friendship that soon turns into more and the missing pieces of their lives start to fall in place.
{READ AN EXCERPT}
Kevin and Sydney Grant have been married for seven years. The former high school sweethearts have what most would consider an ideal marriage until Sydney discovers Kevin has kept a secret from her. A secret that starts to unravel their marriage and uncover lies from the past.
They attend marriage counseling to salvage their relationship but Kevin soon learns Sydney has secrets of her own. Will he be able to forgive her? Or will their lies end up destroying what’s left of their marriage?
{READ AN EXCERPT}
They attend marriage counseling to salvage their relationship but Kevin soon learns Sydney has secrets of her own. Will he be able to forgive her? Or will their lies end up destroying what’s left of their marriage?
{READ AN EXCERPT}
Enter questions the comment section below. They will be answered immediately after the webcast ends. Responses will appear in the comment section below.
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COMING SOON: Nothing I Can Say (December 2015)
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1. Myleik (#mytaughtyou)- Myleik Teele, the founder and CEO of curlBox shares some great advice for entrepreneurs as well as wisdom and anecdotes for life in general. I love her candor! She has an unbelievable work ethic and is such an inspiration. Listening to her no nonsense approach to business and life really motivated me to stop wishing and start doing! 2. Meet the Writers (Barnes & Noble)- This podcast is actually no longer posting new episodes but their archive is awesome. It features a different author each week and they share their inspiration and writing journey. Very good podcast for aspiring writers. 3. The Kickass Life (with David Wood)- The host, David Wood is a businessman, author, coach and humanitarian who shares some great advice for marrying success and happiness by living a fulfilling and authentic life. 4. TED Talks- I'm addicted to TED Talks!! It is a series of conferences from executives, politicians, influencers. entrepreneurs, educators, entertainers, etc. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment & Design. This podcast also features video and it is the mecca for inspiration and provides amazing advice for creatives. (P.S. I tried, really tried to get into Serial but I just couldn't focus....I'm thinking of giving it another try when things slow down.) What are some of your favorite podcasts? In this edition of Friday faves, I share some of my favorite podcasts. When I'm in the car driving or sitting in the pick up line at my kids school's, I connect my phone via Bluetooth and listen to these podcasts:
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