Welcome Readers!
I'm DJPM (Debra Juanita Phillips Miller),.....the DJ who spins stories, not records! This reading booklet blog was created to introduce and showcase electronic paperbacklets (fictional short story paperbacks) specifically for your fall reading pleasure! The novelettes on this Reading Marathon are all under 25 pages. Each has its own copyright and ISBN number.
All Types Of Madness has taken over this Reading Marathon with characters who seem to have lost their ever lovin' minds! Their outrageous antics prove that they are worth knowing just like this blog's sister blog www.charactersworthknowing.blogspot.com proves for all of its characters. So get ready for the slightly unique, the ultimate in brief, and the truly unforgettable when you read short story, after short story, after short story here on the Reading Marathon!
Click on story names over in blog archive at top right to read the following two stories or scroll down.
Find six fictional stories, one story per post, in the next six posts. So let's kick off the first blog post's story which debuts the madness of the personal things that happen to April Ann Snow in the month of December! She'll encounter divorce, marriage, death, con artists, an ex and a few other surprising tidbits that takes her life in a whole new direction! Find out what exactly happens week to week during the month of December to April in the heart tugging 16 page saga, "DECEMBER'S APRIL" by DJPM.
The second post introduces the madness of the Multea family. They've taken being multi-racial to a whole new level! During a multi-racial family's Thanksgiving family reunion, an outsider learns about their unique bloodline which was created by making sure that family members only dated and procreated with other multi-racial people, inside and outside the family! Learn more about this family's reasoning behind their decision to basically create their own genetically modified race when you read this 21 page tale entitled, "DROPPINGS" by DJPM.
To read the next four stories click on August in the blog archive at the top to the right.
The third post (click on August in blog archive to read) introduces the madness of character Beaseley Barnes...a tour boat guide who has a new love but won't let go of his ex-love. To make matters worse they all encounter bad decision making, a mysterious 'palm reader' who invites herself into their lives which leads to disasterous results, and the bewitching hour of midnight on Halloween eve and on Halloween which causes love to go horribly wrong for their love triangle after they all get jobs at a California resort hotel in this 19 page cautionary little tale of the supernatural entitled, "MIDNIGHTS" by DJPM.
The fourth post (click on August in blog archive to read) continues the madness of character DeSander Jones Jr.,.....a wannabe psychic who caused unbelieveable chaos in her small backwoods town after she found a way to capitalize off of a controversial murder she witnessed. Unfortunately it exposed bombshell secrets of an adulterous affair, illegal medical experiments, crooked politicians and an exploitation plot you won't believe that helped turn the town upside down in the 18 page attention seeking short story, "OUR FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME: THE DEVINE INTERVENTION" by DJPM.
The fifth post (click on August in blog archive to read) continues the madness of character Eveena 'Eve' Evergreen and her family. She's an overweight woman who played russian roulette with her life by trying just about every weight loss gimmick and plan known to man as she dealt with her troubled professional football playing husband, his meddlesome and vengeful mother and her own unforgiving estranged mother. To escape this overwhelmimg situation, she turned to an experimental weight loss laboratory that eventually lead her to something very dark which ended with a controversial decision. Experience true human emotion when you read this 21 page New Year's, "EVE'S RESOLUTION" by DJPM.
The sixth, and last, post (click on August in blog archive to read) ends with the madness of character Desmond Lynnzee who finds himself in hot water when jealousy rears its ugly head and unleashes a moment of irresponsible selfishness when a desperate writer takes another look at his life after he plagiarizes his daughter's book in the guilt ridden 17 page tale of, "THERE'S ALWAYS MORE TO THE STORY" by DJPM.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
DECEMBER'S APRIL
chapter one
At eleven thirty-five p.m. on December 31st April Ann Snow, dressed in a white satin wedding gown, stood in the doorway of the candlelit Church as she stared down the aisle. It passed guests who sat in pews that were decorated with white satin bows, red and white roses, and baby's breath. Her eyes followed the snow white runner, which was laced with shimmering snow flake cutouts, down to the pulpit where everyone waited for her. The beautiful bridesmaids dressed in black satin, her beloved snow white terrier who walked down the aisle with her cousin Angelina who was her matron of honor, handsome groomsmen and the best man, the minister, and Benjamen Christopher who was her fiance. She watched tearfully now as the wedding march began to play and the guests stood. Her father looked down at her with a smile as he readied his arm for her to take. She put hers in his with a smile back. As they began their march down the aisle, thoughts of the past month whisked through her mind.
Twenty-nine year old April Ann Snow, who was an auction house administrator, changed the calender month from November to December. She stared at the first day of December as she thought to herself, 'Thirty days and counting', which she was referring to her upcoming wedding day on new Year's Eve. Benjamen Christopher was to wed her on that day and she couldn't wait. He was a thirty-two year old pilot who owned his own aviation charter service. They had met on a blind date New Year's Eve a year earlier at a dinner given by her cousin Angelina who thought it was time for her to start dating seriously again.
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April had swore off relationships some two years earlier after the man she had been dating for three years confessed he had cheated on her and the woman was pregnant with his child. April had loved him and was considering forgiving him until he told her that he loved the woman and they were flying to Vegas to marry. This news devastated April since he had told her that he wasn't ready to marry, but when he did it would be to her.
Feeling embarrassed and like a fool, April withdrew from men and threw herself into her work. Angelina and her family cursed the man and practically threatened his life if he ever showed his face again. Fearing their wrath, he left. Angelina felt sorry for April and decided to set her up on a date. She introduced her to her husband's nephew who was only a few years younger than the husband. Unfortunately it wasn't love at first sight between April and Benjamen, but the two of them were tired of the dating game and wanted to give the relationship a try.
So they started out as friends, but by valentine's day they were lovers who had fallen in love. To celebrate their blind date anniversary, they decided to marry on that day. Although this was a good idea, obstacles of a health crisis and decisions to be made by family and friends played significant roles in the following months with dramatic climaxes in December.
The first week of December brought April's parents ongoing divorce to an end as it became final. How ironic April thought for the timing, they were now legally divorced while she would be married at the end of the month.
"So how do you feel mom?" April asked her mother Cynthia who layed the divorce decree on the table and turned to April with watered eyes.
"I feel like a part of my heart has been taken from me April Ann. Your father was my life for thirty-five years. We had been through it all together. We loved each other and thought we would be together forever." Cynthia said as April blinked a tear and took her mother's hand.
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"Well, your forever was just to be for thirty-five years. All good things have to come to an end."
"But not my good thing April Ann. Drew was my husband and always will be."
"If you feel this way mom, why did you and daddy divorce? When I left home and went off to college you two were deeply in love I thought."
"So did we, but once you left we realized that you had been truly keeping us together. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. You weren't there to keep us doing things together. Because of you we were a family. We loved each other, but it just wasn't enough. We were both so scared when Drew found out he couldn't father children. We thought that was the end of our marriage then...but I suggested adoption and Drew agreed by choosing you April Ann. Out of all the little baby girls and boys he chose you."
"But a child can't save a marriage mom. If you believe that I kept you two together then your love for one another couldn't have been that strong."
"But April Ann, having you did show that our love was strong. God created man and woman to replinish the earth by making families. Your love has to be strong if you decide to spend the rest of your life with one person and raise a family together."
"So what finally made you two divorce?" April asked when they heard the front door open. Drew entered and answered April's question.
"Jealousy made us divorce honey. Jealousy of each other made us realize that we each had to outdo the other." he finished.
"What are you doing here Drew?" a surprised Cynthia asked as he walked over to April and kissed her forehead. He tossed a couple of keys on the table.
"I'm returning the house keys. I've decided that the only way I need to get into this house is by you letting me in Cynthia."
"Thank you." she said and picked the keys up as Drew sighed heavily.
"I'm also here to see how you were doing. I see you received your finalized copy too."
"I'm fine Drew. I did agree to this divorce." Cynthia said as April looked on confused.
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"Wait a minute here. Daddy, what do you mean by you two were jealous of each other? Mom told me that you two had just grew apart." April explained as he looked at Cynthia who reluctantly gave him the go ahead to tell her what she needed to know.
"Well honey, that wasn't true. I guess it all started as a game. I tried to prove that I loved your mother more, while she tried to prove that she loved me more. We did everything we could to out do the other until it got out of hand. We were in love, but we found ourselves competing against each other in every aspect of our lives. Who did the most for the other, who worked the hardest, who cooked and cleaned the best, who was the fittest, etc., etc., etc. Then of course I lost the battle when I was the one who couldn't have children. Cynthia still had the fight of competition in her blood so she suggested adoption. We then moved to another level of the game. Who would love you the most April. Who would provide you with the most, who spent the most time with you, who taught you the most. It went on and on until you grew up and left us. That's when reality sat in and we realized that our competing days were over. We had nothing else to do."
"So is that why you two quit your jobs and worked from home so you both could be with me?" she asked as they nodded in unison. "And mom, is that why you freaked out when I grew up and started calling you mom instead of mommy?"
"I guess so. You continued to call Drew daddy. I thought if you call me mom, he should be called dad." she chuckled as April smiled.
"Well, this is really sad in a way. I mean I don't know if I should be flattered that I was loved so much, or if I should be angry because I was used."
"Well it's up to you honey. Your mom and I went into counseling two years ago and came to the conslusion that we were guilty of these things and the only solution was divorce for us. The counselor said his door was open to you if you needed to talk."
"Well daddy, I don't think it's that serious. If I do need it though, it's good to know that his door is open for all of us."
5
chapter two
The second week in December brought sorrow for April. The death of her aunt Erica threw the family for a loop. At the burial April stood amongst the sea of mourners dressed in black feeling that all eyes were on her. Even the two television news vans that were parked outside the gates seemed to zoom in on her. That's when she felt her hand being squeezed. She looked up to see Benjamen's reassuring face telling her that it was alright and she had did the right thing. That was when Angelina poked her from behind. She too gave her the look she needed to see. Although Angelina was her partner in crime, she didn't feel as guilty as April did. Everyone had blamed April and Angelina for Erica's death.....everyone except Erica's daughter Frieda who was now staring at April too. Two policemen stood a few feet behind her while two prison guards stood on each side of her. April stared into Frieda's eyes and remembered what happened between them ten years ago.
Frieda was six years older than her cousins April and Angelina. She was what the family called the black sheep. She drank, smoked, took drugs, slept with older men at the age of fourteen, and rebeled against her single mother Erica. She had been in a juvenile detention center and then jailed twice within a seven year period. Ten years ago April and Angelina were twenty-one and Frieda was twenty-seven. It was around the holidays when Frieda was fired yet again from nother job. Later that same night around two in the morning April and Angelina were on their way home from their first lounge party after having turned twenty-one. They were a little tipsy and decided to walk home. On their way they heard gun shots ring out and saw Frieda and a tall man running from a house.
"What do you think Frieda is up to now?" April asked as Angelina shook her head.
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"Up to no good of course." Angelina chuckled when a woman in pajamas ran from the house screaming that her husband had been killed. Two small children came out crying and clung to the woman's bloodstained pajamas. April and Angelina looked at each other in shock and left the scene running themselves. Later the story came out that the dead man had been robbed by a disgruntled ex-employee and was shot to death simply for revenge. His wife couldn't make a positive identification because she came in on the tail end of the scuffle but remembered Frieda from her husband's office. After a neighbor came forward and couldn't make a positive identification either, he did say there were two young women on the dark street who should have gotten a better look.
A guilty conscience made April and Angelina go forward after agreeing that they didn't want to be responsible for Frieda killing anyone else. No one could believe they turned in their own cousin and after Frieda pleaded not guilty Erica hired a top rated defense lawyer. He couldn't help her and she was found guilty getting the death penalty because of her continuous criminal background. Of course April and Angelina didn't want her to die, but what was done, was done. Erica on the other hand went into debt trying to find a loophole to overturn the verdict for the next ten years.
Now as April averted her eyes from Frieda to watch Erica's casket lowered into the ground, she thought it nice that Frieda was let out of jail for the burial. She thought it sad that two months earlier Frieda finally confessed to her mother that she did kill her boss. After that confession an angry and embarrassed Erica, who had become homeless and refused help, disappeared.
Several days before the burial she was found dead from food poisoning after eating stale potato salad and chicken from a dumpster. April said her goodbye but couldn't hold in her grief. Benjamen comforted her and once they reached his car, he told her to stop feeling guilty. When she told him that she couldn't, he told her that he understood because his father was going through the same thing.
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He began from the beginning and told her that he came from an aviational family. His mother and father met and fell in love while serving in the Air Force. His mother was a jet mechanic and pilot. His father was a dare devil jet pilot. This put him in the elite grouping of top gun fighter pilots. He lived for the thrill of combat flying and quickly became the bad boy fly boy of the bomber squadron. With all of this going on, he and Benjamen's mother found time to be together and marry.
After careful planning they found themselves ready to start a family which they did a year later. Benjamen's older brother Elijah was born with Benjamen following years later. Their father decided to make the Air Force a career while their mother took an indefinate leave of absence to raise their sons. Five years later an accident ended the father's career when his cockiness led to bad judgement.
While practicing combat training maneuvers he sped right up on a fellow pilot's jet, as he usually did, and quickly turned sideways accidently allowing his wing tip to clip the other jet's wing. Because of the high speed both jets slightly wobbled leaving both pilots surprised and unfocused on the training for a few seconds. This led to each pilot not noticing the other oncoming training jets in the group.
Benjamen's father sideswiped one of the jets causing the surprised pilot to spin out of control. Benjamen's father barely regained control of his jet as it dropped and skidded onto the ocean while the other jet crashed into the ocean. His father got out of his jet as it came to a stop and jumped into the ocean. He later came back up with his fellow pilot as a rescue helicopter hovered several feet above them. Although he saved the life of the pilot, his own life as a pilot was over. He was disciplined, but eventually voluntarily left the Air Force.
The family packed up and moved to a small town where the father got a job as an air traffic controller. They lived an average life until Elijah reached puberty. He got his girlfriend pregnant and at eighteen they married. A year later they divorced and he went off to school to become a lawyer. Benjamen dated frequently as he went to business school while he worked with his mother at an air strip as an airplane mechanic. She became a short distance charter pilot and he went to the big city to work as a mechanic on the large commercial planes after graduation. His father, who now had a phobia against flying, continued to work as a controller. Elijah became a lawyer. He later divorced and decided to become an aviation lawyer.
Three years later Benjamen returned home and wanted to become a pilot and start his own charter service while his father began to experience headaches. A year later Benjamen's business was off and running as he ended yet another relationship and Elijah married for a third time. Five years later at thirty-one Benjamen had four pilots working under him as his girfriend of one year quit him because he was a workaholic. At the same time Elijah divorced wife number three who he had two children with while their mother told them that something was bothering their father because he was acting moody, nervous, strange, and a little forgetful.
She knew that he was harboring a secret that was affecting his health, but he refused to discuss it with her. Well it all came to a head unfortunately one dark and snowy night. On this night their mother was piloting a plane in zero visibility weather and was coming in to land. She was awaiting clearance from the control tower which was being controlled by their father. He told her and another cessna pilot that he would get back to them but he never did. Both planes crashed into each other killing both pilots because the father had forgotten what he was doing at that particular time.
After a forced medical evaluation, it was found out that the father had alzhiemers disease. He knew he didn't cause the crash on purpose, but he was the blame and never truly got over her death. He was treated for depression and began a drug program for the beginning stages of alzhiemers Benjamen sighed deeply as he finished the story. April comforted him by hugging him tightly. That's when she saw her ex-boyfriend Wilsyn watching them from the graveyard. April pointed him out to Benjamen. Wilsyn began to walk away when he saw Benjamen get out of the car. They watched him disappear amongst the graves.
8
chapter three
The third week of December brought job worries that plagued April. She had to make the decision of either accepting a most sought after promotion or be fired. The promotion was the director's position which had become available at the auction house where she worked due to a very hostile takeover. This happened after the owner and his vice president wife retired a year earlier. They gave complete control of running the company to their thirty-something daughter who was the director.
While under her control the company ran into financial problems because of bad decisions made by her. Conveniently during this time two young twenty-somethings came into the picture posing as financial consultants. The two conned the desparate daughter into investing in some stock by putting the company up as collateral. She knew it was risky, but not knowing what else to do she saw this secret investment as a way to try and turn the company around and end her financial worries.
Unfortunately the naive daughter didn't bother to inform the company attorney to check into the new stock that the two con-artists picked out on purpose because it was constantly being confused with a similar sounding well established money making stock. Only a week later the daughter found out that she was tricked when the stock went belly up and the two con-artists gained control of the company and the daughter's position.
After a lengthy and financial fight in court, the retired owners gave up and let the two take the company over. So the two became the owners and they needed a director. The company was small and April knew she would be competing against two other employees who had been there longer than she had. Her main concern was a man named Karroll. She went to the interview a little intimidated, but she wanted the position. She sighed when she saw Karroll.
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"Hi April. I'm not surprised to see you here." he smiled and extended his hand. April smiled and shook it.
"Hi Karroll. I knew my toughest competition would be here. You've been the assistant director for years and know this place like the back of your hand."
"Well the few years you've been here you've shown a take charge and get it done attitude."
"But you did take charge and you did get things done. honestly you shouldn't have to interview for this position. You deserve it." April assured him as he shook his head.
"We don't get things because we deserve them April, we get things when they're done fairly and unfortunately our two new bosses are no where near fair." he said when the woman owner came out of the office and called him in. Thirty minutes later April found herself leaving the new owners office after she and Karroll were each given fifteen minute interviews. She went to the washroom and realized that she had left her briefcase in their office. She went back to get it, but as she neared the door she overheard the new owners laughing sarcasdically. Being curious she walked closer to the door to hear better.
They were discussing their decision on who they were not going to promote and it was Karroll. They laughed at his being too old, too homely, too fat, too feminine acting for their taste. He was simply all wrong for the position. They believed that they couldn't have someone like him representing their hip new company that they had so cleverly and underhandidly taken over.
April was the one who would represent them with her youth, good looks and overall appearance. It didn't matter to them that he was the better candidate and was the acting director already. As April stood there listening she couldn't believe what she was hearing and remembered a while back when something similar to what was being heard here was heard before but in a different setting.
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April was twenty-three when she and Angelina were at Angelina's eight year old stepson's softball game. An eight year old girl had just struck out. Her mother stormed out of the stands and angrily tore into the girl by belittling her with abusive words. The little girl, who was overweight and wore glasses, continuously pushed the glasses up to wipe the tears from her eyes as the mother spouted the words stupid, clumsy, fat, awkward, a four eyes who was still blind as a bat, and a few choice curse words.
An angry April stopped herself from going over to tell the woman offf believing that it was none of her business. She then had to stop Angelina, who shouted at the woman, from picking a fight. She convinced Angelina that an altercation would only embarrass the child even more.
After coming back to the present April decided not to make the same mistake twice. She was going to voice her opinion. She burst into the office and threatened several discrimination lawsuits against them if they didn't offer the position to Karroll. She told them that he deserved the job and at fifty-nine it was only fair that he served as director until he retired in a couple of years. They angrily told her to accept the position or she's be fired. She thought for a moment and told them that she had no desire to work for people llike them and she quit. Of course with her resignation she would go to the police too and discuss their criminal activities unless they gave Karroll the job.
After threats back and forth the two reluctantly agreed after she swore that she would keep quiet about them as long as Karroll kept this new job and was allowed to retire with full benefits. They agreed and April left not knowing that she was being watched.
A few moments later her ex-boyfriend Wilsyn entered the new owners office and angrily slammed the door behind himself.
Thirty minutes later April had finished clearing out her office and was on her way out when Karroll stopped her in the doorway. He told her that he couldn't believe that she was so unprofessional as to quit rather than stay and show that she was a good sport even though she didn't get the promotion.
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She could tell that he was very disappoointed in her and didn't respect her anymore. She shouldn't have cared what he thought about her, but his demeanor towards his co-workers had always been patience and the utmost of respect. After not having tried to move up and out of his position he had held for the past eight years made this run against her for the director's position a complete surprise. She knew this was a good time to tell him what the new bosses thought about him, but then he wouldn't get the chance to prove to them that he was the best man for the job because he probably wouldn't take it.
April smiled, sighed heavily, congratulated him and said she was sorry that he thought of her that way but he should have a fair chance at what he truly deserved. As Karroll mumbled sore loser under his breath, April left happy as she thought about the new job she was going to have, being Mrs. Benjamen Christopher.
A few days later a saddened April said goodbye to Benjamen who had a four day senior citizen chartered sight-seeing tour of Mexico and parts of South America. As Benjamen's brother Elijah helped the seniors and his three kids board the plane, April kissed Benjamen goodbye. She had wanted to go but she was feeling under the weather and still had to finish last minute preparations for the wedding.
After April watched the plane take off she left. When she returned to her town house apartment that evening, she found Wilsyn sitting on her porch steps holding a dozen red roses. They stared at each other for a couple of minutes without saying a word. As she walked up to the porch he stood up. She reached him, slapped him, took the roses and put her key into the lock. He called her name.
She stood frozen and sighed heavily as she kept her back to him. He told her he was sorry and knew she couldn't forget what he had done to her, but would she try and forgive him. He made a mistake, he still loved her, and wanted her back.
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He was now divorced and claimed that the only reason he married was because he thought the woman's baby was his. A DNA test proved that he wasn't the father. He divorced and decided that he would give April time to heal so she could try and forgive him for making the biggest mistake of his life.
He knew he had to get her back, but he had to come back with a new approach. So he stayed in Vegas to rebuild his life by gambling and investing the winnings into failing companies. He had been keeping tabs on her and remembered when she went into the hospital for uterine fibroid surgery over a year ago. He had flew back to deliver flowers to her personally, but at the last minute changed his mind and just had dozens of flowers sent to her room. April remembered the anonymous dozens and dozens of flowers, but didn't let Wilsyn know she remembered as she kept her back to him.
He continued by telling her that when he found out about her bosses financially troubled auction house he wanted to help. After several months of research he paid a con woman and her associate to takeover April's bosses auction house just so she could become director. Once she became director he would make himself known and tell her that he was the one who was responsible for her becoming director and she would gladly leave her fly boy fiance for him. He knew when she became engaged and was determined to end the engagement.
A furious April turned the key in the lock. She hated herself for feeling flattered that Wilsyn still loved her. She felt her mind becoming confused with old pinned up feelings for him, but her fast beating heart reminded her that Benjamen was her man. The door clicked and opened. Knowing that the wrong words would come out of her mouth, she kept it closed and started inside the darkened apaprtment.
Wilsyn hopped up the steps and grabbed her arm turning her around with force making her face him. She looked up into his large brown eyes and felt herself, feeling like she use to long ago, melting from his firm touch.
"I love you April. I always have and I always will. I'm ready to give you my whole self, body and soul. Please give me another chance. I want to marry you." he said in a voice that scared April. He pulled out a velvet box and popped it open. The sparkling diamond on the ring nearly blinded her.
"Will you please marry me April?" he begged with watered eyes. April stared into his eyes and watched tears fall from them. She put her hand up to his face and gently wiped one of the tears away and shook her head.
"No Will, I won't marry you." she answered and went inside closing the door in his face.
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chapter four
The fourth week of December, on Christmas Eve, brought a special surprise for April. Even though she was on the birth control pill, she had just been told by her gynecologist that she was six weeks pregnant.
A little over a year ago she had underwent surgery to remove benign uterine fibroid tumors through the myomectomy procedure Wilsyn had earlier reminded her of. Back then the doctor wanted her have a hysterectomy, but with her being young and never having had a child he suggested the myomectomy. She had been plagued with heavy menstral cycles and anemia. The severity of this caused her to have a blood transfusion which led to the unwanted, but necessary surgery.
Children were the furthest thing from her mind back then since she had sworn off relationships at that time and honestly didn't care which surgery was performed. Of course that was then because now she sat in the doctor's office thanking God that she didn't have the hysterectomy as she rubbed her stomach and gleemed with joy. The doctor did advise her that after she gave birth she should have the hysterectomy anyway because fibroids were known to grow back.
She would be faced with the same problelms of anemia, transfusions, and surgery again which would have too much wear and tear on her body in the long run. She agreed because she was not going to go through that again and as she thought about this being the only child she would ever have, the hospital's emergency room doors flew open.
Benjamen and his brother Elijah entered. Elijah, who was lliterally holding Benjamen up, walked him over to a wheelchair and sat the weakened and sweating Benjamen down. Elijah began yelling for a doctor causing a commotion. As a nurse ran over to him to quiet him down, Benjamen passed out.
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The next day, neither knowing that the other had been at the hospital the previous day, they celebrated Christmas with their families but met back later at April's apartment that night. After they exchanged presents, April surprised him with another present which was her being pregnant. He was thrilled, but wasn't too talkative the rest of the night. He wanted to just relax and enjoy the moment. Although it somewhat bothered her, she decided not to let it spoil their upcoming nuptuals.
This brought April back to the present day and time, her wedding day, new year's Eve. When she realized what was going on, she and her father had reached the minister and the handsome Benjamen at eleven forty-five p.m. The minister started the ceremony and when he asked did anyone object to their getting married, Wilsyn entered the Church.
Everyone turned around as he stared at April and Benjamen in silence. He began to walk down the aisle towards them as April and Benjamen watched. He stopped midway down the aisle and slowly took a seat. The minister cleared his throat and went on with the ceremony. Fifteen minutes later the minister pronounced them man and wife and wished everyone a happy new year as the clock struck midnight. The guests threw up confetti and blew horns.
After cementing the marriage with a passionate kiss, they hugged tightly until April felt Benjamen's arms loosen from around her as he slowly slid down towards the floor. April screamed as she struggled to hold him up, but the two fell to the floor as the wedding party ran over to help amongst all of the commotion.
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Epilogue
Five years later after Benjamen collapsed and died at the wedding from a ruptured aneurysm, December brought April and her five year old boy and girl fraternal twins back home for the holidays. As they walked through the airport gates April stopped and watched the twins run into the arms of her parents as Benjamen's father and brother awaited their turn. They all were invited to Angelina's for Christmas dinner. Tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered the night Elijah told her how the aneurysm developed. Benjamen had been bitten by an infected insect while waiting to refuel his charter plane during the senior sight-seeing tour of Mexico and South America days earlier.
After passing out on Christmas eve, a doctor told him that he was having an allergic reaction to the insect bite. Tests showed an unknown pathogen in his bloodstream which warranted more tests. He left the hospital that night, but was called by the doctor on Christmas morning with news that the insect carried an infectious and fatal disease. Unfortunately the doctor didn't know exactly what type of strain the disease was, but knew that it had to be stopped from spreading to the brain and clotting.
A number of tests had to be done just to narrow it down from one hundred strains of pathogens to fifty. Tests would then have to be done for that fifty until one infectious strain remained and matched his. The problem was that it was a fast moving and damaging disease that was hard to figure out and required too many time consuming tests. It was now a race against time, but it was time that they didn't have. The doctor told him that he could die within the week if not sooner and he saw sooner than later.
This specific strain would not be found within a week in their hospital lab, but there was an experimental lab in the Amazon rainforest that had access to more medicinal remedies that could find a cure quicker. Benjamen asked him if he could guarantee that he would be alive and back from the Amazon in time for his wedding.
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When the doctor told him that he couldn't guarantee it Benjamen told him that he would stay and take his chances with their hospital because this way he wouldn't have to tell anyone what was going on. They all would worry and April would postpone the wedding not believing that a cure would be found in time.
This was April's day, her first and only wedding day he hoped and believed. He refused to let his illness ruin the day they planned to begin life together because it belonged only to them. April wiped the tears from her cheeks as she remembered how angry she was after Benjamen's death because he chose not to tell her any of this and allowed himself to die just to be sure they married on New Year's Eve.
Although in the end his sacrifice prompted her to move on with her life by moving away and becoming founder of a research center that worked with the Center for Disease Control that centered on blood diseases and tumors. Of course Wilsyn was still keeping tabs on her and wanted to help out with her research center. She broke down and welcomed financial backing for the center since he had become a multi-millionaire. They had become good friends over the past five years and were considering a possible life together in the near future.
She now watched Benjamen's father as he held both twins. She smiled as they both kissed each of his cheeks at the same time. April walked over to her waiting family and hugged her mother, father and Elijah. They all headed for the exit door each knowing that their first stop would be the cemetary to visit Benjamen.
THE END
by DJPM
chapter one
At eleven thirty-five p.m. on December 31st April Ann Snow, dressed in a white satin wedding gown, stood in the doorway of the candlelit Church as she stared down the aisle. It passed guests who sat in pews that were decorated with white satin bows, red and white roses, and baby's breath. Her eyes followed the snow white runner, which was laced with shimmering snow flake cutouts, down to the pulpit where everyone waited for her. The beautiful bridesmaids dressed in black satin, her beloved snow white terrier who walked down the aisle with her cousin Angelina who was her matron of honor, handsome groomsmen and the best man, the minister, and Benjamen Christopher who was her fiance. She watched tearfully now as the wedding march began to play and the guests stood. Her father looked down at her with a smile as he readied his arm for her to take. She put hers in his with a smile back. As they began their march down the aisle, thoughts of the past month whisked through her mind.
Twenty-nine year old April Ann Snow, who was an auction house administrator, changed the calender month from November to December. She stared at the first day of December as she thought to herself, 'Thirty days and counting', which she was referring to her upcoming wedding day on new Year's Eve. Benjamen Christopher was to wed her on that day and she couldn't wait. He was a thirty-two year old pilot who owned his own aviation charter service. They had met on a blind date New Year's Eve a year earlier at a dinner given by her cousin Angelina who thought it was time for her to start dating seriously again.
2
April had swore off relationships some two years earlier after the man she had been dating for three years confessed he had cheated on her and the woman was pregnant with his child. April had loved him and was considering forgiving him until he told her that he loved the woman and they were flying to Vegas to marry. This news devastated April since he had told her that he wasn't ready to marry, but when he did it would be to her.
Feeling embarrassed and like a fool, April withdrew from men and threw herself into her work. Angelina and her family cursed the man and practically threatened his life if he ever showed his face again. Fearing their wrath, he left. Angelina felt sorry for April and decided to set her up on a date. She introduced her to her husband's nephew who was only a few years younger than the husband. Unfortunately it wasn't love at first sight between April and Benjamen, but the two of them were tired of the dating game and wanted to give the relationship a try.
So they started out as friends, but by valentine's day they were lovers who had fallen in love. To celebrate their blind date anniversary, they decided to marry on that day. Although this was a good idea, obstacles of a health crisis and decisions to be made by family and friends played significant roles in the following months with dramatic climaxes in December.
The first week of December brought April's parents ongoing divorce to an end as it became final. How ironic April thought for the timing, they were now legally divorced while she would be married at the end of the month.
"So how do you feel mom?" April asked her mother Cynthia who layed the divorce decree on the table and turned to April with watered eyes.
"I feel like a part of my heart has been taken from me April Ann. Your father was my life for thirty-five years. We had been through it all together. We loved each other and thought we would be together forever." Cynthia said as April blinked a tear and took her mother's hand.
3
"Well, your forever was just to be for thirty-five years. All good things have to come to an end."
"But not my good thing April Ann. Drew was my husband and always will be."
"If you feel this way mom, why did you and daddy divorce? When I left home and went off to college you two were deeply in love I thought."
"So did we, but once you left we realized that you had been truly keeping us together. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. You weren't there to keep us doing things together. Because of you we were a family. We loved each other, but it just wasn't enough. We were both so scared when Drew found out he couldn't father children. We thought that was the end of our marriage then...but I suggested adoption and Drew agreed by choosing you April Ann. Out of all the little baby girls and boys he chose you."
"But a child can't save a marriage mom. If you believe that I kept you two together then your love for one another couldn't have been that strong."
"But April Ann, having you did show that our love was strong. God created man and woman to replinish the earth by making families. Your love has to be strong if you decide to spend the rest of your life with one person and raise a family together."
"So what finally made you two divorce?" April asked when they heard the front door open. Drew entered and answered April's question.
"Jealousy made us divorce honey. Jealousy of each other made us realize that we each had to outdo the other." he finished.
"What are you doing here Drew?" a surprised Cynthia asked as he walked over to April and kissed her forehead. He tossed a couple of keys on the table.
"I'm returning the house keys. I've decided that the only way I need to get into this house is by you letting me in Cynthia."
"Thank you." she said and picked the keys up as Drew sighed heavily.
"I'm also here to see how you were doing. I see you received your finalized copy too."
"I'm fine Drew. I did agree to this divorce." Cynthia said as April looked on confused.
4
"Wait a minute here. Daddy, what do you mean by you two were jealous of each other? Mom told me that you two had just grew apart." April explained as he looked at Cynthia who reluctantly gave him the go ahead to tell her what she needed to know.
"Well honey, that wasn't true. I guess it all started as a game. I tried to prove that I loved your mother more, while she tried to prove that she loved me more. We did everything we could to out do the other until it got out of hand. We were in love, but we found ourselves competing against each other in every aspect of our lives. Who did the most for the other, who worked the hardest, who cooked and cleaned the best, who was the fittest, etc., etc., etc. Then of course I lost the battle when I was the one who couldn't have children. Cynthia still had the fight of competition in her blood so she suggested adoption. We then moved to another level of the game. Who would love you the most April. Who would provide you with the most, who spent the most time with you, who taught you the most. It went on and on until you grew up and left us. That's when reality sat in and we realized that our competing days were over. We had nothing else to do."
"So is that why you two quit your jobs and worked from home so you both could be with me?" she asked as they nodded in unison. "And mom, is that why you freaked out when I grew up and started calling you mom instead of mommy?"
"I guess so. You continued to call Drew daddy. I thought if you call me mom, he should be called dad." she chuckled as April smiled.
"Well, this is really sad in a way. I mean I don't know if I should be flattered that I was loved so much, or if I should be angry because I was used."
"Well it's up to you honey. Your mom and I went into counseling two years ago and came to the conslusion that we were guilty of these things and the only solution was divorce for us. The counselor said his door was open to you if you needed to talk."
"Well daddy, I don't think it's that serious. If I do need it though, it's good to know that his door is open for all of us."
5
chapter two
The second week in December brought sorrow for April. The death of her aunt Erica threw the family for a loop. At the burial April stood amongst the sea of mourners dressed in black feeling that all eyes were on her. Even the two television news vans that were parked outside the gates seemed to zoom in on her. That's when she felt her hand being squeezed. She looked up to see Benjamen's reassuring face telling her that it was alright and she had did the right thing. That was when Angelina poked her from behind. She too gave her the look she needed to see. Although Angelina was her partner in crime, she didn't feel as guilty as April did. Everyone had blamed April and Angelina for Erica's death.....everyone except Erica's daughter Frieda who was now staring at April too. Two policemen stood a few feet behind her while two prison guards stood on each side of her. April stared into Frieda's eyes and remembered what happened between them ten years ago.
Frieda was six years older than her cousins April and Angelina. She was what the family called the black sheep. She drank, smoked, took drugs, slept with older men at the age of fourteen, and rebeled against her single mother Erica. She had been in a juvenile detention center and then jailed twice within a seven year period. Ten years ago April and Angelina were twenty-one and Frieda was twenty-seven. It was around the holidays when Frieda was fired yet again from nother job. Later that same night around two in the morning April and Angelina were on their way home from their first lounge party after having turned twenty-one. They were a little tipsy and decided to walk home. On their way they heard gun shots ring out and saw Frieda and a tall man running from a house.
"What do you think Frieda is up to now?" April asked as Angelina shook her head.
6
"Up to no good of course." Angelina chuckled when a woman in pajamas ran from the house screaming that her husband had been killed. Two small children came out crying and clung to the woman's bloodstained pajamas. April and Angelina looked at each other in shock and left the scene running themselves. Later the story came out that the dead man had been robbed by a disgruntled ex-employee and was shot to death simply for revenge. His wife couldn't make a positive identification because she came in on the tail end of the scuffle but remembered Frieda from her husband's office. After a neighbor came forward and couldn't make a positive identification either, he did say there were two young women on the dark street who should have gotten a better look.
A guilty conscience made April and Angelina go forward after agreeing that they didn't want to be responsible for Frieda killing anyone else. No one could believe they turned in their own cousin and after Frieda pleaded not guilty Erica hired a top rated defense lawyer. He couldn't help her and she was found guilty getting the death penalty because of her continuous criminal background. Of course April and Angelina didn't want her to die, but what was done, was done. Erica on the other hand went into debt trying to find a loophole to overturn the verdict for the next ten years.
Now as April averted her eyes from Frieda to watch Erica's casket lowered into the ground, she thought it nice that Frieda was let out of jail for the burial. She thought it sad that two months earlier Frieda finally confessed to her mother that she did kill her boss. After that confession an angry and embarrassed Erica, who had become homeless and refused help, disappeared.
Several days before the burial she was found dead from food poisoning after eating stale potato salad and chicken from a dumpster. April said her goodbye but couldn't hold in her grief. Benjamen comforted her and once they reached his car, he told her to stop feeling guilty. When she told him that she couldn't, he told her that he understood because his father was going through the same thing.
7
He began from the beginning and told her that he came from an aviational family. His mother and father met and fell in love while serving in the Air Force. His mother was a jet mechanic and pilot. His father was a dare devil jet pilot. This put him in the elite grouping of top gun fighter pilots. He lived for the thrill of combat flying and quickly became the bad boy fly boy of the bomber squadron. With all of this going on, he and Benjamen's mother found time to be together and marry.
After careful planning they found themselves ready to start a family which they did a year later. Benjamen's older brother Elijah was born with Benjamen following years later. Their father decided to make the Air Force a career while their mother took an indefinate leave of absence to raise their sons. Five years later an accident ended the father's career when his cockiness led to bad judgement.
While practicing combat training maneuvers he sped right up on a fellow pilot's jet, as he usually did, and quickly turned sideways accidently allowing his wing tip to clip the other jet's wing. Because of the high speed both jets slightly wobbled leaving both pilots surprised and unfocused on the training for a few seconds. This led to each pilot not noticing the other oncoming training jets in the group.
Benjamen's father sideswiped one of the jets causing the surprised pilot to spin out of control. Benjamen's father barely regained control of his jet as it dropped and skidded onto the ocean while the other jet crashed into the ocean. His father got out of his jet as it came to a stop and jumped into the ocean. He later came back up with his fellow pilot as a rescue helicopter hovered several feet above them. Although he saved the life of the pilot, his own life as a pilot was over. He was disciplined, but eventually voluntarily left the Air Force.
The family packed up and moved to a small town where the father got a job as an air traffic controller. They lived an average life until Elijah reached puberty. He got his girlfriend pregnant and at eighteen they married. A year later they divorced and he went off to school to become a lawyer. Benjamen dated frequently as he went to business school while he worked with his mother at an air strip as an airplane mechanic. She became a short distance charter pilot and he went to the big city to work as a mechanic on the large commercial planes after graduation. His father, who now had a phobia against flying, continued to work as a controller. Elijah became a lawyer. He later divorced and decided to become an aviation lawyer.
Three years later Benjamen returned home and wanted to become a pilot and start his own charter service while his father began to experience headaches. A year later Benjamen's business was off and running as he ended yet another relationship and Elijah married for a third time. Five years later at thirty-one Benjamen had four pilots working under him as his girfriend of one year quit him because he was a workaholic. At the same time Elijah divorced wife number three who he had two children with while their mother told them that something was bothering their father because he was acting moody, nervous, strange, and a little forgetful.
She knew that he was harboring a secret that was affecting his health, but he refused to discuss it with her. Well it all came to a head unfortunately one dark and snowy night. On this night their mother was piloting a plane in zero visibility weather and was coming in to land. She was awaiting clearance from the control tower which was being controlled by their father. He told her and another cessna pilot that he would get back to them but he never did. Both planes crashed into each other killing both pilots because the father had forgotten what he was doing at that particular time.
After a forced medical evaluation, it was found out that the father had alzhiemers disease. He knew he didn't cause the crash on purpose, but he was the blame and never truly got over her death. He was treated for depression and began a drug program for the beginning stages of alzhiemers Benjamen sighed deeply as he finished the story. April comforted him by hugging him tightly. That's when she saw her ex-boyfriend Wilsyn watching them from the graveyard. April pointed him out to Benjamen. Wilsyn began to walk away when he saw Benjamen get out of the car. They watched him disappear amongst the graves.
8
chapter three
The third week of December brought job worries that plagued April. She had to make the decision of either accepting a most sought after promotion or be fired. The promotion was the director's position which had become available at the auction house where she worked due to a very hostile takeover. This happened after the owner and his vice president wife retired a year earlier. They gave complete control of running the company to their thirty-something daughter who was the director.
While under her control the company ran into financial problems because of bad decisions made by her. Conveniently during this time two young twenty-somethings came into the picture posing as financial consultants. The two conned the desparate daughter into investing in some stock by putting the company up as collateral. She knew it was risky, but not knowing what else to do she saw this secret investment as a way to try and turn the company around and end her financial worries.
Unfortunately the naive daughter didn't bother to inform the company attorney to check into the new stock that the two con-artists picked out on purpose because it was constantly being confused with a similar sounding well established money making stock. Only a week later the daughter found out that she was tricked when the stock went belly up and the two con-artists gained control of the company and the daughter's position.
After a lengthy and financial fight in court, the retired owners gave up and let the two take the company over. So the two became the owners and they needed a director. The company was small and April knew she would be competing against two other employees who had been there longer than she had. Her main concern was a man named Karroll. She went to the interview a little intimidated, but she wanted the position. She sighed when she saw Karroll.
9
"Hi April. I'm not surprised to see you here." he smiled and extended his hand. April smiled and shook it.
"Hi Karroll. I knew my toughest competition would be here. You've been the assistant director for years and know this place like the back of your hand."
"Well the few years you've been here you've shown a take charge and get it done attitude."
"But you did take charge and you did get things done. honestly you shouldn't have to interview for this position. You deserve it." April assured him as he shook his head.
"We don't get things because we deserve them April, we get things when they're done fairly and unfortunately our two new bosses are no where near fair." he said when the woman owner came out of the office and called him in. Thirty minutes later April found herself leaving the new owners office after she and Karroll were each given fifteen minute interviews. She went to the washroom and realized that she had left her briefcase in their office. She went back to get it, but as she neared the door she overheard the new owners laughing sarcasdically. Being curious she walked closer to the door to hear better.
They were discussing their decision on who they were not going to promote and it was Karroll. They laughed at his being too old, too homely, too fat, too feminine acting for their taste. He was simply all wrong for the position. They believed that they couldn't have someone like him representing their hip new company that they had so cleverly and underhandidly taken over.
April was the one who would represent them with her youth, good looks and overall appearance. It didn't matter to them that he was the better candidate and was the acting director already. As April stood there listening she couldn't believe what she was hearing and remembered a while back when something similar to what was being heard here was heard before but in a different setting.
10
April was twenty-three when she and Angelina were at Angelina's eight year old stepson's softball game. An eight year old girl had just struck out. Her mother stormed out of the stands and angrily tore into the girl by belittling her with abusive words. The little girl, who was overweight and wore glasses, continuously pushed the glasses up to wipe the tears from her eyes as the mother spouted the words stupid, clumsy, fat, awkward, a four eyes who was still blind as a bat, and a few choice curse words.
An angry April stopped herself from going over to tell the woman offf believing that it was none of her business. She then had to stop Angelina, who shouted at the woman, from picking a fight. She convinced Angelina that an altercation would only embarrass the child even more.
After coming back to the present April decided not to make the same mistake twice. She was going to voice her opinion. She burst into the office and threatened several discrimination lawsuits against them if they didn't offer the position to Karroll. She told them that he deserved the job and at fifty-nine it was only fair that he served as director until he retired in a couple of years. They angrily told her to accept the position or she's be fired. She thought for a moment and told them that she had no desire to work for people llike them and she quit. Of course with her resignation she would go to the police too and discuss their criminal activities unless they gave Karroll the job.
After threats back and forth the two reluctantly agreed after she swore that she would keep quiet about them as long as Karroll kept this new job and was allowed to retire with full benefits. They agreed and April left not knowing that she was being watched.
A few moments later her ex-boyfriend Wilsyn entered the new owners office and angrily slammed the door behind himself.
Thirty minutes later April had finished clearing out her office and was on her way out when Karroll stopped her in the doorway. He told her that he couldn't believe that she was so unprofessional as to quit rather than stay and show that she was a good sport even though she didn't get the promotion.
11
She could tell that he was very disappoointed in her and didn't respect her anymore. She shouldn't have cared what he thought about her, but his demeanor towards his co-workers had always been patience and the utmost of respect. After not having tried to move up and out of his position he had held for the past eight years made this run against her for the director's position a complete surprise. She knew this was a good time to tell him what the new bosses thought about him, but then he wouldn't get the chance to prove to them that he was the best man for the job because he probably wouldn't take it.
April smiled, sighed heavily, congratulated him and said she was sorry that he thought of her that way but he should have a fair chance at what he truly deserved. As Karroll mumbled sore loser under his breath, April left happy as she thought about the new job she was going to have, being Mrs. Benjamen Christopher.
A few days later a saddened April said goodbye to Benjamen who had a four day senior citizen chartered sight-seeing tour of Mexico and parts of South America. As Benjamen's brother Elijah helped the seniors and his three kids board the plane, April kissed Benjamen goodbye. She had wanted to go but she was feeling under the weather and still had to finish last minute preparations for the wedding.
After April watched the plane take off she left. When she returned to her town house apartment that evening, she found Wilsyn sitting on her porch steps holding a dozen red roses. They stared at each other for a couple of minutes without saying a word. As she walked up to the porch he stood up. She reached him, slapped him, took the roses and put her key into the lock. He called her name.
She stood frozen and sighed heavily as she kept her back to him. He told her he was sorry and knew she couldn't forget what he had done to her, but would she try and forgive him. He made a mistake, he still loved her, and wanted her back.
12
He was now divorced and claimed that the only reason he married was because he thought the woman's baby was his. A DNA test proved that he wasn't the father. He divorced and decided that he would give April time to heal so she could try and forgive him for making the biggest mistake of his life.
He knew he had to get her back, but he had to come back with a new approach. So he stayed in Vegas to rebuild his life by gambling and investing the winnings into failing companies. He had been keeping tabs on her and remembered when she went into the hospital for uterine fibroid surgery over a year ago. He had flew back to deliver flowers to her personally, but at the last minute changed his mind and just had dozens of flowers sent to her room. April remembered the anonymous dozens and dozens of flowers, but didn't let Wilsyn know she remembered as she kept her back to him.
He continued by telling her that when he found out about her bosses financially troubled auction house he wanted to help. After several months of research he paid a con woman and her associate to takeover April's bosses auction house just so she could become director. Once she became director he would make himself known and tell her that he was the one who was responsible for her becoming director and she would gladly leave her fly boy fiance for him. He knew when she became engaged and was determined to end the engagement.
A furious April turned the key in the lock. She hated herself for feeling flattered that Wilsyn still loved her. She felt her mind becoming confused with old pinned up feelings for him, but her fast beating heart reminded her that Benjamen was her man. The door clicked and opened. Knowing that the wrong words would come out of her mouth, she kept it closed and started inside the darkened apaprtment.
Wilsyn hopped up the steps and grabbed her arm turning her around with force making her face him. She looked up into his large brown eyes and felt herself, feeling like she use to long ago, melting from his firm touch.
"I love you April. I always have and I always will. I'm ready to give you my whole self, body and soul. Please give me another chance. I want to marry you." he said in a voice that scared April. He pulled out a velvet box and popped it open. The sparkling diamond on the ring nearly blinded her.
"Will you please marry me April?" he begged with watered eyes. April stared into his eyes and watched tears fall from them. She put her hand up to his face and gently wiped one of the tears away and shook her head.
"No Will, I won't marry you." she answered and went inside closing the door in his face.
13
chapter four
The fourth week of December, on Christmas Eve, brought a special surprise for April. Even though she was on the birth control pill, she had just been told by her gynecologist that she was six weeks pregnant.
A little over a year ago she had underwent surgery to remove benign uterine fibroid tumors through the myomectomy procedure Wilsyn had earlier reminded her of. Back then the doctor wanted her have a hysterectomy, but with her being young and never having had a child he suggested the myomectomy. She had been plagued with heavy menstral cycles and anemia. The severity of this caused her to have a blood transfusion which led to the unwanted, but necessary surgery.
Children were the furthest thing from her mind back then since she had sworn off relationships at that time and honestly didn't care which surgery was performed. Of course that was then because now she sat in the doctor's office thanking God that she didn't have the hysterectomy as she rubbed her stomach and gleemed with joy. The doctor did advise her that after she gave birth she should have the hysterectomy anyway because fibroids were known to grow back.
She would be faced with the same problelms of anemia, transfusions, and surgery again which would have too much wear and tear on her body in the long run. She agreed because she was not going to go through that again and as she thought about this being the only child she would ever have, the hospital's emergency room doors flew open.
Benjamen and his brother Elijah entered. Elijah, who was lliterally holding Benjamen up, walked him over to a wheelchair and sat the weakened and sweating Benjamen down. Elijah began yelling for a doctor causing a commotion. As a nurse ran over to him to quiet him down, Benjamen passed out.
14
The next day, neither knowing that the other had been at the hospital the previous day, they celebrated Christmas with their families but met back later at April's apartment that night. After they exchanged presents, April surprised him with another present which was her being pregnant. He was thrilled, but wasn't too talkative the rest of the night. He wanted to just relax and enjoy the moment. Although it somewhat bothered her, she decided not to let it spoil their upcoming nuptuals.
This brought April back to the present day and time, her wedding day, new year's Eve. When she realized what was going on, she and her father had reached the minister and the handsome Benjamen at eleven forty-five p.m. The minister started the ceremony and when he asked did anyone object to their getting married, Wilsyn entered the Church.
Everyone turned around as he stared at April and Benjamen in silence. He began to walk down the aisle towards them as April and Benjamen watched. He stopped midway down the aisle and slowly took a seat. The minister cleared his throat and went on with the ceremony. Fifteen minutes later the minister pronounced them man and wife and wished everyone a happy new year as the clock struck midnight. The guests threw up confetti and blew horns.
After cementing the marriage with a passionate kiss, they hugged tightly until April felt Benjamen's arms loosen from around her as he slowly slid down towards the floor. April screamed as she struggled to hold him up, but the two fell to the floor as the wedding party ran over to help amongst all of the commotion.
15
Epilogue
Five years later after Benjamen collapsed and died at the wedding from a ruptured aneurysm, December brought April and her five year old boy and girl fraternal twins back home for the holidays. As they walked through the airport gates April stopped and watched the twins run into the arms of her parents as Benjamen's father and brother awaited their turn. They all were invited to Angelina's for Christmas dinner. Tears ran down her cheeks as she remembered the night Elijah told her how the aneurysm developed. Benjamen had been bitten by an infected insect while waiting to refuel his charter plane during the senior sight-seeing tour of Mexico and South America days earlier.
After passing out on Christmas eve, a doctor told him that he was having an allergic reaction to the insect bite. Tests showed an unknown pathogen in his bloodstream which warranted more tests. He left the hospital that night, but was called by the doctor on Christmas morning with news that the insect carried an infectious and fatal disease. Unfortunately the doctor didn't know exactly what type of strain the disease was, but knew that it had to be stopped from spreading to the brain and clotting.
A number of tests had to be done just to narrow it down from one hundred strains of pathogens to fifty. Tests would then have to be done for that fifty until one infectious strain remained and matched his. The problem was that it was a fast moving and damaging disease that was hard to figure out and required too many time consuming tests. It was now a race against time, but it was time that they didn't have. The doctor told him that he could die within the week if not sooner and he saw sooner than later.
This specific strain would not be found within a week in their hospital lab, but there was an experimental lab in the Amazon rainforest that had access to more medicinal remedies that could find a cure quicker. Benjamen asked him if he could guarantee that he would be alive and back from the Amazon in time for his wedding.
16
When the doctor told him that he couldn't guarantee it Benjamen told him that he would stay and take his chances with their hospital because this way he wouldn't have to tell anyone what was going on. They all would worry and April would postpone the wedding not believing that a cure would be found in time.
This was April's day, her first and only wedding day he hoped and believed. He refused to let his illness ruin the day they planned to begin life together because it belonged only to them. April wiped the tears from her cheeks as she remembered how angry she was after Benjamen's death because he chose not to tell her any of this and allowed himself to die just to be sure they married on New Year's Eve.
Although in the end his sacrifice prompted her to move on with her life by moving away and becoming founder of a research center that worked with the Center for Disease Control that centered on blood diseases and tumors. Of course Wilsyn was still keeping tabs on her and wanted to help out with her research center. She broke down and welcomed financial backing for the center since he had become a multi-millionaire. They had become good friends over the past five years and were considering a possible life together in the near future.
She now watched Benjamen's father as he held both twins. She smiled as they both kissed each of his cheeks at the same time. April walked over to her waiting family and hugged her mother, father and Elijah. They all headed for the exit door each knowing that their first stop would be the cemetary to visit Benjamen.
THE END
by DJPM
DROPPINGS
chapter one
It was Thanksgiving in Atlanta, Georgia. The fall air was crisp, the weather fine. The last of the colored autumn leaves blew from trees and to the ground which scattered about. Last minute shoppers hurried through grocery stores to pick up essential cooking items that were forgotten and or needed. One family in particular was the Multea family. Family member Aireus Multea rushed out of the supermarket with a shopping bag. He got into his car and sped towards the plantation his family was donated once a year for their Thanksgiving family reunion. The plantation was a sprawling couple of acres of magnificence. The grounds had a manicured lush green lawn which was divided in half by a half mile long paved driveway which led to the columned mansion whose surrounding sculptured shrubbary made it a showplace.
Aireus sped down the driveway, which was lined with tall trees where spanish moss hung from each and every one of them. He finally reached the mansion and parked, giving his keys to the waiting valet who drove his car around back and into the makeshift parking garage. It was simply two huge tents staked into the ground. There were three valets in all who had parked forty cars. The valet got out of the car as one of the other two valets walked back around front to wait for the next car.
"I can't wait until it's time to give these stuck up folks back their cars. They make me sick. I hate them."
"If you hate them so much why are you back? I thought last year was suppose to be your last year of being the Multea and LeJune families valet."
"It was suppose to be, but they fired Teddy at the last minute and needed someone to fill in for her. They gave me her pay plus my own so I couldn't say no."
2
"I heard about Teddy sleeping with one of their precious grandsons."
"It was rumored that she did, but she said she didn't. A couple of his stuck up jealous girl cousins lied on her. They saw that the boy liked Teddy but they wanted him for themselves. You know how they are, they're all cousins and it stays within the family."
"I heard that rumor. You think it's really true?"
"Just take a real good look at them. Decide for yourself." the valet said as twenty-one year old Raeden Multea drove up to the front door of the mansion. He got out along with DaSasha Johnson. The two walked hand in hand through the crystal glass doors and into the massive lobby. Raeden walked through the mansion saying hello to his family members while DaSasha noticed the family staring at her, or was she staring at them?
She couldn't help but to notice that the people were all the same skin color. Usually black people came in a variety of browns, from light to dark. ALL of these people had lightly caramelized honey cream skin. They were uniquely beautiful she thought as she remembered Raeden's unusual coloring was what caught her eye in the first place. His skin seemed to have a naturally pearlized smoothness and creaminess to it. His jet black hair was a mass of huge waves while his eyes, which were a golden hazel with flecks of blue, green, black, gray and violet, were surrounded by long black lashes and thick eyebrows.
As she looked at them they all seemed to have the same eyes, give or take a few where some of their eyes were lighter or darker then the other, but all of their skin color resembled Raeden's. While Raeden's hair color was jet black, others hair ranged from golden blonde, golden brown, golden red, brown black, to jet black. Gray hairs were mixed into the older family members hair. Old and young sported short and long styles with naturally silky waves and curls, with a few exceptions of silky sleek straight hair. They all were slender and ranged from average height to tall. DaSasha stuck out like a sore thumb. She was on the short side, had an hour glass figure, her naturally coarse hair had just been relaxed with a few weave extensions added, and her skin was bordering on dark brown, but she did match them in the looks department.
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She was beautiful too. Her fixation on these people was realized when Raeden pulled her hand to stop her. He had stopped walking while she was still going.
"DaSasha, what's the hurry baby?" he asked as she sighed with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else."
"It sure was. You're amazed at my family right?" he asked smiling as she nodded. "Non-family members always are when they see a lot of us at one time. So are you ready to meet my mom? She's right over there." he pointed to a very tall, and very slender woman who wore pearls and who had her short, wavy, graying black hair simply brushed back. She seemed to have on a ton of make-up, but was still extremely beautiful and elegant. DaSasha followed Raeden over to the three women and cleared his throat. They all looked at him and smiled as each kissed his cheek. All of their hazel speckled eyes looked at Raeden and DaSasha's hands, since the two were still holding hands, then looked at DaSasha.
"Mom, ladies, this is DaSasha Johnson. She's a senior with me at the university. She's a social science major. DaSasha, this is my mom Deena Multea and these are my twin aunts, Blaine and Elaine." he smiled as DaSasha extended her hand to shake theirs. Each shook her hand.
"It's so nice to meet you all, especially you Ms. Multea. I've heard nice things about you."
"The Salsa is it?" Deena asked.
"No, my name is pronounced Da-Sasha." she corrected.
"Oh, well anyway dear I haven't heard a thing about you. So you're one of Raeden's little friends from school?" Deena asked.
"No she isn't some little friend from school." Raeden snapped back. "She's my fiance. We plan to get married when we graduate college in the late spring." he finished. The twin aunts gasped in horror as Deena laughed loudly making some of the others look over at them.
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"Married? You've got to be joking Raeden." Deena laughed.
"No mom. I wouldn't joke about this. DaSasha and I are in love." he said seriously as he squeezed DaSasha's hand.
"Well the joke is on you Raeden because you're not marrying this girl. You know that you can't marry this girl."
"My name is DaSasha and why can't he marry me Ms. Multea?"
"Because from the looks of you, you are a complete negro and we do not marry people like you."
"We're black too mom or have you forgotten?"
"You know the rules Raeden. Of course I know we all are part African, but we're other nationalities as well. Our family is multi-racial. This girl is only one nationality. You can only marry girls that are like yourself, multi-racial." she reminded him as DaSasha cleared her throat.
"Why don't you just say mulatto girls Ms. Multea? I'm not going to go off on you since you're Raeden's mama, but what you are saying is prejudiced and crazy and I shouldn't humor your strange train of thought but historically I have more than negro blood running through my veins. My ancestors bloodline became unpure when they were brought here from Africa. Being raped by slave masters and being with different nationalities over hundreds of years makes me more than just, negro. I'm black and proud of it."
"That's all well and good dear, but I'm not talking about slaves and hundreds of years. I'm not talking about ancestors who were forced to change their bloodline and then managed to somehow purify that bloodline back to basically one nationality. You mother and father are just black right?"
"Right." DaSasha answered miffed.
"So that means that your parents immediate family, which are your grandparents, aren't mixed with European, Greek, Asian, Irish, Swedish, Italian, Persian, Russian, Hispanic, Egyptian, Native American, Indian or anything else." Deena said as DaSasha stopped her.
"Excuse me, but hold on here. Are you hinting around that Raeden has to marry a white girl?" DaSasha asked.
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"No dear. If you were complete European he still couldn't marry you. You must be multi-racial. You must have more than one nationalities blood running through your veins. Just one lineage just won't do. Mixing all of these races can give you beautiful coloring. You're just not ethnic enough to join this family and Raeden knows that dear. He knows that anyone he marries, or gets with, has to have at least four, although six is preferred, nationalities in their immediate family."
"Which means DaSasha that your mother must at least have two drops of two nationalities of blood running through her veins and your father two drops of two different nationalities. That way you will be born with four drops of different nationalities in your blood making you a true multi-racial human being according to my family's standards. You'll marry someone with two different mixed nationalities in their blood, then you two will have a kid and boom! That kid will have six different races running through his or her veins and the craziness can go on and on until a kid finally winds up with eight, ten or hell even twenty different bloodlines in their veins!" Raeden explained sarcastically as DaSasha shook her head.
"And that kid will probalby wind up in an insane asylum with eight, ten or twenty different personalities. You're right Raeden, this is craziness." DaSasha said.
"It's not craziness, it's a way of life for us and we try to keep our bloodlines within our own family lineage when we reproduce." Deena said as DaSasha looked on sickened.
"What? But I heard that all of this race mixing and interbreeding can lead to defects in a person, mentally and physically."
"That's an old wives tale dear. Just look around. Do any of us seem to have mental or physical defects?" Deena asked as DaSasha looked around.
"Physically you all kind of look alike in a weird, but beautiful way. Mentally there is a defect if you all believe that you have to race mix like this. You're bordering on prejudice." DaSasha said when a loud voice responded.
"Prejudice? Let me tell you about prejudice little girl." an aged, but still handsome beige colored bald man in a wheelchair shouted as he rolled into the room.
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"That's my great grandfather Alvin Multea. He's one-hundred and five years old and heads this family. He's the only living progenitor from both sides of the family. He's seen it all." Raeden whispered in DaSasha's ear. Most of the family had gathered into the large room after the word had spread that Raeden wanted to pollute their family's bloodline.
"I have one hell of a story to tell you girl. So get ready because here it comes." Alvin said and began the story about his own life.
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chapter two
Alvin Multea was the father of the Multea clan. Although the multea family members heard the story time and time again, it always fascinated them to hear it one more time. DaSasha, with Raeden holding her hand, stood and listened as Alvin began his tale.
Alvin Multea Jr. was born to a beautiful black mother, Marla Multea, and a handsome white father, Alvin Multea Sr., in Atlanta, Georgia. They married when they found out she was pregnant. Alvin came out with curly blonde hair, light hazel eyes, and golden beige brown skin. While his family was shunned back then because they were an interracial couple, Alvin Jr. was picked on because he was bi-racial. Living with two different races of people was confusing enough, but trying to understand and live with the fact that you were despised just because you were bi-racial was traumatic. Most whites considered him to be only black because he had a drop of black blood running through his veins while most blacks didn't think he was black enough.
Other races didn't think much of him and just looked at him as a mixed up mulatto. Unfortunately this was too much for him to bear at eight years old. Because of his emotional problems the family packed up and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to live with his mother Marla's creole cousins. The cousins were a couple who had a daughter named Samantha who was Alvin Jr.'s age and a son Samuel who was two years younger.
The cousins had a counselor friend named Alfreada who ran a psychological disorder clinic who they thought could help Alvin Jr. get through his idenity crisis since she was bi-racial too. Over the next nine years during his therapy Alvin Jr. went through changes that shaped his life. The counselor introduced the family to a small support group for multi-racial people since New orleans had quite a few mixed race people with various nationalities.
He soon met a boy his age in the group name Simon LeJune who was multi-racial and whose father was a patient at the clinic.
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The father thought one of the local hoodoo witch doctors cursed him by causing him to turn into a zombie once the sun went down every night. Simon loved his father, but was embarrassed by him and cried when people called him a crazy creole nigger. Simon became Alvin Jr.'s best friend and he became a regular at the cousins house as he hung out with the children. This was when Marla's cousin's wife admitted that Simon's father was her cousin and she never told anyone because she was embarrassed of him because of his mental state. So this made Simon Alvin's second cousin by marriage.
One summer night, while waiting for the support group meeting to begin, Samuel, Alvin Jr., Simon, and Samantha played outside with a few other children while their parents mingled inside. Just as the sun was going down, Simon's father came out the building with a crazed look on his face. He walked over to the children sweating and angry as twenty or so black crows came out of nowhere and swooped down onto the tops of tree branches and cawed irratically as if they were trying to block out what Simon's father was about to say because they knew it wasn't going to be right and would have life changing consequences.
He began to spew hatred about his not agreeing with race mixing and it was wrong because it caused mixed up minds and mixed up children like himself, Simon and all of Simon's little friends. Then in his crazed mind he quickly turned his words around by telling the children they didn't have to suffer the consequences of being mulatto. Instead they should take advantage of the situation their parents put them in by being proud of who and what they were. They had the power to become responsible for a rare and distinguished bloodline that wouldn't be bothered with too much prejudice.
"They say one drop of blood can change your racial identity from one nationality to another. So what if you had several drops of blood from different races running through your veins? If you were a part of just about every race there was, there would be no prejudice from those who you were a part of. You wouldn't be just one person. you'd be everybody!" Simon's father screamed with delight as
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the crows swooped down flapping their wings around him and flew back up into the sky just as suddenly as they came. By now the parents and organizers were outside after hearing all of the commotion. Simon's mother ran over to Simon's father who had become hysterical and screamed that he was turning into a zombie again.
Some of the men, including Alvin Sr., grabbed him and knocked him to the ground. They restrained him as someone ran to get a doctor. The children were gathered up and taken into the building. Alvin Jr. snuck away and watched out the window as Simon's father began to tire and quieted down as he stared into space. There was no meeting that night and Simon's father was later admitted to a state mental institution. Of course Alvin Jr. looked at the incident as the ramblings of a crazed man back then, but remembered every word, including the rare bloodline speech.
This was when he began to take a closer look at everyone around him and wondered about the drops of blood that flowed through them making them who they were. The ever growing members in the multi-racial support group over the years became more and more mixtures of the world's international populations. Simon's mixture was creole, Brazilian, Greek, and Puerto Rican. Then there were the creole cousins. The husband was Alvin Jr.'s mother Marla's first cousin, which made his wife her cousin by marriage making them all in-laws and cousins too. Their mixture of heritage were remarkable too.
Marla's first cousin was creole mixed with European, Spanish, and West Indian while his wife was half creole and mixed with Greek, African, and Russian. Now this made their children Samuel and Samantha Alvin Jr.'s and Marla's second cousins, and Alvin Sr.'s cousins by marriage. So this mixing made them a mixture of all of these nationalities which fascinated Alvin Jr. The mixing of the cultures had given Samuel and Samantha equisite coloring and the chance to mix even more nationalities with their children in the future.
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Although genetic mixing had become a huge part of Alvin Jr.'s life now as well as a part of his healing process, religion was something he wanted no part of. In his eyes God created different races which caused the big rift in people that brought on the dreaded belief in inferiority. The cousins were church going people, but he made it clear that he couldn't participate in religion or believe in a God that would allow different races of people to hate each other so much that the hate would sometimes lead to death. His mother Marla unfortunately became of a victim of this hate.
Alvin Jr. was eleven when his father was promoted and had to move to another office where he became the object of a pretty white woman's affection. They both worked as partners at a pharmaceutical laboratory. Over the next year she had fell in love with the handsome Alvin Sr. and wanted him for herself. He told her he was married and loved his wife. When she found out that his wife was black she knew she had to take him away from her because he shouldn't be married to a black woman. She became more angry as time went on because he continued to reject her advances towards him.
She blamed his wife. She became jealous and vengeful of her as she began to watch her from afar. The jealousy turned to hatred and one day in a fit of jealous rage she killed Marla Multea as she came out of a doctor's office after a visit to a gynecologist. Marla was found to be pregnant when she died. The woman was not punished or jailed by police who were prejudice and lied that the murder was in self defense. The woman gave a grieving Alvin Sr. a few weeks to mourn Marla then thought it would be easy to get with him because he was vulnerable and Marla was dead. She was wrong.
When he still rejected her advances, the unstable woman tried to kill him, but he killed her instead. Even though it was actually self defense, Alvin Sr. was jailed because the police didn't like him because he liked black people. With his mother dead and his father in jail, twelve year old Alvin Jr. went back to live with the creole cousins. Years later, still devastated and disillusioned, he
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pretended to be okay, but continued to see the clinic counselor who he eventually lost his virginity to during one very emotional session. Alfreada shamefully took advantage of the then fifteen year old. During the same time his eyes were opened to a maturing fifteen year old Samantha. She had blossomed into a very strikingly beautiful young woman who in his eyes had unfortunately worshiped God too much. She often spoke of becoming a preacher and downed Alvin Jr. for calling himself an atheist. Even though their beliefs were different and they were second cousins, they each felt the strong attraction they had for each other.
Over the next two years the two tried to fight the ever growing feelings they had for each other until they couldn't anymore. At seventeen they gave in to their secret passion which was no longer a secret a few months later when Samantha became pregnant. The family was in an uproar when they found out from Alvin Jr. that Samantha had lied about not knowing who the father was of her baby as she tried to protect him.
He proudly confessed to show he was no coward. Samuel, who had looked at Alvin Jr. as a brother, punched him uncontrollably until the father stopped him. He kicked Alvin Jr. out the house. He went to stay with his best friend Simon until Samantha suffered a miscarriage. When he heard about it he tried to go and comfort her, but the cousins had sent her off to a convent to become a nun in an effort to serve God for her sin. A distraught Alvin Jr., who was forbidden to see her, went to see his father in prison.
He told him that he was leaving town and giong back to Atlanta for a fresh start because of everything that had happened. He also told him that he had hired a lawyer to look into his case to see if they could file charges and sue the police department for discrimination and miscarriage of justice. Alvin Sr. thanked him as they said their goodbyes. He left and went to say goodbye to Simon, who had decided to join the army at the last minute. They both went to the airport and flew off on their separate ways.
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Four years later they all were twenty-one. Alvin, who dropped Jr. from his name, became a paid research assistant at a rural genetics facility after volunteering there in Atlanta for a year. Simon had served his time in the army and was now a recruiting officer at a local office in Atlanta. He was married to a woman named Ginwana, who was an army brat, who he had met while stationed in Germany. she also happened to be mixed with a little Asian, Austrailan, and German.
Samantha had lived in the convent for four years, but couldn't go through with becoming a nun. Instead she took a vow of celibacy and prayed for forgiveness as she corresponded off and on with Simon. Since she was disowned by her family and was ready to leave the convent, she took Simon up on his invitation to come to Atlanta to live with him and his wife and talk to Alvin who truly missed her. He didn't really agree with what Alvin and Samantha had done, but they were his family and family supported each other, no matter what.
Simon and his wife Ginwana had a dinner to welcome Samantha and invited Alvin. When the two saw each other again sparks flew and they fell in love all over again. The two moved in together and thought to hell with those who didn't approve. Two months later they decided to celebrate their reunion of reuniting and Samantha finding out she was pregnant once again by geting married in Simon's house. Ginwana was pregnant too and the births of their babies were only a few months apart.
Simon had a girl and Alvin a boy. This was when they discussed the speech Simon's father had given years ago on taking advantage of mixing nationalities to give their children a chance to be a part of combining several different races instead of just one. Since they all were multi-racial and bi-racial they agreed to make a pact to teach their children this way of thinking to keep the bloodline going. No one would be allowed to have a child that wasn't at least four different nationalities and maybe have some arranged marriages to make sure the children obeyed.
Around this time Alvin's father was freed from prison after a fair compromise was reached between the lawyer and the Sheriff's office. He too went back to his hometown of Atlanta and basically kept his comments to himself after hearing about their lifestyles.
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As the years went by, the two families had nine kids between them and the children all had very light golden brown skin with curls and waves in their hair. As the children grew, a few of them became involved with the others family romantically allowing Simon and Alvin to become in-laws, making them father-in-laws to each others kids and later grandfathers. The tradition was instilled into the offspring and it became only natural for the children to pick a mate who had several nationalities in their immediate families. If they couldn't find someone outside the families, they would mix and mingle amongst themselves.
Pretty soon just about every nationality could be found within the Multea and LeJune family trees immediate family. Thanks to their continued involvement with support groups that discussed what it was like being multi-racial, their children and their children's children were able to meet, fall in love or get with others like themselves simply to reproduce and keep the bloodline going. Alvin took it upon himself to have meetings every six months to make sure everyone was doing his or her part to keep things moving.
As the years went by everyone seemed to be happy and cooperative so the meetings became annual and were being called family reunions. Halls were being rented to hold the reunions as the gatherings became larger and festive. The yearly donation of the plantation came to be when it was donated once by the owners to Alvin for one of his genetic research fundraisers which they were interested in. A friendship between the two began which led to the yearly use of the plantation. Alvin's genetic family plan was not immune to crime, addictions, and other family dysfunctions that affect average families. A few family members fell in with the wrong crowd and became hooked on drugs and alcohol while two were actually arrested and went to prison.
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Some of these were the ones who slipped through the cracks and or who just didn't want to cooperate with the family rules. Those who weren't exactly up to family standards simply, 'disappeared' which was enough, most of the time, to keep everyone in line. The not knowing what happened to them became the family's deep dark secret because no one knew or would tell. Appearances became of the utmost importance. Unfortunately the demand of having to look a certain way and the multi-racial mixing made some of them develop mental problems. Professional help was sought clinically by a few family members.
Because of this some went to school to study psychiatry and psychology. Others followed Alvin into genetic research as they studied the effects of race mixing and tried to perfect it as to which cultures made what coloring in skin pigmentation, eye color, and hair color. They all got into fundraising and charitable events to further their research in genetic testing on racial mixing and the average body make-up regarding heredity's impact on looks and health. Other professions were encouraged, as long as genetics was still practiced and always came first.
No one truly had a problem with this because it was something that just was expected of them. They grew up knowing this. None of them had high profile careers, those who opted to have other careers, due to again keeping what they did within the family. They liked themselves because they were beautiful, wealthy, and rare. They all lived in different parts of the country and were often asked by other individuals, "what nationality are you?" No real prejudice was experienced because they all fit in just about wherever they went passing for a particular race when needed.
Alvin was proud of his creation, but now had no one his age to talk to about it. He was one hundred and five years old and everyone he grew up with was dead. Unfortunately Samantha died first a while back of complications from pneumonia, Ginwana died next of cancer, and Simon died last of a heart attack right after Ginwana. He felt that he had given his life to try and perfect his friends and family's lives.
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This was a new generation of kids he realized and had seen the ranks crumbling when it came to keeping the rules alive and followed.
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chapter three
"So there you go honey, my story that is truly the father of all stories. I worked hard to make this family what it is. So I'm sorry, but we can't allow the likes of you to come in here and mess up years of perfection. No offense to you young lady." Alvin assured as DaSasha shook her head.
"That's okay sir. None taken from the likes of you either, but how dare you and your sick clones here try to down me because of who I am. None of you are better than me. At least I'm not a product of some crazy man's recycled incestually made genes." DaSasha defended herself as they all looked on surprised. Raeden nodded and laughed as he agreed with her clapping.
"You tell 'em baby! Who do they think they are?" he smiled.
"We're your family Raeden, and the incestual stuff my dear is rarely practiced now. There's so many bi-racial and multi-racial people now that we don't have to reproduce amongst ourselves as much. It's only done to keep the Multea and LeJune namesake alive with only third and fourth cousins." Deena explained.
"And affairs amongst our cheating married in-laws. We have to go with the flow of things these days, right grandma LeJune?" Raeden asked a silver haired woman who sat a few feet behind Deena. She didn't utter a word, but gave Raeden a stern look.
"That's enough Raeden." Alvin warned.
"I agree. I've heard and seen enough of and from you people. It's very fascinating that you people choose to live like this, but those who don't want to shouldn't be forced to do so because it's the family's golden rule. Threatening and scaring your own family members to participate in such sickness isn't fair. I can see why a lot of your family members suffer from mental disorders. I can see how social anxiety from deep-rooted prejudices back in the day brought on a need for social change, but you great great grandfather Multea took it to the extreme. I for one don't have a problem
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with race mixing, but when you're doing it as a purposely continued science project instead of as a, let nature take its old fashioned course, then you've stepped over the line. As you can see, I paid attention in my social behavior science class. My professor truly knows his stuff." DaSasha finished.
"Isn't my baby smart?" Raeden smiled.
"Do you think this is a joke Raeden? We've caught on to your little snide remarks." grandma LeJune said as Raeden slowly walked over to her.
"Really? I may look at all of you as jokes, but not Rayla Lejune. She was my father's sister. She was my aunt. You remember her grandma LeJune? She was your daughter."
"Of course I remember my own daughter boy!" grandma LeJune snapped.
"Good, then of course you remember when your family loyalty made her get with your still married old brother-in-law which resulted in a pregnancy and you became responsible for her and her baby's death. She had carried that baby to full term, because of your and the rest of the family's encouragement, knowing full well that this baby had several possible birth defects. The pregnancy should have been terminated early on, but the family talked her into keeping it not caring about what the poor baby would have to go through once it was born."
"Stop it Raeden!" Deena snapped as he continued.
"Well of course complications arose and it came to the fact that only one of them could be saved, either the mother or the child. You all talked cousin Wane, who was the family gynecologist, into letting aunt Rayla die and save the baby only because it was to be the first in the family with eight direct races in it, four from its mother, four from its cheating elderly father. She slowly died in agony while Wane tried to save the baby who wound up dieing anyway due to birth defect related complications. You let your own healthy daughter die to save a defective baby because of its eight different drops of blood!"
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"So Raeden, you see your grandma LeJune and all the rest of us as the blame for your aunt Rayla's death and for your father Raymont's leaving right?" Alvin interrupted and threw in as Raeden turned to look at him and nodded.
"You're damn right great-great grandpa Multea! Except you all didn't make him leave, you killed him! That's the family's dirty little secret right? When someone goes against the rules, you get rid of them." Raeden said emotionally.
"Not all of them son. In your father's case he left willingly. You're right, Raymont Goald didn't agree with our practices so we asked him to leave. He accused us of participating in unnatural breeding since he was adopted into the family by grandma LeJune. Raymont was the multi-racial son of grandma LeJune's late husband Remy Goald from a previous relationship. Your father is very much alive." Alvin said as Raeden turned to his mother surprised. She nodded.
"Your father is alive and well and living in Canada with his French wife and kids. After this stunt you just pulled today we should send you up there to live with him." Deena said angrily as Raeden nodded.
"You're right. If my father is alive and living with a woman of one race in Canada I'd love to marry DaSasha and go up there to live too and change my name to Raeden Multea Goald. All of these years I thought he was dead. Of course you never told me he was dead mom, you told me he left you and wanted to take me too because he wanted me to grow up in a more normal and open minded environment."
"That's exactly what I told you. I don't lie. You were five then and wanted to go with him, but you were my son and this was my family."
"And when we say family we mean family Raeden. Real family stick together no matter what. The rest of you who don't believe in us will follow in the footsteps of those before you, you'll be exiled which means you will no longer exist to us." grandma LeJune spat.
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"Fine. Forgive me everyone for falsely accusing you of something that I thought you did to my father. I'm sorry."
"So all of this is about your father Raeden? Going out with DaSasha there is your so-called revenge against us all? Alvin asked as Raeden swallowed nervously hard.
"What do you mean great-great grandpa Multea?"
"That you wanted revenge for your father against us so much that you wanted to embarrass us and get out of the family at the expense of your young college friend here."
"I don't know what you're talking about great-great grandpa Multea, but DaSasha and I have to be going now." Raeden said grabbing her hand.
"Didn't you tell a cousin or two in confidence that you were going to find a woman and use her to get us to disown you and use her reactions towards your family in your thesis then dump her letting everyone think the worst of us?" Alvin asked as Raeden gave his cousin Aireus a look of, "how could you?", as Aireus humped up his shoulders.
"Sorry cuz, you're my blood, but so is great-great grandpa Multea and he's the man. He wanted to know so I told him." Aireus said as Raeden shook his head and DaSasha pulled her hand away looking at Raeden as if she didn't know him.
"Raeden, is what they're saying true? You're using me to get back at your crazy family? You don't really love me?" DaSasha asked as Raeden sighed.
"I'm sorry baby, but I'm not going to lie to you because I really do love you. I did tell my best friend and cousin Aireus there that I loved my family but I wasn't all for this unique way of preserving the bloodline with this mandatory one drop of blood from each race rule. It's all about droppings. I wasn't for them keeping me away from my father or from dating a beautiful woman whose immediate family was of one heritage either. I needed to write about it, since I love to write, and use it for my thesis so I could get an easy A for my grade. The twist would be that it wouldn't be from my point of
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view, but from an average sane person's point of view who wasn't a part of this family."
"So you really used me?" she asked as he reluctantly nodded.
"Yes, I chose you. You were beautiful, opinionated, and a social science major. Your view on this would be taken seriously. My view would be a conflict of interest since it's my family." Raeden said as DaSasha turned and headed for the door angrily. Raeden followed as well as everyone else. They all listened as DaSasha talked and walked without turning around.
"Number one, you didn't have to cause all of this drama. You simply could have told me that you wanted my opinion on your circus of a family. Number two, you didn't have to wine me, dine me, or bed me to get that opinion. Number three, you knew you wouldn't have to go through with your bogus marriage proposal once your family met me and I met them so you cared nothing about my feelings. You proposed only to get a rise out of them!" she cried as they now stood outside on the mansion's front steps facing each other.
"That was true when all of this started, but that was before I got to know you. I truly fell in love with you DaSasha." he said as a helicopter was heard above them.
"Really? Well these types of situations always turned out like this in the movies Raeden and ended with a happy ending. Well it ain't happening here." she said grabbing at the engagement ring on her finger when a helicopter flew over head and slowly landed on the lawn. A prison guard got out of the helicopter and ran over towards them with handcuffs and his gun drawn. One of the family members pushed through the crowd with his hands up. As the guard neared him, he turned and waved to the family.
"Take care everyone. It was fun. I'll try to come again next year." he shouted as the guard reached him, handcuffed him and took him back to the helicopter as the family waved.
"Who was that?" DaSasha asked.
"Oh, that was cousin Benny. He was jailed two years ago for embezzlement, but he manages to slip out of the minimum security facility each year to attend the family reunion. They're thinking about bringing him themselves next year." Raeden tried to joke as DaSasha pulled the ring from her finger and pushed it into his hand.
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"Goodbye Raeden." she cried and stormed away as she pulled a cell phone from her purse and called a cab. Raeden called her and began to run after her, but stopped when she held her hand up and stuck her middle finger up without turning around as she continued to walk down the road past the huge moss covered trees.
"I love you too." he whispered sadly as he watched her leave knowing that he messed up big time.
A year later Raeden, who graduated college, received high honors on his thesis, became a writer of psychological mind research, got to know his father Raymont and moved to Bellingham in Washington state because it was beautiful, tranquil, and close to Vancover Canada where his father and two younger step brothers lived. His mother Deena and her family stopped talking to him the day he left to visit his father. After several failed attempts of trying to keep in touch with his mother, he gave up.
As for DaSasha, it took her a few months to start talking to him again after his continuous pleads of forgiveness with roses, and a little persuading from his father who reminded her that it wasn't entirely all his fault. She remembered who he had been influenced by and his need for an A. She decided to give him another chance by starting the relationship over. His father invited her up to Canada to spend Thanksgiving with them. She accepted to Raeden's delight because he did truly love her, and she still loved him too.
THE END
by DJPM
chapter one
It was Thanksgiving in Atlanta, Georgia. The fall air was crisp, the weather fine. The last of the colored autumn leaves blew from trees and to the ground which scattered about. Last minute shoppers hurried through grocery stores to pick up essential cooking items that were forgotten and or needed. One family in particular was the Multea family. Family member Aireus Multea rushed out of the supermarket with a shopping bag. He got into his car and sped towards the plantation his family was donated once a year for their Thanksgiving family reunion. The plantation was a sprawling couple of acres of magnificence. The grounds had a manicured lush green lawn which was divided in half by a half mile long paved driveway which led to the columned mansion whose surrounding sculptured shrubbary made it a showplace.
Aireus sped down the driveway, which was lined with tall trees where spanish moss hung from each and every one of them. He finally reached the mansion and parked, giving his keys to the waiting valet who drove his car around back and into the makeshift parking garage. It was simply two huge tents staked into the ground. There were three valets in all who had parked forty cars. The valet got out of the car as one of the other two valets walked back around front to wait for the next car.
"I can't wait until it's time to give these stuck up folks back their cars. They make me sick. I hate them."
"If you hate them so much why are you back? I thought last year was suppose to be your last year of being the Multea and LeJune families valet."
"It was suppose to be, but they fired Teddy at the last minute and needed someone to fill in for her. They gave me her pay plus my own so I couldn't say no."
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"I heard about Teddy sleeping with one of their precious grandsons."
"It was rumored that she did, but she said she didn't. A couple of his stuck up jealous girl cousins lied on her. They saw that the boy liked Teddy but they wanted him for themselves. You know how they are, they're all cousins and it stays within the family."
"I heard that rumor. You think it's really true?"
"Just take a real good look at them. Decide for yourself." the valet said as twenty-one year old Raeden Multea drove up to the front door of the mansion. He got out along with DaSasha Johnson. The two walked hand in hand through the crystal glass doors and into the massive lobby. Raeden walked through the mansion saying hello to his family members while DaSasha noticed the family staring at her, or was she staring at them?
She couldn't help but to notice that the people were all the same skin color. Usually black people came in a variety of browns, from light to dark. ALL of these people had lightly caramelized honey cream skin. They were uniquely beautiful she thought as she remembered Raeden's unusual coloring was what caught her eye in the first place. His skin seemed to have a naturally pearlized smoothness and creaminess to it. His jet black hair was a mass of huge waves while his eyes, which were a golden hazel with flecks of blue, green, black, gray and violet, were surrounded by long black lashes and thick eyebrows.
As she looked at them they all seemed to have the same eyes, give or take a few where some of their eyes were lighter or darker then the other, but all of their skin color resembled Raeden's. While Raeden's hair color was jet black, others hair ranged from golden blonde, golden brown, golden red, brown black, to jet black. Gray hairs were mixed into the older family members hair. Old and young sported short and long styles with naturally silky waves and curls, with a few exceptions of silky sleek straight hair. They all were slender and ranged from average height to tall. DaSasha stuck out like a sore thumb. She was on the short side, had an hour glass figure, her naturally coarse hair had just been relaxed with a few weave extensions added, and her skin was bordering on dark brown, but she did match them in the looks department.
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She was beautiful too. Her fixation on these people was realized when Raeden pulled her hand to stop her. He had stopped walking while she was still going.
"DaSasha, what's the hurry baby?" he asked as she sighed with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, my mind was somewhere else."
"It sure was. You're amazed at my family right?" he asked smiling as she nodded. "Non-family members always are when they see a lot of us at one time. So are you ready to meet my mom? She's right over there." he pointed to a very tall, and very slender woman who wore pearls and who had her short, wavy, graying black hair simply brushed back. She seemed to have on a ton of make-up, but was still extremely beautiful and elegant. DaSasha followed Raeden over to the three women and cleared his throat. They all looked at him and smiled as each kissed his cheek. All of their hazel speckled eyes looked at Raeden and DaSasha's hands, since the two were still holding hands, then looked at DaSasha.
"Mom, ladies, this is DaSasha Johnson. She's a senior with me at the university. She's a social science major. DaSasha, this is my mom Deena Multea and these are my twin aunts, Blaine and Elaine." he smiled as DaSasha extended her hand to shake theirs. Each shook her hand.
"It's so nice to meet you all, especially you Ms. Multea. I've heard nice things about you."
"The Salsa is it?" Deena asked.
"No, my name is pronounced Da-Sasha." she corrected.
"Oh, well anyway dear I haven't heard a thing about you. So you're one of Raeden's little friends from school?" Deena asked.
"No she isn't some little friend from school." Raeden snapped back. "She's my fiance. We plan to get married when we graduate college in the late spring." he finished. The twin aunts gasped in horror as Deena laughed loudly making some of the others look over at them.
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"Married? You've got to be joking Raeden." Deena laughed.
"No mom. I wouldn't joke about this. DaSasha and I are in love." he said seriously as he squeezed DaSasha's hand.
"Well the joke is on you Raeden because you're not marrying this girl. You know that you can't marry this girl."
"My name is DaSasha and why can't he marry me Ms. Multea?"
"Because from the looks of you, you are a complete negro and we do not marry people like you."
"We're black too mom or have you forgotten?"
"You know the rules Raeden. Of course I know we all are part African, but we're other nationalities as well. Our family is multi-racial. This girl is only one nationality. You can only marry girls that are like yourself, multi-racial." she reminded him as DaSasha cleared her throat.
"Why don't you just say mulatto girls Ms. Multea? I'm not going to go off on you since you're Raeden's mama, but what you are saying is prejudiced and crazy and I shouldn't humor your strange train of thought but historically I have more than negro blood running through my veins. My ancestors bloodline became unpure when they were brought here from Africa. Being raped by slave masters and being with different nationalities over hundreds of years makes me more than just, negro. I'm black and proud of it."
"That's all well and good dear, but I'm not talking about slaves and hundreds of years. I'm not talking about ancestors who were forced to change their bloodline and then managed to somehow purify that bloodline back to basically one nationality. You mother and father are just black right?"
"Right." DaSasha answered miffed.
"So that means that your parents immediate family, which are your grandparents, aren't mixed with European, Greek, Asian, Irish, Swedish, Italian, Persian, Russian, Hispanic, Egyptian, Native American, Indian or anything else." Deena said as DaSasha stopped her.
"Excuse me, but hold on here. Are you hinting around that Raeden has to marry a white girl?" DaSasha asked.
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"No dear. If you were complete European he still couldn't marry you. You must be multi-racial. You must have more than one nationalities blood running through your veins. Just one lineage just won't do. Mixing all of these races can give you beautiful coloring. You're just not ethnic enough to join this family and Raeden knows that dear. He knows that anyone he marries, or gets with, has to have at least four, although six is preferred, nationalities in their immediate family."
"Which means DaSasha that your mother must at least have two drops of two nationalities of blood running through her veins and your father two drops of two different nationalities. That way you will be born with four drops of different nationalities in your blood making you a true multi-racial human being according to my family's standards. You'll marry someone with two different mixed nationalities in their blood, then you two will have a kid and boom! That kid will have six different races running through his or her veins and the craziness can go on and on until a kid finally winds up with eight, ten or hell even twenty different bloodlines in their veins!" Raeden explained sarcastically as DaSasha shook her head.
"And that kid will probalby wind up in an insane asylum with eight, ten or twenty different personalities. You're right Raeden, this is craziness." DaSasha said.
"It's not craziness, it's a way of life for us and we try to keep our bloodlines within our own family lineage when we reproduce." Deena said as DaSasha looked on sickened.
"What? But I heard that all of this race mixing and interbreeding can lead to defects in a person, mentally and physically."
"That's an old wives tale dear. Just look around. Do any of us seem to have mental or physical defects?" Deena asked as DaSasha looked around.
"Physically you all kind of look alike in a weird, but beautiful way. Mentally there is a defect if you all believe that you have to race mix like this. You're bordering on prejudice." DaSasha said when a loud voice responded.
"Prejudice? Let me tell you about prejudice little girl." an aged, but still handsome beige colored bald man in a wheelchair shouted as he rolled into the room.
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"That's my great grandfather Alvin Multea. He's one-hundred and five years old and heads this family. He's the only living progenitor from both sides of the family. He's seen it all." Raeden whispered in DaSasha's ear. Most of the family had gathered into the large room after the word had spread that Raeden wanted to pollute their family's bloodline.
"I have one hell of a story to tell you girl. So get ready because here it comes." Alvin said and began the story about his own life.
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chapter two
Alvin Multea was the father of the Multea clan. Although the multea family members heard the story time and time again, it always fascinated them to hear it one more time. DaSasha, with Raeden holding her hand, stood and listened as Alvin began his tale.
Alvin Multea Jr. was born to a beautiful black mother, Marla Multea, and a handsome white father, Alvin Multea Sr., in Atlanta, Georgia. They married when they found out she was pregnant. Alvin came out with curly blonde hair, light hazel eyes, and golden beige brown skin. While his family was shunned back then because they were an interracial couple, Alvin Jr. was picked on because he was bi-racial. Living with two different races of people was confusing enough, but trying to understand and live with the fact that you were despised just because you were bi-racial was traumatic. Most whites considered him to be only black because he had a drop of black blood running through his veins while most blacks didn't think he was black enough.
Other races didn't think much of him and just looked at him as a mixed up mulatto. Unfortunately this was too much for him to bear at eight years old. Because of his emotional problems the family packed up and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to live with his mother Marla's creole cousins. The cousins were a couple who had a daughter named Samantha who was Alvin Jr.'s age and a son Samuel who was two years younger.
The cousins had a counselor friend named Alfreada who ran a psychological disorder clinic who they thought could help Alvin Jr. get through his idenity crisis since she was bi-racial too. Over the next nine years during his therapy Alvin Jr. went through changes that shaped his life. The counselor introduced the family to a small support group for multi-racial people since New orleans had quite a few mixed race people with various nationalities.
He soon met a boy his age in the group name Simon LeJune who was multi-racial and whose father was a patient at the clinic.
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The father thought one of the local hoodoo witch doctors cursed him by causing him to turn into a zombie once the sun went down every night. Simon loved his father, but was embarrassed by him and cried when people called him a crazy creole nigger. Simon became Alvin Jr.'s best friend and he became a regular at the cousins house as he hung out with the children. This was when Marla's cousin's wife admitted that Simon's father was her cousin and she never told anyone because she was embarrassed of him because of his mental state. So this made Simon Alvin's second cousin by marriage.
One summer night, while waiting for the support group meeting to begin, Samuel, Alvin Jr., Simon, and Samantha played outside with a few other children while their parents mingled inside. Just as the sun was going down, Simon's father came out the building with a crazed look on his face. He walked over to the children sweating and angry as twenty or so black crows came out of nowhere and swooped down onto the tops of tree branches and cawed irratically as if they were trying to block out what Simon's father was about to say because they knew it wasn't going to be right and would have life changing consequences.
He began to spew hatred about his not agreeing with race mixing and it was wrong because it caused mixed up minds and mixed up children like himself, Simon and all of Simon's little friends. Then in his crazed mind he quickly turned his words around by telling the children they didn't have to suffer the consequences of being mulatto. Instead they should take advantage of the situation their parents put them in by being proud of who and what they were. They had the power to become responsible for a rare and distinguished bloodline that wouldn't be bothered with too much prejudice.
"They say one drop of blood can change your racial identity from one nationality to another. So what if you had several drops of blood from different races running through your veins? If you were a part of just about every race there was, there would be no prejudice from those who you were a part of. You wouldn't be just one person. you'd be everybody!" Simon's father screamed with delight as
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the crows swooped down flapping their wings around him and flew back up into the sky just as suddenly as they came. By now the parents and organizers were outside after hearing all of the commotion. Simon's mother ran over to Simon's father who had become hysterical and screamed that he was turning into a zombie again.
Some of the men, including Alvin Sr., grabbed him and knocked him to the ground. They restrained him as someone ran to get a doctor. The children were gathered up and taken into the building. Alvin Jr. snuck away and watched out the window as Simon's father began to tire and quieted down as he stared into space. There was no meeting that night and Simon's father was later admitted to a state mental institution. Of course Alvin Jr. looked at the incident as the ramblings of a crazed man back then, but remembered every word, including the rare bloodline speech.
This was when he began to take a closer look at everyone around him and wondered about the drops of blood that flowed through them making them who they were. The ever growing members in the multi-racial support group over the years became more and more mixtures of the world's international populations. Simon's mixture was creole, Brazilian, Greek, and Puerto Rican. Then there were the creole cousins. The husband was Alvin Jr.'s mother Marla's first cousin, which made his wife her cousin by marriage making them all in-laws and cousins too. Their mixture of heritage were remarkable too.
Marla's first cousin was creole mixed with European, Spanish, and West Indian while his wife was half creole and mixed with Greek, African, and Russian. Now this made their children Samuel and Samantha Alvin Jr.'s and Marla's second cousins, and Alvin Sr.'s cousins by marriage. So this mixing made them a mixture of all of these nationalities which fascinated Alvin Jr. The mixing of the cultures had given Samuel and Samantha equisite coloring and the chance to mix even more nationalities with their children in the future.
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Although genetic mixing had become a huge part of Alvin Jr.'s life now as well as a part of his healing process, religion was something he wanted no part of. In his eyes God created different races which caused the big rift in people that brought on the dreaded belief in inferiority. The cousins were church going people, but he made it clear that he couldn't participate in religion or believe in a God that would allow different races of people to hate each other so much that the hate would sometimes lead to death. His mother Marla unfortunately became of a victim of this hate.
Alvin Jr. was eleven when his father was promoted and had to move to another office where he became the object of a pretty white woman's affection. They both worked as partners at a pharmaceutical laboratory. Over the next year she had fell in love with the handsome Alvin Sr. and wanted him for herself. He told her he was married and loved his wife. When she found out that his wife was black she knew she had to take him away from her because he shouldn't be married to a black woman. She became more angry as time went on because he continued to reject her advances towards him.
She blamed his wife. She became jealous and vengeful of her as she began to watch her from afar. The jealousy turned to hatred and one day in a fit of jealous rage she killed Marla Multea as she came out of a doctor's office after a visit to a gynecologist. Marla was found to be pregnant when she died. The woman was not punished or jailed by police who were prejudice and lied that the murder was in self defense. The woman gave a grieving Alvin Sr. a few weeks to mourn Marla then thought it would be easy to get with him because he was vulnerable and Marla was dead. She was wrong.
When he still rejected her advances, the unstable woman tried to kill him, but he killed her instead. Even though it was actually self defense, Alvin Sr. was jailed because the police didn't like him because he liked black people. With his mother dead and his father in jail, twelve year old Alvin Jr. went back to live with the creole cousins. Years later, still devastated and disillusioned, he
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pretended to be okay, but continued to see the clinic counselor who he eventually lost his virginity to during one very emotional session. Alfreada shamefully took advantage of the then fifteen year old. During the same time his eyes were opened to a maturing fifteen year old Samantha. She had blossomed into a very strikingly beautiful young woman who in his eyes had unfortunately worshiped God too much. She often spoke of becoming a preacher and downed Alvin Jr. for calling himself an atheist. Even though their beliefs were different and they were second cousins, they each felt the strong attraction they had for each other.
Over the next two years the two tried to fight the ever growing feelings they had for each other until they couldn't anymore. At seventeen they gave in to their secret passion which was no longer a secret a few months later when Samantha became pregnant. The family was in an uproar when they found out from Alvin Jr. that Samantha had lied about not knowing who the father was of her baby as she tried to protect him.
He proudly confessed to show he was no coward. Samuel, who had looked at Alvin Jr. as a brother, punched him uncontrollably until the father stopped him. He kicked Alvin Jr. out the house. He went to stay with his best friend Simon until Samantha suffered a miscarriage. When he heard about it he tried to go and comfort her, but the cousins had sent her off to a convent to become a nun in an effort to serve God for her sin. A distraught Alvin Jr., who was forbidden to see her, went to see his father in prison.
He told him that he was leaving town and giong back to Atlanta for a fresh start because of everything that had happened. He also told him that he had hired a lawyer to look into his case to see if they could file charges and sue the police department for discrimination and miscarriage of justice. Alvin Sr. thanked him as they said their goodbyes. He left and went to say goodbye to Simon, who had decided to join the army at the last minute. They both went to the airport and flew off on their separate ways.
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Four years later they all were twenty-one. Alvin, who dropped Jr. from his name, became a paid research assistant at a rural genetics facility after volunteering there in Atlanta for a year. Simon had served his time in the army and was now a recruiting officer at a local office in Atlanta. He was married to a woman named Ginwana, who was an army brat, who he had met while stationed in Germany. she also happened to be mixed with a little Asian, Austrailan, and German.
Samantha had lived in the convent for four years, but couldn't go through with becoming a nun. Instead she took a vow of celibacy and prayed for forgiveness as she corresponded off and on with Simon. Since she was disowned by her family and was ready to leave the convent, she took Simon up on his invitation to come to Atlanta to live with him and his wife and talk to Alvin who truly missed her. He didn't really agree with what Alvin and Samantha had done, but they were his family and family supported each other, no matter what.
Simon and his wife Ginwana had a dinner to welcome Samantha and invited Alvin. When the two saw each other again sparks flew and they fell in love all over again. The two moved in together and thought to hell with those who didn't approve. Two months later they decided to celebrate their reunion of reuniting and Samantha finding out she was pregnant once again by geting married in Simon's house. Ginwana was pregnant too and the births of their babies were only a few months apart.
Simon had a girl and Alvin a boy. This was when they discussed the speech Simon's father had given years ago on taking advantage of mixing nationalities to give their children a chance to be a part of combining several different races instead of just one. Since they all were multi-racial and bi-racial they agreed to make a pact to teach their children this way of thinking to keep the bloodline going. No one would be allowed to have a child that wasn't at least four different nationalities and maybe have some arranged marriages to make sure the children obeyed.
Around this time Alvin's father was freed from prison after a fair compromise was reached between the lawyer and the Sheriff's office. He too went back to his hometown of Atlanta and basically kept his comments to himself after hearing about their lifestyles.
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As the years went by, the two families had nine kids between them and the children all had very light golden brown skin with curls and waves in their hair. As the children grew, a few of them became involved with the others family romantically allowing Simon and Alvin to become in-laws, making them father-in-laws to each others kids and later grandfathers. The tradition was instilled into the offspring and it became only natural for the children to pick a mate who had several nationalities in their immediate families. If they couldn't find someone outside the families, they would mix and mingle amongst themselves.
Pretty soon just about every nationality could be found within the Multea and LeJune family trees immediate family. Thanks to their continued involvement with support groups that discussed what it was like being multi-racial, their children and their children's children were able to meet, fall in love or get with others like themselves simply to reproduce and keep the bloodline going. Alvin took it upon himself to have meetings every six months to make sure everyone was doing his or her part to keep things moving.
As the years went by everyone seemed to be happy and cooperative so the meetings became annual and were being called family reunions. Halls were being rented to hold the reunions as the gatherings became larger and festive. The yearly donation of the plantation came to be when it was donated once by the owners to Alvin for one of his genetic research fundraisers which they were interested in. A friendship between the two began which led to the yearly use of the plantation. Alvin's genetic family plan was not immune to crime, addictions, and other family dysfunctions that affect average families. A few family members fell in with the wrong crowd and became hooked on drugs and alcohol while two were actually arrested and went to prison.
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Some of these were the ones who slipped through the cracks and or who just didn't want to cooperate with the family rules. Those who weren't exactly up to family standards simply, 'disappeared' which was enough, most of the time, to keep everyone in line. The not knowing what happened to them became the family's deep dark secret because no one knew or would tell. Appearances became of the utmost importance. Unfortunately the demand of having to look a certain way and the multi-racial mixing made some of them develop mental problems. Professional help was sought clinically by a few family members.
Because of this some went to school to study psychiatry and psychology. Others followed Alvin into genetic research as they studied the effects of race mixing and tried to perfect it as to which cultures made what coloring in skin pigmentation, eye color, and hair color. They all got into fundraising and charitable events to further their research in genetic testing on racial mixing and the average body make-up regarding heredity's impact on looks and health. Other professions were encouraged, as long as genetics was still practiced and always came first.
No one truly had a problem with this because it was something that just was expected of them. They grew up knowing this. None of them had high profile careers, those who opted to have other careers, due to again keeping what they did within the family. They liked themselves because they were beautiful, wealthy, and rare. They all lived in different parts of the country and were often asked by other individuals, "what nationality are you?" No real prejudice was experienced because they all fit in just about wherever they went passing for a particular race when needed.
Alvin was proud of his creation, but now had no one his age to talk to about it. He was one hundred and five years old and everyone he grew up with was dead. Unfortunately Samantha died first a while back of complications from pneumonia, Ginwana died next of cancer, and Simon died last of a heart attack right after Ginwana. He felt that he had given his life to try and perfect his friends and family's lives.
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This was a new generation of kids he realized and had seen the ranks crumbling when it came to keeping the rules alive and followed.
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chapter three
"So there you go honey, my story that is truly the father of all stories. I worked hard to make this family what it is. So I'm sorry, but we can't allow the likes of you to come in here and mess up years of perfection. No offense to you young lady." Alvin assured as DaSasha shook her head.
"That's okay sir. None taken from the likes of you either, but how dare you and your sick clones here try to down me because of who I am. None of you are better than me. At least I'm not a product of some crazy man's recycled incestually made genes." DaSasha defended herself as they all looked on surprised. Raeden nodded and laughed as he agreed with her clapping.
"You tell 'em baby! Who do they think they are?" he smiled.
"We're your family Raeden, and the incestual stuff my dear is rarely practiced now. There's so many bi-racial and multi-racial people now that we don't have to reproduce amongst ourselves as much. It's only done to keep the Multea and LeJune namesake alive with only third and fourth cousins." Deena explained.
"And affairs amongst our cheating married in-laws. We have to go with the flow of things these days, right grandma LeJune?" Raeden asked a silver haired woman who sat a few feet behind Deena. She didn't utter a word, but gave Raeden a stern look.
"That's enough Raeden." Alvin warned.
"I agree. I've heard and seen enough of and from you people. It's very fascinating that you people choose to live like this, but those who don't want to shouldn't be forced to do so because it's the family's golden rule. Threatening and scaring your own family members to participate in such sickness isn't fair. I can see why a lot of your family members suffer from mental disorders. I can see how social anxiety from deep-rooted prejudices back in the day brought on a need for social change, but you great great grandfather Multea took it to the extreme. I for one don't have a problem
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with race mixing, but when you're doing it as a purposely continued science project instead of as a, let nature take its old fashioned course, then you've stepped over the line. As you can see, I paid attention in my social behavior science class. My professor truly knows his stuff." DaSasha finished.
"Isn't my baby smart?" Raeden smiled.
"Do you think this is a joke Raeden? We've caught on to your little snide remarks." grandma LeJune said as Raeden slowly walked over to her.
"Really? I may look at all of you as jokes, but not Rayla Lejune. She was my father's sister. She was my aunt. You remember her grandma LeJune? She was your daughter."
"Of course I remember my own daughter boy!" grandma LeJune snapped.
"Good, then of course you remember when your family loyalty made her get with your still married old brother-in-law which resulted in a pregnancy and you became responsible for her and her baby's death. She had carried that baby to full term, because of your and the rest of the family's encouragement, knowing full well that this baby had several possible birth defects. The pregnancy should have been terminated early on, but the family talked her into keeping it not caring about what the poor baby would have to go through once it was born."
"Stop it Raeden!" Deena snapped as he continued.
"Well of course complications arose and it came to the fact that only one of them could be saved, either the mother or the child. You all talked cousin Wane, who was the family gynecologist, into letting aunt Rayla die and save the baby only because it was to be the first in the family with eight direct races in it, four from its mother, four from its cheating elderly father. She slowly died in agony while Wane tried to save the baby who wound up dieing anyway due to birth defect related complications. You let your own healthy daughter die to save a defective baby because of its eight different drops of blood!"
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"So Raeden, you see your grandma LeJune and all the rest of us as the blame for your aunt Rayla's death and for your father Raymont's leaving right?" Alvin interrupted and threw in as Raeden turned to look at him and nodded.
"You're damn right great-great grandpa Multea! Except you all didn't make him leave, you killed him! That's the family's dirty little secret right? When someone goes against the rules, you get rid of them." Raeden said emotionally.
"Not all of them son. In your father's case he left willingly. You're right, Raymont Goald didn't agree with our practices so we asked him to leave. He accused us of participating in unnatural breeding since he was adopted into the family by grandma LeJune. Raymont was the multi-racial son of grandma LeJune's late husband Remy Goald from a previous relationship. Your father is very much alive." Alvin said as Raeden turned to his mother surprised. She nodded.
"Your father is alive and well and living in Canada with his French wife and kids. After this stunt you just pulled today we should send you up there to live with him." Deena said angrily as Raeden nodded.
"You're right. If my father is alive and living with a woman of one race in Canada I'd love to marry DaSasha and go up there to live too and change my name to Raeden Multea Goald. All of these years I thought he was dead. Of course you never told me he was dead mom, you told me he left you and wanted to take me too because he wanted me to grow up in a more normal and open minded environment."
"That's exactly what I told you. I don't lie. You were five then and wanted to go with him, but you were my son and this was my family."
"And when we say family we mean family Raeden. Real family stick together no matter what. The rest of you who don't believe in us will follow in the footsteps of those before you, you'll be exiled which means you will no longer exist to us." grandma LeJune spat.
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"Fine. Forgive me everyone for falsely accusing you of something that I thought you did to my father. I'm sorry."
"So all of this is about your father Raeden? Going out with DaSasha there is your so-called revenge against us all? Alvin asked as Raeden swallowed nervously hard.
"What do you mean great-great grandpa Multea?"
"That you wanted revenge for your father against us so much that you wanted to embarrass us and get out of the family at the expense of your young college friend here."
"I don't know what you're talking about great-great grandpa Multea, but DaSasha and I have to be going now." Raeden said grabbing her hand.
"Didn't you tell a cousin or two in confidence that you were going to find a woman and use her to get us to disown you and use her reactions towards your family in your thesis then dump her letting everyone think the worst of us?" Alvin asked as Raeden gave his cousin Aireus a look of, "how could you?", as Aireus humped up his shoulders.
"Sorry cuz, you're my blood, but so is great-great grandpa Multea and he's the man. He wanted to know so I told him." Aireus said as Raeden shook his head and DaSasha pulled her hand away looking at Raeden as if she didn't know him.
"Raeden, is what they're saying true? You're using me to get back at your crazy family? You don't really love me?" DaSasha asked as Raeden sighed.
"I'm sorry baby, but I'm not going to lie to you because I really do love you. I did tell my best friend and cousin Aireus there that I loved my family but I wasn't all for this unique way of preserving the bloodline with this mandatory one drop of blood from each race rule. It's all about droppings. I wasn't for them keeping me away from my father or from dating a beautiful woman whose immediate family was of one heritage either. I needed to write about it, since I love to write, and use it for my thesis so I could get an easy A for my grade. The twist would be that it wouldn't be from my point of
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view, but from an average sane person's point of view who wasn't a part of this family."
"So you really used me?" she asked as he reluctantly nodded.
"Yes, I chose you. You were beautiful, opinionated, and a social science major. Your view on this would be taken seriously. My view would be a conflict of interest since it's my family." Raeden said as DaSasha turned and headed for the door angrily. Raeden followed as well as everyone else. They all listened as DaSasha talked and walked without turning around.
"Number one, you didn't have to cause all of this drama. You simply could have told me that you wanted my opinion on your circus of a family. Number two, you didn't have to wine me, dine me, or bed me to get that opinion. Number three, you knew you wouldn't have to go through with your bogus marriage proposal once your family met me and I met them so you cared nothing about my feelings. You proposed only to get a rise out of them!" she cried as they now stood outside on the mansion's front steps facing each other.
"That was true when all of this started, but that was before I got to know you. I truly fell in love with you DaSasha." he said as a helicopter was heard above them.
"Really? Well these types of situations always turned out like this in the movies Raeden and ended with a happy ending. Well it ain't happening here." she said grabbing at the engagement ring on her finger when a helicopter flew over head and slowly landed on the lawn. A prison guard got out of the helicopter and ran over towards them with handcuffs and his gun drawn. One of the family members pushed through the crowd with his hands up. As the guard neared him, he turned and waved to the family.
"Take care everyone. It was fun. I'll try to come again next year." he shouted as the guard reached him, handcuffed him and took him back to the helicopter as the family waved.
"Who was that?" DaSasha asked.
"Oh, that was cousin Benny. He was jailed two years ago for embezzlement, but he manages to slip out of the minimum security facility each year to attend the family reunion. They're thinking about bringing him themselves next year." Raeden tried to joke as DaSasha pulled the ring from her finger and pushed it into his hand.
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"Goodbye Raeden." she cried and stormed away as she pulled a cell phone from her purse and called a cab. Raeden called her and began to run after her, but stopped when she held her hand up and stuck her middle finger up without turning around as she continued to walk down the road past the huge moss covered trees.
"I love you too." he whispered sadly as he watched her leave knowing that he messed up big time.
A year later Raeden, who graduated college, received high honors on his thesis, became a writer of psychological mind research, got to know his father Raymont and moved to Bellingham in Washington state because it was beautiful, tranquil, and close to Vancover Canada where his father and two younger step brothers lived. His mother Deena and her family stopped talking to him the day he left to visit his father. After several failed attempts of trying to keep in touch with his mother, he gave up.
As for DaSasha, it took her a few months to start talking to him again after his continuous pleads of forgiveness with roses, and a little persuading from his father who reminded her that it wasn't entirely all his fault. She remembered who he had been influenced by and his need for an A. She decided to give him another chance by starting the relationship over. His father invited her up to Canada to spend Thanksgiving with them. She accepted to Raeden's delight because he did truly love her, and she still loved him too.
THE END
by DJPM
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