Thank you to all my readers! Candy Rayne
Pink Kiss Publishing Company Gautier, Mississippi
Concrete Rose Copyright Š 2013 by Candy Rayne All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Pink Kiss Publishing Company at the address below. Cover designed by: CreationsbyDonna@gmail.com Layout and Interior designed by: glendawallace@pinkkisspublishing.com
ISBN 978-0-9851909-5-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2013910450 Published by: Pink Kiss Publishing Company P.O. Box 744 Gautier, Mississippi 39553 (228) 366-6829 www.pinkkisspublishing.com
I would like to dedicate this novel to anyone who has read my novel Tangled Web and/or has promoted it or supported it in any way!! You are definitely appreciated!
Acknowledgments Many people have asked me what inspired me to write. As many people may know, writing is an all-natural stress release. Throughout my life I have been given many inspirations, this is what I would like to acknowledge. First and foremost, I would love to thank almighty God, for without him in my life I would have nothing. Developing a relationship with Him is and always will be my greatest accomplishment. I would like to acknowledge that girl who got pregnant in high school and still walked across that stage, with baby out in the audience or in belly! I would like to acknowledge the people who lived in homeless shelters while pregnant or with children, and vowed to make it out, and did! I would like to acknowledge those who went to college while raising children and walked across that stage as their children cheered them on. I would like to acknowledge those who uprooted their families to create a better life for the children! Those who will stop at nothing to make their children proud, while acknowledging their flaws and getting an education as well as getting their children an education so that they can do better than we did. I acknowledge this because I know it very well!! I got pregnant with my first child at eighteen just before graduating. I got pregnant with my second child at twentyone and lived in a homeless shelter for a month while pregnant. I now work at a shipyard where I graduated the apprenticeship program and am a first class marine electrician. I also have a previous book released by Pink Kiss Publishing Company entitled Tangled Web! I have come a long way in my life and do not plan on stopping at all! These are the makings of me!
I would like to acknowledge all of the men and women who put their children first. The more educated they are, the more opportunities that they will have in life. The most
important lesson that we can teach our children in life is not to let ANYONE tell them what they can’t do. In my city we call them “haters”. They are people who try to rain on your parade because they don’t have a float in it. They don’t even deserve any of your mind space. They will clog it and block your ambition, which is their goal. Whitney Houston said “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside!” With that being said, I would like to acknowledge all of the teachers, daycare providers, child psychologists, youth advocates, child health and wellness centers, juvenile justice workers, and anyone else who provides time and has a love and inspiration to help children!! Your time and efforts are paying off! Look at all of the great things our youth are doing all around us! I was so blind but now that I have opened up my eyes I see that Almighty God is great!
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ripping up the damn blang stairs!!! What a way to make a first impression here. My name is Lankenua
Tanei. I have come all the way from Kenya in Africa.
They tell me that I have a golden opportunity being here, so I better not mess up. I am fifteen years old and I already have
the man I am going to marry, so they tell me I have no reason to even look at boys. Okay, that is fine with me because I am not even interested. I am actually interested in learning all that I can. I was told that there are many more opportunities here than I had back home. I am actually extremely excited to get started here. Everyone is staring at me, but I guess that is what happens when you come in the middle of the school year. After school, father says I must work in my parents’ shop. He says that I must keep my mind occupied so that I do not become a stray. But with all of the homework that they give me at this school, he does not have to worry about that. Their shop is called Concrete Rose. They make all sorts of beautiful things with concrete such as dolphins, tigers, model cars, but mostly different color roses of all sizes. They also did this back home, but they shipped their works all over the world. That is how they got enough money to
2 Candy Rayne come to the United States. They say there is much more opportunity for their business to thrive here. They eventually want to buy a large home, like you see in the movies. I will just settle for anything that brings us happiness. When I finally saw the shop it was so beautiful. It was very spacious and even had a nice sized lounge in the back where the bathroom was located. I loved the colors back there too. Everything was maroon and dark green. It had a great fit. I need to get back there ASAP to touch up my French Braids. I see the girls in Virginia ain’t playin’ about their hair. Back in Kenya, everyone was amazed by me because I could French Braid my own hair. It comes so easy to me. I think that braids are the best look for me. I am tall – 5’8, slender, and dark chocolate brown. The girls back home said that I grew up fast, but I think they just are not gonna get this tall. My father told me after I got trained to work in the shop some days I would be in here alone. I have a younger brother who is twelve. He is extremely athletic and loves sports, so he will probably almost never be in the shop. I don’t mind, though. I am going to need something to occupy my time.
I
am a sophomore at Granby High School. The work here is a lot harder than I am used to, but I will get used to it. I am pretty smart. The girls here have been looking at me funny. I could have sworn one of them bumped into me on purpose. I said excuse me to her then I went to my class. She walked away snickering. My math teacher gave me a study partner who is a boy. That made me really nervous. He is very smart, but he tries to act like he doesn’t know the work to impress his friends. His name is James. I had to exchange phone numbers with him so we could make sure that each other understood the homework assignments. That is going to help me out a lot. I just hope my father doesn’t get upset about me talking to James. I should have asked to be assigned with a girl, then I wouldn’t have to worry. My science teacher made me stand up and introduce myself. When I did, all the girls started snickering. I can understand that they may think I talk funny but this is high school. I wonder why they have to act so immature. They act like we are in grammar school or something. The teacher said that we are working on learning about different sea creatures. I told her that in Kenya we had a lot of Sea Urchins. I really enjoy learning different things about geography and land and sea animals. This class is going to be very enjoyable for me.
4 Candy Rayne These kids in here on the other hand, and I use that term very loosely, they need to get some class about themselves. I guess I will learn to manage around here. After a period of time one can grow used to anything, I guess. A boy came up to me at lunch time and told me that I am going to have to excuse these females around here. He said they get very territorial when a new female comes around, especially if she is different. They do not want to be overshadowed with the boys in the school. I told him that no female had to worry about me because I was already engaged. He looked at me strangely and shook his head. He wanted to know how a fifteen year old was engaged. He said my parents would probably kill me and my boyfriend. I told him that my parents were the ones who arranged my marriage. I explained to him how they do things in my culture and he was baffled. Then it was my turn to laugh. He just turned and walked away. I guess people don’t want to be opened up to ideas that are different from their own. After school, I chose my seat on the bus and a very pretty girl sat down next to me. She asked me how I liked the school and I told her that I liked it alright. She introduced herself as Corlene and I told her my name. She slyly told me that she knew what my name was. Then she told me that I need to be careful of what boys I talk to around here. She said some of these females don’t play about other girls talking to their dudes. I told her that I was just here to learn and I wasn’t looking for a “dude”. She told me that I just need to be mindful, and then she walked to the back of the bus to join the rest of her girl crew. These girls around here are boy crazy. I wish they knew there was more to life than their hormones. Then everybody around here would get along a lot better. I guess I really should have done more research about these people’s ways before I came out to the United States. They act like they don’t understand. That boy’s dick belongs to HIM, not HER! He
is going to do what he wants to with it and they cannot go getting mad at all these other females because they are insecure.
powerful. He is tall, dark, and handsome. He has ejooli is my ready-made fiancé. He is very a very muscular build and you can see the muscles coming out of EVERY part of his body. He has that majestic voice that when he speaks, people listen. To be his wife it is gonna take some practice. When we date, he pretty much takes charge of everything, such as where we go and what we eat. It gets aggravating sometimes, but I guess it’s all good. I would probably be too indecisive most of the time anyway. Mejooli’s family moved out here as well. When we get married he wants to go back to Africa. He doesn’t think the United States is a good place for us. He has a million and five reasons too; the people are prejudice, they aren’t cultural enough, the food is no good… Both of our parents want to stay out here. I think he wants to get away from them also. He was born into money so he has way more than his fair share of it. He can do whatever he wants to. Mejooli is seventeen years old and he is a senior. That puts him in a different group than my classes so I never see him during the school day. That made me sad because I was really looking forward to being around a familiar face at
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6 Candy Rayne least some of the day. I also wanted to do some more talking to Mejooli so that I could feel like I know him better. He does a lot of talking for me, but not really a lot of talking to me. I hope that one day we can grow to have an enriching relationship. I already love him. I have known him for several years now. When our parents agreed to have us get married, they decided they wanted us to know each other pretty good when we made that move. When my parents decided to come here, his parents thought it was a great idea. So here we are. Mejooli has been walking around crazy since we arrived here. I don’t know how well he really likes school out here. I don’t want to start the discussion because I don’t want to make him mad. He just keeps talking about going back to Africa. That is the only thing I know for sure he wants.
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y name is Mejooli. I am engaged to Lankenua, but I do not want to marry her in the United States. These women and girls are too damn fast and I can’t believe what Lankenua wore to
school today. Those jeans looked like they were painted on her. That really pissed me off. How can I tell people that she is going to be my wife? I will look like I don’t have any control. That is really embarrassing. These girls are running around this school with short skirts, laughing and saying that they need to put their arms down and the skirt needs to come to the end of their fingertips. Shit, in my opinion the thing is still too damn short. I am taking Lankenua back to Africa to get married, so that she doesn’t have the influence of these American women over her during our marriage. My dad is too damn passive. He lets mom wear all those damn jewels and look all flashy. My wife isn’t going to do that. She is going to wear regular skirts that go down past her knees and blouses that are not so tight that they look like they are cutting off circulation. And all of those damn necklaces and bracelets that mom wears are out of the question. When I got to school and sat down at my desk, a girl started rubbing my hair. I have a low-cut fade. She told me I would look sexy bald. I gave her a crazy look. She giggled and asked
8 Candy Rayne me what my name was. I told her it is Mejooli. She said, “Ooh, I will call you Jool for short, sexy!” I did not really know how to react to that. All I could think of was what the boys were doing with my fiancée. That really pissed me off. I did not want any men touching her. In another one of my classes I saw a boy swat a girl on her butt. They giggled and played with him. The way they talked to each other told me that he wasn’t her man. I couldn’t fucking stand it. I wanted to break out of there. I guess what they do is none of my business. I just need to make sure that when I marry that I am not in the United States. These women have no respect for a man. After school my fiancée has to work in some shop that her parents own. I am not trying to deal with that shit. I already have money. I guess she has to because her parents own it. They have been struggling to get ahead forever. Now they’re doing some kind of favor for a favor thing where I am being sold to marrying this girl so they can get big money. Whatever…I am going home to lift some weights and drink some damn beer. It has been a rough day and I am not going to let these people drive me crazy. I do need to talk to her about the damn way she’s dressing though, because I know she’s telling everyone she is engaged to me. I am not trying to be engaged to a whore. She needs to get her shit together.
I
just hooked my hair up and now some boy is in here wanting me to do his. He has a lot of hair on his head and
he needs something done with it. His name is Donovan
Devon. He said that he would pay me. I told him that when the store slowed down I would see what I could do. I never really did other people’s hair, so that was kind of scary to think about. I went to the back to get the shiny pink roses that my mother just made. They were going to make a fortune off of those things alone. They were so beautiful. Donovan came up and bought three of them which came out to ninety dollars. He was such a show-off. He told me he was gonna give them to his mama, then he left. That was nice. When I have sons I hope they treat me like a queen also. I smiled at him as he walked out the door. I moved some of the purple and light blue roses out to the front to accent the pink ones. After I did that we started getting a lot more sales with the assorted colors. This is going to be so much fun. I love being artsy, so this is actually a great job for me. Maybe when I get some spending cash I can get some more cute clothes. I just hope Mejooli doesn’t get mad at
10 Candy Rayne me. He always looks at me funny when I get excited about dressing. Donovan did come back, with a comb, brush, grease, and the works. I took a break and did his hair. The break ended up taking longer than it should have, but that is okay because he is an alright person. He is so down to earth. He talked about a lot more things than I thought he would. I guess that is what happens when you judge a book by its cover. He actually had some real pretty hair and it looked longer when it was braided. He told me he was thinking about perming it. I told him hell no!! That was a crazy idea because he has gorgeous hair. He gave me eighty dollars and I looked at him crazy. He told me to just take it because I did a great job. I actually enjoyed doing it, so the amount of money he gave me was ridiculous to me. But I went on and put it in my pocket. I could buy some clothes with that money. I just couldn’t make it look like I had a lot of money because everyone would get suspicious. I should get a bank account. Yeah, that is what I will do. When it was time to close the shop, I had to take all of the arrangements away from the window and close the blackout curtains. My father did not want anyone to see inside the shop after we were closed. Everyone knows what is in here, though. That is why my father bought a top notch security system. He just wanted everything to be hidden so that nobody would be tempted. He called it “keeping honest people honest”. I could live with that, so I did as I was told. When I was finished, I went to the back of the shop. My mama hooked it up back there with a 50 inch television and a beautiful stereo system. I turned it on and watched some show called Teen Mom. What in the world? There is no way I would want to be a mother right now. School and this shop is enough to keep me busy for the rest of my life. And by the looks of what these girls are going through, is seems everything else has to be given up including education. Then these men are just doing what they want to and nobody is getting married. Who would be that crazy? Oh, well, I gotta
pack everything and go before mother gets worried. She told me to be careful. This area is new to us and she has heard some crazy stories about how a lot of foreign people get robbed because Americans are lazy and jealous and don’t want to make their own money.
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ejooli and I see each other mostly on the weekends. I am really beginning to get more used to him and who he is. He is extremely stern and
protective. When other men look at me he gets very upset. I just smile and keep walking. He should know that he got me. He is a good looking man and he just keeps getting better. He has a weight set at home and it is really working well for him. He has a group of guy friends that he hangs out with sometimes. I am not allowed around him when they are hanging out. That is okay, though, because most of that time I am at the shop working. When we do get a chance to hang out, I try to talk to him about different things to see how he feels. He gets extremely distant on certain subjects. I know he is not happy about being here,
12 Candy Rayne but I would like for him to open his mind a little before he just writes it off. Today we are going to the beach. I put on a one piece bathing suit so that I didn’t have to fight with Mejooli. I have several bikinis, but since he is so verbal about what I wear, I wanted to keep the peace. He went into my dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts and threw them to me. I sighed deeply and put them on. He gave me a stern look and went outside. The ride to Virginia Beach seemed long, but eventually we got there. We looked out the window and saw a female make her skirt fall off and her bikini show to make her man jealous. Mejooli made some comment about females nowadays not having any respect for their men. He parked the car and we got out to walk around. We saw several stores with many neat things in them. I saw the store where the girl who made her skirt fall off purchased the seashell skirt. It was beautiful, but I knew better than to ask Mejooli for one. So, I just kept my mouth shut as we continue to walk through the stores. I told Mejooli that I wanted to go get wet and he looked at me like I had said too much. He grabbed my hand and we went to find somewhere we could cut into the waterfront. When we finally got to the waterfront he put the towels out. I took my shorts off and some men were looking in our direction. It made me feel good to know that people in the United States were attracted to me. I don’t know why, but it just did. I smiled in their direction. Mejooli grabbed my hand and took me out to the water. We splashed around and laughed for what seemed like hours. Then we started to kiss and hug in the water. It was so beautiful. As the sun started to set, we laid out underneath the sky. It was times like this that made me fall deeper in love. When the sun left us and it started to get chili we decided to go get something to eat. We went to a rib joint called Frankie’s Place for Ribs. Their food was awesome! Mejooli made sure to get me home by nine o’clock so that he didn’t look bad to my parents. Nobody wanted to mess up the arrangement, so it was kind of like
we were sticking to a script. But that is okay. Lankenua loves the movies, and that makes me feel kinda sexy AND beautiful!! I feel like I really have a worth because he wants to take care of me and I feel sexy when he tries to keep me safe. Concrete Rose 13 <><><> When I got back to school everyone was raving about what a great job I did on Donovanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hair. Nobody wanted to speak to me, though. I guess they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really know how to approach me, so I kinda heard everything through the grapevine. Donovan came up to me at lunch and asked me if I could do his hair again. It had been three weeks since I had done it and it was starting to get kind of fuzzy. I was really surprised at how long it lasted; he must have been taking care of it well. I told him that he should probably have his hair done every week to keep it in the best condition. I told him to come see me at the shop at about the same time he came last time. That was about the time that I winded down and started to watch television anyway. When he got over to the shop, he started looking at the new items that we had. He asked me what my favorite color was and I told him that it may sound strange but I love the color green. I told him that I was a lover of nature. He picked up a rose that had three shades of green and handed it to me. I laughed, but then he took out forty dollars, which was the price of it, and handed it to me. I looked at him strangely and he quickly blurted out that it was a token of appreciation for the great job that I have done on his hair. I pushed him to the back of the shop so I could hurry up and do his hair and get him out of there. My mother told me that these boys would try to be slick and tricky. She said that I had to be five steps ahead of them and ten steps smarter.
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Candy Rayne While I was braiding his hair, he told me that all of his friends loved the job that I did on it. I told him to tell them all thank you. He said that he had a homeboy named Tristan who wanted to know if I would do his hair. I told him that I would and he said that he would bring him in the next day if it was okay. I told him that it was. I took one of the little blue roses and tied it into the back of one of his braids. He didn’t know that I was doing it but he would soon find out when he got to school. He gave me sixty dollars this time and apologized that he was running short on cash. I told him that it was okay and then he left. I did not realize how late it was. I was supposed to have been out of there. I quickly took everything to the back and shut the blinds. When I walked out, Mejooli was coming down the street. He sternly asked me why I was leaving the store late. I told him that I still had some customers and he told me that I knew better than that. The store was supposed to close at a certain time and it was not negotiable. There was no use in arguing with him, so I just shut my mouth. If he stepped foot in there every now and then he probably wouldn’t have those problems. I knew he didn’t really care anything about the shop anyways. He just wanted to be controlling. He was that kind of guy. What he called structure, any normal person would call an overbearing nag. When the guy, Tristan, came with Donovan the next day, he had a head full of long curly hair. He said that he was mixed with black and white. Whatever he was, he had a beautiful head of hair on him. I really enjoyed braiding it. It got so slick and shiny when I put the grease and oil sheen on it. I think I rubbed his hair more than I should have. It felt like a guilty pleasure. Donovan pulled me to the side and gave me forty dollars outside of the sixty dollars that Tristan gave me. Donovan looked crazy when Tristan gave me sixty dollars. He knew that the braiding done on the street and not by a professional usually didn’t get paid that much. Donovan wanted to be the only one to look like a big shot. This braiding thing was getting very lucrative. As they were
getting ready to walk out the door, Donovan told me thank you again. I told him that it was no problem and that I really enjoyed doing hair. Tristan told me that I did a Concrete Rose 15 wonderful job and that I should get a license so that I could work at a shop. Donovan smiled at me. I knew that he was proud of me. It made me gleam on the inside. I danced around as I cleaned up the shop. I made sure to get my ass out of there on time this time. I didn’t want to face the wrath of Mejooli. My love is all about his business, and I am his business! When he flexes his muscles it is so sexy. I am ready to get my butt out of school so that I can become a woman. That time can’t come quickly enough for me. <><><> Donovan came back to the shop the day after I braided his friend’s hair. That was peculiar because he usually only came in once a week. He told me that I did a really good job. He asked me about Mejooli and if I liked being betrothed to him. I told him that it was my family’s tradition and that it was okay with me. He told me that he wouldn’t be able to stand knowing that he had to be with one particular person and not have any choice in the matter. I asked him how well the fact that all his guy friends could see about an inch of his girlfriend’s ass every time she bent down was working out for him. He looked at me strangely, as though he didn’t clown on my family first. He said, “whatever” and walked to the side of the store. He found my necklace with the engravement of my name and two roses. He said it was beautiful. I told him that my mother made it when I was two when they gave me my name. He gave me another strange look. A girl is gonna get enough of this. I explained to him that was one of the traditions of the Maasai tribe. I told him that my temporary name up until
16 Candy Rayne then was Namunyak. This was my embolet (temporary name). Lankenua is my En Karna Enchorio (new name). It was given to me at the Enkipukonoto Eaji (naming and coming out ceremony). I was not allowed to be taken out in public until then. When I finished telling him all of this I had his full attention. He told me that I was insightful and he was glad he met me. I told him that he was interesting as well and full of character. He gave me yet another strange look and I just shrugged my shoulders. He told me that he was just kidding and he appreciated the compliment. He grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle kiss. Then he told me that he would see me in class. The kiss was so gentle, and wet. I was afraid of the way it made me feel, but I knew that I was too busy to let those kind of feelings ever get in my way. I thought about Mejooli on the way home. He is so rough and masculine with everything he does. He takes care of business and always lets me know that our future is secure. He is in charge and great husband material. He is also so damn sexy. I had to put all of those things at the forefront of my mind. I guess that kiss on the hand kind of got to me. Oh, well, I am human. I guess it would me unhuman not to. When I got home I jumped in the shower and quickly dressed for bed. I felt kind of drained and didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really know why. I guess I have really been trying to keep everyone else happy and not really doing anything in particular that I want to. But I am fifteen years old so my life really is not mine. When I get married, I am going to have babies and then I will have real responsibilities. I will have a little man to be just like Mejooli and a little baby girl to raise up to be just like me. That sounds scary sometimes when I think about it, but there are really no perfect parents in the world.