Out of the Darkness Comes the Light
When You Have Given Up Hope You Have Lost Everything
by
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BEN JONES MEETS CANDICE WAITERS
Frank and Ethel had such a good time at this celebration they could hardly stop thinking about what the reception after their wedding would be like. After taking a few days to rest Frank was ready to get back into the every day grind of going to work. Also, the few days gave Frank and Ben a chance to catch up on what was going on in each other's lives. Ben at the time was dating and had fallen in love with a local girl from the community that he was contemplating on marrying and starting a family with. When Ben shared this news with Frank there was a look of concern Frank detected on Ben's face. Ben's girlfriend, Candice, known to as Candy to everyone, Waiters was one of the nicest, sweetest, woman you would ever want to meet. The problem is that she was bi-piolar and at this time very few people understood or was willing to take the time to try and understand exactly what being bipolar consisted of. Candice also happened to be a drug addict. Most of the people in the neighorborhood just wrote her off as being crazy, but Candy was far from being crazy, instead she was one of the most intelligent woman you would meet. Candy had did a lot of reading and had thus self educated herself. She was very knowledgeable in various disciplines of thought and world events. While Frank was gone Ben had to get a second job to pay the bills and rent for the apartment that Ben and Frank stayed at in Hopesville, Michigan. In the daytime Ben worked at the Ford Automobile Factory and in the evening he worked as a janitor at the local black high school. It was at this second job that Ben had met and fallen in love with Candice Waiters.
Candice was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1925. At an early age Candice was displaying signs of this bi-polar disorder but at this time there was very little known about this disorder and how to treat it. Most people were written off as crazy and left to survive by their own survival devices. Candice, unfortunately, was the child of two narcotic addicts who felt it would be much easier to give Candice up for adoption rather than take the time to work with her. Unable to find a family that was willing to work and adopt Candice she found herself in and out of foster homes. Candice finally found a family that was willing to look after and take care of her but the problem was and Candice did not realize it until much later that the house she was living in was a house of prostitution. This house was more commonly referred to as "The Thrill Palace." In this house people only took care of her because of her shapely figure and intoxicating smile. There was one man, (Mr. Barry Bellows) that was particularly taken by Candice and eventually would take her with him to live in Detroit, Michigan. Candice as a young girl was more developed physically than other young woman of the same age. In this house that Candice was staying at she was constantly being sexually abused by many of the older men. It wouldn't be until much later when Mr. Bellows would take Candice with him to Detroit that she would be diagnosed with bi-polar and would begin taking medication and her life would drastically begin to change. Candice was led to believe that the only thing she had to offer any man was her diamond glass figure and would begin to behave very promiscuously. Being untreated Candice would do anything with anyone to escape the feelings that are attributed to one suffering from the mental disease of bi-polar. For a long time not only were the people in the house that Candice was staying in confused but also Mr. Bellows because they could not understand why one minute Candice would be extremely excited and the next minute she would cry constantly for the next couple of hours. Knowing how the drugs had ripped her biological parents lives apart Candice promised herself that she would never become involved in that type of lifestyle but unfortunately being untreated for this disorder Candice found that taking drugs would some how make her miserable life bearable. At first it was just smoking marijuana now and then but like any other disease that progresses if not treated Candice found herself shooting heroin with a $100 a day habit. At this point in her young life Candice found that the only way she could support her habit was through prostitution and she was living in the right place to practice her newly found trade.
Mr. Barry Bellows like most of the other men in Chicago and Detroit had migrated up north from the south. Mr. Barry Bellows himself was from Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Bellows was single with no children of his own and his whole family was back in Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Bellows had moved to Chicago directly after he was discharged from the Korean War in 1953. At first Barry had a hard time supporting himself and living and at one point thought he might have to go back home to Memphis, Tennessee which was definitely the last thing he wanted to do. Like most of the young blacks Barry's foundation was centered on God and his belief that no matter what he goes through that God would take care of him. That faith sustained Barry when times really got hard and unbearable. Then when you would reach a time when you really had to test your faith once again God comes through. Barry happened to be living in a housing complex outside of Chicago that was similar to Hopesville, outside of Detroit. As was his custom every morning Barry would get the local paper to look for jobs in the area.
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About the Book
"Out of the Darkness Comes the Light", is a novel written by Andre Gilchrist. This novel follows the authors first book "You Thought You Couldn't Change, Either", which was a true and actual account of the life of Andre Gilchrist. This is a novel based on the fact that much of the book comes from actual facts while other parts are derived from the authors life experiences and events the author has lived through.
The background information in this novel is actual. The author took an enormous amount of time researching the information from family members still alive, documents that have been saved and passed on from one generation to another to have the story as true and credible as possible. The main action takes place in a fictitious town called Hopesville, Michigan.
The author through much of his life experiences during the course of the novel covers the time periods covering much of the civil rights area extending from Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas in May, 1954 to and including other events lasting to the race riots in Newark, New Jersey and Detroit, Michigan in July of 1967. The novel touches on major events occurring in the present day such as hijacking and terrorism.
The main theme that the author is trying to touch on in this novel is that there is always hope, hence comes the name of the town Hopesville. The author believes that when we cease to believe in hope we close the door to the future. The author wants to impress to those reading this manuscript that no matter how dark and gloomy and totally helpless and hopeless the times might seem to us and we feel that there is no reason to continue that Out of the Darkness Comes The Light!
About the Author
The author, Andre Gilchrist, is an African American male in his 50's who resides in the state of New Jersey. Through his participation in the Viet Nam Conflict and other events during the course of his life the author has a lot of experience and knowledge to share with others. The author has lived through periods in our country's history covering the assassinations of Medgar Evans outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi; Montgomery Bus Boycott, the killings of Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy as he ran for the presidency, and Malcolm X; the March on Washington; the signing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act; and the race riots. All of these experiences has helped shape the author into the person he is today.
The author is an individual who has had many lows in his life but has reached a point in his life where he has not let his past hold him hostage. The author has went from being a high school dropout to achieving numerous college degrees and studying abroad.
The author continues to be an active member in his community. He has been honored to speak at colleges and universities in his area where he lives. The author has spoken before the state Governor and the New Jersey State Legislature and continues to make himself available. The author has been honored by being written about in local newspapers and newsletters as a local success story. The author tries to live his life in a way that all who come in contact with him will believe that "If I Can Change Then You Can To" & "Out of the Darkness Comes The Light!"