The Coveting
by
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Alfrey tried her best to feel something, something other than the feeling of having to look into those wide eyes again. She took a deep breath and walked quickly back to the house. Now a block away, she ran as she'd been told. A siren screeched, and then slowed down to a complete stop. She could see the alleyway now, but she still felt nothing. "Run!" the two whispered voices held her, but they were two houses down. A small crowd of women and children gathered in front of the fire which had now reached the garbage and wood in the debris filled lot. Alfrey kept walking, following the voices that spoke only to her, less than thirty seconds ago. The voice had led her to a refrigerator there in the back,--the same one that that the two could no longer carry. The streets were quieter. She knew then, that the child was there. She opened the broken door carefully, which thankfully could not fully close shut. It was too heavy that's why it was abandoned. Right there blocks away from the now burning appliance store. She knew. She heard movement and then held her breath. Once she opened the door she found her still alive, and afraid--so very afraid. Alfrey snatched her, lifted her, and kissed more breath inside of her body, frozen only by shock. The little girl cried. At that moment, wide eyes patted ankle grabber on the bottom. "They're coming," is all she said to Ahmad. He stopped to wait. She knew that she had them, all three. She grabbed the little baby covered her face, and put her small head against her chest relieved. She hurried up Avon Avenue to find Ahmad. Ahmad handed the two children over to Alfrey 50 seconds before the state police took him away in handcuffs. The other children were separated. "You know you're beautiful people,” Alfrey said to him. "You are too,” Ahmad whispered back, glad at least, he did his duty. She kissed him goodbye, for she had known that they were coming before they came. Alfrey took the three girls far away from the fire, the police, the mob, and the bomb that later hit. The infection, she knew would keep spreading, but for now at least they were with her. Jaybird, Candice, and Mother's Haven never seen or heard from the woman or the three children again, and Alfrey was left to spin her gold.
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About the Book
The Coveting is an epic novel about three Newark women and their secret obsessions. A psychic woman, Alfrey Brown, rescues three little girls from a burning orphanage during the Newark Riots in 1967. Unable to adopt them, they are each taken into Foster care and reared separately in Newark, NJ. As teenagers, the three young women are mysteriously reunited, ultimately becoming best friends. Now that they have become successful women in their own right, they are secretly consumed with envious feelings towards one another. During a long overdue vacation, they devise a plan to challenge fate, and exchange lives. Heaven Miller, a rich and famous actress who comes back home to Newark for a visit, Tasha Peters a successful businesswoman with a very special gift, and Sarah Farmer, a married mother with a loving husband and two beautiful children, are each longing for a new life. Alfrey, who can see events before they happen, is determined to find and stop them before they make a tragic mistake which will alter the future and destroy their worlds. Her special bond that she shares with others like her, has kept the three women alive up until now, but time is running out. The only way to save them is to uncover the truth about their unique gifts that they possess, but have always hidden. For three beautiful, talented and successful women, the danger was not in their secrets, but in their longing.
About the Author
Kelli Koontz Wilson is a native and resident of Newark, New Jersey. She has majored in both Theatre and Spanish at Rider College and Rutgers Newark respectively. She is the founder of Project PULSE: Presentations for Understanding and Learning through Skits and Expression. This program allows her to perform as well as to provide students with a forum in which to create their own presentations that will focus on the needs of the community. She utilizes poetry and storytelling in her workshops as a way to engage students and adults in the discussion of local and global issues which impact our society, and how they can use their voices in a positive way. Other workshops include: Conflict Resolution, Diversity Training, Drug prevention and Goal Setting. The stage show Titled: A Mother’s Cry, is a 60 minute presentation, filled with Poetry, Prose, and music. It has been developed for all audiences, but the primary purpose of the show is to promote Self-Esteem, Gang Prevention, as well as Drug and Alcohol Prevention. She has written skits and plays for El Club del Barrio’s Survivors Group in Newark, as well as for Horizon Health Center in Jersey City’s C.O.P.E Community Outreach through Peer Education group. She has personally designed an entire curricula of Programs for school aged children such as: Dr. Gekls, Three Kings and a Queen—It’s All About Self-Esteem, Life Uninterrupted-- Life Interrupted, Thick as Thieves, and short stories designed to teach the importance of Self-Esteem, and Purpose, like Mr. Willoughby, and A very good day. She is currently writing a T.V. Pilot, and Feature Film. Her other writings also include two books published by Author House: the novel, The Color of My Skin as well as an Anthology of Poetry, Hookers in The Playground: A Newark Mother’s Cry for Peace. Her semiautobiographical novel: Finding Rhythm, deals with a Newark Poet, determined to educate and inspire her three children while dealing with family addictions, and corruption. She and her husband Tim have 3 children and one grandchild: Latoya Wilson, Giavonni Darlena Davis, Timothy Wilson Jr. and Jailyn Brown. Melanin Enterprises LLC is a Newark based Performing Arts Company which helps develop and produce educational and artistic programming for all NJ based schools. www.melaninenterprises.com