The Child in the Mirror
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I turned, pulling at my T-shirt just enough for her to see the gun. "Show it again," she calmly challenged... Click, click, went my brain, and voices loudly whispered all around my head. saying, "Run Lorraine! Run!" So I ran, and ran as fast as I could and locked myself in my car. "Topi, get inside!" I yelled. Panic visited, telling me Estelle too had a gun, and was prepared to use it in case she saw me. Would she really shoot me while I flounced around with an empty barrel? I snatched the box of cartridges from the glove compartment, and loaded the gun. I held the deadly weapon in my hand, feeling its weight, and waited... "Mom!" Topi cried out. "Estelle was running after you, and that man there put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her, and he said, ‘No Estelle don’t! Leave that girl alone!’" She pointed in the direction the two of them had been. I waited, but there was no sign of either. I looked for an escape, but cars had me blocked in on both sides. A small band of people headed towards me. It was my alleged half-brother David Jr., and two of the sisters. "Come on. Get out of the car!" David Jr. ordered. I slid the gun under the car seat. As I opened the door, I stood, and was gathered into my brother’s [?] secure embrace. His sisters hugged me, and the tall one I’d seen earlier identified herself to me. "I am your sister Shirley Anne," she said hugging me. "We are so sorry," Gwendolyn spoke up. "We never meant for anything like this to happen." David Jr. interjected. "Estelle did all of this. She made all the arrangements and everything. We were surprised that she left you off everything. I don’t blame you for being mad," he finished. "Gwen, why didn’t you call me back?" I asked. "Mama erased the number somehow," she replied honestly. All of us exchanged numbers and addresses, vowing more earnestly than previous times to keep in touch. No doubt David Jr. and I would, as we had bonded before he left for Italy, but I didn’t know about the sisters. David’s sister and a cousin came to the car to give their greetings. I had only seen this aunt a very few times in my life. I remembered her and her daughters coming to Columbus when I was quite small, probably once as a teenager, and at Estelle’s wedding, (another event she hadn’t wanted me to attend). Now Topi stood in the midst of the arms of her half-uncle and aunts, and I could only wonder at the memories she would have. Estelle was still no where to be seen. People started to leave, and at last I could get out. As I started to drive down the winding road, I was suddenly barricaded in by two police cars. I gasped, and started to hyperventilate. "That bitch has called the police on me!" I said to no one in particular, between gasping breaths. Topi looked at me, and began to sob uncontrollably as I backed up quite recklessly, and pulled over on a mound of grass out of everyone’s way. While the officers made their way towards me, I unloaded the barrel and dumped the cartridges into the box with the rest. I shoved it back into the glove compartment, cut the motor off, and waited. A somewhat burly white man approached first with his gun out of his holster. "I hear there’s a gun in this car," he said cautiously. "Yes," I said, reaching under the car seat. "Hold it! Hold it! Don’t reach for anything!"
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
"Born a bastard, died a bastard. . ." These are the unhappy epitaphs that await the bastard child.
"We are like trash tossed to' and fro’ along the gutters of filthy streets, but we are not trash. We are the unloved, invalidated sons and daughters of society who search the world over looking for our father's blessings, and yearning for his love."
And so too, Lorraine Williams searched, never comprehending the senseless years of rejection from her father and his family, until his death starts to unravel a web of deception spun by her own mother many years before. But is it much too late? Lorraine is slipping over the edge into a world of insanity, brought on by years of depression and trauma for never knowing her true identity, and never being allowed to ask.
Contemplating killing herself and all of ‘daddy’s’ beloved children as they weep at his open grave, Lorraine tucks the shiny new gun into the waist band of her cutoff jeans, and waits for the funeral procession to arrive. But is this man truly her father?
Years later, a fated letter falls into the hands of a famous talk show host, and a televised DNA test finally reveals pieces of the truth about her identity. An unrelenting desire for answers drives Lorraine to do the unthinkable or die, for life without love is not worth living.
This is a story for every parent unsure about the identity of themselves, their child, or if they should tell them the truth about their paternity. It’s said the sins of the parents do indeed fall heavily on the children, and fatherless children have no rights. They have no rights to their medical histories, paternal grandparents, siblings, family heritage, inheritance, name, heirlooms, property, relatives - not even the right to grieve for the loss of their father. They are a helpless breed, dependent totally on the integrity of their mothers, surrogate fathers, and family to help them be whole.
Lorraine’s tale penetrates the core of life as an outsider, one of society’s outcasts, struggling to remain whole in a broken family and broken world. Her story will make you laugh out loud, and weep with her. No emotion is left untouched, as Lorraine takes you on a raw and exhausting journey through the darker side of life and love.
This novel is based on a true story, , though names and locations have been changed to protect the privacy of certain individuals. Some events have heightened dramatization for the author’s creative purposes.
About the Author
The author is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and assumes the pen name of Darnail. She has had an extensive career in community services, while writing as a hobby. Darnail is the author of published poetry in an anthology entitled VISIONS, and also has a poem penned on the 1991 WORLD PEACE BANNER in Washington, D. C. Career opportunities have afforded her the advantage to be editor of job newsletters. Additional hobbies are photography, creating photo videos with audio and special affects, designing web sites, traveling and growing flowers.
Darnail first attended Cuyahoga Community College, majoring in the creative arts of drama and creative writing. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, holding a Masters and Bachelor's degree in Education. This is her first published, full length novel. Currently living in the Midwest, the author is completing revisions on two short stories for future publication. A single parent, her daughter La'Shayna is a student at a Carolina University.