Twisted Resentment (eBook)

L.D. Robinson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
412 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-6020-4 (ISBN)

Infos

In 'Twisted Resentment' have new beginnings for James Washington, as the hunger for revenge boils within him. A triangle of lies, lust, and betrayal makes several individuals lose themselves.

L. D. Robinson always had a creative imagination, often found herself distracted by the characters in her own thoughts, she decided to put those thoughts on to paper, allowing readers to escape with her into a world of twisted, unpredictable adventures.

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Distracted by retribution as if designed by fate, he stumbles upon a girl who could revamp everything, and make all his dreams come true. Not only can he get one up on Fredrick (his best friend) but maybe he can have the love he's always been denied. But can he have both? Who will be his demise and end the thirst of his psychotic obsession for revenge? Will the broken promises fueled by betrayal and injustice intensify their pursuit or strengthen their resolve?

Textauszug

CHAPTER 1

JAMES

I could almost taste the blood boiling under my skin, abandonment being at the forefront of my mind. The rage, so many unanswered questions. I had been meaning to have this discussion for some time, but he never gave me the chance. Today felt like the day. These emotions were eating me alive; he needed to hear me out! He, the man I called my father, would be due home any minute. I paced anxiously from the window to the couch and back again, the sunlight playing peek-a-boo through the mini blinds illuminating the hallway. My breathing was shallow, quick, and his words haunted my thoughts. “Be a man!” He would yell whenever I showed emotion. The noise outside wasn’t helping my anxious heart. I could hear random car alarms going off and people yelling at each other for no good reason. I heard his keys in the doorknob, and I lifted my shoulders and straightened my back. The door creaked open slightly. I stopped in my tracks as the outside breeze wafted into the house. My heart dropped when his shadow appeared, walking towards me, sweat creased the lines on his face, newspaper in hand.

“Here!” he demanded, slapping a crinkled newspaper into my hands. A red substance smudged in the corner.

“What’s this?” I stared between him and it.

“Just take the damn thing and get out of my face, James,” he said adjusting his tie. It dangled loosely around his neck.

I normally did as told. But this wasn’t one of those times. I started up the stairs, but halfway up the flight I turned around and looked at him. I hesitated, taking a full breath.

“Dad, I have a question.”

“What is it, James?” he answered, his voice deep, arms crossed. I hesitated again, hoping I had strung together the right words in my head. Dad’s eyes stared into me impatiently. The muscles in his jaw began to clench.

My hands rested confidently at my sides as I spoke. “Why are you so interested in the things Fredrick does, but when I have an accomplishment, you brush it off? Like nothing I do is good enough for you.”

“Really, James, you just lock yourself in your room, doing God knows what. Anything else?” he asked, walking towards the kitchen as if I was finished. I watched him thoroughly wash his scraped hands and help himself to a cup of pineapple juice.

“Would it kill you to talk to me? I try to express myself like you always taught me to. I stand up for myself. But all you do is remind me how I take after my worthless mother, with her empty ambitions. Why? Before I graduated high school, I passed college courses in criminal justice, and all I got was an empty ‘congratulations’ and ‘leave me alone; I’m tired.”

“What did you want, a cookie, James?”

“See, but when Fredrick passed his investigation courses at the college, you already had tickets purchased for us to go to an Eagles game.”

“I’ve always had good grades; I even graduated with honors, not to mention perfect attendance. Dad, you have to admit it; I’ve never had you come to the school for any trouble like most kids. I’m going to be eighteen soon, and I would like to understand why. I always catch you in such high spirits talking about life and ‘do’s and don’ts’ with Fredrick, as if I’m just supposed to know on my own. You want me to do so much, but don’t ever take interest in the things I want to do. Maybe that’s just how you are. I don’t know.” My voice trails off, and I’m unsure of what to say next. Dad sipped his drink loudly. He cleared his throat as he stared at me from the kitchen counter. The forceful exhale along with the way he dragged both of his hands down his face had me worried.

As I contemplated my next words, I couldn’t help thinking about where everything went so wrong. Frederick and I were close, best friends since elementary. He became like the brother I never had. Once we started middle school, we started drifting apart after his father passed. When my father found out about it, he felt the need to insert himself into Fredrick’s void. He never wanted to spend time with me, but suddenly, when Fredrick would come over for the weekend, he’d have so much planned for all of us to do. I didn’t want to go fishing, play catch, go watch a movie or even see a game at the stadium. I was becoming an outsider in my own home. He wanted to act like a dad to Frederick, but all I ever got was ‘Be a Man! You’re weak like your mother, ‘or told he was busy with work. So I isolated myself in my room, where Fredrick and I played video games for the hour I was allowed. I guess I got boring. The more he came over, the more he wanted us to hang with my dad, and it irritated me. Slowly, but surely, I started distancing myself from him. He even lived in a better neighborhood than me. We called where he lived the suburbs. It was so quiet. They would leave their doors unlocked and didn’t use keys, which I thought was crazy. Every holiday the houses were decorated like they were trying to challenge each other to be in the next issue of the hottest magazine.

“I don’t need to be affectionate to you, James,” My father, said snapping me out of my thoughts. “You are my son. Affection? Why? So, you can grow up to be a pussy? You were always a momma’s boy,” he spat, his voice echoing off the walls.

“Obviously not, Dad! She left me here with you!” I said, matching his tone. “But you can give Frederick, who’s not even your son, all your attention, without even batting an eye. I can’t seem to do anything without being compared to him. Fredrick this, Fredrick that, all the time. I’m really getting sick of it!” I paused, watching my dad gulp his drink, unfazed. I continued. I could feel my chest tightening. I’ve never spoken to my father this way, but he was going to hear me if it was the last thing I did.

“Mom is gone, Dad, and there’s nothing we can do about that now. I wish you would stop comparing me to her! It’s not my fault she left us without even saying goodbye. My memories of her are buried in the stupid note she left on my bed. She doesn’t even deserve to be called a mother! What was a freaking goodbye note going to do?! How could she abandon us?!”

I sat on the stairs, suddenly feeling weak in the knees.

“I thought her not being too affectionate was just tough love. It couldn’t have been me; I’ve always been a great kid. I figured if I just tried hard and did the things I needed to, maybe I’d get the love that I deserved. You’re never here, and when you are, you still aren’t. You guys never appreciated each other anyway. When you guys had the time, it always ended with fights and arguments!” The words bubbling at the tips of my lips. “You’re probably the reason she left us!”

Dad slammed his cup on the marble counter. “Watch your mouth, James!”

He yelled, now standing at the bottom of the stairs, the vein in the middle of his forehead pulsating. I knew I had struck a nerve and maybe even went too far. But I knew I was right, and something had to give. If I was going to get kicked out or beat up, I was going to make it worth it.

“Don’t speak on things you’re not old enough to understand, James,” Dad continued, rubbing his hands together, “I work the way I need to, so I can provide for this family. To maintain a specific lifestyle, so you don’t have to go without. Your mother left on her own selfish will.” He sighed heavily. “Nobody told her to leave, and I’m sorry for that, James. I truly am. You can’t keep blaming me or yourself. What’s done is done. It’s been years now, and you need to find a way to get past that. As for Fredrick, he’s been around us for a long time. It’s almost like he’s my second son.”

“Twelve years, Dad! Mom’s been gone twelve years!” I huffed. “Second son? How can you appreciate another man’s child when you don’t bother to care about the one you have?”

“James!” he yelled, leaping a couple steps towards me, and stopping inches from my face. It all happened so fast. I stayed firm but was scared to breathe. Anger was etched into his face, and his dark eyebrows touched as his forehead wrinkled. I leaned backward hard, my spine forced against the hard, wooden steps beneath me. The sharp knuckles of his balled fist buried tight into the flesh of my neck as he gripped the collar of my shirt. A knot formed at the base of my throat. The tears gathered at the corner of my eyes. I prayed none would fall down my face. If one made its way out, I could kiss the rest of my night goodbye. I’d end up in the hospital somewhere.

“Tears are for wimps, suckers, and bitches,” Dad said one clear afternoon, before Mother abandoned us. I was barely seven years old. I had fallen off my bike, banged hard into the concrete, and split my leg open down to the bone. I cried, laid out in agonizing pain and clutching my leg.

Pow! His fist met my face and broke my nose, giving me two black eyes as a consolation prize. I woke up in the hospital and remained there for several days. Dad later taught me to lie to the nurses and teachers when I eventually went back to school. They smiled at me, and the next thing I knew, my parents and I were being questioned by the board of social services.

I wondered why Mother didn’t defend me like she used to or visit me at the hospital. I received eight stitches for my leg and a splint for my nose, and I was instructed to keep ice on it until the swelling went down. When we returned home, my mother was gone.

“Get ya ass upstairs so you can get ready for this interview and stop...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 6.9.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Lyrik / Dramatik ► Dramatik / Theater
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-6020-4 / 9798350960204