Another Hood Love
Another Hood Story
A Novel by Jontu’
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© 2015
Published by Leo Sullivan Presents
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.
Author’s Notes:
Thank you to my loyal fans and readers of all of my books. Just for you there’s a special surprise at the end from the entire Leo Sullivan Presents family.
Synopsis
Jaeda is a young girl with a scarred past, after being forced into life with no parents and bounced from her grandmother's house after her death into the guardianship of her uncle the journey begins. Jaeda and her older sister Laela are forced into a life of criminal activity that they take to easily and run with. Things are smooth and life is peachy until an unfortunate turn of events shakes up Jaeda and Laela's world and changes everything, leaving Jaeda with new decisions and a new outlook on what she wants out of life.
Will Jaeda overcome the battles that are ahead of her or will she succumb to the path that was already set out for her before it all can change for the better?
Jaeda
The water was filling the car quickly, and my little arms and legs weren’t strong enough to get out of the situation that I was in. I could hear people yelling but because of the water, I couldn’t understand a word. I could see my older sister Laela but she wasn’t moving; she was already under the water and I was starting to panic. I couldn’t imagine life without her; she was my best friend, my protector, and the person I shared all my secrets with. My parents were already under water and weren’t moving.
The water in the car began to turn red, and I could feel myself being pulled out by my arms. My legs were numb, and I was searching around to see who was grabbing me. I heard a man say, “
they’re all dead but the smallest girl
.” Wait, what? That couldn’t be right. I loved my parents, but they were already pretty non-existent; most times they were high out their mind and when they were sober, they were sleep or grumpy, so we steered clear of them. But Laela? I couldn’t live without her. I began swinging and screaming at the top of my lungs.
“Laela! Laela! Nooooooo!” I was being shaken aggressively, and when I opened my eyes, I stared into the face of my beautiful sister. I hugged her and cried in her arms.
“Another nightmare Jae??” Laela asked.
“Yes, the same thing again. I can’t live without you, sister,” I said.
“I’m right here lil sis, I’m never going to leave you. Together forever,” she said while hugging me tight.
The day I was born, I think I was cursed; like somebody hated me from the womb and grabbed a voodoo doll with my name on it; like my sister and I were paying for sins we didn’t commit. I’m Jaeda Johnson, and my life has been a movie already. I’m 15 years old, and my older sister Laela and I are 11 months apart. We were products of love, not accidents or unexpected pregnancies by two people unprepared for what was ahead. My mother Alaeda and father Dupree were young when they met, but were madly in love with each other. They were the type of couple that just knew from the start that they were meant for each other. They met in high school and planned their futures from beginning to end. They graduated from trade schools fresh out of high school, and then my mother got pregnant with Laela; 2 months later she was pregnant with me, but that’s how they wanted it. They wanted us to be close enough that our bond was as if we were split from the same egg, and that’s how we were.
As much as my parents loved us and planned the future, they didn’t plan to fall victim to drugs. One night at a get together when I was 3 years old, my parents were with friends and their weed had been laced with crystal meth. At the time they didn’t know what they were smoking, but they knew it wasn’t just marijuana. Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end. 2 months later my parents were full-blown fiends, and taking care of Laela and I just wasn’t as important as that high they loved to chase. The change in our loving parents was evident for even our young minds to comprehend.
One night during a bad winter storm, Laela and I were sitting on the kitchen floor playing Barbie dolls when my father walked in the house, ranting about the government trying to keep secrets from us and kill us off. My mother, still madly in love, took heed to his every word as he commanded her to pack our things because we had to make it into the bungalows with those that the government appointed to board before the world ended. Laela and I were so young that all we understood was that we would die if we didn’t go, so crying and holding each other, we watched as our parents grabbed photo albums, trinkets, clothes and various memorabilia, and packed them in suitcases. After about half an hour, we were carried out to our small family car, where we all piled in as my father drove off trying to get us to safety before the world ended.
My father drove us straight into the water; my parents were killed upon impact as the front of the car slammed into the bottom of the lake. Some bystanders that watched the entire scene unfold snatched Laela and me out before we drowned. My father was tweaking and had drug us into his hallucination, putting all our lives at danger. My parents lost their lives together, but I’m thankful that my sister and I both made it out safely with no major injuries. That’s where these horrible nightmares stemmed from, but it bothered me that in every nightmare, Laela never survived. I hated to feel that one day my sister would be snatched away from me, but it was this horrible nagging feeling that always lingered in my brain whenever I relived that horrible night in my dreams.
After our parents died, my sister and I were taken to live with my grandmother, who was also raising my older cousin Sheldon; he was a problem child left in her care after my aunt Tracy, his mother, was sentenced to life in prison for robbing a bank with her then-boyfriend, and killing a police officer trying to escape. Sheldon was somebody I tried my best to stay away from; he was 16 and creepy as hell to be around. I always found him staring at me, and the looks he gave were not ones I should be getting from my cousin. A few times, he would block my path and rub his hand across my breast or butt, and try to play it off as an accident. One day, Laela was sick and my grandmother had left Sheldon and me alone in the house while she took her to the doctor. I begged my granny to let me come, but she told me to stay home and finish my chores. I was no fool and I didn’t trust Sheldon as far as I could throw him, and I couldn’t move his fat ass one inch. On this particular day, I had walked to the kitchen to put up the mop bucket after cleaning the three bathrooms in my grandmother’s five-bedroom home when I ran into Sheldon. I said
excuse me
and tried to slide past him, but he blocked my path. Sheldon then grabbed my breast and began to massage it roughly.
“Stop!” I yelled and tried to push past him, but my small frame was no match for his husky stature. I was a small girl, but with well-developed breasts and butt for my age. My toffee brown skin was smooth and only carried small unnoticeable scars from the accident. I had shoulder-length hair that I kept braided in singles. I was very pretty with slanted eyes and full lips; yes I was attractive, but didn’t want to be looked at by my own flesh and blood in the way that Sheldon was looking at me.
Sheldon then grabbed me by my arm and drug me into my room, where he forced me to sit on his lap; he pulled down my pants, and massaged my vagina until he bust a nut into his hand. I knew what some details of sex were, but I definitely wasn’t trying to experience it with my damn cousin. I was young and outspoken, but I was scared as hell of Sheldon; he had a horrible mean streak, and I didn’t know what to do or who to tell. After Sheldon was done, he punched me in my stomach and told me I better not mention it to anybody. I doubled over in pain and cried in the corner of my room. I wanted so badly to tell Laela, but I didn’t want her to get into an altercation with evil ass Sheldon. I couldn’t tell my granny because she always took Sheldon’s side over Laela and me anyway.
This started to become the norm after a while. Sheldon never penetrated me, but he would play with my vagina and make it do things that I had no control over. I would feel my body go into mini convulsions when he touched me, and there would be an embarrassing wetness that I tried my best to avoid. I hated myself for not having any control over how my body responded to him because I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t stop it. From then on, I vowed that I would never leave control of my body to anybody other than me. I didn’t want to ever feel what I felt being molested by Sheldon ever again. Sex was definitely off my to-do list. One day while at school, Sheldon was arrested after a girl younger than me accused him of touching her inappropriately. Sheldon had then turned 17, and was charged as an adult for molestation and sentenced to 5 years. My grandmother was shocked and hurt by these accusations and Laela was also shocked, but I wasn’t. On the inside, I was relieved and overjoyed that he had been sent to jail. I was glad that I would not have to see or feel his sick ass ever again.
For the next two years, life went by smoothly. Laela and I were content, and life was quiet without Sheldon. My grandmother just didn’t seem to be the same after the incident with Sheldon. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was if she had lost the life that was in her. Her eyes were so dark and lifeless, and she had began to lose weight and sleep a lot. Laela and I began picking up more chores around the house to help her, but it seemed as if she was falling apart before our eyes. One afternoon when Laela and I came in from school, we found our grandmother laid out on the kitchen floor. I immediately ran to the phone to call 911 and 15 minutes later, they were loading her on a gurney and rushing her to the hospital. My grandmother died that day; she had been hiding the fact that she had cancer and was not receiving the proper treatment. It was like she gave up on us and on life. As much as it hurt, my sister and I were back to being alone, and were once again forced upon another family member.
After the death of our grandmother, we were taken to live with our Uncle Ken. He had a huge house that he lived in with his wife Shae and girlfriend Quita, and his son and two daughters he shared with Shae. He and Quita didn’t share any children. Uncle Ken was a pimp; he had Shae that he had been married to for eight years, and Quita who had been their girlfriend for five, and they all lived under one roof – three parents to the three children. I wonder if they were confused at first. Uncle Ken made his money through Shae and Quita, who stripped at various clubs through the week, a drug ring that brought in thousands monthly, and 2 lucrative businesses. If I ever felt like life would be any kind of normal after granny passed, I was sure wrong after being thrown into this circus.
Laela and I were closer than ever, and I didn’t go anywhere without her. Uncle Ken and Shae were very welcoming to us, but after 3 months in, we were called into the living room for a family meeting – something that I realized they loved to have.
Laela
My little sister Jaeda and I had been forced into many different situations in our short lives, but no matter how difficult or uncomfortable life had ever gotten, it was always easier knowing that I had Jaeda by my side. We loved each other unconditionally, and she was my right hand, my heart, and I would kill and die for her if I had to.
When our parents died, Jaeda started having these terrible nightmares that would have her waking up in cold sweats. I hated that shit because she always woke up crying, thinking I would leave her. She was my life, but what she didn't know was that I had the same reoccurring dreams about not surviving that crash. My parents had made my sister and I so in sync with one another that it was crazy how our brains and souls vibed, as if we were split from the same egg. I made a vow secretly to do everything in my power to always be there for Jaeda, because I needed her just as much as she needed me.
A couple weeks shy of 17 years old, I was a thick brown-skinned beauty with light brown eyes and thick hair that came past my shoulders. Many people said I looked like Keke Palmer with a little more meat. My sister and I were beautiful, and I knew once we got older we were going to be shutting bitches down. My girl cousins Tamia and Jamiya hated us already and they were our blood.
My sister and I had been living with my Uncle Ken and his family for a month now. It was a total 360 from how we were used to living at our granny’s house, but she was gone so now we had to adapt to the situation until we could create our own situation. Life at my Uncle Ken’s was pretty easy, besides all the shade that we were being thrown family wise. Jaeda and I shrugged that shit off like it was nothing. If family wanted to be our biggest haters, then so be it. We were 15 and 16-year-old girls that had been bounced around from family member to family member; the only thing we possessed was the clothes we brought, and the pictures we kept of our parents and grandmother.
Despite our shaky home life, school was another story. Being in high school together was great for us. We were in our junior year and unlike at home, we were popular at school and excelling academically. Jaeda had this admirer that really liked her, but she wasn’t trying to give him the time of day. I, on the other hand, had a boyfriend; Jah was a year older than me, and was fine as all hell. Tall, light-skinned, dark brown eyes and broad shoulders, Jah was hood as hell but he was my knight in a shining snap back. Jah was the starting linebacker on our school football team, and even though all the little thots wanted him, the boy was mine. Jah was actually best friends with Jaeda’s admirer Tone, who was the same age and also on the football team; I would give Jaeda some time before I played matchmaker. Although Tone and Jah were star football players, they were also up and coming in the streets, which made them even more desired by all the little bitches looking for a come up.
I wasn’t looking for anything out of Jah; we just clicked and I knew we were young, but we were just meant to be. I was in a few Advanced Placement classes, so Jah and I had AP Algebra together. When I first transferred, I couldn’t stand Jah; he was cocky and a class clown, and all the girls were constantly in his face. He was always trying to charm his way out of trouble with our instructor, and that was a major turn off for me. One day we were placed in groups of two’s for this investment project, and I was paired with Jah; at first I was pissed because I just knew he would leave me doing all the work, and I would be boosting his grade all off my hard work. Over the two weeks that we were to work on the project, I found out that Jah was excellent with numbers. He had us investing in companies that none of the other groups thought of. I actually began to feel as if I wasn’t contributing equally to the project. At the end of the project, Jah and I had gotten ourselves an A, and I had a newfound respect for him; he wasn’t just this cocky jock in my eyes anymore.
After that, we began to chill outside of school. One night after he, Tone, Jaeda, and a few others and I had gone to the movies, Jah handed me an envelope that had a stack of money in it. Shocked, I handed that shit right back to him. He explained that it was my money that I earned during the project. While I just thought that we were doing our project and investing dummy money, Jah had invested real money into the stocks that we had chosen. Out of the two stocks, Jah had invested $150 each and they had made us $6500 combined, and Jah had given me $3500. I had never held that much money in my young hands, and I didn’t know what to say.
When we got home, I split my money 50/50 with Jaeda. That was the night that Jah and I had made it official, and he became my knight in a shining snapback. We have been together for 2 months now and although I know he is the one, we are not sexually active. I want to wait until he shows me that he wants more out of our relationship than some ass and a badd bitch to call his own. He didn’t treat me like a jump off or anything, but we were young and I was far from naïve, so I decided to take things slow. I wasn’t about to give up my virginity to the first boy that held my attention. My grandmother instilled morals into my sister and I, and no matter what I was going to hold onto them.