THE DAWNING (The Dawning Trilogy) Read online

  Marcus turned and looked at Salina. They were both in shock over the open display of the obvious lust Scott exhibited. They now stared at each other, gauging the surprise in each other’s eyes. It had been like watching a movie of love starved cowboy meets sexy, resistant siren.

  He suddenly realized Salina was still staring at him, seemingly wanting him to make a remark. “Guess he’s more into her than we knew, huh?”

  Jumping to catch up with Jenny she glared at him and said with a smug smile, “Oh, I knew he was crazy all right, what I didn’t know was that he was dangerous crazy. Tell your cowboy-mountain cat friend to back off, or he may find himself declawed and neutered. And I mean that!”

  Salina hurried to help calm a frightened Jenny, who was badly shaken and trembling like a leaf as she’d broken away from Scott.

  Walking off Marcus ignored Scott’s yell out to him, as he headed for the hot pretzel stand, near the book store, to keep an eye on the girls till they were safe in their car headed home.

  3 – ALICE HAIR

  Extra early Saturday morn, Jenny nervously jumped each time her cell vibrated. She’d taken it off ringer so as not to awaken her parents. It’d been Scott each time, texting or calling, so she refused to respond.

  He’d truly terrified her last night. The memory of his eyes, those of an insane man’s, nostrils flared like some wild beast, his lips crushing, his hands and fingers bruising her arms, and his overall overwhelming power, refusing to turn her loose . . . made her skin crawl.

  Looking down at her arms and hands she noticed small purple spots forming around her wrists and a few up and down her arms. His fingertips. She knew, and his persistent calls verified, Scott wouldn’t let things drop. He was dangerous.

  Deciding to get it over with and hear the worst of it she punched in her phone message center. First his voice was nothing but yelling and screaming, demanding she pick up or call him back. Delete. As the messages went on, about ten so far, they slowly became more coherent and he’d reverted to begging and apologies, sort’a. Saying he was so in love with her, and her being his woman he missed her and hadn’t meant to scare her . . . . Delete, delete, delete.

  Made goose bumps rise each time she thought about him, and as much as she’s tried to put it behind her all night long, she hadn’t managed. Hardly any sleep made her feel extra tired and grumpy today.

  Her new sexy, bold persona was simply a horrifying memory now. If she never sold another article, short story or novel in her life, she wouldn’t go that route ever again. With a deep sigh she had to admit, it wasn’t her anyway. Why she even thought to try and be someone she wasn’t proved how oddly she’d been thinking lately. She wasn’t bold, sexy or daring. Out of kilter. That’s what she was. Out of kilter.

  Looking in the mirror at her long hair as she brushed it, the memory of Scott’s mouth on her neck and ear and her hair concealing it made her want it all gone.

  All the hour long scrubbing in the shower she’d done when she got home hadn’t helped do more than remove his scent and cologne from her. The fear he’d instilled was still alive in her. His overwhelming strength was the most terrifying. Being held against her will and unable to get lose, plus it’d been terribly embarrassing.

  If he’d managed to open that utility exit door . . . .

  “Well, I sure don’t want these any more,” she said aloud as she threw out the jeans and top from last night. As she stuffed them into an old shopping bag she noticed her hands were trembling again.

  Stuffing several more of her new clothes into the bag for the Veterans Association Thrift store she grabbed it up and headed into the kitchen. It was still early so her mom wasn’t up yet. Her mom and her tended to be late sleepers. Morning simply wasn’t their thing, usually.

  “Dad, I’m going to drop off these clothes and I think I’ll go to the hair salon,” she stated as she bent to kiss the top of his head. He was sipping coffee and reading the Florida Times Union while munching on toast with cinnamon and sugar.

  Tapping the saucer that held his toast she warned, “Dad, too much sugar isn’t good for you.”

  He smiled crookedly at her. “Yeah, I know, cupcake. Don’t go telling on me now. I hate that artificial jam your mom tries to shovel down my throat. It’s not the same. Doesn’t taste the same and the texture is all wrong. Slimy.”

  Jenny giggled at the terrible frowned up face he was making. “Just go easy on the carbs, dad.”

  “Sure hon.” Looking at her again he asked, “Want your ole dad to make you a cup of java and a slice of toast before you head out?”

  “Nah, but thanks, Dad.” Jenny saw he was studying her. “What?” she asked.

  He stated with a frown, “It just struck me. It’s Saturday, early, and you’re up? Anything wrong, Jen?”

  There goes those worry lines on his forehead. “Nope, I know Thomas’ll be here about noon and I want to spend some extra time with him. But, today I have a number of errands to run, so I have to get them done early.”

  Martin smiled and relaxed. “I’ll sure be glad when he and Celeste tie the knot. I want me some grandkids.” He hurriedly glanced at Jenny. “But you, my little lady, take all the time in the world before you give me little ones. It’s just that Thomas is not going to be twenty-seven much longer, and well, he’s a good dad to Celeste’s Tammy. We just don’t get to have grandparent’s privileges with her yet. That’s why I want him to hurry up and pop the question before she hunts someone willing to commit.”

  “Dad . . . Thomas is committed to her, you know that!” Jenny was shocked at her father.

  “Oh, I know he is, but she might think he’s got cold feet is what I’m meaning. They’ve been living together for two years. That’s a good enough time to get to know a person. That’s all I’m saying.” He shook his paper and returned to his perusing.

  Jenny let the subject drop. She personally saw no need in marriage to begin with, it was simply a legality in most societies. Didn’t mean a thing. That’s why there were almost as many divorces as marriages. The word marriage almost made her gag, having decided when she was thirteen and her aunt got divorced that it was simply a contrivance of some religious cults since way back when. To each their own, was her motto, but leave her alone about it.

  A smile came to her face as she remembered when she was thirteen and decided she didn’t believe in marriage. She’d aggravated Jason to no end with her opinion. Told him if she ever had kids (which she didn’t plan on anyway) they would be bastards. He went completely bonkers on her with his dignified self, spouting she needed to rethink that thought big time!

  The only real reasons he could give her for the institution of marriage all centered around his god and morals and how family is the foundation of every good society. She’d argued that morals had nothing to do with it and she was never marrying. He’d gone Super Jason on her yet again and she’d laughed so hard at his horrified face that she’d almost wet herself laughing. She had snorted like a pig though for several minutes. Still smiling at the memory she headed out.

  After dropping her bag of clothing off Jennifer did a bit of Thrift store shopping. She purchased several partial yards of silk fabric and a bag of threads someone had donated. Then bought a few more used books, one had never had the spine cracked. Found a beautiful scarf that was a steal at two dollars since she’d seen the same scarf at Dillard’s for ninety-five a little over a week ago.

  Arriving at the hair salon, a little place in Oceanway, close to her home, she built up her courage sitting in the car staring at the salon door. Walking in she nervously sat and thumbed through picture catalogs of various cuts and styles. What she wanted was an Alice bob, like in the Twilight series movies and books.

  She kept running her fingers through her long hair. It’d taken her seven years for it to grow this long, what with trimming split ends twice a year and all. A noise drew her attention to the other side of the waiting room where a couple of young women with really short hair were looking at longhaired
wigs. There behind them displayed on the wall was the one she instantly knew she had to buy. An Alice wig.

  Walking out with her new short, spiky hair bob she was grinning from ear to ear.

  Heading over to Salina’s after giving her a call she began to relax, finally.

  Salina and her family were sitting down to breakfast. A table filled with scrambled eggs with cheese and onions, grits, cream gravy, hash browns, sausages, peppered bacon, and a stack of buttered pan-fried toast were scattered over the long kitchen table. They’d fixed her a plate too, despite her protests.

  “Wow, how do you all stay so trim when you eat like this?” Jenny asked stunned.

  Salina’s mom answered while her husband, two sons, Salina and her sister all passed plates of food around the table, “It’s a weekend thing Jenny. Saturday and Sunday we have our big family meals. We’re all so busy during the week, what with work and school, we seem to pass each other more than not.”

  Jenny nodded, she knew Salina’s mom and dad both worked. Her dad had a swing shift job at Anchor Glass. He drove a forklift that was dangerous what with loading crates of glass bottles high, high in the air in tall stacks. It was easy to die with a pile of glass shards falling down on top of the man working the forklift and anyone close by if the load tilted or shifted wrongly. There were rumors of it happening, way back when. But, it paid decent and Salina’s dad had worked there for over twenty-five years.

  Salina’s mom was a server at Red Lobster Restaurant. The oldest brother, Tyrone, who only Jenny called Ty, was twenty-two and currently laid off at the railroad where he’d worked since graduation. A younger brother was still in Middle School. The older sister was in her mid-twenties, divorced and back at home.

  As Jenny sat and began to eat some eggs and grits they all expressed shock at her new hair style.

  “Hey girl! What did ya do to that pretty hair you had?” Salina’s eldest brother asked, blunt and tackless as ever.

  Acting like she was trying to pout Jenny asked as she fiddled with a curl near her ear, “Ohhh, Ty, you don’t like it? I thought you guys loved perky, pixie type females?”

  Tyrone gave her a half-embarrassed smile. “Depends on the woman. It’s cute enough, on you, anyway. Just loved the long hair, that’s all. What made you cut it off, it doesn’t grow that long over night?”

  Not wanting to reveal her mindset she simply replied, “I needed a change. It being my senior year, I wanted a new look.”

  Salina’s mom said she adored her new hair.

  Jenny whispered to Salina’s mom, “It’s a wig, I just wanted something different.”

  That seemed to surprise her even more, then she nodded, “Oh, girl, I know that feeling. Glad you didn’t do the deed though, you would have regretted it in another month, I know. I did that once when I was a young woman.”

  “What happened?” Jenny asked as she and Salina leaned closer and listened with interested eyes. The others where in another conversation about basketball and upcoming parties. The elder sis was on her cell talking with a new guy while purposely ignoring everyone.

  Salina’s mom smiled. “I broke up with this fella who I thought was a pure heart throb. Found out he’d been seeing four other women while engaged to me. Even had two children I didn’t know about. Needless to say I was terribly furious, hurt, devastated and embarrassed. My hairstyle back then was these long weaves and cost a fortune. I went to the lady who did mine and told her to unweave and start cutting. I had a short Afro in mind but she said that was too old style and gave me a relaxed sleek, short hairstyle instead.” She looked at the girls seeing their pity and understanding. “A month later I cried for hours over the two foot long hair I used to have.”

  Salina snorted, “Men! They tend to drive us women crazy.”

  Jennifer’s cell started vibrating again, it was her mom. “Hi mom.” After a while of listening to her mom reminding her that Thomas was supposed to be there about noon Jenny said, “I know Mom. Didn’t dad tell you I said I’d be back before he arrived?” Her dad was out weed eating the lawn her mom explained. “I’ll get home before he get’s there. I’m over at Salina’s having breakfast. Yeah, I’m tell ‘em all hi for you. I love you too Mom. Bye.”

  As the guys left the table each scraped their dishes into a large bowl reserved for their dogs and cat to share. Jenny jumped up and began loading the dishwasher as Salina and her mom finished putting the food away and cleaned the counters and table off.

  Tyrone came back in to pick on Jenny and his sis, something he greatly enjoyed doing since Jenny was about ten years old. They endured his constant good-natured teasing for a while before a carload of his friends dropped in to get him to shoot some hoops at the community center. It being Basketball season every guy they all knew were hoop obsessed. To everyone’s shock and surprise he suggested a game of poker instead.

  Jenny’s eyes lit up, wishing she had time to hang with the guys and play some poker too. She knew she and Salina would wipe the table clean and she could sure use some extra spending money after buying the wig. Looking at her watch, seeing it was nine thirty still, she agreed to sit for a few hands when the guys finally, though reluctantly invited her and Salina to join in, with Tyrone doing the insisting.

  They sat at the long table they’d just cleared of breakfast, taking up one end so they could all reach the pot. Salina sat across from Jen so they could read each other’s expressions better. The girls sort’a team-tagged the guys. Not cheating, Jenny wouldn’t dream of playing that way, just feminine intuition helping the girls assist each other with little jabs and jokes, knocking the guy’s confidence with their card hands. The ladies prided themselves in knowing how to bluff and when to fold.

  By eleven-thirty the guys were frowning and grumbling and the girls were giggling with joy. Their chips were piled high and the fella’s were all low.

  Salina’s Mom laughed loudly at the group of irritated males as she started putting on a pot of stew for their later lunch. “Haven’t you boys learned anything after all these years?” she asked.

  Tyrone gave her a grin. “Got’ta keep my baby sis on her toes. And this fairy creature she’s now friends with needed to get her aggression out, what with cutting off all her hair. I’d sure hate to be the dude who got her that angry.”

  Salina and Jenny shared a look that didn’t pass his notice.

  “So, I was right. It was a guy. Who is he Jen, so I can go kick his butt for you!”

  Jenny jumped up, kissed his temple as she hugged his neck from behind his chair before heading out the door. “Ty, you’re a sweetie pie. Love ya for that thought.”

  Waving bye as she left, she turned and caught him looking back at her, grinning his handsome flirtatious grin that made his list of girlfriends a long list. He’d always wanted to add her to that list, swearing with a sly smile he’d forsake all others. She knew it’d be hard for him, only one gal? Nada. She never took the bait. He was a fine man and they did sort’a click, but she didn’t want to have Salina on her case if they didn’t work out.

  Stopping at the gas station to put eight dollars worth of gas in her car, her winnings from the card game, Jenny got another call, this time it was Jason.

  With a happy smile she answered, “What’s up big guy? Are we still on for tomorrow’s beach party?”

  Jason answered with a smile in his voice, “That’s why I’m calling. To remind you. Is four o’clock late enough to pick you up? I know Thomas will be home and I don’t want to infringe on time with your brother.”

  Jenny smiled again, Jason was always thoughtful and considerate that way. “Four’s fine. Thomas usually heads back about four thirty or five anyway.” Thinking for a minute she asks, “How’d you know Tom was coming in today?”

  Jason paused for a bit then apparently decided to admit, “We talk. He said he’d visit your parents today.”

  “Oh. I’ll be ready to go at four.”

  Jenny got in her car and headed home.

  Trying To G
et Brother To Understand . . .

  4 – SHARING THE HUNGER

  It was a little after one o’clock Sunday afternoon at the Frank’s household. Lunch was over, the kitchen was now clean and it was time for their little family discussions.

  Jennifer gathered her tray of beading supplies and headed for the den. Her brother Thomas would be going back this afternoon to the University of Florida and Shand’s Hospital of Gainesville. It was always and forever Gator Country at their house, where they all cheered the football team yearly. Her dad and mom were alumnus.

  She enjoyed listening to Thomas chat about his experiences in medicine, some were hair raising. She was proud her sibling managed to help save so many lives and was so dedicated to learning new and groundbreaking techniques, some that no where else in the world were being accomplished or taught.

  The other half of Jennifer’s enjoyment was hearing him talk about the woman they all knew would be his wife after his medical residency was over, if not sooner. He was really in love with her and couldn’t manage to talk for five minutes without mentioning something about her in the conversation. He had it bad, they all knew, and he’d been that way for a couple of years now. His love for her was growing not waning.

  His special lady, Celeste, was a registered nurse getting her physician’s assistant certification license, a PA-C. She’d gotten married real young and had a little girl who was now three. Her ex deserted her when she was still six months pregnant and he sadly didn’t want anything to do with his precious little daughter. He’d moved on with his selfish life and already had another wife and two children. Celeste couldn’t even manage to get a few dollars each month in support for their child. Thomas didn’t want her to pursue the support any longer, he planned on adopting Tammy when they married.

  Celeste had managed many hardships trying to study and raise her daughter. Thomas was thankful her family had been so helpful to her, even now they baby-sat Tammy almost every day. Neither wanted her in daycare until she was at least four, for health reasons, if at all possible. Kids caught so many diseases from other children when they’re so young, they hoped to keep her away from these problems. The diseases these days were far more than the mild types of measles and mumps they had when they were children.