by Denetria
Synopsis
Egypt’s life couldn’t have been more perfect. From the moment she met him, she knew they would be together. Blinded by love, she would never have guessed how her seemingly perfect life was nothing more than a foggy haze. With everything taken from her, she has to find a way to get her life back; but more importantly, get back the two things she will never stop fighting for.
We don’t give just a portion of ourselves; we give all. There is not one woman who can say she hasn’t been heartbroken, or that she has broken someone’s heart before. It hurts, especially when you have invested so much. Sometimes we feel like dying, but we toss the pain aside and continue to move forward.
Acknowledgements
This is dedicated to those who have been hurt, who have given their all, and have loved and received nothing in return. Don’t rush it. One day you will find real love. You can’t move forward if you are always looking back at your past.
This book is also dedicated to my fanbase. Yes you!!!!! There are no words to explain how much I appreciate you and thank you for believing in me.
There is more to come!
Denetria Gibson
Kiss from a Stranger
By: Denetria Gibson
PROLOGUE
“I have been coming here every week for the past six months. I don’t know what you’re waiting for me to say. We both know that this is time that is being wasted. There is nothing wrong with me. I’m going through some things and I need time to think. You people act like you have never been in a fight with your husband or wife before.”
Egypt lay on the couch trying to resist the urge to slap the hell out of her therapist. She listened to the clicking sounds of the steel balls on the Newton’s cradle hitting one another. It was like the rhythmic sound of a song which had no words to it. She sighed, knowing the question was going to come up eventually. But she wasn’t ready right then. As a matter of fact, she didn’t know if or when she would be able to talk about it. Every time she thought about the events which had taken place that night, it was as if salt had been poured into a wound.
CHAPTER 1
“Look, do we have to do this right now? I’m really not in the mood for it.”
“Egypt, you’ve been coming here for the past six months. You say you want it to be done and over with. If that were the case, you would do whatever it takes to get out of here. You are not being held, and you don’t have to come back. But you are here every week, which lets me know that you want to be here.”
Egypt was silent, thinking about how much those words made perfect sense. As she lay there, she thought about how comfortable the couch was, and when she got back on her feet, she was going to purchase one just like it.
The clicking of the steel balls stopped, as if replaced by the sound of an alarm going off. She was given her appointment paper which she had to take to the receptionist. As she took the paper, she wiped tears from her face, unwittingly knowing that she was crying.
“Okay, you can go when you’re ready.”
Egypt knew what that meant: “Go pay me my money, ‘lil bitch!” She exited the room and walked down the hallway to the reception desk.
“Okay, let me take a look and see what she has us doing next,” the receptionist said.
Egypt wanted to say, “Bitch, you aren’t doing anything!” but she kept quiet.
“You want to come in the morning or afternoon?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I have an opening for one o’clock on Friday. You don’t have to pay for this visit, so I guess we’ll see you Friday. Have a nice day!”
Egypt walked out into the waiting area where her friends were. They had met in elementary school and had been together ever since.
“It’s about time your ass finished,” said Jazz. She claimed to be a stud, but there had been times when she needed to be dicked down.
“Bitch, shut the fuck up! What the hell you got to do today that’s so damn important?” Constance asked Jazz. That’s just how she was. She didn’t give a damn what she said or whose feelings were going to get hurt. If there was a place in the dictionary for the words “no chill,” her name would be under it. She turned to Egypt and said, “Okay, bitch. Before we go anywhere, I’ma need you to go beat your face, ‘cause right now you’re looking like melted candle wax.”
“DeLay, what’s going on with you over there?” Egypt asked
“Bitch, nothing. What did Ms. Doctor say?” asked DeLay, the “oh so quiet” one until she got a couple of drinks in her. Then she thought she was Sugar Ray Lenard.
“Same ol’ same ol’. Gotta come back Friday.”
“Bitch, you know why you’re here, right? I tell you what. Give me that one fifty and I’ll have J-Roc and ‘em get you back right. Real shit though, do what you have to do to get this shit over with.”
Egypt had to admit that she thought about it before, but she was just so hurt that she forgot to focus on what she really needed to do. “Well, I really don’t want to talk about this right now, so if you guys are finished judging me, I’m going to go home.”
“Da fuck! Really, E? So it’s going to be like that now?” Constance yelled out after her.
******
Egypt walked into the house, closing and locking the door behind her.
“Is that you, Egypt?” her mother yelled from the kitchen.
Egypt walked into the kitchen where her mother stood cooking at the stove. “Yeah, Ma. I finished and decided to come by. I don’t feel good, so I’m just going to go to bed.”
“You know should try to eat. Things aren’t going the way you planned, but put it in God’s hands and leave it there.”
That was her mother; always thinking that “God could fix it.”
“Yeah, Ma, I know,” Egypt responded. But after everything she had been through, she didn’t know if she still believed not only in God, but in anything anymore.
She walked into her old bedroom where nothing had changed since she moved out. All of her trophies sat on the shelf, the same carousel sat on her vanity, and stuffed bears were on her twin bed. It seemed like a premonition of sorts, like they had known that one day she would be back.
She kicked off her shoes and threw her clothes in the hamper. After she took a shower, she lay under the thick turquoise and black comforter. The only thing that ran through her mind was that it was easy for everyone else to give their analysis on her situation, especially when they are the ones on the outside looking in. But the fact of the matter was that they are not her, and they didn’t know anything. So even though they were “there”, no one could imagine in their wildest dreams how it felt to wake up every morning wishing the events that had taken place and had destroyed her life were only a dream.
Her mind was so fucked up. She stayed away from everyone; isolated from the smiling faces who claimed to be rooting for her, while at the same time hoping for her downfall; the faces of those who are there riding high with you when can supply their needs, but treat you like a wound with salt poured in it when you can’t.
Unbeknownst to her, apparently family and friends felt as if she was standing on a bridge with a concrete block tied to her ankles, and decided she needed to see a psychiatrist. She only went because she knew her parents were worried. She would go for a little while, tell them that it wasn’t working, and she would have to work through it alone. That’s how this situation came about, and there was nothing she could do about it at that moment.
She bolted upright in the middle of the bed. When had I fallen asleep? She tried to remember the dream that awakened her and left tears on her face. Get your ass out of this damn room! Quit feeling sorry for yourself and take your life back! She nodded her head acknowledging the encrypted message lef
t for her, and lay back down to sleep.
She awakened the next morning feeling rejuvenated. She placed her faux locks in a bun, grabbed her baby blue body dress which fit in all the right places, a black camisole, and her black Louis Vuitton heels. It was the only decent dressy outfit that she owned, but it was okay. She was going to rock that shit like none other.
“Aw, Snooka, you look beautiful!” Snooka was a nickname her father had given her when she was a little girl, and it stuck. He was the only one who could call her that. She had to admit that she was a Daddy’s girl, and she loved it.
“Hey, Daddy!” she said, kissing him on the top of the head.
“You’re looking beautiful. I haven’t seen you like this in a long time,” her mother said. “Do you want me to fix you something to eat? The old man and me had cereal, but there’s coffee and orange juice over there.”
“No, Ma. I’m going to get something on the way to the doctor. Afterwards, the girls and I are going to get something to eat.”
“Have a good day!” Egypt heard them say as she walked out the front door.
She stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive. Once she boarded, she dropped a token in the box and tried to find a seat. The mornings and afternoons on the bus were hell, but that’s all she had, so she couldn’t complain.
She stepped off at her stop and into the bustling crowd, trying to get to their prospective places in time.
She entered the building and stepped onto the elevator, hit her floor number and waited. She stepped off and entered the office, signed in at the desk and took a seat.
After picking up a magazine, she was shocked when she heard her name being called so soon.
“Good morning,” the doctor said, reaching out to shake Egypt’s hand. “Off the record, I feel as if it is going to be a good day today.”
One thing about this chick is that she had that “it” factor, and she knew it. She was the epitome of what you would call “Independent.” She wore a three-piece pin-striped dress suit. Her Brazilian full frontal was pulled up in a bun on her head, and her glasses sat resting on top. Sheer stockings covered her legs, and a pair of simple black shoes completed the ensemble.
Egypt took her seat on the couch and waited as the doctor strolled across the room and closed the curtains, leaving a lit candle illuminating the room. She thought to herself, He would love to get his hands on you! He loves the chase. Instead she said, “I just have to say that I love your outfit. You have great taste.”
She sat in a leather chair with a file in hand. “Thank you. But I promise you, I’m not into all the expensiveness. On any day of the week you’ll catch me in Belk, JC Penney, and Wal-Mart. Don’t let the title fool you. This job does not make you rich. I call my style ‘dressing like you have it, even though you know you don’t!’ Now, I have some good news. We have some extra time today because my three o’clock cancelled. So if you would like to utilize that time, you can do so.”
“That’s fine, but let me make a phone call and reschedule an appointment,” Egypt told her. She tried to get in contact with Constance to no avail, so she sent a group message before returning to her place on the couch.
They sat in silence while the doctor looked over her notes. “I see that we had started breaking down that wall. We’ll begin there.”
Egypt told the doctor her story:
“My childhood years weren’t like those of any other child. At that point in time my father was in the military and we traveled a lot, so there was never any type of adjusting to one place. I was young, but I remember hating every time he had to leave.”
“Daddy’s brother had just come home himself, and I remember my parents agreeing that he stay with us while my father was away. Everything was good. Even though he wasn’t Dad, it was good to have a man in the house.”
“Then, he started giving me crazy looks, and saying crazy things to me. He began coming into my room when my mother was asleep or when she was gone or something.”
“The first time, he told me to just touch him. It felt weird but whatever… until he began kissing me. Eventually it led to…”
“Don’t stop. Keep going.”
“My uncle began raping me.”
“How did you feel? Did you tell anyone?”
“I felt like shit. He told me that if I said anything, my father would leave my mom and we wouldn’t have anywhere to go. So, I kept quiet until I couldn’t hold it in anymore.”
“Why was that? What happened?”
“I thought I was pregnant.”
“How did that go?”
“Around that time my father had just returned home. I was scared, but I felt safe knowing that he was there and could find us somewhere else to stay. I gathered everyone in the living room and I just broke down. I told them everything. Then I let them know that I had missed my cycle and I could be pregnant. They believed me.”
“My mom and aunt took me to the doctor, and they found that I was in fact pregnant. My mother called my dad, and he said that he was going to handle it. My mother set up the appointment for the following week to have a DNC.”
“It’s weird because I still see my uncle at family gatherings. I didn’t let it change me. I tucked it in, moved on and left it there.”
******
Egypt left the doctor’s office not knowing how or what to feel. But she knew that she couldn’t let it throw her off her game.
After hours of putting in job applications, she felt as if she was defeated. She wasn’t as qualified, or they would be in touch, or they just weren’t hiring at that time. On top of it all, it wasn’t easy trying to find a damn job when you had to ride the bus everywhere you went.
She stepped off the bus and walked towards the Starbuck’s on the corner. Before entering, she looked at the “Now Hiring” sign on the window. She snatched it down and walked in.
She smiled as she sipped her Double Shot Mocha Cappuccino, thinking that maybe, just maybe the stars were aligning for her. No, it wasn’t the job she expected, but she was now employed and that was something that she could mark off her list of shit to get done. She had told that bitch that he was going to see her, and that was a promise she was going to keep.
She left the Starbuck’s and boarded the bus again. Taking a seat and looking out of the window, she had to admit that it was her fault that she was in the predicament she was in. Her mind went back to all the things she should have done the first time she found out what was going on in her home, but she was blind and didn’t want to see what was clearly happening right in front of her. She believed in forever, until forever was no more and it was too late.
She stepped off the bus and began walking back to her parents’ house. Moving out and into the home he bought for the two of them was another thing on her list that she had to work on. But she had learned from past experience that some things shouldn’t be rushed. She sighed as she made her way up the drive, knowing that one day things would be better—not the way they were before, but better than they were now.
Over dinner she broke the news about her new job, and sat there listening to the excitement they were showing for her.
******
The past couple of days flew by quickly after Egypt began her new job. She caught on faster than they thought she would, and was soon running the shift on her own, which allowed her to save more money.
She hadn’t had time to do much with the girls, but she was looking forward to the following weekend. She thought about the way she had let them know about her new job. She told them meet her at the Starbucks, and broke the news to them when she asked to take their orders.
“Bitch, I know damn well you just didn’t ask to take my damn order!” DeLay said.
“Yes, I did. So, what’s wrong with that?”
“Man, that’s some shit! I ain’t expect you to be working here!”
“Says the shift manager at McDonalds!” Constance said, laughing. “Well, I’m happy for you. At least it’s getting you out of th
e house.”
“Shit, you’re always tryna plot some shit. Hell, I’m happy for her too. That’s my bitch! But you know that you can’t picture Egypt doing any work like this,” DeLay countered.
They knew DeLay was right, but Egypt had to fight for something. That was the main thing that was pushing her at that point in her life.
Egypt was ready to turn it up with them, but she just had to get past the next day. It was going to take everything she had in her— maybe more than she could stand—but it was time for her to move on, and she couldn’t do that if she was still stuck in the past.
CHAPTER 2
That night Egypt tossed and turned, fighting the demons that plagued her. Up and ready before the alarm sounded, she found herself anticipating the rest of the day.
It was the last day of her ordered sessions, and she had to admit that although she began thinking that it wouldn’t help, she had grown and evolved more than she ever thought she would.
Her mind drifted as she sat on the bus watching a woman and her children. She found herself smiling and wiping tears away that unknowingly ran down her face.
As Egypt stepped off the bus, she took one look back at the mother and her children. One day, she thought. One day…
She felt that she was on the right path and taking her life back once and for all, and good things were going to happen. There was no choice in the matter.
She walked into the office, signed-in, and waited. The television was on CNN, and Nancy Grace was talking about the upcoming elections, drowning out the soft music which hummed its melody in the background.
Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed and she had yet to be seen.
She picked up a copy of Us Magazine off of the table and began flipping through the pages.
A few minutes later a red-haired woman who looked to be in her late thirties walked up to the desk. You could tell she had been crying due to her swollen eyes and red nose. As she scheduled her next appointment, Egypt saw in her how much she looked like her old self in the beginning. The woman walked past, trying to force the smile that came across her face. Egypt returned the smile, wondering if the woman was there for the same reason that she was, and how long it had taken her to realize that she needed to get the voices out of her head before she decided to make it happen.