Destiny’s Dilemma

An African American woman moved home to take care of her dying mother giving up the opportunity to experience a world beyond segregation. Zoraida Hughes Williams finds that some things have changed about her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas while some have stayed the same, like Hell’s Half Acre, an area where saloons, prostitution and gambling runs wild. Like most of the residents, she wants to keep her head down and stay away from trouble, but it comes in the unlikely form of an Anglo Baptist preacher. He messes up everything and almost gets them killed.

Available on Amazon.com or Books2read.com which include Barnes & Noble, Apple, Indigo and more

Sample Chapter

But Zo’s time back East had given her a greater sense of who she was as a colored person. But Hattie needed to have words with her daughter today.

“Is your sister back?”

Hardy stopped and looked at her mother. Hardy was next to the oldest child for her mother. She was her father’s oldest.  Unlike Zo, her skin was a rich creamy brown and her eyes matched. At 26 years old, she was the wife of a husband, John Oliver, who worked at the meat packing plant, mother of two and part time cook for a white Baptist minister.  Her days and nights were full, but she also looked after her very sick mother.  It was not as difficult since her oldest sister came back home. She only looked in on her mother while Zo went to town. She cooked too, because she didn’t think Zo knew how to.

“Mama, you asked me that ten minutes ago. She is not back yet. You know she has to go get the papers and sashay all over town.  She need to get a job with her uppity self. She think she too good to clean and cook. What else can a woman do?”

“She got some education, Hardy. She can teach or nurse. She gonna do better than me.”

Hardy came back in the room.

“Ain’t nobody gonna do better than you, mama. You raised us, sent us to school…”

“I’m not talking about that. I mean she got some real book learning.”

“She smart, but you know that Rev Norris, is really smart too.  He helped start a bible college right here in Fort Worth.”

“If I am asleep, you tell Zo to wake me up.”

Hardy knew that tone. She knew someone was going to get a whipping, even if it was just with words.

Destiny’s Dilemma

An African American woman moved home to take care of her dying mother giving up the opportunity to experience a world beyond segregation. Zoraida Hughes Williams finds that some things have changed about her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas while some have stayed the same, like Hell’s Half Acre, an area where saloons, prostitution and gambling runs wild. Like most of the residents, she wants to keep her head down and stay away from trouble, but it comes in the unlikely form of an Anglo Baptist preacher. He messes up everything and almost gets them killed.

Available on Amazon.com

or Books2read.com which include Barnes & Noble, Apple, Indigo and more

Sample

“Zoraida Williams, if you aren’t the talk of the town.”

“I beg your pardon,” Zo said looking into the eyes of a beautiful mulatto woman who blocked her way down the street.

“My name is Agness Templeton and I am the proprietor of The Falls.”

Zo was a little taken back.

“Good afternoon,” Zo said then waited for the woman to tell her what she wanted.

“Why don’t we step across the street and have a private chat?”

“No, we can talk right here.”

A little frustrated, Agness sighed.

“Miss Zo, ladies who are as attractive as us have an opportunity that will give you more money than you know what to do with.”

“Are you about to ask me to be a whore? Cause if you are about to ask me to be a whore, you need to keep walking.”

Agness chuckled.

“We all make out living on our back, whether we married or not. You may as well get paid for it. And I mean good pay. At the Falls, we deal with only the finest gentlemen who pay us very well.”

The clothes Zo wore fooled this woman. She believed the persona that Zo intended.  What Agness did not see was the child who learned the workings of prostitution by watching her father exploit women.  Zo knew that the college education she received was paid for by prostitution.

“Do you not know who my daddy was?” Zo asked and waited for the woman to answer.

Agness saw something in Zo’s face that scared her.

“You destroy our gender when you allow someone to own and pay for you in such a manner.  You mock God’s word openly with others by working for a place called the Fall, when the really sad thing is that one day someone younger and prettier will replace you.  But as you fall, God will pick you back up.”

“You think you know everything, young woman…”

“Miss Templeton, my daddy made his living off of the backs of other women and was cut down like a dog in the street,” said Zo who paused a moment and looked both ways. “There’s a reason they called him Dirty, and you don’t have any of that. You be careful.”

Zo walked on shaking her head.

Destiny’s Dilemma

An African American woman moved home to take care of her dying mother giving up the opportunity to experience a world beyond segregation. Zoraida Hughes Williams finds that some things have changed about her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas while some have stayed the same, like Hell’s Half Acre, an area where saloons, prostitution and gambling runs wild. Like most of the residents, she wants to keep her head down and stay away from trouble, but it comes in the unlikely form of an Anglo Baptist preacher. He messes up everything and almost gets them killed.

Available on Amazon.com

or Books2read.com which include Barnes & Noble, Apple, Indigo and more

Destiny’s Dilemma

An African American woman moved home to take care of her dying mother giving up the opportunity to experience a world beyond segregation. Zoraida Hughes Williams finds that some things have changed about her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas while some have stayed the same, like Hell’s Half Acre, an area where saloons, prostitution and gambling runs wild. Like most of the residents, she wants to keep her head down and stay away from trouble, but it comes in the unlikely form of an Anglo Baptist preacher. He messes up everything and almost gets them killed.

Available on Amazon.com

or Books2read.com which include Barnes & Noble, Apple, Indigo and more

Excerpt:

She had just picked up her first newspaper when she heard.

“Miss Zoraida Williams, you are looking lovely today.”

She turned to see the man who had rescued her at the train station on the day she first arrived.  She could not remember his name, but she remembered his smile and his playful big brown eyes. He was a big dark skinned man with a solid build. He had on a nice pair of pants and a suit jacket that didn’t quite match it, but looked good on his build. He looked like a business man, not a farmer.

“Mister?”

“Andrew Forrest. My friends call me Drew.”

“I just want to thank you for your help the other day.”

When Zo arrived in Fort Worth off the train, she was confronted by a big smoky black colored man who the locals called Big Bull.  He was notorious for meeting colored women who were fresh from the country and putting them to work in his prostitution houses.  It had become an acceptable practice among the white and colored whore house establishments. He saw Zo at the train station and tried to grab her.  Andrew Forrest interrupted Big Bull’s plans.

“Now Miss Zo, it is not safe for you to be walking about by yourself. You need to let me know when you need a ride. “

“Andrew, I can take care of myself. I am not as helpless as I look.”

“Girl, I know you ain’t helpless. I know your daddy.”

She couldn’t help but laugh.

Dancing During the Storm Vol 2

Dancing During The Storm is a collection of short stories that represent people dealing with the storms of life. There are times when we have to decide are we going to lay down or fight. All of these stories tell of people who are either coming out of, in the middle of or going into a storm. In this second volume, the stories deal with justice, women’s issues and deception.

Available on Amazon

or Books2Read.com

Dancing During the Storm Vol 2

Dancing During The Storm is a collection of short stories that represent people dealing with the storms of life. There are times when we have to decide are we going to lay down or fight. All of these stories tell of people who are either coming out of, in the middle of or going into a storm. In this second volume, the stories deal with justice, women’s issues and deception.

Available on Amazon

or Books2Read.com

In 14 to Fate, two women have to make a decision that will change the rest of their lives.