A Constant Reminder
A
CONSTANT REMINDER
By
Lolah Lace
Kindle Edition
Published by Lolah Lace
Copyright © 2015 by Lolah Lace
Cover Design by
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All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. 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.
*EXPLICIT ADULT CONTENT*
WARNING
This novel is considered romantic fiction. This is for mature audiences only. This book contains adult profane language, mild violence and strong sexual content and a controversial theme.
Dedications
To the all the people who have made a change.
Rehabilitation, Redemption, Recovery.
The sun will come out tomorrow.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the members of my Facebook group, Lolah’s Loveland for participating in the group and supporting all my author ventures. I would also like to thank beta readers Patrice Harrison, Sheila B. and Camille Crawford.
***
Do you believe people can change?
PROLOGUE
Dear Members of the Parole Review Board;
I am writing on behalf of my son Adam Winchester Hardwick, inmate #3775940. I would implore you to grant parole to Adam Hardwick when he appears before you at his parole hearing scheduled on the 22
nd
of April.
I fully understand the severity of the terrible mistakes my son made in his youth. Mistakes that were unlawful and that negatively affected the lives of many people and resulted in the death of an innocent man. I understand that his actions had consequences that put him in the penal system.
I pray each night for my son and for those he harmed with his criminal actions. Adam is a good person who is very sincerely sorry for what he has done. While in prison my son has willingly taken part in prison reform programs, rehabilitation therapy, group therapy and religion courses. While in prison he has also finished college, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in accounting.
If he is granted parole he has the full support of his family. We are prepared to help him integrate himself back into society as a productive law abiding citizen. My son has assured me that he has absolutely no plans to return to prison or the lifestyle that landed him in there. He just wants the opportunity to prove that he has changed his life around and has become a better man. He has repeatedly expressed his sorrow and regret for his past recklessness and criminal actions.
He and I both thank you for your time and consideration.
Mrs. Jane Hardwick
CHAPTER 1
There was hard rock music blasting throughout the college dormitory halls. The door to one dorm room was closed with the sole purpose of drowning out the music. It was a dimly lit room where Daniel was trying to study for his mechanical engineering exam.
Daniel Hardwick was tall and thin with just an adequate amount of muscle. He was a young white guy with blonde hair and wireframe glasses. He sat at his computer desk with his headphones around his neck. He had a highlighter marker in his hand. His computer screen was blank but there were opened textbooks and a spiral notebook spread out in front of him.
Daniel was visibly annoyed. His frown conveyed angst befitting a high school teenager not a college senior. He pointedly turned in his swivel chair to gawk at the guy standing directly behind him, a guy he knew all to well, a guy who had been pissing him off for the last three years, his younger brother Adam.
Adam had a similar build as Daniel’s. He also had the same pure blonde hair and gray blue eyes. They justly bared a strong resemblance. It was obvious they were brothers.
Daniel knew exactly why Adam was there. It was the same story over and over. He had grown tired of his brother constantly begging him for money.
Daniel could see that Adam was aggravated with him and the feeling was mutual. Adam had a gall that sickened Daniel. His coming here took a lot of nerve. Daniel didn’t care anymore. The hard luck stories had become commonplace. His brother had become a nuisance, a stranger, a mouse on a spinning wheel.
He just wanted Adam out of his dorm room and out of his life for good. Maybe not for good but at least until he got his act together. Seeing Adam in this disastrous state was painful for Daniel.
“I just need a two-piece.” Adam asked.
Daniel didn’t even know what that meant. “Adam.” The only unprofaned word Daniel could mutter. What the hell was a two-piece? He questioned his own intellect.
“I’ll pay you back.” Adam pleaded as he rocked back and forth shifting his weight from one foot to the next. Daniel had heard that cock and bull story before. He knew Adam would never pay him back.
“With what? You don’t have a job. You smell like shit. You look like shit.”
“I got this thing coming up. I’m going to come into some money real soon.”
“Bullshit. Look Adam, I don’t have any money.” Daniel roared. He had really reached his limit with his little brother. His previous disappointment had manifested into instant anger.
Just outside Daniel’s dorm room door was Tony Demarco. Tony was leaning on the wall, loitering and waiting around for Adam. Tony was a good-looking Italian guy with dark features and a sinister looking goatee. He puffed on a cigarette and blew smoke about the hallway.
He was growing tired of waiting for Adam. He knew this trip will probably be futile and a surefire waste of gas.
His buddy Adam thought he could get a few dollars out of his brother. Adam was the only friend Tony had that could party hard for days at a time. Tony liked Adam’s company and he had to admit Adam was funny and carefree. He didn’t give a damn. Hanging with him was better than partying alone.
Tony knew he was tweaking hard. It had been a long time since he had a hit. Getting high was the only thing he wanted to do at this moment. He knew Adam was tweaking too. He hoped Adam could stay coherent enough to actually get some cash from Daniel. Adam would sometimes get violent when he was crashing. He needed him to be cool to get the cash.
If Adam couldn’t get any money Tony knew he was going to have to steal the money. He was going to have to mug someone, anyone. He needed to get high like yesterday. His body required it. His body desired it. His body couldn’t function without it.
Tony decided to go to the parking lot and wait in the van. He wasn’t allowed in Daniel’s dorm room. Daniel loathed Tony but Tony didn’t care. Tony thought it was hilarious. Daniel thought Tony got Adam hooked on smack but that was far from the truth. He knew rich people were always looking to blame someone when things went wrong. Tony was content on the cheap stuff until Adam scored the best skag with his connections.
Tony strutted down the hall hoping the good times were coming soon. He walked past a few dorm room doors and the music grew louder and louder. All of a sudden someone stepped out of an open doorway and slammed right into him.
Tony grabbed the person’s forearms before they could hit the floor. It was a girl, a cute dark chocolate brown girl. The young girl was startled by the encounter. She looked him right into his bloodshot dark brown eyes.
Roxanne Potts was a senior at the college. She was a beautiful black girl with black hair and a flawless complexion. Her thick lips formed into a welcoming smile. She couldn’t help it. The guy holding her arms was fine, bad-boy fine, Orlando Bloom fine.
Tony grinned at her reaction to him. He thought she looked good enough to eat. He was just too cool to ever let it show.
“Oh I’m sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going. It’s all my fault.” She apologetically grinned.
“It’s okay Ma, forget about it. No harm done.” Tony smirked with his cigarette dangling from his lips. He let go of her forearms and Roxanne felt the separation.
For a minute Roxanne was captivated by his ragged face and cool easy voice. She couldn’t stop smiling and would have blushed if it were possible. She soon snapped out of her trance.
“Are you going to the party? It’s down there.” Roxanne pointed behind her.
“I’m just visiting a friend.” Tony took a long hard drag from his cigarette.
“You know there’s no smoking in the dorms.”
“Is that so?”
“There’s no smoking inside any public building in the entire state.” Roxanne informed him in a playful way. “It’s the law.”
“Are you going to call Five-O? Looks like you can keep a secret.” Tony gazed down at Roxanne’s breasts in her tight fitting black t-shirt. They were completely covered but that never stopped him before. If only he had X-ray vision he thought.
“I can keep a secret.” She playfully added.
Tony leaned in close to her. “I got a lot of secrets.”
Roxanne had the awful truth flash before her eyes. She was being more flirtatious with this stranger because she had been drinking. She would never have engaged in this flirtatious conversation otherwise. I don’t even know this guy. He could be a criminal, a fine criminal. She thought to herself.
“Okay see you around.” She used her sober judgment although she could see herself kissing the stranger.
“I hope so.” Tony winked.
Roxanne turned and walked down the dormitory hall. She had consumed a few shots of Tequila at the party and she hoped she was walking straight and not like some drunken college hoe bag.
Tony watched Roxanne from behind. He was checking her out. He smiled to himself when she disappeared into a dorm room.
“I should’ve gone to college.” He muttered to himself as he made his way down the hall and to the stairwell.
Back in Daniel’s dorm room, Daniel wondered how could he get Adam to peacefully leave. It was hard enough studying with all the loud music. It was doubly hard with your crackhead brother chomping at your heels.
Daniel had a vision of all the things Adam had stolen from him and the items he stole out of their mother’s house. This was before she changed the locks. It was before she kicked Adam out, before the multiple stints in rehab.
The memories were more than enough to enrage Daniel. Adam was selfish. He never once thought of how difficult it had been for him since their father died. Daniel felt that pain too. He just channeled it in different ways. He didn’t drop out of college like Adam. He didn’t turn to drugs like Adam. He prayed to just be able to cope. He went to church. He immersed himself in his schoolwork. He didn’t turn to drugs.
Daniel took a deep breath. “I don’t have any money to give you. I’m not supporting your drug habit. You’re high on something right now.”