Beginning of an Eclipse (SIN CITY HEAT SERIES PREQUEL)

Beginning of an Eclipse by SK

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Copyright © 2011

All rights reserved.

Dear Readers,

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the overwhelming support you’ve given me for my novels
Buried Secrets
and
Twisted Obsessions
, Books 1 & 2 in the Sin City Heat Series. The kind words and encouragement mean so much, and it’s good to know that you enjoyed reading the books as much as I enjoyed writing them.

In
Buried Secrets
, I introduced several members of the “Vegas Crew” as I like to think of them. Dr. Marcus Bennett and Aleesha Matthews reconnected with one another after briefly meeting three years prior at a medical conference in Las Vegas. Darrell Monroe and Jerra St. James met at Aleesha’s bachelorette party and sparks immediately ignited between the couple. There was also Keisha McKnight, who later hooked up with Marcus and Darrell’s best friend, Dominick Spain in
Twisted Obsessions
.

Beginning of an Eclipse
is, more or less, a prequel to
Buried Secrets.
A lot of readers really seemed to connect with Darrell and Jerra’s story. I actually wrote
Beginning of an Eclipse
after
Buried Secrets
because I felt Darrell’s character was truly an electrifying one who went through a lot to become the man he was destined to be. Even though Marcus and Dominick experienced unthinkable circumstances of their own, at one point or another they had something that Darrell never had: the love and security of a family. There was no one around to show him how to become a man. Through trial and error, he found his way. This is his story.

Please visit my blog at
www.sweetkaramel.com/blog1
for information on future books or to read short stories I’ve written and posted.

Sincerest thanks,

SK~

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am forever grateful to God for giving me the strength and fortitude to carry on through one of the most challenging periods in my life. I may have questioned where he was during my times of need – but then I looked back and saw the one set of footprints where he carried me through.

Thank you to my parents for their love and support and for giving me the foundation to become the person I am today. They led by example and for that I’ll be forever grateful. Thank you to my husband, Francis, for all of your support and encouragement. Many a nights you allowed me to lock myself up in my room and write for hours at a time without complaining once. I love and appreciate you for that and so much more. To my son, Christopher, I can’t find the words to express how much you mean to me. For the longest time, it was just ‘Mommy & Chris’. I’m so very proud of the young man you’ve become and the man you’re destined to be. (1-4-3).

Many, many thanks to author The Black who inspired me to constantly do better and grow in my writing, and who never turned my questions away once. Thanks to
 
Tasha and Sarah for all of their help and patience. I appreciate ya! Thanks to Anita for giving me the initial push needed to get my rear into gear! Much love my NA readers who were the first to give me a clue that I
kinda
had a talent for this craft! This is only the beginning!

Peace, Blessings, and Love

 
SK~

Chapter 1

    
“I
told
you I ain’t playin’ ‘daddy’ to no li’l bastard!” Rodney’s glare turned into a slow burn that made its way across the room to Tina. “Fuck you think I am!”

    
Still watching her, he settled down on the couch and propped his feet up on the worn, rickety coffee table in front of him. Holding the joint he’d just rolled between his thumb and index finger, he brought it up to his lips and swiftly inhaled in order to get the smoke down into his lungs as
deep as possible. He held his breath for about five seconds then slowly exhaled before continuing the conversation.

    
“Shit, I’on fuck with the five I got so what makes you think I wanna fuck wit yours?” he managed to croak out.

    
Tina Monroe took her time and chose her words carefully. “I’m just sayin’ that I thought we weren’t leavin’ until next week. I ain’t even had a chance to tell Darrell yet.”

    
“Just tell the li’l mu’fucka you goin’ away! You ain’t gotta explain nuthin’ to him. Look, I ain’t got time for this shit. Either you leavin’ with me tomorrow like we planned or you stayin’ here. It's that simple.
 
What’s it gonna be?” Rodney took another long drag of his joint and waited, but they both knew Tina’s answer was already a foregone conclusion. Just as he knew she would, quickly nodded in agreement.

    
Rodney let out a satisfied grunt before resting back against the cushions and running his eyes over her. She was fine as hell, no doubt, and he loved all the attention he got when he was with her. Rodney felt a sense of satisfaction run through him when he thought about how much his friends envied him.

    
The tension left Tina’s body when she saw the way her man stared at her. Now, she was on familiar territory. Her looks had been mesmerizing men since the tender age of twelve. Her smooth,
café au lait complexion resembled hot coffee lightened with several dollops of sweet cream, and her long black hair fell down her back in flowing waves of bouncy ringlets. Thick lashes swept down to hide the expression in her seductive, smoky eyes;
she was the shit and she knew it.

    
And soon the rest of the world would know it too. She was meant for more than this life she was leading – she deserved more. Years ago, while her friends had been out having fun and partying, she’d been stuck at home caring for a screaming baby and changing shitty diapers. She’d paid her dues, now it was her turn to have some fun and put herself first!

    
For as long as she could remember, people had been telling her that she was beautiful enough to be a model. Rodney promised to help make that happen.
Nothing and nobody was going to stop her from being the star she was destined to be – not even her own child.

    
Rodney’s voice brought her out of her inner musings.
“Why you way over there? Bring yo’ li’l sexy ass over here and help me relax. You done stressed me the fuck out with all this bullshit.”

   
Tina eagerly walked over and dropped to her knees, instantly forgetting that she was supposed to be telling her only child that in a couple of hours, he would be leaving the only home he’d ever known to start a new life at a Catholic orphanage right outside the city. The only thing important right now was keeping Rodney happy.

    
But there was no need to have that conversation with Darrell. He’d been in his room listening through the paper thin walls and heard everything. Although, he didn’t understand all of the details, he got the gist of what was going on. At seven years old, he was an extremely intelligent little boy. Dragging his teddy bear behind him, he slowly walked over and sat down on his bed, letting his mind digest what was about to happen.

     
When Tina finally came to his room to pack his things, Darrell silently watched as
she scooped up the second hand clothes from the broken down dresser and threw them into a beaten and scratched up suitcase. Normally, she was never in a hurry to do much, but now, her movements were quick and deft as if she wanted to hurry up and finish…as if she wanted to hurry and get rid of him.

     Tina Monroe tried to ignore her son’s unwavering stare as she grabbed the only other pair of shoes he owned out of the tiny, cramped closet. The tattered and torn pair of sneakers were half a size too small for him, but they would have to do. Looking around to make sure she had everything that was of consequence, she closed Darrell’s suitcase before steeling herself to turn around and face her son.

    
 
For the briefest of moments, her heart softened. He was such a beautiful little boy. Complete strangers came up to them all the time, gushing over him and telling Tina how adorable he was. Those were some of Tina’s proudest moments. She ran a hand over his mop of black, bouncy curls. Except for his piercing gray eyes which he'd gotten from her, he was the spitting image of his Creole father whose Cane River heritage was a French, and African American. He’d never laid eyes on Darrell and made it clear he never wanted to. As a thirty-something year old married man, he’d known from the beginning she was only fifteen, but it hadn’t mattered. His only worry had been making sure his wife didn’t find out. In fact, the last thing he’d told her before he disappeared out of her life was to get rid of the baby…and she would have done, too, but she couldn’t afford the procedure.

    
“I want you to be a good boy for mama, alright li’l D? You listen to what those nuns tell you. Don’t give ‘em no trouble. Act like you got some home trainin’, you hear me?”

    
Darrell nodded, but didn’t say anything. An hour later, he stood in the doorway of the huge orphanage and watched his mother leave without even a backwards glance and get into the car with Rodney. It was as if she’d already forgotten him.

    
Not one tear ran down his face as they drove off, but inside, he was screaming out for her to come back. Tina hadn’t been the best mother, but she was all he had. The nun, who’d introduced herself as Sister Theresa, firmly closed the door and led him to the boy‘s dorm.

     “Darrell, this is your home now. The sooner you accept that, the easier it will be. I will go over all the rules with you one by one. You will have chores that you will be expected to complete. A child is never too young to learn responsibility. Disobedience will not be tolerated and will be dealt with severely….”

     As Darrell listened to the nun go over the list of rules and regulations, he knew…deep down inside…that his mother was never coming back for him.