Dear Drama

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Authors: Braya Spice

BOOK: Dear Drama
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Dear Drama
Braya Spice
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Dedication
 
This novel is dedicated to my single-parent sisters. The road for us has always been tough. Still, we make a way and continue to pull through. Love is on the horizon....
Acknowledgments
Braya Spice is in the building! As you all know, I also write as Karen Williams.
My novels,
Harlem On Lock, The People Vs. Cashmere, Dirty to the Grave,
and
Thug in Me;
my short story collection,
Aphrodisiacs: Erotic Short Stories;
and the anthologies that I have contributed stories to,
Around the Way Girls 7
and
Even Sinners Have Souls Too,
have all been urban fiction.
Dear Drama
is my first contemporary work!
I hope you enjoy this story, and I hope it gives a voice to all the women out there that have been on this quest for love, have made mistakes, have been through the ringer and back, and still truly want to experience wholesome, unconditional love. Ladies, know that you don't have to allow yourself to be mistreated, be with a piece of a man, or trade one bad man in for another to have someone. Despite the fears you may have about not finding someone to love you, know there is no need at all to settle. And all that you aspire to have, you shall have. Trust.
I want to thank my beautiful children, Adara and Bralynn. It is so funny that since my son was born, I have written three books. And this is with my son being on my hip! Honestly! As long as he has his dinosaurs and can watch
Dino Dan,
he allows his mommy to write. Adara, since her conception, hasn't been a problem and still, to this day, inspires me to be all that I am.
Sending love to my sister “Crystal” and my mother.
Hey to my nieces, Mikayla and Maydison; my nephews Omari and Jeff Jr.; my cousins Donnie, Jabrez, Devin, and Mu-Mu; and my goddaughter La'naya. Hey to Tammy, Shauntae, Ray, Eric, Christina, and Terry.
Thanks to my friends Sheryl, Roxetta, Lenzie, Christina, Kimberly, Linda, Tracy, Christina, Talamontes, Pam, Carla, Sewiaa, Ronisha RIP, Tina, Shumeka, Valerie Hoyt, Tara, Pearlean, Maxine, Dena, Barbara, Henrietta, Candis, VI, Phillipo, Latonya, Leigh and Vanilla, Yvonne Gayner, Sandra V, Sandra T, Ivy, Daphne and Lydia, Mrs. Pope, Rob, Tiffany and Trudy.
Big ups to all my author buddies, Mondell Pope, Aleta Williams, Terra Little, Terry L. Wroten, and Angel Williams. Rainne Grant, you inspire me! Hey Netta!
Thanks to Carl and Natalie! Natalie, I know your job is demanding, and I truly appreciate all the hard work that you do. I'm 100 percent sincere when I say that. Thanks for believing in me, Carl, to the extent that you took a gamble on this book! Thanks Rosemary! Thanks to my editor, Kevin Dwyer. I love, love, love you to pieces!
Dear Drama
is here.... Enjoy!
Prologue
January 2007
“You gonna put this fucking ring on!”
I could not fucking breathe.
I stared at Greg as spit flew from his mouth and his hands were wrapped around my throat. As his hold tightened, I started to gag and choke. Then lines of snot flew from my nose. But that crazy muthafucka would not stop choking me.
My hands went to cover his hands.
My eyes pleaded. I hoped he would see the begging and feel sorry for hurting me, and he would stop.
He released my neck and looked me in my eyes like he had won. “You gonna wear this shit or not?”
It was an engagement ring. This fool didn't get it. How many more times could I let him punch me in the mouth or bash my head into a wall in front of our daughter? My hearing in my right ear was already fucked up, and I was wearing a tooth implant in the front of my mouth. I had left his ass for a reason, and now he thought he was going to persuade me to come back to him with a punk-ass engagement ring? I had too much to lose. A little girl that was his, Sierra. And I refused to let her see her mom get her ass whipped by her father again.
Enough was fucking enough. That was why I had left his ass like a thief in the night. And now he had found me... .
He slapped me to get my attention. Despite being slapped numerous times by him, I had never gotten used to the pain. It was paralyzing and brought heat to whatever spot he hit.
I blinked and stared at the shiny engagement ring in front of me. It had my birthstone in the middle, with diamonds around it. Pretty. But fuck that. I shook my head, indicating no. I refused. I was not marrying him. I deserved to be happy. I was a good person, and I took good care of our daughter and didn't treat people bad. In fact, I had been the perfect girlfriend to Greg, but he had still treated me bad. I was ready to move on and see what a healthy, wholesome relationship felt like. I knew Greg could never give me that, 'cause if he could, he would have done it already. He was far too violent and far too jealous to be anything other than what he was. Two years with him had shown me that. If you could beat the mother of your child in front of your child, then you were really a low person. A person I wanted to do without.
He punched me in the side of my head and went back to choking me. And mind you, this was all going on while our two-year-old daughter stood in front of us, horrified, and watched.
Alarm hit me. What if this was it? He had always said that he would kill me if I were to leave him. What if he ended my life this night because I refused to go back to him and agree to marry him? I knew I could not let that happen. If there was ever a time to fight, now was it. My daughter needed me. I swung at him with my fist, refusing to let him take me out.
His hands released my neck so he could dodge my hits and grip me by my hair.
I winced in pain. “Sierra! Code ten,” I yelled.
She dashed away, snatched the cordless phone off the end table. She knew code ten was her cue to dial 911. I had already prepped her that if her dad found us, this was what we would have to do.
When Greg saw her with the phone in her hand, he let me go. “Sierra, put the phone down, baby. Daddy got warrants. You don't want me to go back to jail, do you?”
She dialed the three numbers quickly, and then she put her tiny middle finger in the air and ran out of the living room to our hallway.
Greg's eyes widened.
If I weren't in pain, I would have laughed.
With a kick to my body, he dashed out of the house so he could be gone before the cops could get there.
I grimaced at the pain I was feeling, and hoped he didn't leave any more bruises. But touching my face told me my right cheek, where he slapped me, was swollen.
That was when I heard sniffles coming from the hallway of our studio apartment. I grimaced again and slowly stood. I walked in the hallway, to find Sierra tucked in the corner, crying.
“Awww. It's okay, baby.”
I scooped her into my arms and hugged her, knowing I had made the right decision by leaving that crazy muthafucka. And I sighed, because I knew I would have to move again.

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