Spellbound Sample Chapter

I've been real busy this weekend editing Spinsterella's prequel Spellbound. And I've made enough progress to present readers a sample chapter of Matilda's early days in the Goth Subuculture. With the progress I'm making Spellbound will be out later this year, probably around the Holiday season, maybe earlier if things keep going well! 

Chapter 83

I’m pushing a 16 piece chicken order through the bulletproof block to a man when Antoine approaches me with some garbage bags and rubber gloves. “Ready to learn how the back of house works Mattie?”

Looks like he’s serious about moving me up. “Yeah.”

“Replace the garbage bags in the dining area and take the garbage back to the dumpster.”

Guess the only way to learn how the kitchen works is to learn how we take out the garbage. “Cool.”

I slip on the rubber gloves and head into the dining area. While hungry diners enjoy their meals, I hurry over to the waste cabinets. It’s a struggle, but with a little effort I manage to get the garbage bags out of them. I quickly replace them and hurry through the kitchen to the back. As I step out into the alley behind the restaurant, I feel cold air whipping around me as I approach the dumpster. Once I drop the bags inside I take off my cap and wipe the sweat off my brow. Man, that was a job.

I’m taking a moment to catch my breath when I feel eyes on me. “You better watch out for rats.” Cherise snarls.

I turn around to notice her and Keisha standing in the doorway behind me with smoldering Newport cigarettes dangling from between their fingers. “The four footed kind or two footed kind?” I retort.

“I’m just sayin, they hang around the dumpsters looking for scraps. You don’t watch yourself they’ll bite you.” 

I flash her a smile. “We Black Widows bite too.”

 “I guess Antoine got you out here to prove how fair he is to us darkies.” Keisha growls.

I’m starting to notice a pattern with these dark skinned women. Whenever they feel threatened they always make themselves out to be a victim. “Why do you have to bring color into everything?”

“Because that’s how it is. Light skinned women like you always get preferential treatment from men.”

I give her a quizzed look. “What preferential treatment am I getting?”

“You don’t see how Antoine gives you the best jobs around here?”

They must be really scared of me coming into the kitchen. “Does this look like one of the best jobs?” I say pointing to the dumpster.

“I’m just sayin you don’t know how good you got it.” Keisha says. “You working here, you got niggers like Andre fiending for you-”

I roll my eyes when I hear that. If this is the good life for them they must have really low expectations for living. “Yeah, Andre just couldn’t keep his hands off me a couple of weeks ago-”

The women gasp on hearing the revelation about Andre. “You was the girl Andre was fighting over?”

“I’ll just say this. Andre likes to hit. Hard.”

 “That was your fault.” Cherise snarls. “You should have given him what he wanted-”

“Oh, so I’m just supposed to drop my panties just because he wants me to-”

“You woulda got something for it.” Keisha replies. “A nice pair of Jordans, a gold chain, maybe even a leather jacket the one like you had on-”

They may sell themselves for goods and services, but that’s not how this lady deals with the men she gets involved with. “I’d take my brother’s health over any of that shit-”

The women become shocked on the revelation. “I ain’t know he was the nigger Andre shot!” Keisha says. “They just said he was some light skinned dude!”

“So you probably don’t want anything to do with Andre now.” Cherise says.

Is she nuts? “Why would I want anything to do with him? He shot my brother-”

 “Andre runs the rocks on the hill-”

 “Yeah, Andre runs the rocks on the hill. But he also runs when things get hard.”

“Andre don’t run from nothing-”

“Ask yourself a question: Where is Andre now?”

Spellbound will be available later this year!  In the meantime, pick up Spinsterella, the Goth N' Lovely Romance in paperback & Kindle today!