In Search of...

By Kyle S. Taylor

A desperate student frantically looking for a way to alter her destiny. A man who fears becoming a nobody. A scorned lover fatally hunting down those who used her. Whether it be vengeance, closure, or fame, In Search of... is an entertaining collection of short stories filled with characters searching for the things they desire most in life. For them, the journey is as crucial as the destination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kyle S. Taylor
• Release date: Feb 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370584703

Kyle S. Taylor

A native of Baltimore, I have a B.A. in English/Journalism from Morgan State University in Baltimore. I have a professional background in print journalism as well as communications. I also freelance part-time, and have had articles appear in numerous newspapers such as The Catholic Review, The Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Afro, The Baltimore Times, The Daily Record, and The Baltimore Business Journal. I have a passion for writing and look forward to publishing more of my work on here.

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In Search of…

By

Kyle S. Taylor

Copyright © 2017 Kyle S. Taylor

All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

The Letter to Erik

The Coldest Winter

The Savior of the City

The Last Kiss

The Water of Life

The Plan

The Letter to Charles

About Kyle S. Taylor

Connect with Kyle S. Taylor

The Letter to Erik

Dear Erik,

It has been far too long my good friend! I hope things are well with you. I can’t even tell you the last time I saw you in person. I hope your family is doing well too. Your kids get more and more beautiful each time I see the pictures you post of them.

I felt that it was important that I reach out to you. I have been following your exploits in the old neighborhood and throughout the city. It’s amazing to see you on TV doing interviews on the news, or footage of you leading marches and speaking to people about issues that you’re passionate about. I’d bet that no one from the neighborhood would have expected this from you, and for that I couldn’t be prouder of you.

Now with all that said, I wanted to address a few disagreements I have with you. If your schedule is anything like mine, then your time is limited and it’s probably next to impossible to reach you by phone. Thus, I decided to write you this letter. I figured it would be more personal as opposed to any other form of communication. Besides, I think the letter is a lost art of communication, so why not use it for a change?

I know how you feel about how things are in this country of ours, especially in the city we both call home. I think we both agree that things - especially when it comes to race relations - are bleak, to say the least. People who look like me and you have been getting the short end of the stick for far too long, and it is well past time for that to change. Though I think we both agree that Black Lives do in fact Matter, and we both desire and strive towards the betterment of our people, it is in the execution of said betterment where we differ.

I would argue, dear friend, that you have been brainwashed by society to subscribe to a theory that is in fact a myth. You have fallen victim to the trap that befalls many who indulge in such fallacies - if you repeat it often enough, you begin to accept it as truth. You want what’s best for us as a race, no doubt, but your focus on intraracial crime is terribly misguided. It eschews a number of undeniable facts. For starters, if you were to look up the statistics, they would tell you that the majority of crimes committed in this city, state, and country are in fact intraracial. In other words, most black people are killed by other black people; most white people are killed by other white people, etc. These are the facts, as much as people who shout All Lives Matter would like to deflect from them (We both know they only say that as a response to us saying Black Lives Matter because they don’t like to acknowledge that racism exists, but that’s something that white privilege grants you, and neither here nor there).

But getting back to what I was saying, the whole black on black crime narrative ignores the neighborhoods where many Americans reside. For better or for worse, many people of the same race tend to live in close proximity to one another. So if a high population of black people are primarily surrounded by black people, common sense dictates that it would be extremely likely that if they were to commit a crime against someone in their neighborhood or community, it’d be against another black person.

And speaking of communities, let’s not forget the type of communities many black Americans live in. You and I both grew up in a neighborhood where everyone was on the lower end of the economic scale, and just about everyone looked like us. Crime and lower-income neighborhoods go hand-in-hand, unfortunately. If you were to look at a poor neighborhood comprised mostly of whites you’d see the same thing taking place.

But look, I didn’t write this to lecture you or anything like that. I just want to inform you of why you’re misguided when you continue to talk about black on black crime. It’s not real, and the more you speak on it, the more you perpetuate the myth that it does exist. That myth gives the powers-that-be free reign to say, well, if they keep killing each other, we don’t need to worry about helping them. Even if you were to argue that we should try to minimize violence in our communities, it should neither excuse nor negate the unnecessary violence brought upon us by those in badges who are sworn to protect us. You and I both know that situations similar to the rash of police shootings of black men isn’t new; only thing new are the phones capturing them.

So let me assure you that yes, Black Lives Matter to black people. The problem is that we’re the only ones it seems to matter to - except when we’re shooting 3-pointers, scoring touchdowns, or singing and dancing on a stage; then, and ONLY then, is when this country values us and considers us important. The using us for our talents and ideas, the cultural appropriation…it is all abhorrently despicable and disgusting. This generation has reached a point where we’re tired of the status quo and demand that this country lives up to the true meaning of