Right to Remain Silent

By Monica L. Crippen-Cunningham

Burying painful secrets from her past, Miya Carpenter appears to have it all together now. Shes finally found true love with her street hustlin boyfriend Jamar. Or so she thinks? Despite the warnings from her friends and family, Miya is determined to hold on to Jamar. But at what cost? And how much is she willing to lose to be with him?

Through her emotional journey and the unconditional love of her lifelong friend Shante, Miya learns a remarkable lesson in faith and the power of God, that will change her life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 19, 2009
• ISBN: 9781438973838

Monica L. Crippen-Cunningham

Newly acclaimed author, Monica L. Cunningham was born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey.  As a daughter and a wife of former US Army soldiers, Monica credits her passion for writing to the diversity, knowledge and friendships she has aquired during her travels throughout the United States and abroad.   Aside from writing, Monica also graduated from Augusta Technical College in Augusta, Georgia with a degree in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management and is currently pursuing other avenues to utilize her culinary talents. Monica is also involved with various other projects as well, including Personal Assistant to the Producer, Mike Jones of hillarious Gospel Stage Play "40 Acres Who Stole The Mule?"

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AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2009 Monica L. Crippen-Cunningham. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 6/12/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4389-7383-8 (ebk)

ISBN: 978-1-4389-7381-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4389-7382-1 (hc)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

In loving memory of T.W.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I have to thank God for the many blessings in my life and for allowing me to write this book. I want to say to my family I love you all and I am grateful for the never ending love and support you have all shown me throughout my life. To my younger sister Melissa Crippen who was actually the first person to read the pages of my manuscript, thank you for all your input and for helping me express my thoughts on paper. To my older sister Michelle Gardner thank you for always believing in me, and to my brother Junior Crippen thank you for always being by my side and for being there to make me laugh no matter what I was going through. To my parents Alvia Crippen and William Crippen, I love you both so much and I am eternally grateful for the lessons you’ve taught me growing up and for raising me to be the person I am today. Thank you to my lifelong friends Sandy Banks, Luralene Knorr, Michelle Brown and Betty Ellison, who have been like sisters to me for as long as I can remember. Your true friendship means the world to me and I never would have made it this far without yall by my side. (Shout out to Center Homes where we all started out!!) To Deon and Devin Chavis I am thankful that God has allowed us to finally come together and be a family. To my pride and joy and the center of my life Sayonna, Travis, and Shadaya Crippen, Thank yall for filling my life with an abundance of love and for making me proud to be your mother. I love yall more than words can say. I want to thank my husband Antoine Cunningham Sr. for all your love and support and always believing in me and for encouraging me to keep on writing. I love you unconditionally. To my three stepchildren Twan Jr., Porsha and Shontelle Cunningham who have taught me the true value of extended families, I am proud to be a part of your lives. And to my god daughter Twanna Banks thank you for loving me, looking up to me and trusting me to play such a valuable role in your life. To my godson Demetri Davis even though we are miles apart, you are always in my heart. To my uncle, Al Walker, thank you for always being my shoulder to lean on. To my dear friend Mack Julien and all the other military soldiers who are serving our country abroad, May God Bless you and bring you home safely. Claudette Myrick and Lesley Smith, two of my closest friends I’ve acquired as an adult, I love you both so much. Last but not least, I’d like to say thank you to my entire circle of family and friends whose real life stories gave me the inspiration to write this book. In closing, I’d like to say to everyone "Be Blessed and always remember…with God all things are possible!!

CHAPTER ONE

I reached over to grab the receiver and almost knocked the whole phone off my nightstand. I had to focus my eyes for a second just to see what time it was. It was 3:27 am. Who on earth could be calling me at this hour? This had better be important, I thought. I lifted the receiver to my ear. Hello… Hello, Who is this? There was no answer. Okay, now I was getting annoyed. I was wide awake and beginning to get pissed. Apparently, whoever it was calling me at this hour wasn’t too concerned with the thoughtless interruption of my sleep. I had a very busy agenda planned for today and I really didn’t have time for this prank caller crap. In just a few short hours, I’d be opening the doors to my very own beauty salon. It was my grand opening and I had so much to do to prepare for my big event. I wasn’t actually opening for business today but I was hosting a huge celebration event at the salon. I’d hired a party planner to coordinate the whole thing for me. We’d invited several of the other area salon owners, my ex coworkers, product distributers, other local business owners and a numerous amount of family and friends. I was so excited. My dream was finally about to come true. I had endured a great deal of pain and heartache in the past and getting to this point in my life seemed almost impossible. But today, thanks to my restored faith in God and my loving support system, it was all finally coming together. My support system consist of my boss Trina, who owned the salon I’d been working at for the past six years, my best friend Shante’, my five year old son, my family and my fiancée’. At last, I had accomplished something in my life I was truly proud of.

After graduating high school, I enrolled in a cosmetology program at East Orange Technical College. I began working at Trina’s Salon as a part of my internship requirement. It was the last step I needed before getting my certification. Once I completed enough classroom hours to obtain a work permit, I was able to physically work in an actual salon. In the beginning, I was limited to shampooing, roller setting and helping the other stylist with side work or anything that didn’t require chemicals or scissors. But I didn’t mind being the go to girl. It was a decent job and I was getting the experience I needed to eventually run my own salon. Besides, I was getting to know all the regular customers and exactly what styles they were looking for. I knew that someday soon I’d be the stylist they came to see. Six months into my job at Trina’s, I passed the state boards and received my cosmetology license. Now it was time for me to shine. It was my time to really show my skills. Fortunate for me, Trina’s was one of the most prestigious beauty salons on the East Coast. Trina’s was a full service salon and in addition to just getting your hair done, you could also get your nails done, a pedicure, a facial or remove the unwanted hair from any parts of your body. My appointment book stayed full six days a week. I had established a long list of clients who were exclusive to me. If I was already booked for the time they wanted, they’d reschedule their appointment to another day instead of letting one of the other stylists hook them up. Luckily, the shop was closed on Sundays so I did get one day outta the week to myself. But still, I sometimes gave up my one day off to cater to some of my faithful clients. The long hours and lack of free time all seem to pay off financially. I made enough money doing hair to pay the rent and all the utilities at my two bedroom condo. I could pay my car insurance and my credit card bills, while building a nice little savings account for myself and even have money to splurge on a shopping spree every once in a while. My boss Trina and her husband Randal, were both very supportive of me from the very start. I remember explaining to Trina on my first day of work how I was planning on opening my own salon some day. I didn’t want her to think I was coming up in her spot trying to steal her clientele. Out of professional courtesy, I told her my intentions up front to avoid any bad feelings when I was ready to venture out on my own. I anticipated some resistance on her part with me being the new kid on the block but Trina’s reaction was not at all what I had expected. She was thrilled at the whole idea. She told me that I reminded her of her self back in the day, when she was my age. Trina admired my ambition and my drive for success. She promised to support me in any way she could. And she did keep her promise. Trina and Randal both introduced me to some very influential people throughout my journey towards ownership. The kind of people it didn’t hurt to know when you were trying to get your own business off the ground. They both showed genuine concern for me and treated me as if I were their own daughter. But just like parents, Trina and Randal sometimes, stuck their nose all up in my personal life as well. Sometimes I wasn’t quite sure if some of the people they introduced me to were meant to enhance my career or my love life. I know she meant well but Trina just couldn’t understand why I never seemed to be interested in the men she and Randal introduced me to. It wasn’t that they were ALL bad, it’s just that at this particular time in my life I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship with anyone else. I was waiting for my boyfriend Jamar to come home. He was the only man I would ever truly love anyway. Everyone tried to warn me that Jamar wasn’t right for me and that he’d only bring me down but what did they know? No one, other than my best friend Shante’ could begin to understand the depth of my love for Jamar. True, he and I lived totally different lifestyles but there was something greater that bound us together. It was love. True love. I’d met Jamar when I was a junior in high school. And although he was four