From the Palace to Hell

By Greeny Green

From the Palace to Hell is about how I was born and raised in a loving and happy home; that is why I call the home where I was raised the palace because I had a wonderful childhood life until my parents died, and after they died, my life went from the living in the palace to living with struggles as living in hell. I hope this book or novel will tell people who have great parents and a happy home to appreciate what you have because what you have today could be gone tomorrow. The Palace to Hell is also speaking on helping others who are in bad marriages or bad relationships. I would like to tell the world that I was in several bad marriages and of how God has brought me out of my fears, sad emotions, and heartbreaks.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496959652

Greeny Green

My name is Greeny Green. I am a black American. I am in the master’s program at North Carolina Central University. I have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and graduated in 2013. I am fifty-five years of age. I love writing books and learning; that is the reason why I chose to attend college.

Book preview

PART ONE

Atlantis Heights

CHAPTER 1

My story is true; some of the names and places have been changed to protect peoples’ privacy. My story begins discussing who I am. My name is Greeny Green, and I am 65 years of age and I want to share my story.

From the Palace to Hell is about how I was born and raised in a loving and happy home; that is why, I call the home where I was raised; the palace; because I had a wonderful childhood life until my parents died, and after they died; my life went from living in a palace to living with struggles of living in hell. I hope this book or novel will tell people if you have great parents and a happy home to appreciate what you have because what you have today could be gone tomorrow. The Palace to Hell is also speaking on helping others who are in bad marriages; or either bad relationships. I would like to tell the world that I was in several bad marriages and how God has brought me out of my fears, sad emotions, and heartbreaks.

Have you ever been in a place in your life that you felt that nothing would ever take that spot light from you? Take it from me; I thought my spot light would never be taken, well guess what? It did. As growing up, my mother told me everything about both sides of the family’s history. Some of my family history was good and some of it was bad. I remember everything what my mother told me and what has happened in my life as if it was today.

As you read this book or novel whatever you want to call it; you will say that I had more downs then ups in my life. As everyone knows that the 4th of July represents Independence Day. Independence Day is a day of celebration when everyone takes a day off from work to have a great time with family and friends. On this day, you can smell the charcoal fumes up in the air of people cooking hot dogs, fat juicy hamburgers on the grill, a lot of homemade ice cream, potato salad, potato chips with different types of dips and all of the beer you can drink, and the list goes on and on.

Later on, after the sun set, there are fireworks which look beautiful in the air. The fireworks always made me scared when they sounded off. I use to cover my ears when the sound of the fireworks us to start. My family and I use to stay outside until the end of the fireworks and I was kind of glad when the whole thing was over.

My mother’s name was Buckie and my father name was Billy, people would call my mother Buckie because she was too quick to get fired up, my father, on the other hand was cool and calm he was mixed with white. My mother was mixed with Cherokee. As a young child every year during the holiday of July the 4th I was so happy, everyone was in stores shopping for the 4th of July. I always felt proud to be born on a special holiday. I am blessed that I am still here, because many of my friends who I grew up with; are dead and gone.

Surgery for the twins at the age of five

At the age of five, Stunny and I had to go to the hospital to get our tonsils taken out because my mother said that we snored too badly and it was keeping her from sleeping at night. My mother made an appointment for my twin and me to visit our family doctor.

The doctor scheduled surgery for Stunny and me to have our tonsils taken out. While we were little babies, my mother use to tell me that I was always the mean one at times, I always wanted to have my way with everything and you better believe it; I did get my way. It was on a Sunday after church, my parents took Stunny and I to the hospital to get us sign in because our surgery was going to be on a Tuesday morning. After my parents left Stunny and me at the hospital, I went into the play room where the other children were at and stop them from playing with toys, I took every toy and pushed them down on the floor and when I did; it sounded like sirens were sounding off in there. The nurses came into the play room and stopped me from acting mischievously. Well that was not good enough; I had to find something else that I could aggravate someone of so, I drew a map to escape from the hospital.

Stunny and I had a friend in the hospital, her name was Purple and she had a hole in her heart she always stayed sick all of the time. She was in the tension care unit. I went to Purple and told her that I had drawn a map to escape from the hospital so that we could get back home with our parents. Now Purple was not as fortune of having nice things such as wearing nice clothes and having lots of Christmas gifts as Stunny and I had; because Purple had nine siblings and no father in the home. Her mother was my mother’s best friend.

As I started to get Purple out of the tension care unit, the nurse caught me and asked me what was I doing? I looked at her and said I am getting my friend out of this stinking hospital so we can go home and play, and be with our parents. The nurse stated that Purple was very sick and Stunny and I had an operation on Tuesday morning. I told her that I wanted my mommy and daddy; she stated to me that my parents were gone back to church to get Stunny and me some ice cream". I know I was only five, but I was not that stupid and dumb to know that you do not buy ice cream at a church.

The nurse got on the phone and called my parents to tell them that I was acting up and maybe if I could hear their voice; maybe I would calm down a little. After the nurse gave me the phone, my mother asked me what was my problem and why was I acting up? I told my mother that I wanted to come home and play with my toys and that I did not want to be in such place like that. I also told my mother that the hospital was sad. She stated to me "okay Greeny, we will come and get you; but first, you have to obey the doctor and the nurse and that my father and she would come to get Stunny and me the next morning. Well that sounded a little better to my little ears and I eventually calmed down.

Surgery for the twins

Tuesday morning finally came and Stunny and I had our surgery, my throat was so sore that I could barley swallow anything; so the doctor recommended that we eat a little ice cream. Each morning around five o’clock before my father would start his daily work of hauling sand and gravel to places where buildings were being built; he would come and check on Stunny and me. He would give us a little sip of soda pop even though we did not supposed to have any sodas but he slipped and gave us a little of it any ways. The surgery went fine, we were in the hospital for about three days; after our surgery, Purple, our friend was still in the hospital; I felt bad for her, because she would be tortured by those nurses and doctors, but the good thing was, I knew that she would be home soon.

Fun time in Kindergarten

It was 1964; Stunny and I started Kindergarten, I was so happy to be going to school. The school that Stunny and I attended was for all black children to attend. No one was picking at each other nor was no one calling each other names.

If there were fights, children would fight to see another day. People were friendly and everyone seems to get along. Each morning my mom would walk Stunny and me to school. The school that we attended was not far from our home. My teacher was very nice and I loved all of my class mates. I remember after an hour of being in school my teacher would pass around the milk cartons; since I was so small, I would receive two cartons of milk and boy that milk was good. Back in the days, everything was good and there were lot of happy days; I had no worries, the world was beautiful more than now. I wish for those days would come back again.

Between 1950 and 1960 The Brown v Board of education started to segregated schools. I remember my twin and I were outside playing one day, and my mother rush from inside the house to tell us to come inside because the KKK (Ku Klux Klan’s) were down town, and that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been shot and killed it was all over the news. I have never in my life been so scared; I thought the KKK people were coming to kill all black people. My mother had told me how the black people were been hated by white people. Today I still don’t understand why.

Before the year was over; my mom told Stunny and I that we soon would be going to a white school; my heart dropped to my stomach; I did not want to be in no class room with any white kids. After the school year was over; all schools were segregated. I wanted to die because I felt as if the white kids would pick on the black kids so I was regretting of attending their schools; but little that I knew after my mom enrolled me in the school I found that it was not so bad after all. But there was one thing that I did experienced; the first day of school my teacher announced that we would play a little game called Who is this person? I remember as if it was today, my teacher would blind fold our eyes with a heavy scarf so that we could not see through it. I wonder why we were playing such a game.

As I sat there in my sit; I watch some of my class mates to see how they played the game. They would walk around and touch other children’s hair to see if they were black or white. The black children’s hair was coarse and the white children hair was soft and slick. I looked at my white teacher and rolled my eyes and thought to myself we did not play this kind of game in the black school. I thought the game was stupid as hell and it was racial of picking on the black children. My mother always said that the majority of white people have ways of picking on other people who were different than them and as I see how the world is today; she never lied.

Around lunch time, we all lined up to go to the cafeteria; the cafeteria was downstairs in the basement. There was a small little white boy who would come and pull my hair. My hair was long and it was a good grade. True, my hair was not as coarse as the other black children’s hair because I had Indian blood in me (Cherokee). After the school day was over; the little boy came to me and asked me could I be his girlfriend. I did not know what to say. I started to screen for mercy; but he was not hurting me I just looked at him strange and did not say anything. At the end of the day Slick was his name gave me his number and asked me to call him. I never called him because my father was real strict.

At the age of seven a shock of information

At the age of seven, Stunny came to me one morning to tell me that she felt different about males. I asked her what did she meant about feeling different? She stated that she had feelings for females and not males. I was so shock that I could not say anything, my mouth flew open and was opened for a while she looked at me and told me to close my mouth before a fly flew it. I was stunned she said that I looked as if I had seen a ghost. I still was confused I told her that she was a female like I was. She stated to me that she had a crush on a female at church. I told Stunny that she was crazy and that she needed to get her head checked out. I went to tell mother and mother said well, I don’t have to worry about her bringing any babies up in here. I told my mother she did not have to worry about me bringing any babies in the home either. My mother said to me, you better not until you finish high school and after you get married and from that day to this day my sister still lives in the gay world.

All along, I knew it was something about my sister because each time we would play house she would be the man and I would be the woman she would go outside and play as if she was digging a ditch with a shovel and I would be in the house playing as if I was cooking meals.

Growing Up

Stunny and I was not the only siblings in the home; my cousin Yellowing was raised with Stunny and me as well. Yellowing was my father’s niece she was six years older than Stunny and me, while growing up Stunny and I always wanted to follow Yellowing everywhere she went.

My parents dressed Yellowing, Stunny and I in the best of clothes our clothes came from Mothers and Daughters clothing store. Our shoes came from Stride Rite, my parents wore second hand clothes from the Good Will Stores, now that is what I call great parents who love their children more than themselves. True, my parents did not get into buying name brand clothing; but what we wore each day was very nice. Other children wonder how we could dress so nice and they could not; which made other children in the neighborhood jealous. As Stunny, Yellowing and I went to church and school, other children would call us the rich girls.

While Yellowing, Stunny and I was getting a little older, our parents were getting a little stricter and we could not go many places without both of our parents being present or my nanny Snowy would watch after us while my parents were not present. Yellowing, Stunny and I had big birthday blasts every year until the age of eighteen. I appreciate how my parents raised us. I remember the summer days how Stunny, Yellowing and I use to draw number blocks for hop scotch on the hot sidewalk with a big wide white chalk in front of our drive way. The rules of my parents’ house hold were to be in the house before the street lights came on.

On Saturdays, my mother would wash our hair and condition with a raw egg and mayonnaise; she would stir a raw egg with mayonnaise together until it looked milky. Yellowing, Stunny and I had the beautiful coldest black wavy hair down to our back. Yellowing and Stunny’s hair were longer and thicker than mine; and my hair was long and thin. Many of our school mates