The Store

By Edwardian Jude

In the small coal mining town of Hartsville, Virginia, the God-fearing Hayfields raise their two sons, Jack and Billy, with a stern hand. Jack is a star athlete who is destined to be the first Hayfield to attend college. Billy, who is academically strong, is the best trombonist in four counties. But as they move through high school with dreams of success, the Hayfield boys have no idea their destiny is about to lead them in an entirely new direction. As fate changes their future and leaves the boys to choose between a moral or sinful path. Jack secretly develops a creative plan he hopes will secure the familys future. Now only time will tell if greed will be his downfall.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491794593

Edwardian Jude

Edwardian Jude is the author of the play, The King’s Table, as well as several novellas. He is the creator of One Man’s Opinion (OMO), a sportswear line designed to make one think.

Book preview

The

STORE

EDWARDIAN JUDE

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THETHE STORE

Copyright

© 2016 Edwardian Jude.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-9458-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-9459-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016907166

iUniverse rev. date: 5/17/2016

This story is a story about life and how it can change.

I hope that when you finish reading, it will be clear that life is not always what it seem.

LIFE

NO MATTER HOW RIFGT YOU THINK YOU ARE

SOMETIMES YOU ARE WRONG.

NO MATTER HOW NICE YOU TRY TO BE

SOMETIME YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO BE MEAN.

NO MATTER HOW SMART YOU ARE

SOMETIME YOU ARE DUMB.

NO MATTER HOW STRONG YOU ARE

SOMETIME YOU ARE WEAK.

NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU LIVE

YOU WILL DIE.

This STORY TOOK PLACE in a small mining town in the Virginia mountains. There lived a family who was destined to change the face of entire cities. Not knowing what the future would bring, they went through life with dreams of success, as everyone else did.

The parents wanted their sons to go to college and become doctors or lawyers. They worked hard in the coal mines and were active in the church. Like all God-fearing people, they were stern with their children about school.

Their two sons were well liked in the community. The oldest, Jack, was a star baseball player, a star basketball player, and the captain and All-American quarterback for the Tigers. He was well liked and well mannered, and dozens of colleges were interested in Jack for one or all of the sports he played. Jack only had to make up his mind regarding which school to attend, and he would be the first Hayfield to attend college.

The Hayfields had lived in Hartsville, Virginia, forever. Their great-great-great-grandfather had helped found the town. Now, after five generations of Hayfields working in the coal mines, a Hayfield would go to college.

Billy was a year younger than Jack. He was not as athletic but was more academically sound and was the best trumpet player in four counties.

It was a beautiful spring morning; the trees were in full bloom, the air smelled of assorted flowers, and the wind was calm. There were branches lying on the roads from the weekend storm.

The ground was still wet, and the boys were being careful by taking the long way to school and staying on the roads. That route took longer, but after a storm like the one they’d just had, the mountainside became unstable. By taking the short way through the woods, one was sure to get muddy, if not hurt. The paths were dangerous and would be that way for the next few days.

As the boys came around a bend in the road, they anticipated John popping out from behind a tree, trying to scare them. John was Billy’s classmate and best friend. He was also Jack’s teammate, and because of them, the Tigers were contenders in all three sports. John was an All-American halfback and a backup quarterback. Like Jack, John was a shoo-in for college. Scouts were already trying to recruit him.

John was thinking of going into the military and becoming an accountant. He had been considering the armed services ever since coming back from his summer vacation in New York City. John had been born in Hartsville, but his family had moved to New York when he was ten. The Carters had been the first African-American family to settle in Hartsville. They had come when the coal mines opened in 1893. John’s father was third generation and the first to move out of Hartsville. However, John’s father’s factory had moved overseas, so they had come home to Hartsville.

No one had been happier to see John than Billy. Before the Carters had moved away, John and Billy had been like Siamese twins—no one had ever seen one without the other—and when John had returned, it