The Bond Between Friends: A Novel

By Michele Greene

The Bond Between Friends is a book about friends helping out a friend when her life was on the line. The Bond Between Friends touches on the story of our own lives, as we all at one point in time either needed a friend or helped a friend when stumbling through trials and tribulations. We may not have been in Keishas exact life-threatening predicament, but we all need a shoulder to lean on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514428825

Michele Greene

I was born in Kinston, North Carolina. I now reside in West Allis, Wisconsin. I have three children and four grandchildren. I enjoy writing poems and short stories.

Book preview

THE BOND

BETWEEN FRIENDS

A Novel

Michele Greene

Copyright © 2015 by Michele Greene.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015919508

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5144-2884-9

             Softcover     978-1-5144-2883-2

             eBook           978-1-5144-2882-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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.

Rev. date: 11/30/2015

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Epilogue

I dedicate this book to my Mother Ms. Barbara Greene who inspired me to follow my dreams, and to my loving husband James Curtis for all the love and support.

PROLOGUE

When Keisha called for help that day, who knew it would turn out to be such a wild ride?

Of course, Keisha’s life was worse than one of those thriller rides at the theme parks. Every night was a nightmare waiting to happen. Keisha was like a rain shower and a tornado at the same time; she brought joy to many, but she also destroyed a lot of lives in her path.

Keisha wasn’t the only one who had everything to lose because of her carefree lifestyle, but that didn’t matter to her—she just did her thing, no matter what.

Keisha’s life was out of control. Everyone knew there would eventually be a price she had to pay. She seemed to be having a good time, but we all knew that it would end badly.

CHAPTER ONE

Regina grew up in a small country town where everybody knew each other. North Carolina is a beautiful state, but Regina had been tired of it since her teenage years. By the time she was grown up, her life had become so dull and boring that she was ready for some new and exciting things.

Regina was especially tired of those sorry, no-good brothers with their tired lines who were always trying to get into her pants. Just because she was cute, they thought she didn’t have a brain in her head. But Regina wasn’t stupid; she knew they were trying to run a game on her with their sweet talk and their flitting. She had fallen for those lines once before, and ended up getting her heart broken.

Regina had one child and that was enough for her. She didn’t have to work, because her family was wealthy, but she chose to have a career rather than sitting around all day doing nothing. However, the job she worked was boring. It was the kind of job that a preschooler could do.

Regina’s life had not turned out exactly the way she had planned it. She was a single mother of one beautiful little girl, Nicole, who was the love of her life, but she was in a state she’d grown tired of and working at a job with no chance for advancement.

Regina’s baby’s father had run off and married some woman with five children of her own. None of them were his. But Regina didn’t hold any hard feelings toward that man. She just went on with her life, because that was the hand that she had been dealt. (Stuff happens).

One day, while she was home watching TV, Regina got a call from a woman she had gone to school with. They had been friends for years. Keisha said that she was having some problems and that all H-E-double-hockey-sticks had broken loose at her house.

I didn’t have anybody else to call, Keisha said. You’re my best friend. My sister has her own problems and my brother—well; he can’t even help himself, let alone anyone else.

Keisha reminded Regina of what she had said when they had last seen each other: You told me, if I ever needed anything, you would be there for me.

My husband left me and I don’t know what to do, Keisha told her.

I have been unable to get support from him she said. Please help

Where is he? Regina asked.

I don’t know, Keisha said.

Regina sighed. Even though she was looking to get out of her small town and her boring lifestyle, she didn’t want to get caught up in some of Keisha’s mess. But since she had been quoted as saying that she would help, Regina felt trapped.

As soon as she hung up the phone with Keisha, Regina called her mom and told her she was planning to move to Florida to help Keisha.

Oh, that is not gonna work out well, her mother said. She knew all about Keisha’s dramas.

Nevertheless, Regina packed all her belongings in a U-Haul and she and her baby headed to Jacksonville, Florida. It was an eight-hour drive. She had been told that Jacksonville was a military city with all the finest the USA had to offer. Yeah, right, I’ve heard that before, she thought.

Regina found a storage unit and unloaded her things, and then took the rented truck back to the rental office. Since she had left her car back home, she would need a cab to get to Keisha’s house. Luckily, she had visited Jacksonville before, so she knew how to get to some places. She had had the cab driver stop at her favorite hotel first and rented a room. She didn’t know what to expect when she got to her friend’s house, and she didn’t want her baby crawling around someplace that might be nasty.

When Regina first stepped inside Keisha’s house, she could see the girl needed a maid more than a friend. The house was dirty from front to back. It looked as if Keisha hadn’t cleaned in years. It was like she lived in a mud hut.

Keisha’s kids were also a mess. Their hair and clothes were very dirty. The baby was crying and looked like she had been doing that all day. Regina could see big, red dots on the little girl’s legs; some kind of bad rash that seemed like it was on fire. That baby needs to see a doctor, Regina thought. But she knew that was the last thing on her mother’s mind.

Keisha didn’t seem to care about those kids or that apartment, which was a sure sign to Regina that Keisha was as nasty as her mother. She looked nasty, too, still half-asleep at two in the afternoon.

I usually sleep during the day, she told Regina.

And what are you doing all night? Regina asked. Partying?

Keisha just shrugged.

The situation seemed worse than the last time Regina saw her, which meant she really did need her help. The last time, she’d had only one child, and her house had been relatively clean.

Regina told her friend that she would be back the next day. She needed to get back to her baby; she had left her with the daycare service at the hotel.

Why didn’t you bring your baby with you? Keisha asked. I’d love to see her.

Oh, she was asleep when we got into town, and I didn’t want to wake her, Regina said. She didn’t want to hurt her friend’s feelings, but the truth was that Keisha’s house wasn’t fit for any human, let alone a baby.

As soon as Regina got back to the hotel, she felt like throwing up. Her head spun dizzily, so she had the bellboy help her to her room. Then she got into the shower and scrubbed herself down, trying to get rid of the dirty feeling of being in Keisha’s house. She washed her hair twice and lathered her whole body from head to toe with the most expensive soap that she could find.

After standing under the full blast of hot water for about thirty minutes, she got out of the shower and threw the clothes she’d been wearing in the trash. Regina wasn’t used to anybody’s house looking like that, even though she had seen that cable show ‘‘Clean House."(How can anyone live like that?)

Getting dress Regina had a flashback back on how she met Keisha. The two were as different as apples and oranges. They met while in middle school one day Regina overheard some classmates saying some mean and nasty things about Keisha she felt sorry for the girl, she walked over and introduced herself and the two had form a friendship.

Keisha grew up poor at a young age she was seen on the streets begging and scrounging for food and money. The girl’s mother didn’t seem interesting in taking care of her, she was too busy sneaking around town sleeping with every guy that would have her.

Regina mom called Keisha’s mom a (Tramp) a nice word for what she really was. She said that the lady had no class and she was an unfit to be anybody’s mother.

Life had been hard for Keisha at sixteen, her mother made her into a escort for money to pay rent and buy food.

Keisha told Regina on several occasions she had thoughts of suicide. She said life is too hard. she said, "could no longer bear the pain of living.’’

She couldn’t give up because her brother and sister needed her more and more every day. Keisha was more of a mother to them than their own mother was.

Regina often gave Keisha clothes and money that she had saved from her allowance trying to help out her friend who desperately needed it.

Keisha’s life came to a turning point when she met Troy. Troy was a nice young man, despite the fact that he met her through one of her mother’s friends. (Friend)

Troy treated Keisha like a princess he swept her off her feet. No one has ever made her feel the way Troy made her feel, but, of course, the rumors run rampaged, it was said that he was her pimp.

Keisha denied the rumor, as it turned out he wasn’t pimping her he loved her. They got married four months after meeting it was a fairy tale wedding with a horse drawn carriage and love dove. After the wedding they moved to Jacksonville Florida where this story takes place.

Their lives had been a dream for a while, but as it turned out Keisha was more like her mother than she realized. She had become distant and free will following in her mother’s footsteps, she lost everything that she ever dreamed of.

Keisha and Troy have three children ages one to five years old their lives up to this point had been good, but now it’s a living nightmare.

Regina wasn’t sure as to why Troy left the children with Keisha.

Regina called Keisha later that night and told her that she would come by the next afternoon to help her clean the apartment.

The next morning, Regina’s first stop was Wal-Mart, where she bought every type of cleaning supply they sold: gloves, hospital masks, mops, brooms, and trash bags. She was ready for everything.

Are you on some kind of clean- up crew? the cashier asked.

Regina replied, Yeah, my friend’s nasty house.

The two laughed as Regina paid for her items. Then she left the store and headed to a train wreck.

CHAPTER TWO

It took three days to clean the kitchen and front room, and another day and a half before they could see the color of the floors. The bedrooms were so filthy that Regina wound up throwing half their junk away.

Keisha’s kids were still wearing the same clothes they’d had on the day she arrived. Who knows how long it’s been since they were bathed? Keisha’s bathroom wasn’t to be used under any circumstance by any living creature. Regina figured that was why she didn’t bath her children.

Regina got tired of looking at those nasty kids it had been working her nerves just to look at them why Keisha would let their children walk around dirty bother Regina, so she took them to the motel down the street from the apartment building and put them in a tub. Then she scrubbed those children for about an hour (well, okay, maybe not that long) and dressed them in some clothes she had bought for they when she went to Wal-Mart earlier that week.

Regina did the youngest girls’ hair herself. She took the oldest girl to the beauty parlor and paid a stylist to braid her hair, and then took the little boy to the barbershop for a haircut. Then she took all the kids to the hotel where she was staying and left them