Survivor

By R. Lallu

Shelly an up and coming journalist, leaves her small.town life behind, to Pursue a journalistic career... Follow heartbreaks and shake-ups, as she navigates her way through a world filled with glamor,  glitz, money and power...

• Language: English
• Publisher: R. Lallu
• Release date: Jul 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201866136

Book preview

SURVIVOR

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Written

By

Rodrigques Lallu

Dedicated to Angelina.... May your light continue to shine bright in this world.

( may this book inspire you as I was inspired to write it, we are all from different backgrounds in life and yet we remain equal beyond all things)

CHAPTER 1

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This is how it is......this is how the world reminds us that we are not as important as we all seem to think we are. ...  These were the words flowing through the mind of  Shelly, a lonely 32 year old bachelorette

Shelly had decided a long time ago, that no Matter had taken place in her life, that she was no longer going to be a punching bag for the world, a doormat to wipe all your abuse off on.  Shelly sat at her lounge window in an old New York warehouse apartment, watching the rain fall softly on the maddening crowd below that was rushing to get home before the big storm let rip. She was off early this week and felt a deep sense of regret somehow, at not being part of that maddening crowd. Shelly was most certainly not one for cool long walks, and thanked her lucky stars each day that she could make use of the sub way metro system to get where she wanted to go in the :big apple". However, on this day she was feeling even more morose and somber than her usual self. This was round about the time of the anniversary of what had occurred when she was 19 years old.... This was in fact the very day she recalled bitterly, that this event had taken place, an event that would shatter her life forever....an event that would change the way she looked at the world and all who dwelled in it. Lost in her thoughts, Shelly never even heard the pizza delivery guy from Mario’s buzz her flat number on the intercom downstairs. After another three more buzzes she was brought back to life and jumped up from the window seat and ran to her intercom at the front door and buzzed the pizza delivery guy in.  A few moments later, there was a quick knock on her door, she opened the door and gave the pizza delivery guy her best smile, while paying him for the large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese she ordered. He gave her a huge smile which she swore could have been a bit flirty, but later she would dismiss after recalling that she adder a tip on the bill and was wearing her favorite skimpy sweats and ribbed t-shirt, which made him want to stay right there with her. She sighed as she closed the door and went to the kitchen to take out a plate and flip the pizza box open. She popped four slices onto her plate and poured herself another glass of wine, while Mariah Carey’s hit We belong together was crooning out over her home entertainment system’s USB media player. She laughed amusedly to herself as she sat on her couch listening to Mariah the songbird belt out another hit and then pondered if Mariah truly knew what the words of her hit song did to other people’s thoughts.

Shelly realized that to her work colleagues and some of her friends she came across as being a bit of a loner, a wretched miserable creature, whose only joy seem to come from being unusually occupied with work and never going out, except to the local grocer and odd clothing store to get her usual essentials. She never shared not even once, with any of them what her weekends or holidays entailed and in fact was mocked at times for being the ice princess with a lot of no money, no less.  She always enjoyed being by herself, and enjoyEd relaxing at home with a love face mask treatment, a good book to read or movie to watch.  She was quite contended being seeing in such a light, especially when she thought of what she was still working through, where she had been and what it was that was effecting her entire being, her body, her soul and her spirit. For Shelly, the more people wanted to know less about her, the more she appreciated it. She learnt a long time ago that the more you opened your mouth up about your business, the more you would live to regret it much later in her mouth. She was told as a child by her now deceased grand mother that your mouth blocked your blessings, so child you better shut it up real good!.  She realized that her life was quite uncomplicated and preferred not to complicate it, with seeking out the attentions of men, who in the end would only break her heart, a heart she had guarded so perfectly, before and would now do so in a place as well known for its cruelto as much as for its beauty and accomplishments  in history. No Shelly would not cheat on her abusive partner noattorney what, the life of chaos and drama her mother led,having had a barrage of suitors, would not come to be her life as well.

Then again growing up in the household that Shelly did as a child was not only chaotic, but one that could make even the bravest of kids run for the hills.... Shelly then remembered more of that time.....She was from a family based in the Bronx; they were your usual nutty bunch. She had two younger siblings, Stacy, her light and her darling sister that she truly loved and protected as a big sis, and then off course her ever naughty and mischievous brother Jason, the youngest, who was her handsome little fiend that would break many girl’s hearts and leave them calling Shelly all times of the evening hours, begging her to speak to Jason to take them back.  Shelly was named after her mother, Shelly Lynne, a gorgeous southern bell who had the misfortune (as she would always say) of meeting up with their dad Ryan Hoskins, a big burly new Yorker who back in the day was in construction and fell hopeless in love with their mom, one of his trips down to the French quarter in New Orleans, where he met their mom and swore to break every man’s jaw within a radius of Shelly’s home that dared to try and make moves on his girl. Shelly, Jason and Stacy loved their mother with all their heart, but had a more careful approach with their dad.  Now Shelly being a very gorgeous young girl was known in her parts as being not only that but one helluva heartbreaker too. It took more than six months for ole’ Ryan to get  Heartbreak Shelly as she was known to agree to just go out on a date, she was a no nonsense, know what she wanted kinda gal.

Off course all that would change when they got engaged in Las Vegas at the Elvis beloved hearts chapel.

Shelly would come to know, just exactly why they referred to Ryan a jaw buster deluxe: when he gave her, her very first taste of what in good times and in bad times meant.  She was busy hustling about cooking his favorite meal, Lasagna and Spaghetti bolognaise, while making sure that the house was tidy, the entire home all washed up and neat and her laundry done and ironed (as Ryan was a strange, silly neat freak for a construction supervisor). Ryan was scary at times when Shelly watched him pack out all the perishables, the tinned stuff and other groceries on his day off and scrub the kitchen cupboards down to obsessive clean and repack them all according to date, name and size in neat rows. She swore that there was something really wrong upstairs with him" when it came to that. In all other things he was a sweetheart and would always spoil the kids and bring them, their favorite treats and order their favorite take always on a Friday.

So Shelly being herself, forgot that the lasagna was baking in the oven and was chatting to her neighbor next door Thelma, who was crying and lamenting (with a shiny new black eye), how Roger her boyfriend had beaten her up again, after he caught her with another younger guy two nights ago in their home. Roger beat her so hard that when he left she could not even get up from the kitchen floor where she layed, kicked, punched and bruised and battered to call 911 for help. Shelly being in shock was applying some aloe vera ointment to her friend’s big swollen eye and handing her a bottle of Southern Gin to down and help her numb the pain of what Roger did. Shelly was never in any state to judge someone like Thelma, she knew all too well that most women like her and Thelma, who had chosen men in the construction world as partners had to deal with a lot of things and just learn to toughen up. While Thelma cried on and lamented, Shelly remembered how angry Ryan would get when he brought up the topic of them having kids and Shelly would then start dancing and singing around the house to try and get away from him and just be on her own. Shelly was no idiot and was not about to let Ryan knock her up with a few and then allow him to find another younger version of her and leave her with a permanent tab for life. Funny enough, Ryan got to Shelly and in one of their wild weekends out with Roger and Thelma, drunk as can be, Ryan and Shelly went for it and conceived their first baby also named Shelly. Thelma would be the god mother not only of the beautiful baby Shelly, but two more precious ones to follow thereafter.

In all things she obeyed Ryan and even when he dragged her off on Sunday mornings to church, to listen to the very fiery Reverend Lester Ray preach his usual brimstone and fire sermons, while she swore he looked directly at her, she would sit next to Ryan as the ever obedient wife and take it all in. It’s not she was not a believer, it’s just that her relationship with her maker, was one she never cared