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the war has just begun (Part 1)
she clinches her fist tight
to her chest,
feeling the woman she's become,
so young... yet, so old.
this gurl, the daughter
of many ancestors passed,
her main goal is---
taking on the world at her
leisure.. tried and true, ms...
"lemme have this for 50 cents,
and I'll pay you back" typa gurl.
never willing to pay her
debt, the war has just begun.
her hands show ages of insight,
just not seen by others.
I remember chatting with her,
never saying much, she'd
respond here or there,
and nod her head a time or two.
"you like talking, huh?"
she loved to ask me that.
not watching her like I should,
she'd dip in and out of
my life. curious to know
him, her, and him too.
she never found her own
spotlight..
on our street,
not too far from mrs. lee,
and mrs. brown, she'd skip
with her bows and beads, all
smiles. i wasn't fond of her,
she stole from the candy lady
and everyone knew it. so a
gang of gurls followed her
home from school one day,
one shouting, "I saw you, I saw
you," just as loud as the day is
clear... ran up on her first...
I was sitting on my porch, legs
dangling, eating a dreamsicle, and casually
trying to lick the vanilla goodness
from my fingers... when I heard them.
vanessa (that's her name), all smiles,
still skipping, ignored the chants,
and lost her mind.
the gurl who was shouting, suddenly
stopped.. and for the life of me,
I didn't know why.
the war has just begun.
©Tremaine L. Loadholt 2003 All rights reserved
The War Has Just Begun
The Witness (Part 2)
and as she stopped,
I saw vanessa clinching
a small silver blade in her hand,
smiling (like she always does).
the gurl... once shouting,
mouth wide, now scared,
hands covering her screams,
darted her eyes my way,
while I sat, legs still dangling,
fingertips cold, and body shaking.
The war has just begun.
I, conscious of what was
about to go down,
ran up my stairs shouting,
"momma, momma, come quick."
my mother with her hair
wrapped up in a scarf, sucked her teeth
and reminded me
that her stories were on, and it
had better be important.
... "momma, vanessa out
there bout to cut one of dem
gurls with a blade."
"What!!!"
We ran back outside,
witnessed the dark
blood leaking from the corners of
the gurl's mouth, and knew
we were too late.
vanessa with her too bad
to be good self stood there,
not in shock... more like relieved.
dabbed the blade on her
skirt , and casually walked off.
The other gurls ran home,
kicking up dust for miles.
My mother taunted vanessa,
screaming cuss words, and
telling her she "better get back here,"
couldn't' believe what
had happened.
And in the end,,
We were witnesses
to nothing at all..
©Tremaine L. Loadholt
The War Has Just Begun
Waiting It Out (Part 3)
so, vanessa walked off into
what seemed to be a gloomier than
gloomy night, while my mother and I
watched over this gurl. who was she
anyway? and why did vanessa
do what she did?
I remember them shouting at her,
was this gurl part of the same
crew that taunted vanessa
at school every single day?
making fun of her clothes,
her hair, her.. not so.. new shoes???
The war has just begun.
"Yes, this is Claire, we need
an ambulance at 122 E. Main St.
A little gurl, I'm guessing maybe 13
has been cut. Please send someone
immediately." My mom was shouting
into the operator's ear, while crying
at the same time.. I looked at her,
and then she at me; "mom, why
are u crying, do you know this gurl?"
"No baby, but this could have easily
been you." I hugged her,
just to feel her close to me
since what she needed was just that, at
that very moment.
The ambulance arrived twenty minutes
later, yes.. twenty minutes later.
I sat there, watched this gurl's eyes
fade in and out, then thought..
*what if this was me?*
"Can you tell me your name, sweety?
My name is Josh. I'm with the EMT,
can u tell me your name?"
And then, with a hush of chopped
up syllables, the gurl spoke;
"I---ttt's A--mm--aand-aa."
Oh My God! Amanda, I know this gurl.
Yeah... that's why vanessa cut
her, that's why.
Remembering that day at school
in the cafeteria, Amanda was
that chick pushing vanessa,
trashing her in front of the entire
4th period Lunch, and I...
sat there, and did nothing. and as soon
as I remembered this, I
didn't feel bad anymore, didn't care
about what vanessa had done.
In all honesty, I kinda felt relieved too,
and wondered where vanessa went.
I wanted to go be with her,
and wait it out,
because a crime had been committed,
and she.. was the culprit.
©Tremaine L. Loadholt
there u go know..... thanks..
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I used to for the .
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my work
http://meetmsmindful.wordpress.com
http://www.lulu.com/content/7598631
http://evan-roth.com/grey.php
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