Unit 4 Discussion 8

The Tides That Bind by Erica Kennedy

Author Bio

Erica Kennedy is an assistant director for a Washington, D.C.-based association with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard University and a master’s degree in creative fiction writing from Seton Hill University. In addition to writing fiction novels, she’s also a blogger and a freelance editor. The Tides That Bind is her debut novel. She can be contacted by visiting www.ericakennedy.com

Character

BRADFORD "BREAD" JONES' life is about survival. Survival from the streets, that is. Now that he's begun to find his way and formed a plan of action for his life and his daughter's, will he survive the next pitfall that awaits him that could threaten to destroy it all?

Excerpt

Bread sat on the back of the bus and rested his head against its window. A warm, late night breeze flowed in, and aside from the roar of the bus’ exhaust, the city was quiet for a change. No sirens. No bass thumping from rimmed up SUVs. No gunshots. It was midnight and only he and an elderly man were left on the No. 70 heading to Shaw Hills. He had pulled a 12-hour day down at the warehouse and the result of taking 200 boxes off of trucks was manifesting itself in his shoulders. He rotated his neck. He definitely needed to find a better gig. But that was easier said than done. Nobody was interested in hiring someone with a record. Nor did they want to hear the reason behind it.

The bus climbed up Georgia Avenue, roared past a rainbow of carry-outs and cruised past Warren Street and the corner that forever changed Bread’s life. Although he passed it daily, seeing it never eased the pain. If only his cousin had told him the car they were wheeling that night was stolen or that there was five pounds of marijuana in the dashboard when they were pulled over, he wouldn’t be where he is now. Thank God no priors caused his sentence to be reduced. But five years—two off for good behavior—was still more than enough time. And it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

He had just made assistant manager at Denny’s, and he and his girlfriend were about to get their first place together in preparation for their baby on the way. But in the blink of an eye all of it was snatched away.

His first year in, his girl would visit every week. But soon her visits became less frequent. She was never home to accept his calls. Letters were rarely sent. And he soon discovered why: his old neighborhood’s most notorious hustler had her nose open in more ways than one. Not being able to help her or be there for the birth of their daughter was slowly killing him. It made every minute inside feel like an hour; every day like a lifetime. Bread was itching to get out, especially for his baby girl. He couldn’t have her in the middle of that madness, but he couldn’t do a thing about it the joint. All he could do was pump iron, meditate and read. His scheduled release date was May 15th, a day he had been looking forward to for 1,095 days. It was the day he would get to see his baby girl and possibly reconnect with his lady. But it would never be. A bullet intended for the thug she was messing with hit her instead. Now he had a baby who needed a father—and a mother—and he was going to try his hardest to be the best at both. All he needed was a plan.

“Vine Street. Last stop,” the bus driver called out. Bread scooped up Brianna who he had just picked up from his grandmother’s house, grabbed his jacket and her baby bag, and walked down the bus steps. He adjusted Brianna on his hip to free his dreads caught under her tiny head that lay sleep on his shoulder. Thank goodness the bus stop was right in front of his complex. Brianna was getting heavy. He could hear the little knuckleheads in the corridor of his building before he even walked inside. “What’s up, Bread?” asked a short brother wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. The guy took a drag on a blunt and nodded in his direction. Bread nodded back. He headed toward the stairwell and it faintly smelled of urine competing with the fumes of new paint. He climbed the worn tiled stairs up to apartment 307, unlocked his door and headed to the bedroom where he laid Brianna down, and took off her shoes and jacket. Bread walked into the darkened living room and flipped on the light just in time to see a water bug making its way into the kitchen. Before he could inch toward its direction, it disappeared into a crack in the wall. Bread shook his head. He was sure it would be back. He grabbed a wine cooler out of the fridge and and pressed the play button on his answering machine. There was only one message. “Hi, this message is for Bradford Jones. This is Barbara Richards from the sales department at WJNK-TV. Your name was selected from our drawing at the People’s Expo last month and you have been picked as WJNK’s “St. Maarten Fun in the Sun” vacation winner. You need to call me at the station at 5- 5-5-7-1-3-6 so I can give you further details. I will be in the office tomorrow from 10 until 2. Congratulations and I look forward to speaking with you.” Beep. Bread slowly set his cooler on the countertop in disbelief. He pressed the button and played the message once more to be sure of what he heard. It was true. He, of all people, had won something— anything. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” he exclaimed. An all-expense trip was just what he needed to clear his mind. He had never been to any island before and only traveled out of state twice in his lifetime—North Carolina for a family reunion and New Jersey for his grandfather’s funeral. But those were both years ago and he was long overdue for a vacation. He looked up and saw Brianna standing in the living room doorway rubbing her eyes, obviously awakened by his yelling. “Sorry, boobie,” Bread apologized while walking over to pick her up. “Da-da, can I have water?” she asked. At such a late hour, he would have said no. But he was feeling so good right now, Brianna could have gotten diamond earrings out of him—if he had them to give. But he figured if winning this trip was any indicator that his luck was about to change for the better, maybe he could get Brianna those earrings. Maybe he could get her a lot of things he couldn’t right now. And this trip was just what he needed to clear his head, create a plan and try and make a new start. Bread sat on the back of the bus and contemplated whether to tell his boss he needed time off or whether to play the old call-in-sick card. His boss was a fair guy but Bread knew how many brothers there were like him trying to get a gig like his. That is, brothers with records who weren’t being given an opportunity anywhere else.

Bread knew he was a good worker: always on time, working some overtime and weekends, and even missing occasional lunch breaks when the inventory backed up. The most time he ever took off was three days last winter when Brianna had an ear infection. He knew that there was no reason for his boss to turn down his request but he just didn’t want to chance it. Unloading shipments and stocking shelves

wasn’t the best gig, but it was a steady gig. And that is exactly what he needed and Brianna deserved— stability.

The bus stopped at Euclid Street and a tall guy in a black windbreaker and Wizards baseball cap climbed on, and sat two seats in front of Bread. He looked familiar to Bread and the guy must have recognized him as well. He looked over his shoulder several times then turned to ask Bread a question. “Hey, shorty, where I know you from?” “Who me?” Bread asked and pointed to himself. “I don’t know, man.” The guy got up and walked in his direction before taking a seat across from him. “You from ‘round here?” “Yeah, but I don’t think I know you, man,” Bread replied somewhat defensively and gripped the strap of his backpack tighter. The last time somebody stepped to him like this, he was robbed. He wasn’t taking any chances even if it was early in the morning. The guy took off his baseball cap and wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. He looked perplexed for a few minutes before his eyes widened. “Aww man, I know where I know you from, shorty. It’s me, A.J.” Bread looked deeper into his eyes but drew a blank. “From county, man. We were locked down that first week together before I got transferred.” “Oh, hey, what’s up, man?” Bread replied and gave A.J. a pound on his fist. He did remember him. A.J. had helped him fight off three dudes from the southeast section of D.C. his last night on lockdown. The guys in the holding cell were talking shit to them since they were the new kids on the block. But when they stepped to Bread, he had to defend himself although he was outnumbered. But not for long.A.J. took one of the guys down quick, one decided to back off and the other Bread had a pretty good handle on until the guards rushed in and broke it up. He and A.J. were moved to separate cells and he never saw him again until now. “You got a good memory, bruh. Bread replied. “What you been up to, man?”

“Not a damn thing. I got out a few months ago and just been tryna get my shit together. You know how it is.” “I hear you, man.” “Yeah, just tryna get a gig so I can get my mother off my back. You know, put some dollars in my pocket the legal way for a change.” A.J. said before reaching up to pull the bus cord. Bread reached up to do the same. “You getting off here too?” Bread asked.

“Yeah, my boy told me to come down to this warehouse and talk to a man about a job. He said he don’t know if they need anybody else, but to come down and ask anyway.” “Warehouse? You mean H&W Warehouse?” “Yeah, I think. Why? You heard of it?” “That’s where I’m headed. That’s where I work.” “Get the hell out of here. Small world, man,” A.J. replied. “For sure. You need to go that way though,” Bread replied and pointed A.J. in the boss’ direction after they stepped off the bus. “Good luck, man. Maybe I’ll see you around.” “Yeah, no doubt,” A.J. replied. “Thanks, man, I’ll holla at you.” Bread walked toward his workstation behind the building and thought about how good it was actually seeing A.J. again. He didn’t like to think about his prison days but that was one of his better memories: a brother coming to his rescue with no strings attached. That definitely wasn’t the case ever again throughout his sentence or life for that matter.

He thought it would be cool to have A.J. working at the warehouse since he really didn’t socialize much with the other fellas. Half of the brothers there were in his same situation and still carrying that jailhouse mentality around. That was something he wanted to stay away from. At that moment, he remembered the two days he needed off for his trip and A.J. needing a job. Now is probably not the best time to ask for time off, Bread thought. He decided calling in sick would be the best thing to do. And knew it was no time like the present to start his act.

“How you doing, Bradford?” his boss asked as he passed him. “Fine, sir.” Bread sniffled and mustered up a cough.

“Sounds like that cold bug is heading your way, too.” “I know,” Bread replied and smirked when his boss what out of view.