Cookie

Latrice Lanay

Description

Gloria was born and raised in Baltimore. Athough she was the seventh of nine sisters; she was always the one that was more outspoken and into life and took on whatever life brought her way. This is her story!  Now although this is fiction, some of the things that were introduced to the reader in each chapter were put there for a purpose. I have no idea, but what I do know there are a lot of Gloria’s out there. There also are a lot of Cookie’s too. If you are the reader share the same name and this book did not pertain to your life style then, please excuse the actions that take place. On the other hand, you can relate then please know that there is always a way out of situations. Prayer changes things! Believe me, I know.

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Relations familiales
• Thrillers
• Suspense
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 08 septembre 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781449007409
• Langue: English

Extrait

Cookie
Latrice Lanay
 

AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
 
 
© 2009 Latrice Lanay. All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
First published by AuthorHouse 9/3/2009
 
 
 
ISBN: 978-1-4490-0740-9 (e)
ISBN: 978-1-4490-0974-8 (sc)
 
 
 
Printed in the United States of America
Bloomington, Indiana
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This book is dedicated to every “Cookie” I have come across in my lifetime. Please know that my heart is full of laughter and joy within the moments that we have shared and pain and sorrow in moments that we have also shared. Thank you for letting me in on your life and being able to tell others the truth about it. God bless.
 
Acknowledgments
First I want to thank God for blessing me with a special talent like writing. I know that there were times when I didn’t realize how talented I was, and He made it so that I could see. Second, I want to thank my father for getting my mother pregnant and a special thanks to my mother for not aborting me. I know that we have been through some crazy times in life, but it was all worth it. I love you both. I want to thank my brothers and sisters for believing in me. I want to thank my family. I want to thank my friends. I want to thank my teachers, whether living or deceased. That is why I write. They pulled out so much in me. They inspired me to challenge my brain. I want to acknowledge my fellow writers. They encouraged me to continue to dream. Thank you! I needed that. Also, last but not least, anyone who has ever read anything I have written and enjoyed it. Thank you. This is for you. Here is a message: “God listens, and then He speaks!”
 
 
 
P.S. I was about to give up on my dream and this book would have never been, but I learned that I was pregnant, and my whole world turned around. Although I had been writing this book for seven years off and on, I knew that I could never give up on my dream. My lesson was that I should’ve never blocked my blessing. I really want to thank God for interfering in my life!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In the Beginning There Was Cookie …
Chapter 1
What is life without love? Nothing. My name is Gloria Ann Parker, and my life is another story. Eight of my sisters and I were raised in a single-parent home, but with two parents. Our mother, big Gloria, or Mama, as we called her, was the type of woman who felt that she was strong enough to raise her children without a man. My father never lived with us, but he was there to help with whatever was needed. My sisters and I went to my dad’s house quite often. Although my mother had a good heart, it was always broken. I believe that it came from her bad choices of men. Inside my mother suffered from constant loneliness. She treated each one of her daughters like the father they had. What was it about her that would make a man treat her wrong? , Mama never really knew how to love. When she would start to love again, most of those people would die. I think that is what caused my mother to drink a lot as I was growing up. Resulting from her continuous heartbreak, she became an alcoholic.
My father, Gary Parker, was the opposite. He was ten years younger than my mother, and he was in love with her. Honestly I believe that they both loved each other. By the time Daddy was about twenty-one he was a high school graduate with three little daughters. We were the youngest of Mama’s children. Our father was a good man. He did anything and everything for his daughters. Daddy also would help my mother out when he could with the rest of my sisters. We all loved him. That often made Mama jealous. I think it was because he had more love for us than any of her other children’s fathers ever had. The other fathers wanted nothing to do with Mama.
Mama’s life before Daddy brought her best friend Carmen. She and my mother were both from the South. Carmen was beautiful,! As she grew into a teenager, her father would sneak in her bedroom at night to have sex with her while everyone was sleep. Carmen often cried about it. My mother didn’t like it, and she was known as the “town whore” because she was fifteen with two babies. During those times, a teen mother was unheard of. Carmen decided to move. She could no longer stomach the sexual abuse from her father. She figured that she and my mother had to leave their small town for a big city. They ended up in Baltimore. Carmen was another person who really knew how to deal with my mother. I don’t understand how Carmen put up with my mother because she was more soft spoken, and my mother was loud and outrageous!
My paternal grandmother, Annie Mae Parker, adored my mother. My grandmother, also known as Granny, helped my mother take care of us. Granny was an extremely sweet woman. Anyone who knew Granny couldn’t help but to love her. She would give you a place to stay and a good meal to eat if you were hungry. Granny was like a mother to her community. Granny made sure that my sisters and I grew up with morals. When she died, my mother went crazy. I hate feeling sorry for mother, but that was one of the times I couldn’t help it.
What was it like having all of those sisters? Well, let’s see. My eldest sister, Deloris, or Sister, was jealous because Mama never let her do anything. When Sister turned eighteen, she left our house. She ended up being a nurse. Sister married a man named Tony. On the outside they were a nice couple. Tony definitely needs a backbone to deal with her. My sister is the man, and he is the woman. Together they have three children, T.J., who’s four, John, who’s three, and then there is Vanessa, who just turned two. I hope they don’t have any more children. God knows that she doesn’t need any more children!
The next sister in line is Evelyn, or Eve, as we called her. She is one of the nicer sisters I have. She has a lot of class. She was genuinely a kind person. Then there was Karen. Karen wanted to leave Baltimore for good. She attended and graduated from Temple University. While attending Temple she met and married a man named Kevin. He is nice. He reminds me of the male version of her. Karen stayed in Philadelphia. She promised me that she would never return to Baltimore unless she was forced to. She became a teacher. She and her husband live in a suburb outside of Philly.
After Karen, another sister I have is Cheryl. She’s known as the craziest sister. Cheryl has two children by two different men. Her oldest son, Brandon, is two, and he lives with his father. Her youngest son, Tyler, lives with our other sister. She is Cheryl’s rescuer. She always has been. Cheryl’s profession right now is nothing but living with Mama. She’s a fighter. She always fights, especially Tyler’s father, Quick. My sister Elizabeth practices Islamic rules. She and my baby sister Barbara keep arguments going about religion. Liz, as we call her, is also married. Her husband, Jamil, is a part of the Nation of Islam, and they are raising Tyler and her new baby, Aminta, who is one month old, up to be in his religion. Barbara hates that! Jamil controls Liz’s every action. Jamil hates me. Ask me if I give a damn. Hell no! I believe that he likes my sister, Cynthia. I wish I would catch him look at Cynthia. Bastard!
I left out a sister because we aren’t speaking, and that’s Faith, otherwise known as Tiny. I can’t stand her. She acts so holy. Faith goes to church, but you see her in the disco on Saturday dancing to Earth, Wind, and Fire, talking about that’s my song. What is she doing there? Grooving—but she is the first one in church on Sunday morning.
Cynthia, who is next in line, is my “girly” sister. She loves fashion. She could always hook up an outfit out of nothing but make it look like something. She’s in college. She is very smart. She gets the best grades from studying so hard. She was top of her high school graduating class. She also believes that we all need to take things one day at a time. My sisters like to pick with her sometimes because of her tone. I always had to take up for her because she is more soft spoken than I am. She is one of my favorites and the closest sister I have.
Then lastly there’s Barbara. Barbara is my angel! She is heavily into church, which is great. She’s another smart sister. Church and school keep her focused on life. Our family is one thing, but church and school are one in the same. As a whole we make up some crazy sisters. The only time we have unity is on Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving is going to change for good, I know.
 
 
 
I can recall springtime of 1973. This was when everyone was living. I was living back and forth with my parents. I couldn’t help it. My grandmother didn’t like that, and every chance she had she would let me know that I was wrong. Well, I’m the most outgoing daughter that Mama has. I have always been that way. I mean … I love my sisters, but my sisters were never like that.
I can remember when my second oldest sister, Evelyn, or Eve, as we called her, had been out of the house about two years. She was living in south Baltimore. There is neighborhood called