Excerpt 4

Before I can move forward and discuss the characters in books 3, 4, and 5, I have to go back to book one, Chasing the Wrong Dream.This is a great example of foreshadowing that can only take place if the author has a clear vision of the future books. While I don't do outlines and character profiles before writing, I have the main points of the story mapped in my head.

This scene foretells the revelation of half siblings in book 2. While I only introduce 2 of the three children Bobby fathered with other women, this scene also mimics a scene in book 4, Finding Jessica. It also establishes the baseline that Jilissa felt even the children Bobby fathered during affairs were important family members, before it is revealed posthumously in her journal.

Even at a young age the personality differences between the twins is established.

Anyway since books 3 and 4 are the stories of the adventures these two have, I thought I'd share this first before getting into those books.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** .

  When Hannah was twelve, she played in a park one Saturday afternoon while her mother sat on a bench at the edge of the playground. Hannah felt as though she had grown up at this park. Her father would watch the Pop Warner League football games while her mother took Hannah to the playground. She was swinging, trying to swing as high as she could.

 “Mom, Mom, Mom! Look!” Hannah yelled as she saw her mother talking on her phone, ignoring her. Discouraged, Hannah let the swing slow down and when it had slowed enough, she jumped off to run toward the slide.

A man standing near the public restrooms watched with interest. He pulled a ski mask over his head and bolted straight for Hannah. Hannah ran straight toward the slide but looked to the side as a group of children approached. The man bent slightly, scooped Hannah off the ground, and had her tiny body slung over his shoulder in what appeared to be practiced movements.

A light blue van sped across the parking lot; the side door was open as the driver turned the van so that the abductor could run straight into the waiting getaway vehicle.

“Mom! Help! Help! Let go of me! Mom! Put me down! Put me down! Now!” Hannah’s panic was heard in her frantic screams as she tried to kick the man in his chest while she flailed on his back with her fists.

“Hannah! Somebody stop that man! Help! Oh my god! Help!” Jilissa yelled as she sprinted after her daughter.

The man in the mask threw his head over his shoulder as he neared the edge of the parking lot to see he was well in the lead. Just as he turned his head back around to finish his sprint to the van, his legs collided with something.

A young football player in uniform and pads had thrown his body head long into the man’s legs, causing him to trip. Not missing a beat, the young man rolled to his feet, reached down, grabbed Hannah’s foot, and pulled her away from the man’s grasp. The man in the mask pulled himself up into a crouch.

“You little shit, I’m gonna fuck you up,” he growled at the boy. The young man, tall and stocky for his age, appeared nearly as large as a full-grown adult in the football pads. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. He brushed his shaggy brown hair from his eyes and stepped protectively between Hannah and the man as he assumed a three-point football stance. The young man never wavered in his stare at the attacker as he readied himself.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” the boy said to Hannah as he flexed his knees, preparing to charge the man. The man began to rise, Jilissa and other adults closed most of the distance, forcing the man to rush.

He began to stand when he lurched forward and landed hard on his chest and caught himself with his hands after thrown forward. A second ball player, slightly smaller and wearing his helmet, dived headfirst into the man’s back, driving his helmet hard into his spine. The van sped away, squealing its tires as it accelerated. Jilissa reached Hannah just before the rest of the concerned parents arrived at the scene.

The man in the ski mask managed to scramble to his feet. He swerved at first, stretching the pain from the blows his body endured before breaking into a sprint toward the wooded lot adjacent to the park.

“You better run,” the larger boy said loudly but did not shout.

“The Combs boys done fucked you up! Pussy!” The smaller one took delight in screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Derick! Watch your mouth!” a woman struggling to carry a cooler and lawn chair admonished.

The boy without the helmet turned around to Hannah and Jilissa, he paid Jilissa only a glance before he looked Hannah in the eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked softly.

“I… I… think so, did you tackle that guy?” Hannah asked.

“It wasn’t hard, he really isn’t in shape, my name is Eric,” the boy said modestly.

“I’m Hannah and you saved my life!” Hannah gushed.

“That’s a pretty name,” Eric told her.

“I’m Derick! We kicked that creepy guy’s ass!” Derick announced loudly, slapping Eric on the back.

The woman who had admonished her son approached. Jilissa and the other woman locked eyes for a split second before the other woman averted her gaze.

“Miranda? Just so you’re aware, this wasn’t intentional,” Jilissa said.

Seeing both her sons’ jerseys already covered with grass, dirt, and the tear stains on Hannah’s face, Miranda looked horrified.

“What happened did they hurt… they get rambunctious sometimes, I shouldn’t have let them run ahead, it’s my fault. I bet it was an acci…” Hannah cut the grown up off mid-sentence.

“A guy was carrying me away and these boys tackled him and saved me,” Hannah said as she pulled herself free from her mother’s grip and stepped toward the woman.

“I called 911. Police are on their way,” announced someone from the group of parents gathered a few feet away.

“Really, Miranda, they did save Hannah; it was truly incredible,” Jilissa said softly, looking at the boys warmly.

“They take after their dad quite a bit. Eric in size, Derick in… fierceness,” Miranda offered as she abruptly looked at the ground. Jilissa stiffened a bit and pulled her daughter to her.

“Well, you guys probably need to join your team, I need to find my husband,” Jilissa said in an odd tone; Hannah forced herself to look up at her mom.

“Yeah, we do need to get moving,” Miranda said sheepishly.

“If you’re ever in trouble, just call the Combs brothers!” Derick said as he bolted toward the football field.

“I hope we get to see you again, Hannah,” Eric said sincerely before trotting off in the direction of his brother.

“Go Yellowjackets!” Hannah yelled. Jilissa pulled Hannah along toward the bleachers where Bobby sat.

“I like those boys, especially Eric, he is so cute! Mommy, do you know that woman?” Hannah asked.

“No hon, she is a friend of your dad’s.” Jilissa had that odd tone in her voice again, so Hannah let the conversation drop.

 

Jilissa spoke softly to Bobby as she explained what had transpired. Hannah tried to listen but could only hear a few words, the cheerleaders were getting the fans in the bleachers hyped up and excited, making it very noisy.

The few fragments of sentences Hannah was able to discern didn’t make sense to her.

“…She doesn’t seem to understand why I don’t want to talk to her…”

“…are you sure, he did threaten…”

“…tell her before she gets boy crazy…”

The adults began to talk about some women named Jessica and Brandy. Uninterested in the conversation, Hannah busied herself watching the game. She was smitten with number ninety two Eric. He seemed to be tackling everyone, not that she understood all the nuances of football, but Eric seemed to be unstoppable. That much Hannah knew.

The next day, Hannah came down for breakfast to find a guitar case sitting on the kitchen table. She opened it out of curiosity, it was brand new and still had the tags on it. Her eyes widened as a wide, mischievous grin spread on her lips. An off-white Ibanez Jem, the very guitar she begged her parents to buy for over a year. Hannah forgot about breakfast as she snatched the guitar from its case and bolted out the back door in her nightgown and socks. She burst into her father’s recording studio and plugged the guitar into an amplifier.

Hannah barely passed the beginner stages of learning guitar but over the course of the next six months, she progressed in leaps and bounds.

Her own amplifier was her next out of the blue surprise, a Peavy 6505, not a small practice amplifier like her father insisted she use until now. This was an amplifier she could use to play in a band.

The entire incident at the park soon vanished from Hannah's memory as she became completely immersed in studying guitar.