Too Much of a Good Thing Ain't Bad - Softcover

Nero, Clarence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0767929721 ISBN 13: 9780767929721

Verlag: Broadway Books, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

In this sequel to THREE SIDES TO EVERY STORY, daring and acclaimed writer Clarence Nero takes us back into the lives of Johnny and James in a powerful novel about fraternities, family, and college drama.

Johnny and James survived the tough streets of New Orleans, but when Hurricane Katrina lays waste to their beloved Ninth Ward, they are forced to begin a new chapter in Washington DC. For Johnny, this means finally pursuing his dream of a becoming a student at the historic Wheatley College. James soon joins Johnny in the Nation’s Capitol but the strong connection that brought them together in prison is strained by the pressures of their new lives. Then Johnny’s brother Carl and his wife, Tiffany, introduce Johnny to the beautiful, sexy, and smart, Sheila Doggett with the intent of steering Johnny in a different direction. The entire family rallies around Johnny and Shelia’s budding friendship and Johnny prepares to join the frat that is a legacy in his family.

But once James gets wind of what Johnny’s family is up to, he decides that he’ll stop at nothing to save his relationship. Meanwhile, Johnny is struggling to keep the peace with everyone and keeping a potentially deadly secret that could stand in the way of his dreams. Everyone is soon confronted with the truth that the havoc in their lives has only just begun…

How far will you go for love?

Our heroes and sheroes wrestle with this question as they struggle to do right by themselves and those they love and the result is a fast-paced, thought-provoking roller coaster of a read.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

CLARENCE NERO is the author of Three Sides to Every Story and the critically acclaimed novelCheekie: A Child Out of the Desire. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 3: James

I’m a good person, y’all, and I really don’t mean nobody any harm. I just need to get that off my chest right from the beginning, because I know how people are out here in this world, honey. I’m black, gay, and proud of who I am, and some people can’t handle me being a straight-up, in-your-face type of person like Johnny’s phony-ass people who are at the center of this controversy in the first place.

I don’t understand why those people won’t simply leave us alone. Me and Johnny love each other and have been through so much to be together, y’all, that it doesn’t make any sense for us to be going through anything else. I was almost killed by one of Johnny’s own cousins, honey. Shot me down like an animal in cold blood, but I survived, like a cat with nine lives. You better believe I came back to Johnny after near death, so you know I ain’t about to lose him now. I’ll fight a bitch between two drops of rain for my man, honey, and walk through plates of hot iron and fire to be with him, too. I really want y’all to know how serious I am when it comes to my love for Johnny. So everything I tell you from this point on will make a whole lot of sense. I ain’t even gone lie, y’all. I did some crazy shit trying to hold on to Johnny. So if you hear about me slashing somebody’s tires, just know that it was love that made me do it. It was my love for Johnny, honey.

And I also would like to say up front that I’m very proud of Johnny and the fact that he’s a college student and making something out of his life. I’m not jealous of him at all. Baby, nobody knows better than me how hard it is for black men out here. The world ain’t trying to give a brother man nothing for free. You see, that’s what makes what me and Johnny have so special. I understand him on a level like nobody else does, because we both been down similar roads. What I’m trying to say is that me and Johnny have done our share of time behind bars. We ex-cons, honey. And right now it doesn’t matter why I went to jail, but just know that I ain’t going back for nothing in the world. I changed my life around and found God. Period. Nobody in this world is perfect, anyway. We all make mistakes, and I made quite a few in my time. But that’s all behind me–behind us. Me and Johnny wanted greater things out of life. We often talked a lot about what our lives would look like once we got out of jail. One of Johnny’s main goals was to get his GED and go to college. My baby is living his dream, honey. As for me, I wanted to do something in fashion, because I’m a fierce designer and love the spotlight. Always could eat up a motherfucking runway, honey. Move over Tyra and Naomi, James Santiago have y’all beat hands down. You don’t have to believe me though. Just ask around the gay scene in New Orleans. I’m legendary, honey. You think Oprah’s Legends Ball was a spectacle? Back in the day, all you had to do was stop by Club Circus in the French Quarter on a Wednesday night and there you would see me onstage giving them children–the gay boys and girls, honey–the performance of a lifetime. Baby, I was serving them children drag, commanding attention every time I took to the stage. The children lived for me, and that’s why I had so many enemies, too. When you got it going on, you gone get people hating on you. I’ve been stabbed and kicked around and bruised so many times that it ain’t even funny.

So what I’m saying is, I know firsthand that they have some cutthroat people out there in the world, and that brings me to Ms. Bitch, who sparked this beef between me and Johnny. I’m talking about Sheila, commander in chief of Advantage Principles, a big corporation whose sole purpose is to steal government money under the guise of helping poor and underprivileged kids from the inner cities. Yeah, I said it, because it’s true. That company didn’t have a damn clue on how to go about reaching those kids from southeast DC, where I was a teacher’s assistant. We were doing just fine, anyway, before they came with their principles and bullshit doctrines like the United States Army demanding and telling folks what to do. Poor Mr. Johnson, the principal, didn’t have a say in the matter either. James Baldwin Academy was a charter school started by parents, and they ran it with a closed hand and tight fist, honey. Although the parents felt Mr. Johnson was a good leader for the school, they also criticized him. Said Mr. Johnson was too timid and wasn’t stern enough. But bottom line, the man was simply nice and genuine and people took his kindness for weakness. Mr. Johnson believed in giving everyone a fair chance, including me.

Personally, I think once word got out around the school that Mr. Johnson was one of the gay children, honey, heads began swirling and all of sudden he wasn’t doing a good job as principal. And when Mr. Johnson hired me, that’s when all hell broke loose around that school, honey. They thought he had completely lost his judgment for letting a wide-open punk walk the halls at Baldwin Academy, at least that’s what I heard they said. Baby, them parents and teachers were outraged at Mr. Johnson.

They tried to pressure that man to give me my walking papers. Said I was not the right fit at the school and that I was giving the wrong impression to those kids regarding my sexuality. But the truth of the matter was, those kids loved me, and that was the real reason a lot of them teachers and parents up at the school hated me. They were jealous. You should have seen me in action. I came in that school like the grand diva I am and got those kids together, honey. They assigned me to an English class with Ms. Greene, bless her heart. Ms. Greene was a sweet old lady who wore round frames and talked very proper like you would expect of an English teacher. Her class was supposed to be one of the toughest in the whole school. The rejects they were called: a bunch of knucklehead eighth graders who nobody wanted in their classes.

The problem with Ms. Greene was that she was too softspoken and she didn’t command the kids’ respect. With our kids–I’m talking about black kids, honey–you gotta go at them with authority in your voice and let them know who’s the boss. I don’t care what grade level or age they at, they are kids. Period. That meant no talking back to me or speaking without raising their hands to get my or Ms. Greene’s attention. I told them from day one that they were at school to do their work and to take learning seriously. If they had a problem with the rules of the class, then I kindly pointed them to the door. Of course, some of them tested and resisted me at first. Said I was not their teacher and that they didn’t have to answer to me. I even had one boy called me a straight-up faggot to my face.

Shawn was his name and he was the class clown. He had everyone laughing at my expense. But, baby, I had been called worse, so it was not like he hurt my feelings or anything. I got up in Shawn’s face, informed him that it didn’t matter who I was screwing because that was none of his damn business. And whether he liked me or not, I was an authority figure at the school and he was going to respect me regardless. Moreover, if he thought he could beat my ass, then he was welcome to meet me outside and try.

Honey, those kids respected me as a result of keeping it real with them, especially upon hearing about me going to jail. I was honest with them about having been arrested for everything from fighting to stealing. I even showed them bruises and cuts on my body. And you could hear a pin drop in the room as...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Broadway Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0767929721
• ISBN 13: 9780767929721
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 235
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar