Today we welcome Melissa Perea with an EXTENDED excerpt from her new book, SEEDS OF HATE, along with an ebook and gift card giveaway.
SYNOPSIS:
They said high school would be fun.
They said we would make forever friends.
They said we would have the time of our lives.
They lied.
PURCHASE LINKS:
Chapter 24 – Merry-Go-Round (Javier) An Excerpt
She placed the soles of her feet on the edges of the bar at the perimeter of the circle and then grabbed the bars above that ran beside her head.
“Is this good enough?”
“For now,” I said. “I’ll start slow.”
“Ok. I trust you,” she replied. A smile appeared on her lips and she giggled.
For someone who had technically lost it all and had no one to love, she wasn’t very cynical. In fact, she trusted easily and saw something in everyone. The opposite of me. I could like her, I think. If I needed the distraction. The bigger question was why would she like me? Either way, I would tell her this. Better now before she formed an opinion, than after and wanted to change her mind. I heard that they did that a lot. Girls. Changed their mind.
My thoughts were derailing, so I started pushing to the left with my right arm. Slow and steady. So slow that I walked right next to the rails.
“Good,” I replied. “That might be necessary in the minutes to come.” “You wouldn’t hurt a fly, Javi. Stop trying to intimidate.”
I didn’t reply. There were a lot of things I wouldn’t hurt and then the ones
that I shouldn’t have hurt. So I kept walking and dragging the merry-go-round beside me.
“Do you remember one of the first things you asked me?” I questioned.
Her cheeks crinkled at the top in thought and then she laughed. “Why do you wear all black?”
Innocent hearts remembered innocent things. She liked to believe she hated her father, but in reality I think she missed him more than anything. It was too evident in how she treated everyone else. Always kind. A person full of hate didn’t do that.
“No, although in answer to that, I like the color and it makes picking out clothes less complicated.”
“Fair enough,” she replied. “Oh, I remember now. I asked if Nathan gave you
the scars on your neck.” Her words someone managed to float on pillows. Inquisitive like a child, Selah’s questions, although meaty at times, never offended me.
“Yes, and do you remember what I said?”
She swallowed hard. “You said, you did.”
“Correct.”
“Why … Javi, did you try–” She started to ask, but I cut her off.
I began to move the spinning wheel quicker. Selah tightened her grip and sat
further back.
“Close your eyes and hold on,” I said.
My feet stood planted in the sand surrounding the playground. It was dusk
and the night would grow cold soon. I pumped the wheel to the left with stronger pushes at each contact.
“Nathan and I didn’t grow apart, we just stopped. One day we were friends and then the next it was like we never existed. That was in junior high. He didn’t become my enemy until high school, and from that point on, a series of events took place, one after another.”
She was spinning fast, but not fast enough.
“I’m getting dizzy, Javi,” she said.
“Good,” I replied.
I pumped harder. “Eventually there was only hate between us, and he made
my life a living hell. He thought it was funny. He laughed at me every day. It was a giant joke to him.” I pumped harder.
“I had no one, Selah. My mom wasn’t around. I’d go days without seeing her because of her schedule.” My voice grew as the merry-go-round quickened. I started running in spurts next to the wheel to increase its speed. My head ached and my breath came out short and shallow. I pushed harder.
“Javier,” she said through gritted teeth, “I can’t hold on much longer, it’s going too fast.”
I pushed harder and harder and harder.
“He punished me daily, Selah. Daily! He wouldn’t leave me alone. He kept making me pay. He wouldn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop!” I yelled, hot spit flying out
of my mouth into the cold.
“Javi, I can’t hold on. Please stop! Make it stop!” she cried.
“I couldn’t make it stop, Selah. I tried ignoring him. I tried walking away. I
tried everything!” My voice cut the air and if the sky could cry from pain it did. “Stop it, Javi! Stop it!” she yelled once more.
I grabbed one bar with both hands and halted the merry-go-round. Selah’s
body had moved to the outer edge from the force of the spin, her hands were bright red and slipped from the bars as she hung over the side. Her chest moved up and down rapidly, and her hair ran wild around her eyes.
We both held still. The park, now abandoned in the setting sun, was quiet except for the crows on the telephone wire. Their silhouette was the only movement against the moon except for the silent breeze rustling the trees.
She sat up and held her head in her hands. “What did you do, Javi?” she questioned without wanting to know the answer. Looking up, she caught my eye. “What did you do?”
I walked up to her, knelt in the sand at her knees and grabbed her hand. Raising it up in the air I dropped it back down. And then my head followed into her lap and my shoulders fell forward, wrapping my arms around her warmth.
“I let go,” I said. And as I held her, I let it all go again. Except this time, it was better.
Author Bio:
I get very cranky when I am tired. If getting fat wasn’t a side effect, I would eat freshly baked cookies and milk every day for breakfast. Currently, I have one kid, one husband and one dog. I plan to add more to the kids and possibly the dogs, but definitely am keeping the husband to one. If for some random reason you stumbled upon my high school yearbook you would find a picture of me under “Class Clown”. I have a college degree, but instead of earning dollar bills with my educated mind, I spend my days playing with my offspring. My life is super fun.
I write because I want so share my heart with you and make you think more about the world around you.
Melissa Peres was born and raised in Southern California. She currently resides in San Diego with her husband and children. Seeds of Hate is Melissa’s first novel.
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