2011 USA BOOK NEWS BEST BOOKS AWARD WINNER
“She passed a hard candy over her shoulder as though whatever was in the tiny wrapper was supposed to make it all better. I clutched the peppermint in my hand and buried my face in the hard leather seat while she explained what was going to happen to me. She promised that I’d be safe from then on.”
And so begins the journey of Naomi, whose amazing story picks up where the past and future intersect. As Naomi struggles to hide the ugly physical and emotional reminders of yesterday that insist on haunting her dreams, she crosses paths with a young boy, Xavier and his quick-tempered mother, Mona, who both share an interesting story much like her own.
Running from Solace is an emotional tale which will send you catapulting on a breathless journey beyond breaking points and will finally lead you to believe in the power of accepting what is to be.
- Excerpt
Once, she flung a heavy ashtray at my head. Blood spewed onto my new pink dress like red polka dots all because I didn’t respond to her calling me, “Naomi! Naomi!” I was trying frantically to reach her special ashtray from underneath the bed. I didn’t hear her the first time. By the second call, I could tell she was getting mad, but I almost had the gold colored ashtray in my hand when I heard her say, “If I call you one more time!” That did it for me; I knew I was getting a whooping. I took my time walking back to the living room.
“Don’t make me call you again, Naomi,” Mama said again as I approached her. I left a small distance between us as I presented her with what she was impatiently waiting for. She went crazy. Mama hit me right on the top of my head over and over again with the glass ashtray.
“You ungrateful little bitch!” she yelled repeatedly in my face. I tried to cover my head with my arms until they grew tired, and I gave up. Fury danced in her eyes and spit sprinkled over me like morning mist. My eyes burned from the tiny flecks of ashes that fell from the ashtray. I tried closing them tightly. Warm blood trickled slowly down my forehead and penetrated my eyelids and cooled the burning sensation.
“Yeah, you must like gettin’ hit,” Mama screamed so loud I wanted my ears to close. I preferred the deafening sound of peace when she whooped me and she was silent. Out of sheer luck at some point during the beating, I passed out. I usually did. Thank God.
When I woke up, I was lying on my bed, which almost never had any sheets on it. I was still wearing what was left of my tattered dress. It was covered in dried blood, more red than pink now. I didn’t have the desire to go look in the mirror. I knew already, since this was not the first time. My eyes would be really fat, and this time, only one was opened partially. I was able to peek out of it. Raised, sweltering, purplish bruises would cover my arms, back and face—the usual damage. My head throbbed. I couldn’t lift my arms. I was afraid to move, afraid to even breathe. I lay there as still as I could. I followed the dingy, white, laced hem of what was once my pretty dress, from my knee to my ankle and across the dirty mattress as it fell off the bed onto the floor where I could see it no more. I wanted to cry, but no tears came. I must have run out of tears, I thought as I managed a painful smile that made my head ache from the inside out even more.
“Nobody likes cry baby, bad-assed kids! Shut. The. Fuck Up!”
Mama hated it when I cried; she always said I only wanted people to feel sorry for me. So, if I had run out of tears, that would’ve made my Mama very happy. I would never have to hear her call me a cry baby anymore, and maybe she would smile at me like she did when I lit her cigarettes on the stove. Well, not like the time when I lit the skinny white one on both ends. I shivered a little when I thought of the whooping I got for doing that. How was I supposed to know when it didn’t have the brown paper on one end of it? She’d always taught me to light the white end only.
Ever since that time, I would always ask first, “Which end, Mommy?” I didn’t want to disappoint her again or make her mad.
I had an urge to go pee. I was comfortable and warm. I didn’t want to move, plus that’s when the pain reverberated through me. Of course my head hurt and I had some aches all over my body, but as long as I kept really still it wasn’t that bad. It could have been worse, like some of the other times before. Moving was painfully impossible and I knew it, so I didn’t.
More than the pain, more than anything else, I didn’t want Mama to wake up. She was lying right behind me. Her arm was gently positioned around my waist. Her hand rest on my stomach. I was balled in a knot with my back against her stomach. I knew she was still asleep. I felt her breath blowing softly on the back of my neck. It felt nice. Every few minutes or so, I could hear her teeth grind against each other or her jaw making a popping sound. The noises terrified me. Still, that was when I loved her the most and felt the safest—when Mama was lying next to me, asleep. I didn’t have the nerve to wake her up just to go. So, I just lay there quietly and watched the torn lace through one eye as I listened to her breathe peacefully until I fell asleep again.
Mama nudged me awake with kisses. Her juicy lips left wet marks on my cheeks. I opened my eye slowly. The day had allowed dusk to run its course and only a small amount of natural light filtered through the window.
Mama gasped as I turned toward her. Then she smiled. “Hey, Mama’s baby,” she cooed.
“Hi, Mama,” I said drowsily.
I felt dampness easing up my back. I wondered how long Mama had been up. Did she know? Did I pee on her? So many thoughts raced through my mind. I didn’t know what to do, so I pretended to be terribly exhausted as she kissed me and explained what I needed to do so she wouldn’t have to whoop me anymore. I needed to be a good girl and do exactly as she said so she wouldn’t have to ever get angry.
“It’s not good for little girls to not listen to their mothers,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, Mama,” was all I answered over and over again after every statement she made. I wanted her to go away. It hurt too much to nod my head or move my lips, for that matter. “I promise. I will be a good girl, from now on.” I only hoped that I looked as sorry as I felt for making Mama angry again. That’s what she was waiting for anyway—for me to forgive her so she would be okay—until the next time. I agreed that I was wrong for not hurrying or answering when she called my name.
“I love you, baby,” she said as she reached toward me.
I closed my eye and grimaced in anticipation thinking maybe she saw it, felt it. She saw me flinch and then snatched back her hand. I closed my eye quickly in preparation of her smack across my face. Mama hated it when I flinched. The hit took too long to come, so I peeked through my eye again. She was already walking out the door closing it softly behind her.
“I love you, too, Mama,” I said to the empty room.
Nakia R. Laushaul was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and now resides in Houston, Texas with her lovable teenage son. She is a poet, novelist, and entrepreneur. Inspired and fueled by attempts to be molded into the norm, she began to write her first body of work titled, THE TRUTH AS I SEE IT: IN POETRY & PROSE. Nakia remains determined to present the truth as she sees it in all facets of her writing, and hopes that her work will inspire and serve a meaningful purpose for her readers. Her debut novel, RUNNING FROM SOLACE was awarded the 2011 USA Book News Best Book Award for African American Fiction. She is currently working on her next novel so get ready.
Get to Know Nakia:
1. If you had one word to describe yourself, what would it be? Ambitious.
2. If you could spend five minutes with any author, who would it be? Dr. Maya Angelou. I read her book when I was a kid and everything about her story and person resonates within me. I feel like she’s a part of who I am today.
3. Why do you write? Storytelling is my passion. I have so many stories inside of me and the only way to get them out is to pick up my pen, well, my laptop. I don’t think I could live without writing. Before I really began to pursue a career in writing, I felt like I was suffocating—that feeling is gone now.
4. What was your greatest hurdle to overcome in your attempt to publish your work? My fear of failure, but finally I had to just flick that little devil off of my shoulder and do what I was born to do. And you know what? It wasn’t so scary after all.
5. How do you feel about being a self-published author? I feel proud. When I received that first proof in the mail, I was completely overwhelmed. Just knowing that I did it all by myself. Nothing can compare to that feeling. I think it was the first time I ever truly felt proud of myself.
6. Did you expect such a positive reaction to your work? Absolutely not. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard horror stories and stories of triumph. I wasn’t sure where I was going to fit on the spectrum. I’m so grateful that I’m having a good experience and I wouldn’t trade it, even on the hardest days for anything in the world. That’s what this whole journey is about—taking a risk.
7. Why did you write Running from Solace? I wrote the book that wanted to come out. I feel like I only have a reasonable amount of control over the stories that I tell, the rest is up to God—my guide.
Find the author:
Web: www.nakiarlaushaul.com
Blog: http://nakialaushaul.blogspot.com
FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/nakia.laushaul
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/nakiaRL
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NakiaRLaushaul
Contact Nakia:
Buy the Book:
Running from Solace is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and everywhere else books are sold.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nakia-R.-Laushaul/e/B003BGMSSM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/nakia-r-laushaul