Tia Green came from Kalamazoo, a small town in Michigan. From the time she was a child, Tia had known exactly what she wanted out of life and had already dreamed about how to get it a thousand times over. Tia had always planned on attending the University of Michigan with her childhood friend where they both wanted to become nurses. She worked hard in high school and made sure she got good grades. Eventually, That hard work paid off, She was admitted early to U of M with a full scholarship. After going on the college tour, life changed for her in ways she would have never believed…
Ace was the guy that everybody dreamed they had. He was smart, sexy, and athletic, not to mention, the star of University of Michigan’s football team. See, Ace turned heads wherever he went, and people were always striving for his attention, but Ace could care less. He was a player who didn’t believe in giving his heart away to any female due to his childhood, but that all changed when he met Tia. She was everything he had ever wanted, and most importantly, she reminded him of his late mother whom he lost at a young age. Ace thought Tia was perfect for him. He thought he would finally get the family he had always wanted. He never imagined she’d betray him, especially not with the only other person he loved…
Tia and Ace started with a fairytale romance, truly in love. As true colors bleed out from the cracks of their exteriors, the couple discovered that their fairytale romance was turning into a painful nightmare and the dream filled partnership was on its way to ruins.
Targeted Age Group:: 16 and up
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
This book was inspired by a situation that was going on in my life. I was in a bad relationship and I became depressed. I would usually use a book to get away from my life but I decided to write my problems down instead and the next thing I know I was writing a book. I sent it out to my friends who love to read as much as me, they loved it and pushed me to finish.
How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
I came up with my characters based on people around me, everybody is based off someone in my life with a twist. I’m Tia and Ace is based off of the guy I was in the bad relationship with. When I gave him the book I didn’t tell him about the characters. When he got to the description of Ace he called me and asked me who I based my character off of because Ace sounded familiar :). The rest of the characters are my friends from the past and present.
Book Sample
Tia
I just laid there in shock. I couldn’t believe what Ace just said. I had a doctor’s appointment. Me, Tia.
“I didn’t make a doctor’s appointment, so how do I have one?” I asked.
“I made it for you! I wanna know why you haven’t gotten pregnant yet.” He was still lying on his stomach.
“What? You wanna see why I haven’t gotten pregnant yet?”
I didn’t know if I should just confess right there and tell him I was on birth control, or let the doctor do it for me. Either way, I was screwed, and today was the day my secret comes out. I only had it in for about nine months. It was supposed to last for five years. I wondered what was going to happen when he found out, and I was scared as shit to tell him. I was just going to go along with the doctor’s appointment and tell them to keep it confidential. After all, I was to be the patient, not him.
“Yeah, so get up, and get ready.”
It took about an hour before I was ready to go. We got in the car and drove to the other side of town. The whole way there I didn’t say one word. I couldn’t even talk, I was so nervous. We finally arrived at the doctors, and I started to shake, getting out the car. The nurses greeted us with a friendly smile and took my information. We sat in the waiting room for about five minutes, and then it was my turn. I wished we had stayed longer, so I didn’t have to go through this. A short, white lady with blonde hair greeted us at the door and took my name and date of birth. Ace was right behind me, following me to the room. She took my blood pressure and asked me some basic questions. I had to lie about being on birth control. She had me pee in a cup, and then she left. A few minutes later, the doctor came in. She was a Hispanic woman with jet-black hair, pulled back in a bun. She asked me some questions.
“Hello! How are you doing, Ms. Green?” she asked, looking up from her clipboard.
“I’m fine, you?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking. Now, you’re here to see about your fertility issues?” She looked down at the clipboard.
I really didn’t know what to say because I was in shock. I couldn’t keep lying about this, and I needed to let it out. “Um, can I talk to you for a minute alone… without Ace?” I didn’t dare look his way.
“If that’s what you want,” she said, looking over at him.
“Fuck that, I’m not going anywhere. Whatever she has to say, she can say it with me sitting here,” he said. I knew he wasn’t about to leave, so I had no choice.
“Actually, I know why I haven’t gotten pregnant.”
“Why?” the doctor asked.
“I’m on birth control,” I said, looking down at the floor. I didn’t want to make eye contact with Ace, but I could feel his eyes burning the side of my face.
“Okay, Ms. Green, what kind of birth control are you on?” She looked a little confused.
“The Mirena.” “The five or ten?”
“Five.”
“And how long have you had this?” She wrote down everything I said on my chart.
“Since June.”
“Okay, I see. So, would you like for me to check on it for you?”
“Excuse me,” Ace interrupted, “can we have a minute?”
“Why yes. I’ll be back shortly.” She looked down at her watch. “About ten minutes?”
“That’s great,” Ace said with a smile on his face. As soon as the doctor left, that smile turned into a frown, and I could tell I was in deep shit. “Birth control, Tia? You went and got on birth control after I told you not to?”
“In my defense, I was already on it before I asked you. I just didn’t take it out when you said no. I had to do what is best for me, and having a baby right now, isn’t it, especially since I’ve finished my first semester on the Dean’s list.”
“You are taking it out, you hear me? You’re taking it out right now.” He stared me dead in the eyes, and I saw nothing but hate.
I didn’t want to take it out, but I was too afraid to tell him no, so when the doctor came back in, she took it out. Taking it out was real simple. She just reached in and pulled it out of my uterus with no complications. We left the doctor’s office, and Ace hadn’t said a word since she came back in.. I was scared and didn’t know what to expect. I sat on the passenger side, reading a book on my phone, so I wouldn’t have to face reality.
We finally arrived home, and I didn’t want to get out. I slowly opened the door and placed my feet on the ground. I started to breathe faster, and my gut was telling me I was in for something terrible. I walked in the house, and it was so quiet, you could hear a needle drop. It didn’t look like Mike was home, and my heart sunk in my stomach. Before I could get comfortable, I felt a hard slap across my face.
“Birth control? Bitch, you’ve been on birth control this whole fucking time!” he hollered, punching me in my side. I kneeled over from the pain, and he hit me on the other side. I kneeled to that side, and he slapped me in the face again. I dropped to the ground, put my back against the wall, and started crying. He got on top of me, wrapped his hand around my throat, and started choking the life out of me. “This whole time you’ve been lying to me!” He squeezed my neck harder, and finally, he stopped choking me and stood up. “Bitch. get up.”
“Ace, please stop,” I cried, terrified to move.
“Please stop? Bitch, did you take that shit out after I told you no?” He picked me up off the ground by my throat. “Bitch, I said stand the fuck up, hoe.”
I put my feet on the ground, and as soon as they both touched, he punched me in my right side again, then my left. He pulled my hair and dragged me around the house.
“Ace, please stop,” I cried, trying to get my hair out of his hands. “I’m sorry! I…I didn’t mean to do it!” I kept repeating.
“How the fuck you didn’t mean to do it?” he asked and stopped pulling my hair. “That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. I outta slap the fuck out of you for making that dumb ass statement.” He leaned down in my face and slapped me again.
“Please, don’t,” I said, curling up in a ball.
“Please don’t what?” He got closer.
“Please stop hitting me, Ace. I’m sorry.” I was now crying hysterically.
“You’re sorry? Naw, bitch, you ain’t sorry now, but you gone’ be.” he said, grabbing my hand and starting to twist my arm. “Ace please…please stop. Somebody help me!” I cried out, but it was no use. Mike was gone, and there was too much space between our houses for the neighbors to hear me, but I cried out anyways. He twisted my wrist some more.
“Bitch, I will break your wrist!” he said, looking me in the eyes, holding my twisted arm behind my back.
I started crying harder, begging him to stop, “Please Ace, it hurts! It hurts so bad.” I tried to pull my arm away, but he had a tight hold on it, and I was stuck. He finally let my hand go and grabbed my throat again.
About the Author:
Keyanna was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI, she has always been into school but never knew exactly what she wanted to do. She graduated from Loy Norrix High School in 2005 with high honor and went to college where she studied Criminal Justice at Kalamazoo Valley Community College first then went on to get her bachelors at Western Michigan University where she doubled major and graduated with two majors in Criminal Justice and Social Psychology. After going through a bad situation Keyanna decided to write about it where she discovered her love for writing and that’s how her debut novel “Living in Fear’ came to life.
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