A few years back, I became motivated to write a book. If you've ever heard of NANOWRIMO, then you'll understand. I had picked up the instruction manual to NANOWRIMO while I was working at Borders Books, and the idea intrigued me. I actually got pretty far (81 pages in word), and then I got busy with life, and I've kind of put it aside. Lately I've been interested in starting it back up again, and would love to hear from you. Here is the first chapter in all it's unedited glory. What do you think? Please leave a comment below if you feel you can help motivate me :)
Chapter
1: Graduation
The
day was perfect for the barbecue: a San Antonio summer sun, gentle breeze, and
just enough cloud cover to chase away the heat of the sun. The smell of country barbecue was wafting
around the side yard and the table had so much food it was a veritable
smorgasbord. Dollar store decorations
were strung around the yard in anticipation of the upcoming festivities and
invited guests, and Cory couldn’t have been prouder.
Though
she had helped organize any number of these graduation barbeques, each one held
a special place in her heart. Cory knew
that the woman being celebrated this Saturday summer afternoon would feel love,
gratitude, and achievement for one of the first times in her life. As Cory surveyed the backyard, she saw Stevie
putting the final touches on her buffet table.
Since Stevie was the graduate, she wanted everything to be perfect. She was quite the sight at seven AM as her
tiny 5’2” frame was lugging the heavy table out of storage. Her hair styled, and make up done, she was
the last person you would expect to be breaking a sweat first thing in the
morning. The dark auburn curls she had
piled on top of her head, the almond eyes with enough eyeliner to look Egyptian,
and the crimson lips she was never without were completely incongruous with the
sweatpants and baggy t-shirt she was wearing.
Stevie was 32 years old, but had only started living 6 months ago to the
day when she stepped out of Gatesville penitentiary and stepped onto the bus to
San Antonio and the Living Waters Ministries.
Looking
at Stevie, Cory thought back to the night she arrived. Her long hair had been a rat’s nest of
tangles, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in months. Her eyes had the look
of wonder and distrust that was present on so many newly released faces. She was wearing cut off jean short, beat-up
sneakers, and a Led Zeppelin shirt that was almost too faded to make out. Stevie had spent the first three days at Living Waters sleeping on her bed without talking to anyone, even her new
roommates. Cory and Elizabeth, the
counselor, had made little progress with her in those first few days. Now Cory felt a lump form in her throat as
she thought about how far Stevie had come.
It
had been strange when Stevie stepped out of the shared bathroom on the bottom
floor of the house on her fourth day as a completely new person. She had her hair done up as she was wearing
it today, her makeup was newly applied for the first time since her arrival,
and she walked up to Cory as if she owned the world.
“Is
there anyone schedule to cook breakfast this morning? I have a hankering for scrambled eggs and
grits like my mom used to make.” She
didn’t really wait for an answer before she bounced off to the tiny excuse for
a kitchen. Since that day six months
ago, she has been an unstoppable force at Living Waters. There were days when she was the perfect
resident and did her chores, homework, and therapy without a single hiccup, and
then there were days when she made Cory work for every penny of her tiny salary.
It
was about half an hour before Stevie’s guests would begin arriving and everything
seemed pretty much set up so she headed back inside to get changed. She passed Cory with a smile so large she
looked like a claymation character. Cory
blinked back a tear of joy as she returned to the present and followed Stevie inside.
There weren’t a lot of moments during the workday that Cory could get a few
minutes to herself so she headed upstairs to her makeshift desk to get some
paperwork done before the party started.
Out
of habit, Cory tried to dodge the creaky seventh stair even though she knew
that the eight step creaked as well.
When your office is part of the converted attic in a renovated Victorian
house located on the shifting grounds near the Olmos basin, it was bound to
have a few quirks. This, of course, reminded
her of the grant she was working on to get the foundation leveled. She added that to her mental list of things
to do today after the graduation party.
It was going to be a late night again, and she started preparing for the
excuses she was going to give her fiancée Drew when she had to cancel dinner
plans. Cory had first come to Living Waters after she received her degree from Trinity University in Sociology, and
since then she had cancelled many plans with Drew. He knew how much her work here meant to her,
and he was almost masochistic in his understanding of being put on the back
burner all of the time.
Cory
dove right in where she left off last night and started responding to the correspondence
from her accepted applicants. She had
never met the women that were clinging to her as their only hope, but Cory
always felt connected to them from the beginning. For the most part, these women had been
accepted to Living Waters contingent upon their parole, but 70% would never
make it through her front door. They
didn’t know when of if they would get approved for release, and even those that
did make parole were never given a date of release. Her letters back and forth with them helped
them cling to hope of getting out and they helped her feel like she was making
a difference even from the inside of the system. This was the most time consuming part of her
job, but it was the most rewarding. Cory knew that if she could make an impact
in the inmate’s life before she got paroled there was a much larger chance that
she would show up downstairs in the middle of the night. It was a very good thing that Cory was the
eternal optimist or she was in the wrong profession.
Halfway
into her third letter, Cory noticed the time and shut off her computer. The party was about to start and she loved to
be there from the beginning. As the
guests started arriving, Stevie turned into a social butterfly. She seemed to move from person to person with
perfect ease and was having the time of her life. Cory couldn’t believe that only 6 months ago,
Stevie had been one of the quietest women to join the Living Waters program. To even picture her in her cell block at (insert prison name here) was hard. When Stevie’s application came to Cory’s desk
almost a year ago, she had pictured a completely different individual. Stevie had already served 3 years in state
prison for drug trafficking and prostitution and was eligible for her first
parole. Cory was pretty shocked that she
was approved for parole so fast. She had
known many women that were in the parole pipeline for years before they were
granted release. With Stevie’s cheerful
attitude and people skills, Cory could see how the parole board could grant her
release. If Cory didn’t know better, she
could imagine Stevie organizing social events and styling inmates’ hair in her
off time in jail.
Cory
refocused on the festivities and saw Stevie speaking with a woman that Cory
didn’t recognize. As Program Director at Living Waters, Cory had approval of all guests and visitors that the women had
at the house, and Cory was sure that she had never met this woman before. She had a dark, curly mass of hair on top of
her head that looked like it hadn’t been brushed in a few days, her makeup
looked like it was from the previous night, and the bags under her eyes spoke
of too little sleep. As if she knew that
Cory was looking at her, the woman turned her way and Stevie signaled for Cory
to come over.
“Cory,
this is my mother, Jeannie,” voiced Stevie as Cory’s mind started reeling. Cory knew all about Ms. Grayson, and she
knew that Stevie had not heard a word from her mother since she was 15 years
old and first started living on the streets.
“It’s
nice to meet you Jeannie. I’m so glad
you could make it today to help us celebrate.” Cory hoped she came off as
cordial and not suspicious.
Surprisingly, Jeannie cracked a light hearted smile and seemed pleased
to be there.
“I’ve
been waiting to see my daughter’s graduation since she dropped out of high
school. What kind of mother would I be
if I let resentment keep me away?” This
was definitely not the type of comment Cory usually heard from the estranged
families of the women she worked with.
She knew from Stevie that the original rift between her and her mother
had happened when Stevie dropped out of high school, and Cory felt a spark of
hope for her to see her rekindling some kind of relationship with her
mother. While most women at Living Waters were writing their nightly journals to God, Stevie always wrote hers to
her mom as if writing to her would make her hear how she was doing. Cory hope it worked.
As
she came back to the moment, Cory noticed that Stevie and Jeannie were waiting
for her to say something. She was
quickly rewinding her brain to try and remember the question they had asked her
when Mary Landry walked to front of the yard.
Cory was saved from having to come up with a response to whatever they
had said as conversations all around the yard started to taper off. As the Executive Director of Living Waters Ministries, Mary had the honor of giving the graduation speech for every
graduate. Mary had been with Living Waters
ever since it had opened back in 1996, and had taken on the Executive Director
position about a year ago. Her proudest
moments were when she got to recount the achievements made by her residents
during their graduation parties, and Stevie’s was no different. Unfortunately, every speech she ever gave at
a graduation started the same way. Cory
loved Mary and thought she was an exceptional leader for the program, but Mary
had never been one to tend towards creativity in public speaking. For some unknown reason, she felt an
overwhelming need to recant the entire Living Waters history at each
graduation. No matter how many times
Cory told her it was unnecessary, no matter how many times she explained how
people lost interest, and no matter how many times Cory threatened to boycott
the speech, she always began the same way.
Cory’s mind snapped back to reality when Mary made very pointed eye contact
with her. She obviously knew Cory’s
aversion to this part of the event, but Cory was trapped now and had to listen.
“Insert the Living Waters history here. Check the online history and create a history
for Mary Landry as well. Check Bios of
current Living Waters peoples.
“When
Stevie came to us, she seemed like so many of our women: confused, alone,
scared, scarred, but it didn’t take us long to learn that Stevie was unlike any
woman we have had here Living Waters. As
a standout pupil and dedicated learner she has made quick work of getting her
GED and has even been accepted into the vet tech program down at Palo Alto
Community College in the fall. To see
her go from lost to found has been a wonderful gift that I can’t express
completely in words. There were times
when Stevie challenged us to keep her vibrancy reigned in on the task at hand
and even a few times when she wanted to quit and give up, but together with her
fellow residents she has pushed through to the end and has reached the point
that every Living Waters woman wishes to reach: graduation.
“At this point in your journey Stevie, we are telling
you that you are ready to make it on your own.
We are not pushing you out, nor are we wishing you out. We are ushering you out on the whirlwind of
energy that you came in on. You are far
from the end of your road, but you have already come so far from where you began.” Mary pulled out a box the size of a small
purse, and Cory instantly knew what it was.
It was the final symbol of freedom from the life in the past, the life
that these women were struggling to leave behind. It was a handmade figurine of the original
woman at the well, each one tailored to fit the story of the woman that was
receiving the trinket. Mary handed the
box to Stevie with a warm smile that was rarely seen through her professional
demeanor. Stevie opened the box and let
out a squeak of delight. She had seen
these statuettes in Mary’s office, and had been eyeing this one in
particular. The figure was standing with
her hands outstretched and her head held high.
The mischievous grin on her face only hinted to what was going on behind
her dark eyes. While all of this matched
Stevie perfectly, it was the little extra figure at the feet of the women that
had captured Stevie’s heart. A tiny
calico kitten was winding its way around her sandaled feet. A symbol of the
fresh start that Stevie was about to embark upon, but before Stevie could begin
to say thanks, two armed police officers entered the backyard.
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