The Mirror Speaks  

​

      I was born in the low-income section of Baltimore city to Helen and Chesterfield Ruffin. My biological mom did the best she could raising five children with little to no help from her partner. I never knew if they were legally married, but my father did run the streets making other children with other women. Every time he decided to come home Helen became pregnant with another child.

​

Poison 

​

     “It moved”, She said aloud. No one can hear her because no one is around.

     “No, it is all in my head. There is no way that suit of armor moved”

      She is working late at the library putting books back when she thought the suit of armor, which is a replica of Queen Elizabeth’s suite of armor, moved. It was in section C she thought, but now it’s in section B. Or maybe it was always in section B she thought. It was getting late, so she put the cart of books against the opposite wall from the suit of armor and went to her office. She grabbed her jacket and keys and left the library as quickly as possible. When she finally locked the door and turned towards her car she screamed. Her hands flew up and her face became distorted with fear.

​

 The Lineup

​

       I remember the time came when I had to line up in the courtyard. There were a lot of us.  I don’t know how many there were, cause at the time I didn’t know how to count.  I’m not sure what my age was, but I think I was twelve.  I had no more education than a three-year old.  I had never been to school, I had never touched a book, I could barely talk.

​

My Name Is Victory

​

       It was a drizzly Saturday morning and I sat anxiously by the phone waiting for it to ring. I was waiting to hear from my dear friend Traci who was planning her exit from an unhappy marriage that day with her toddler daughter Anaya. She was truly inspired by my testimony of how I exited my unhappy marriage just months earlier. It was just the boost she needed to give her courage to leave and release herself from what truly felt like bondage. At 9:00am the phone rang, it was the confirmation call that the coast was clear and I could come to the house to help her gather her things and move. As I hustled down the stairs to the truck, I began praying for grace and mercy for the order of events of the day and days to come in Traci and Anaya’s lives. I hurried down the Capital Beltway as it was an hour drive to her house. I stopped at McDonald’s close to her to pick up a Happy Meal for Anaya.

​

Drug Lord Dad

​

      I hate those damn people for ruining my life.  Those people were nasty. They hate me for breaking their damn cycle and I hate them for being them.  If I ever see them again, I swear I’ll kill them.

      It’s mind blowing that a father would invite his twelve-year-old to a room full of crack heads then force her to join that horrible scene in front of her eyes. That night plays in my head every damn day like a got dam broken record.  Dammit I walked into that room a giggling little girl and walked out a fuckin addict.

​

Divine Lady

​

      I look in her eyes and wonder. What goes through her mind, why does she think the way she does, why does she do the things she does. To look at her she’s no different than any other grandma. To look at her, she’s divine.

       From the time I could remember, Grandma stood as tall as the highest mountain.  She was beautiful, she was dignified, making Queen Elizabeth look like a common ole woman.  Her hair was long, normally wearing it out so others would get jealous at the thick brown curly hairdo that hung to her lower back.

​

Just a stupid Little Story 

​

      Why am I so scared?  This makes no sense, is there something wrong with me? I’m tired of being different than everybody else.  Why is it that I’m the only one who had to go to a Shrink?  Is this normal? Hell no, it’s not normal, but maybe it is.

​

Deceptive Love

​

      April Moore was the youngest child and only girl of Rachel and Jamal Moore, who had just graduated from high school.  The Moore’s raised their children in the ways of the church and were very strict.  Especially when it came to April.  She lived an extremely sheltered life.  She never spent a night away from her parents, but she was super excited about the next chapter of her life as she received a full scholarship to attend the University of Southern California.  Rachel had major reservations about letting April go so far away from home.  She’d rather April, reject the scholarship and attend school at the local community college until they were able to afford to send her to a 4-year college or university, preferably, Spelman College.  Jamal felt as though this would be a good experience for April.  Every chance Rachel got she let it be known that she disapproved of April’s upcoming venture.

​

Use Caution when Following Dreams

​

      Ezra stares at her magazines all day as if they were her school books…or should that be the opposite.  It matters little.  This little product of the 80's is married to the stories of the Hollywood elite and their clothes, their jewels their men, their life style.  Growing up in LA is a sort of double edge sword for a girl like her.  Every day she will ride down one of the cities congested roadways, and pass within ear shout of all the places that are mounted on her TV set as if they were a permanent featured of the old tube box. She can see the houses that live on shows like Life Styles of the Rich and Famous, she can see the cars that appear on the front of her favorite magazines, and sees the studios that made them all famous.        

​

​

Those eyes

​

      He loved to look into her large blue eyes.  There was something about them that put Rob into a trance whenever she was around.  Those eyes, he thought to himself each day since they met, just made him melt and forget the existence of the rest of the world. When Cara looked at him his heart pounded hard, his hands sweat, his knees began shaking.  He became frozen in time, he was a willing participant in whatever she wanted to do. 

​

Never See the Light of Day

​

      The distinctive sound of Pretty Tony’s Lincoln continental filled the crisp fresh air on October 16, 1971. Tout, tout, tout, “Pop come on” Little Tony, his son, screamed. “Where do you think you’re going little man?” Pop hollers.  Pop never made a move without Little Tony.  He was his shadow, and Little Tony knew it. He idolized his Pop and wanted to be just like him when he grew up. On the streets, Big Tony was known as Pretty Tony Miller.  Style, a nice car, money, tall, muscular, a big wide smile with straight white teeth that made women swoon. Pretty Tony was the color of caramel and smooth as silk when it came to the ladies. He knew it and so did his wife Lois. A characteristic that made Lois howl with anger and take matters into her own hands to keep her family together. His son saw all his scandalous behavior. It was like a movie every time they left the house and cruised. There were mountains of secrets, and these secrets formed an impenetrable bond between them. 

​

Rocket Woman

​

      Growing up a cream-colored girl, society attempted to condition me to believe that my self-worth was limited, that my future had been written.  Society infused in the minds of women just like me that our future was to mirror those who had come before us.  Those women, successful in their own paths, were strong, were contributors to their communities, were staples of their families and had inspired the young Negro girls coming behind them.

​

​

                     Contributing

                                  Authors