Month: January 2021
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 56
Janet and Diego are happy for a time, until Coffey comes back into their lives. “You—Men! Going off to fight your damn wars! And we stay home….” “We fight to protect you,” Coffey began. “We stay home, have babies, raise families, work, keep house, and you think you can waltz in and out of our […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 55
Lubbock, Texas. 2000. “Did he stay that time?” “He stayed two years. He got a job with the Navy ROTC on campus. In that time, we had another son. Named Ricardo, after Diego’s dad.” “How did you end up with Tex again?” “I didn’t.” “Then why was he at your house?” “I’m still trying to […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 54
After dinner, Diego and Janet go to the campus, but there are too many memories of Tex. “He thinks Tex is his dad.” “He’s five. What was I supposed to tell him? Your father’s an assassin, who left us to hunt down and murder other assassins? It isn’t easy being the son of a jailbird […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 53
It’s 1988, and Diego finally returns. He meets his son, Danny, for the first time. Diego crouched on the ground, holding out his hand. “Hi, Danny. Nice to meet you.” Danny shook his hand solemnly. “Nice to meet you, too.” “I thought… I kind of hoped we could—we could talk,” Diego said hesitantly. “Let me […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 52
Lubbock, Texas. 2000. “No one understood why I took him back, not even me. He was like a drug that I was hopelessly addicted to. I was weak without Diego. I didn’t know where he was, if he was alive, and suddenly, the idea of raising my baby alone was more than I could bear. […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 51
Out of nowhere, Tex shows up at her parents’ house on Christmas Day. He stopped babbling, listening to her. His face clouded. “I’m so sorry, baby. I didn’t know.” “Don’t call me baby. Don’t you ever call me baby! You gave up that right the second you raised your hand to me, and killed our […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 50
Janet is on the way to see her folks in Texas. She’s pregnant, upset and worried about her sick mother. The woman came over to sit by her, putting Janet’s head on her shoulder. “You go ahead and cry it out, honey. You got to get the bad out before the good can come in.” […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 49
Diego leaves, and Janet can hardly stand it. Tissue Warning Days went by, then weeks, with no word from Diego. It was as if he’d fallen off the edge of the world. Janet forced herself to keep going. She had a job to do, but her spark was gone. Everyone noticed, including her students, but […]
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Brand New Day by Dellani Oakes – Part 48
Unexpectedly, men from Diego’s past show up. Colonel Coffey, his former boss, tells him he’s needed again. “If I find out this is a ploy to get me back, there won’t be a safe hole to shit in.” Diego took a step closer to the colonel, slipping out of Janet’s embrace. He leaned in so […]