Afterburn
A Novel
Chapter One
Rayne Waters, Age 15
Birmingham, AL
June 1990
I was lying in my bed dreaming about Prince
laying me down on his basement bed; like he did
to Apollonia in Purple Rain. I'd fallen asleep
staring at the poster of him I had taped to my
bedroom ceiling; a nightly routine for me. It
was the one where he was lying on his stomach
with his ass cheeks exposed; enough to tease the
millions of teenage girls who idolized him like
me.
"Rayne, wake up! Wake up, dammit!"
Momma's high-pitched, irritating voice pierced
into my blissful sleep. I willed both it and her
to go away. Lost cause. Momma shook my shoulders
and yanked me halfway off my twin-sized canopy
bed.
"Rayne, you know you hear me! Sit up, missy!
Time for a talk!"
Trying to sleep was out of the question so I
propped my back up on a pillow. "Momma, it's the
middle of the night. Can't this wait?"
"No, it can't wait."
Her breath almost knocked me out when she
plopped down beside me, landing her hip on one
of my kidneys. I moved over slightly. She was
drunk again; no huge surpris ... read full excerpt from: Afterburn: A Novel ebook
