Free Book Excerpts

With her popularity crossing over color-lines, celebrated novelist, LiNCOLN PARK and her prolific parables of modern, Africentric fiction episodes are being heralded by a mounting faction of mainstream literati. THE BREVITY OF THE SELVES is Park’s second, sensational work Throughout this mesmeric tale, you will ride a written roller-coaster of larger-than-life chronicles with the book’s central character, Candace Odom.

Turn the pages of this book and find yourself trapped in Candace’s convoluted universe; a world awash with adventure, countenance, deviance, exuberance and tenacity. With her invigorating wit and dark, trademark pen, Park easily and expertly stretches her readers’ imaginations over her literary loom; weaving yet, another yarn of pure, AFRoPuLP genius!

“LiNCOLN PARK is a gifted writer.” — The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Excerpt

The Brevity of the Selves
chapter 1 (excerpt)

Candace wiped the tear from her cheek as her train pulled out of Penn Station. She smeared the ink on her one-way ticket somewhat, but she continued to clutch it between her soggy, right forefinger and her late blooming breasts. She didn”t know exactly where she was going when she left the house, but she had about 67 dollars to play with.
During breakfast, she told her father that she was going to school; even taking her sneakers and gym suit in a separate bag so as to confirm the lie. While she may have been academically advanced, little Candace showed the naive of youthful innocence. She actually thought suspicion would be aroused from someone who was used to seeing her leave the house, en route to the same destination, at the same time every morning ,with, or without her gym shoes.
She took the subway to Penn Station, because the elevated train that used to run along the avenue (when she was in diapers) had recently been torn down. She thought the removal of the “el” was nice in a way; because now, the Sun would give some luster to the dull faces of the shoppers, pocket-tugging children, falafel-selling Greeks and white shroud wearing “Brothers” of the Ansà aru Allah Community; who all seemed to spend the vast majority of their lives trying to secure a spot in Hagglers Heaven.
In some other ways, Candace supposed, she would miss her father. Since he was raised in the South, he was still under the merry delusion that the service representatives of the local utility companies would smile at him and chat about the weather when he approached their service counters to pay his bills. But there was no use dwelling on the negative. Candace had an entire world to explore ,and perhaps, she would find a nice family to live with and feel safe.

…………………

Candace followed the officer into the precinct with all the confidence of a person who felt completely protected from harm. There was no way that he would place her in anyone’s home that would hurt her. He was just too nice and good looking to do that, she thought. In New York, one of her aunties worked for an agency that had several group homes for adolescents with problems; and Candace was not unaware of the way those city-run homes operated. So, other than the occasional outburst of a belligerent girl in the home, or something, she saw no real conflict with being placed in a similar sort of environment here in D.C. .
“You realize that we have to classify you as a fugitive ,but of course, that’s only because of the dumb paperwork involved.”
Candace began to get suspicious. Especially since her ‘escort’ had fallen silent and let his Caucasian associate behind the desk do the talking.
“Will I have a record?”
“Technically speaking, yes. But it’s all bullshit. Nothing to worry about. At this point, we’d like you to take a series of sobriety tests, Candace. You don’t have to take them if you don’t want to, but then we’d have to report on your record that you refused to participate in the tests… ”
“… thereby incriminating myself of something else, no doubt. I watch TV, Sir. I get it.”
When the tests were done, Candace sat down at an unoccupied desk while the cute officer bought her a Pepsi from a nearby soda machine. The white officer sat at his desk, noticeably saddened.
“Of course, since you watch TV, you should know that we’re going to have to arrest you; but it’s just a technicality ,a routine procedure, as it were.”
“I understand,” Candace answered.
She was immediately fingerprinted and cuffed. The cuffs were heavy and cold against her wrists. So cold in fact, that they felt like thick blades trying to lacerate her tender skin. Once the cuffs were locked on, they read Candace her Miranda rights and she took it like a man.

Copyright 2008 LINCOLN PARK. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.