Chapter 1

Tiana suddenly woke up on the cold cement walk of Downtown Denver. Black cars rushed past and debris was swept up from the roads. Dirt filled the air and a funky stench was a brew. Tiana lay quietly with a red blanket enclosed around her. The harsh November night had been hard and almost sleepless. Tiana was homeless and living on the streets and the worst part was that she was pregnant. Her husband had abandoned her and ran off with another woman. Tiana had dark skin, curly black hair, with a slender body and rough skin. She was on a waiting list for the homeless shelter for 1 more month and she was due in 4 weeks and she was worried that she would not make it into the shelter in time for the baby to be born.
Tiana had grown up in Aurora, Colorado and she lived a regular life all the way up to college when she married a man named James. They met at the University of Southern California or USC. Tiana and James then got married at 21 right after college. Then, when Tiana was 3 months due James left with another women. Tiana was so depressed she almost starved herself to death but her friend Rachael got her through it. Tiana soon went bankrupt and she was forced out of her house onto the streets. She headed to Downtown Denver and she found a homeless shelter that she applied to. She had to wait for 3 months before she could get in. It was a fairly new shelter so it didn’t have a very long waiting list. They had internal heat and comfy beds. Each bedroom had a bed or maybe two and a small bathroom that included a sink and bathtub/shower. This is where the whole story would begin.
Tiana’s face, smothered with dirt, softly kissed her hefty belly. A mark was left where she had placed her lips. She said quietly,
“Little baby Tyshawn, we’ll make it through this, I know we will,”
Oddly enough she heard a little noise coming from her belly. This shocked her and she was surprised, it was almost like he heard her. Tyshawn was supposed to be due on Christmas Eve so it was basically supposed to be a Christmas present. Tiana thought of all the things Tyshawn could grow up to be and live a better life then she did. She wanted Tyshawn to grow up and be a successful business man or maybe ever a doctor.
Tiana looked around to see that the sun was crawling up over the horizon, awaking the residents of Denver to a new day. Tiana let out a big yawn and swiftly got up. She walked slowly down the street to a local bakery that her friend Rachael owned.
She walked into the bakery and she walked up to the front desk and said,
“Good morning, Rachael.”
“Hi Tiana,” said Rachael. She looked at Tiana from head to toe. “Tough night?”
“Yeah. Around 1:00 it started to get freezing and I didn’t know if I was going to get through it,” Tiana replied
“Yeah…so we have blueberry muffins, just out of the oven which is good, we got orange juice and some coffee if you want some,” said Rachael.
“Thanks, I’ll have the coffee with it,” said Tiana.
Rachael turned and went to get the food. Tiana scanned the bakery to see a young couple and an old man sitting in the bakery. It was pretty early so she didn’t think that there would be that many people anyway.
“Tiana your food’s ready,” Rachael said.
“Thanks, you’re a life saver, literally,” said Tiana.
“Anything to help a friend in this time of need,” said Rachael.
Rachael handed Tiana the plate of food. Tiana thanked her again and sat down a table toward the front. She nibbled on the muffins, gulped the orange juice and sipped the coffee. She took another scan around to see that the old man had left. She also saw a young man in his 20’s walk in. She turned back around and finished off her food. She walked out of the building and was walking by and alley when she heard,
“Hello Miss,”
Tiana spun around soon to see an old man maybe in his 60’s with a white, scraggy beard and long white hair that hung down to his lower back. He had yellow stained teeth, which were probably the result of smoking. But the thing that scared her the most was the knife he held.