The Forsaken Flower

About the Book

The Forsaken Flower takes place throughout the city of Philadelphia.
It explores the heartache and hardship of four sisters, whose lives have been forever changed, by what many may see as being an unforgivable sin.  After the unexpected sucidal death of the girls mother. The youngest girl Angel, at the age of six, has begun a quest way beyond her years, without direction or support.
At age 15, now a young lady, Angel needs what only a mother can give.  Despite her deliberate attempts to portray a tough demeanor. Deep down inside she's scared, making her vulnerable and forcing her to do the unthinkable. Leaving her to be,
The Forsaken Flower Time after time, it becomes evident that help is needed inside the lives of the Baker girls. What each sister independently experience is nothing less than insane. Unveiling one secret after another becomes everyone's pass time. Professional careers, new romance, nothing can camouflage the hurt from way deep within.

What Angel and her sisters can all agree to is that...

The end can sometimes be the beginning of it all.

About the Author

Dee Williams is a Philadelphia native and self made business owner.
Her career choice as an accounting professional and published author of poetry, holds no candle to the joy she feels from being a fiction and non-fiction novelist. As a wife, business owner, author and mother of four, finding time to enjoy life is top priority. Her pass time by choice is relaxin' with a chilled bottle of something nice and laughing out loud.
The release of her first published novel The Forsaken Flower, stirs up familiar emotions of her early childhood, making it a must read to those who enjoy the mixture of fiction and reality.

The author has the following events scheduled:

November 12-14 Book Signings at:

Miami BookFair International Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, 300 NE 2nd Ave. Miami, Fl 33132
Please call 305-237-3258 for more details.

Barnes & Noble Bookstore Broad & Cecil B. Moore Ave. Phila. PA 19121
Please call 215-204-0514 for more details.

THROUGH ANGEL'S EYES

Good morning mama. Good morning baby.
I stood there watching as she packed a few things wondering are we leaving again. In the next room it sounded as if ten dump trucks were passing through. It was daddy. Passed out from drinking all night and snoring loud as hell. Bill!, Bill!, My mother must have called his name at least a hundred times, and as usual he didn't respond.
"Mama I'm hungry". I said this while positioning myself at the kitchen table along side my newfound imaginary friends. Sadly enough I could hear the pain in my mother's voice as she continued to call my daddy's name. It was then that his loud unruly voice frightened me, suggesting that she leave him be. And without warning to me... that's exactly what she did.

February 16, 1979 it was cold, freezing almost. Everyone sat in the family room with looks of disbelief on their face. I, snuggled with my blanket and favorite toy, waited patiently on the stairs for mama to return home to tuck me in. She had been taken off in a rush by the two men who drove the bright colored van with the flashing lights.
Instead I watched as my sister Elaine walked through the door with tears in her eyes and mama's coat in her hand.
My six-year-old mind was confused.
Why was everyone crying and where was mama? I asked that question only to get the answer that would change my life forever.
Angel... come here sweetie. You know we love you and we would never do anything to hurt you, but there's something you need to know...
What?
Mama's gone.
Where? Go get her, she said I could stay up with her and watch T.V., she promised.
It was virtually impossible to explain to me, a six year old, that the one and only person that meant something had just been taken away forever. Her life existence I took for granted, like most children do.
What was this thing of suicide? What did it mean? Death to me was inconceivable. Stood before me now was the harsh realities of life.
An alcoholic for a father and three teenage sisters dealing with the lost of their mother.
Where did I fit in? Who would take mama's place?
This can't be happening I thought.
Funeral day I cried because everyone else was I guess. To be honest I had no idea what was going on. I wasn't allowed to look at the open casket, they feared the sight might somehow traumatize me. My sister Joyce quickly laid my head on her lap, then gently began stroking my hair. At that moment something happened, it was weird, while crying I started to smile. I don't know why, but for some reason I did. My assumptions were that mama had secretly whispered to me that everything will be okay.
It was clear to me that this day was not an ending but the beginning of what's to come.

How are you this morning?
Those were the words the director of my pre-school would say to me each day and each day I looked at her terrified with my big brown eyes, as if she just told me to give a speech at Grand Central Station. Just saying hello seemed so hard to do.
Why was I here? Who were these people? I wanted to be home with mama like I use to be.
Things have changed and there were more things that had to be done. The eldest Elaine had to work and the others had school. Despite our unfortunate mishap, life went on.
So here I was in a world I knew nothing about. Forced to deal with more than one emotion at a time. Something my six-year-old mind was incapable of doing alone.

"Would you like to come sit with us", my teacher would ask and again, I felt as if she wanted my soul.
It was all too much. So naturally I began to cry. It was the only emotion I had developed at such a young age to handle the situation.
With permission, I sat in the director's office day after day. To be in the presence of unknown people was unbearable for me. Surprisingly I began to notice that she, Ms. Gwendolyn Brown possessed a quality I was longing for and to be in her presence wasn't painful at all.
She said things to me I didn't quite understand, nevertheless it felt good to have someone fuss over me. If only mama could have met her. I know she'd like her. I know I do.
Angel... your sister is here to take you home. At least that's what they called it; things will never be the same. The five-minute walk from school to home became my world of wishful thinking. I would often imagine going home with Ms. Brown.
She could adopt me and we'll come to school together everyday.
I'll help her around the office. I'll even eat my vegetables if she tells me to. I was convinced that I could be her perfect little Angel.
I also imagined how life would be with a healthy mother, a sober father and sisters who all talked to me or asked questions. No one asked or inquired about anything. Everyone just labeled me a difficult little girl... and moved on. If only they knew.
I had so much to say, but didn't know how to say it, to shy to ask it and not fortunate enough to have it. Ms. Brown asked questions. I never answered of course, just lowered my head and smiled. She was determined to break me, and that she did. Gradually we devel oped more than a teacher student relationship. It was a friendship, one that I'll cherish for a lifetime.
It had happened.

I found someone that I could depend on.
Graduation day came and went and once again the one person that meant something to me at that time, was taken away.
I guess she was just doing her job and being the kind person that she was. But it meant so much more to me. She left my life without me saying a word.
It's funny, I never did say good morning to her.

GOOD MORNING MISS BROWN.