06/13/2024
Step back in time to the poignant and gripping tale of "Loretta," a powerful narrative, from Tim Martin, that will captivate your heart and soul. Set against the harsh backdrop of slavery in the American South, this is the story of Loretta, a woman torn between her yearning for freedom, her love for a man, and her deep bond with the children she raises but can never call her own.
As Loretta navigates the brutal realities of her existence, tragedy strikes, forcing her to make the most agonizing decision of her life. With unwavering resilience, she must care for someone who harbors nothing but hatred for her, challenging the very essence of her spirit.
Seventy years after the events that forever changed her life, Loretta's voice echoes through time, bringing to light a story of courage, love, and the unyielding quest for freedom. Experience her journey in a four-part serial that delves into the complexities of human emotion and the enduring strength of the human spirit.
Excerpts:
Ain't much that'll make a little girl, runnin' at full steam with a heart full of excitement, stop dead in her tracks. But if she’s a little black girl in the 1930s, the sight of her Granny standing in the kitchen with a white man’s arms wrapped around her sure will do the trick.
“What’s your name, girl?” Master James asked me again. He knowed I was gonna answer now.
“My name’s Loretta, Master,” I said to him. A slave always had to say Master when they was talkin' to whoever owned 'em.
“Loretta, my name is James.” He was still smilin', and I could tell from the way he said it that my life done got a whole lot better in a matter of just a couple little minutes.”
“Child, we weren’t allowed to have no white friends. We weren’t allowed much of nothin’ back then. But like I done told you, he wasn’t always a friend. There was a whole mess of bad stuff that happened before he became one. A whole mess of things that changed mine and that man’s life forever.”
“My man Thomas is an exceptional Negra. Big and strong like an ox.” Master James came into the room and walked right on up to ‘Devil’ Odus. “I don’t believe Thomas would ever use that knife on your neck. He’d be more likely to just wrap those big ol' hands of his around your neck and just squeeze the life out of you.” Master James held his hands right up in front of that man’s face, laced his fingers all together, and went to actin' like he was twisting a neck almighty hard. “The good news for you is that your neck will probably snap before you ever even knew he was squeezing.”
“Lord, I done gone down a rabbit hole. I was supposed to be tellin’ you about how I was takin' care of little Fawn, and I done got off to talkin' 'bout that ol' war and how folks treated us colored folks. I reckon it ain’t hard to do, seein' as how we had to live with it, every day.”
I didn’t wait around no longer. I carried myself out to that barn jest as quick as I could. Only thing I heard on the way out was Captain Waugh sayin', “Odus, you better mark down this day as the day a Negra girl saved your life.”
Mark your calendars for July 26th, 2024, when "Loretta" will be available both on Kindle Vella and in paperback. Don’t miss this extraordinary tale that will stay with you long after the last page is turned.
