The Beautifully Damned and the Eternally Blessed (SAMPLE)

Chapter One: Saying Goodbye before We Said Hello

Jana's POV

One week later...

"Earth to Earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

My eyes were devoid of any tears as I watched the oak coffin that held the body of my older brother being lowered into the ground, the cries of Mrs. Tompkins and a few sobs from Khalil Everett interrupting the silence that fell around the cemetery. Standing to my feet, I approached the plot where my brother would take his rest and tossed in my red rose as it fell on top of the others.

I still couldn't believe that Derrick Ra'Keem Booker was dead, killed by a single gunshot to the head the night before he and I were supposed to meet each other during my spring break at Spelman. Thankfully, I had my three best friends Ellen Rhynne (the daughter of Atlanta's toughest police chief), Alexa Perez (my childhood friend and fellow boarding school classmate) and our gay best friend Tyler Candler (a football player at Clark Atlanta University) by my side when I got the news. And we knew that we had to head to New York City despite my parents and older sister Melina insisting that I come back home to Buckhead and help plan my wedding to my sleazebag of a fiance named Asher Lancaster.

So, here we were with my cellphone off as I said a silent farewell to the brother that I'd hoped to meet for the first time but was now laying him to rest. "Farewell, Derrick," I said softly, finally letting one tear fall from my eyes as Ellen came over to walk me back to my seat before the final prayers were being said.

Derrick Booker: eccentric artist, talented fashion designer, and now a murder victim with everyone in the fashion world (even the most recognized designers from France and Italy) calling for the arrest of the assassin.

"This concludes the service for Derrick Ra'Keem Booker," the funeral director intoned as the assistants handed me the complimentary gifts (the memorial blanket, the family-heirloom Bible alongside a personal-sized version for me to read on my free time, and a memorial DVD containing pictures of his time in the fashion world). "You may return to your cars at this time as there will be a reception at the loft."

"The service was lovely, Chica," Alexa commented to me as we followed the directors and police officers away from the burial site and to the waiting limo procession. "I can't believe that your famous designer got aced before we were supposed to meet him. My abuela and I have been fans of him when he showcased his gowns for the past few years."

"My sister and Mom are the same as well, Tyler replied. "I heard that my cousin Alicia even had an original ball gown for her homecoming last year."

"Well, we'll never know what's going to happen to Solaris since it'll likely be shut down," I commented. "Derrick told me that he was thinking about finding a successor and stepping down from designing. More so since he felt like it's better to leave before things got too chaotic and ended up in the headlines for anything negative."

"That's for sure," Ellen agreed. "He took a page out of Carol Burnette's page when she decided to end her show in the seventies when things were changing. Maybe Derrick saw some warning signs and wanted to end things on a good note."

"Could be. Come on, y'all. Let's get ready to greet everyone at Derrick's place. I don't want these folks that I'm being anti-social by stiffing them."

Nothing else was said as we were led to the main limousine before Derrick's social circle (Mrs. Tompkins and her family, Khalil and his girlfriend Tayce Slater, and Derrick's pastor and his wife) joined us. "You okay?" Khalil asked me, eyes still red and puffy from crying.

I shook my head no. "I don't think I can be okay after today," I replied honestly. "But I gotta be strong for Derrick. That's all I can do."

Because if I knew better, my father was getting ready to hound me into marry Asher and forego my plans to fall in line in being an unhappy housewife.

*****************

"Working the room isn't for everyone," Ellen complained as she and the others joined me while we sat down in the living room, our feet throbbing from walking around and our emotions drained from talking with the endless faces of New York socialites and fashion designers alongside the models that Derrick worked with. "How the hell can you stand it, Jana?"

I snorted, accepting a bottle of sparkling lemon water from Tyler. "Thank my parents for placing me in finishing school over the summer since middle school," I replied as I saw a police officer approach us with a statuesque Asian woman and a handsome young Black main following him. "Can we help you?"

"Miss Booker, I'm Chief Andrew O'Hara, the police chief of New York City," the older policeman said gruffly yet granting me a small smile. "I was a good friend of your late brother's as were my constituents here- Miss Diana Chan, his personal lawyer and Miles Salter, his private investigator."

"Charmed," the Asian woman said, she reminding me of my high-school counselor whom I shared a bond with, as the two of us shook hands.

"Same," I replied, turning to the man named Miles as I shook hands with him and noticing that they were rough and calloused. "Farm boy?"

"Born and raised in a rural town in Texas," Miles commented. "My grandparents took care of me when my parents left me for Hollywood. I learned a lot about being responsible by working with cattle and the crops before deciding to join the police force."

"Thank you for your service," Ellen noted before she, Jana, and Tyler introduced themselves.

"Now that we're familiar with each other, it's time to get to business," Chief O'Hara noted as we were joined by Mrs. Tompkins and Khalil and sat down. "Miss Booker, your brother was ruthlessly murdered by a Mr. Roger Gigalle before the man killed himself out of guilt."

"Guily of being caught," Khalil spat lowly, eyes narrowing in silts.

"Anyway, we have reason to believe that Mr. Gigalle was sent by someone to eliminate Derrick," the police chief noted as he pulled out a manila folder. "And Derrick believed that he knew that his stalker known as Deathly Glamour was the one to send Mr. Gigalle to do the job. But what's more is that Derrick had a strong hunch of who the mystery stalker was."

My eyes went wide, everyone gasping and murmuring in shock. "Wait, so Derrick knew that he was eventually going to be killed?" Alexa asked in disbelief.

"Sounds like it," Mrs. Tompkins replied. "Khalil, Tayce, and I told him not to think like that; but I think he knew that one of his haters from his life in Atlanta hated him up to the point where he or she- or maybe even they- wanted him dead."

"A premonition," Tyler deduced before turning to me. "Didn't you say that your family was toxic?"

"Yep," I replied just as my phone rang. Frowning deeply at the caller ID, I inhaled sharply. "And speaking of which, this is my father who probably knows where I am by now."

Pressing the "Answer" button, I pantomimed everyone to be silent as I placed the phone on speaker.

"Jana Denise Booker, where the hell are you?!"

Called it. Let the guilt trips and carrot-and-stick routine begin!

Don't think about going anywhere just yet, folks! We'll hear Mr. Booker try and bully Jana into coming back to Atlanta before she tells him about Derrick and she reads a letter with a commission to solve his murder. And from there, the story is about to begin!

Dedication: rhymeswithfry and AdrielleReina.

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