Harlem, New York, 1929.
Kenneth Barker was an African American businessman, working a high position for a clothing company. Unfortunately for him, when the stock market crashed, so did his benefits, and his company was put out of business. This caused him to look for work elsewhere, which led him to the Cotton Club, a legendary nightspot in the Harlem district of New York City that for years featured prominent black entertainers who performed for white audiences.
There he met Josephine Bailey, a twenty-five year old flapper, who worked as a dancer at the club. She was the only black woman who worked a dancer, despite the club being full of black entertainers. She was able to grant him a job, but she soon lost her own, due to racial conflict within her group. Kenneth did as well, due to guilt by association.
The two began to skip town, looking for work and getting in all kinds of trouble. Each town they visited brought a new opportunity, as well as a new challenge. Will the two of them be able to overcome this Great Depression and flourish in America? Or will they find no luck, and be left to survive off of nothing but their love for each other and jazz music?
"Do you think we're soul mates?" She asked, lifting her head in order to lock eyes with him.
It took him a moment, mustering up his answer. Thinking about how they were so alike, but so different. How they had been through similar things and had the same outlooks on certain perspectives in life. The connection that they shared.
It was like she was made specifically for him. No one would ever be able to hold a candle to her and the way she made him feel. She was his person, and he was hers.
"To be honest...yeah." He replied, wrapping his arm around her.
---
Knucks is a misunderstood teenage girl, deemed as destructive to the society with her reoccurring outbursts and rebellious behavior. Anger fuels her defiant spirit but beneath her exterior, lies a vulnerable girl searching high and low for someone to help her through a time of crisis.
Bones quiet and reserved, has nothing but a hard exterior looking from the outside in, when in reality he is just an innocent boy. He's fighting to keep his head above the water also known as life, that is trying its hardest to submerge and break him down mentally.
When the two teenagers find themselves in an environment far away from home with others just like them, it leaves both of them separately hopeless about the outcomes of their future lives.
One night upon meeting each other, one felt as if they had nothing to live for anymore, while the other felt the same way only holding a different meaning a sense.The night bringing them closer than ever eventually has to come to an end.
It's up to the two of them to carry out the strange but alluring connection made with each other, or leave it in the night they met.
SLOW BURN; 2 books in 1
STARTED; FEB 19th 2024
PUBLISHED; MARCH 3rd 2024
FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 29th, 2024