Tangled Minds- Prolog and 1st Chapter :: Tangled Minds

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(119) Review by Rozetta Mowery, Author Tragedy in Tin Can Holler (104) Review By Crystal Adkins (96) Review By:T.M. Mason, author (94) Review by Ann B. Keller, Author

Prologue

As the prison door quietly closed behind him with a soft

whoosh, Josh thought to himself that he had finally come

full circle. He was in the very same place his father had

been all those many years ago and he knew he was going to be here

for a very long time. He knew he had not listened when he was told

that he had control of his life, even if he had a disability. He had

always blamed others for his actions. He had always complained

that he never got a break in life. He used the excuse that everyone

was against him and everything that happened to him was someone

elseâ€™s fault. These thoughts ran thru his mind as he surveyed

his new surroundings. Even now he tried to blame his partners for

being in this prison cell. He tried to say that they were the ones who

screwed up and caused him to be convicted. Josh could not find it

in him to place the blame where it really belonged. It belonged with

him.

This was now his home. As Josh looked around he saw the

remains of others who had been here before him He saw the graffiti

of lewd drawings and comments about women they had known

or wanted to know. He saw the iron bunk-bed a..ached to the wall

with the paper thin ma..ress, the single flat pillow, the single sheet,

and the prison gray issued blanket. He saw the windowless 6x9

space that held no privacy. The toilet was the focal point of the cell, like an obscene piece of art work. It sat in the middle of the far wall so when he had to relieve himself he was in full view of the guards and other inmates. The sink was a stainless steel sink with no personality. There was a small desk a..ached to the wall with a chair slid under it, opposite the bed. Â As Josh surveyed his new surroundings, he began the journey again in his mind. It was a journey of how he wound up in this place and why. Josh had been moved to his new home away from home in the middle of the night. He had been sleeping in the county jail awaiting transport when the guards had rudely awakened him and told him he was traveling. Josh knew it was going to happen, he just did not know when. This had always been a part of his life. He never knew when he would be awakened in the middle of the night, as a child, to be placed in a car and moved to a new environment. First it was with his teenage mother as she moved from place to place always one step ahead of the law and family and children services. Then it was with his mother and his real dad after he was released from yet another stint in prison for one crime or another. Josh never remembered being in a place for more than a few months and most of the time it was a place shared with people his parents knew. He never lived one place long enough to make the right kind of friends or stay in school long enough to get a decent education. As Josh took a trip down memory lane, he saw the images of his past; present and future begin to blend in one tangled mass of prison gray nothingness. As his visions of his mother and dad lost focus, his vision of the prison gray walls came back into view. Josh knew he had fulfilled the prophecy of his birth: he was in prison for the next 10 years. His crime was one of stupidity mixed with the lack of not being able to say no. He had been part of a loose gang of misfits whose idea of a good time on a Saturday night was to break into the disabled manâ€™s house. He was the uncle of one of Joshâ€™s friends who Josh had met while living in Alabama. The idea was to just scare him and steal his money and anything else of value. However, that idea took on a life of its own when the man tried to fight back. Â Now Josh was here and his friends were someplace else. Josh was serving time for being an accomplice to robbery and murder, all because he did not have the right stuff to say no and to protect the innocent. So, now at what should have been the beginning of Â <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA" face="'Calibri','sans-serif'"> Â Â Â his journey as a productive member of society, Josh at 17 years old was now a convicted felon and a non-productive member of society. He had lost his identity. He had become a number and a statistic. Joshua Ruben VanPelt ID # K-13798, inmate at Hardwick Prison in Hardwick, Ga. Â The Baby Â Â JulyÂ 7,1990, at2:30 in the afternoon in a local hospital located in Commerce, Ga. a baby was born to Brianna VanPelt. She was .... years old, blonde and petite with green eyes that darkened when she was angry. She had a smile that would charm anyone and usually did. Now, she was not smiling, her eyes were snapping in anger. She was tired from .... hours of labor and she hated all who were in her line of vision. The main focus of her anger was directed at the result of this birth. This baby was a beautiful baby boy with deep blue eyes and a head full of dark fuzz. However, Brianna did not see the beauty of this innocent baby, all she saw was her future going down the drain. Brianna had not really wanted this child. In fact she hated this child from the moment she knew she was carrying it. She was still in school and she had been one of the most popular girls in school. She had a scholarship to a major university in Athens, Ga. She was involved in cheerleading, the school newspaper and on the annual staff. She did not have time for this bundle of crying human flesh still covered in the blood of his birth. To her he was ugly and she hated him. But she hated her parents more. Her parents had told her that she would have this child, and that she did not have the right to destroy it. Brianna had always been a good kid. She had always done the right thing in her life. Â She knew in her heart she could not destroy this being. But she still hated it. She knew she had to accept the responsibility of the action she took the night she slept with her boyfriend. Still she did not like it and at the moment the only person she could take it out on was this baby. So, Joshua Ruben VanPelt came into this world, born to a mother who was still a child herself, who at this moment hated him for screwing up her world, and born to a father who was at the current time in prison for boosting a car and assaulting the driver. He would be gone for a couple of years. Brianna had not heard from him again after that night when he had talked her into a night of what he had called lovemaking, but was really just sex and lust. Good old Benny Ruben, how he could charm her. And charm her he did- right out of her clothes and her virginity. Brianna was no match for him. Â Benny was a James Dean wannabe, and James Dean was his hero. He was tall, dark and handsome in a strange sort of way. He had a square jaw, liquid blue eyes that one could fall into and drown. A smile that could knock a girl to the ground and a come hither look girls went wild over. His hair was dark and wavy. Benny kept it long and combed back in a pompadour style. He wore tight fittingÂ jeans and white tee shirts with his cigare..es rolled up in the sleeve. Bennyâ€™s favorite jacket was a leather bikerâ€™s jacket that closely matched that of his heroâ€™s on one of the many posters which lined his walls. Even though Brianna knew in her mind that Benny was bad news, she could not help but fall into his web of lies and deceit. So was the downward spiral of Briannaâ€™s life and that of her son Josh, who was now cleaned, wrapped in a blanket and le..ing the whole room know he wanted to be fed and he wanted to be fed now. Â Brianna had finally agreed to hold this creature that had been part of the ruination of her life as she used to know it. As he was placed in her arms, she looked in his eyes and the hate began to dissipate. Brianna knew she had to step up to the plate and take care of this small creature. She still did not love him as one would love oneâ€™s child, but she felt a sense of ownership. Brianna still resented this baby and she did not know how she was going to take care of him and go to school at the same time. But she knew that she was expected to take that responsibility seriously. She knew she could still live at home and that her parents would help her to some Â extent. But the burden was hers to carry. Â Two days later Brianna arrived home from the hospital with Josh in tow. Her room no longer had the dÃ©cor of a teenagerâ€™s room filled with posters of her favorite movie and rock stars. She no longer had make-up piled on her vanity. Instead she had baby lotions, powder, and other necessities. A bed with blue accessories so the baby would have a place to sleep. She had a diaper hanger hanging on one corner of the bed post to hold the diapers she would need. Brianna had baby clothes in the drawers that used to hold her chic clothes for school and play. Included with her phone numbers of her girl friends were the phone numbers of the babyâ€™s doctor, her doctor, the hospital and the pharmacy. Gone were the vestiges of being a teenager with the only worry of making good grades and what to wear for Saturday night. In fact, gone were the Saturday nights out with the gang. Instead, she had three am feedings to look forward to, as well, as walking the floors all night with a baby who cried because of colic. Â As Brianna laid Josh in his bed, she said to no one in particular and to walls in general, â€œWell, Benny, this is another fine mess youâ€™ve go..en me into.â€ She thought of other times she had been with Benny and they had done some really dumb things. To the baby she said, â€œWell, kiddo. Welcome to my world. It is going to be a long ride. I donâ€™t suspect that I will ever be able to love you, but I will look after you. I will do the right thing as always. But I can never love you.â€ The ice formed around her heart and soul. Â The days and nights began to run together as Brianna adjusted to having this new creature in her life. She forced herself to struggle thru school each day while taking care of the new babyâ€™s every day needs. She spent many sleepless nights changing diapers and giving three oâ€™clock feedings. She was constantly exhausted from never having enough sleep and trying to study in order to graduate. As the days and nights continued to run together, her distance from this child grew. She did not hate him nor did she really love him. She tolerated him. She never cuddled him when she feed him, she would prop his bo..le on a pillow so that she could study while he ate. When Brianna would get phone calls from her friends wanting her to go off on a Friday night she could not go. She had no one to take care of the baby. Soon the friends stopped calling. As time went on Brianna became isolated in her life. There was no social Â life, no quiet time, no sleep and no relief from always having to care for Josh. She wondered if there would ever be a day in her life when she did not have to take care of this child. Â When Josh was eight months old, something happened that would change the way she felt about him. Brianna had been fighting with her parents. She was tired, they were tired and the baby had not been feeling well. Brianna wanted to get away for just a littleÂ while. Â She asked her parents if they would look after the baby for a couple of hours. Â â€œYesâ€, her mother said, â€œBut no longer than two hours, we are supposed to go out.â€ Briannaâ€™s mother, Joan, was an average looking woman who had learned the hard way about life and the pitfalls it contained. She had lost her youth and beauty much the same way as Brianna. She at one time was a homecoming queen and the most popular girl in her school. However, she had made the same bad decision as her daughter. She had had a child way too young. Joanâ€™s father Bob was a successful CPA. He had worked his way up in his company and tonight Bob was being honored at a dinner for his years of service. Â Bob had just come in from the yard and had heard the last part of the conversation between Brianna and her mother. As Bob was washing the dirt and grass from his hands, he asked, â€œWhat is it that Brianna wanting to do?â€ Â â€œShe wants to go off for a couple of hours and leave the baby with us.â€ Joan replied. Â â€œNo, Bob said, â€œHe is not our responsibility and we have to start ge..ing ready in a while for the dinner. We can not get ready and look after a baby. She will either have to take him or else stay home. We will not be worried about her ge..ing back in time for us to leave.â€ Â â€œBut Dadâ€, Brianna whined, â€œI need some time to myself. The baby is draining me and I want to go out with my friends.â€ Â â€œYou should have thought about that when you were messing around with that boy.â€ Her father replied. Bob still refused to even call Benny by his name. He hated that boy with more than he ever thought possible. He felt as if Brianna had ruined her life and Benny was her enabler. Â Brianna turned to her mother with a questioning look on her face. â€œYou told me you would look after him for meâ€, she said. Joan looked at Bob and then looked back at her daughter. Â â€œBrianna, your dad is right. The last time you said you would be home at a certain time when we kept the baby it was 2:00 in the morning before you came strolling in the house. The baby had kept us up because he was not feeling well, we did not know where you were and you would not answer your cell phone. As much as we both love Josh, we are not going to raise him. He is your responsibility, and if it means you have to forgo a social life to raise him, then so be it. I tell you this, not because I donâ€™t love you or the baby, it is because I do love you both.â€ Â Briannaâ€™s anger began spilling out with snapping eyes and verbal hatred for both of her parents at that moment. â€œWell, fine then, if you donâ€™t want me to have any friends or see my friends, then it will be your fault when you are not allowed around Josh at all. Some day you both will want to see him and I wonâ€™t let you. I hate both of you and I am leaving and taking him with me. Then you will be sorry.â€ With that last statement Brianna stormed out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. The yelling had awaken up the baby and he started crying. Brianna yelled at him in her anger. This became too much for Joan and Bob. At the same time, they both almost ran to towards the bedroom door and at the same time said â€œDo not take your anger out on the baby, it is not his fault. You are supposed to be the adult.â€ Joan opened the door and took the baby out of his crib and in her arms. As she walked away with him she heard her husband say to Brianna. â€œThis is it! We have had enough! If you choose to live on the streets, then go, however, you will not take Josh. Your mother and I will get custody and then you will be the one who will not see him. We will not have him always in the middle of one of your ba..les. We will not allow you to ruin his life because you are mad at us and because you want to use him as a pawn to emotionally blackmail me and your mother. Brianna, you made an adult decision to sleep with that boy. By making that decision, you have to accept the consequences. That is called life. Now deal with it. Your life is no longer yours. It belongs to Josh until he is old enough to take care of himself. You now have to make sacrifices in order to take care of him and make sure he has his needs met. You have to finish school so that you can get gainful employment in order to take care of him. You can not go back to being a care free Â teenager who is always trying to win a popularity contest. There is no room in the adult world for such childish games. It is now time to take the bull by the horns and become an adult. If you choose not to take the responsible adult path and you choose not to take care of Josh, then you leave me and your mother no other option, but to take him and do it for you. Someone has to be responsible for this babyâ€™s life, if not you then us. So the decision is yours. Be the adult or be the child. Either way you make the call.â€ Â With those last words, Bob with a very tired and old look on his face, turned and walked out of the bedroom. Brianna stared at him wishing she had some smart hurting comment to make. He had left her speechless. She had been her fatherâ€™s child. He had never spoken to her that way before, very quietly, with no emotion and no facial expression. He left without telling her he loved her and he left without telling her she was still his girl. Brianna was crushed, angry, hurt and confused. She did not want to be in this house another minute. She did not want her parents to have access to Josh. In her anger that was the best way to hurt them back for the things her father had said to her. A plan began to form in the back of her mind. It started out as a small voice, saying â€œShow them. Show them that they will be sorry. They will be sorry when you and Josh are no longer here. They will never have to worry about you again. Take Josh away from this place. Take him away from those people. Make them very sorry.â€ Â Brianna sat at her computer and instant messaged her best friend Gayle. The plan was beginning to take shape. Brianna knew what she was going to do. The only thing she had to worry about was timing. Brianna heard her mother bring the now sleeping baby back into her room and lay him in the crib. She did not look away from her computer and she did not acknowledge her mother had entered the room. When Joan tried to speak to Brianna to let her know that she was loved and that they were only trying to help her, Brianna acted as if she was not listening. In fact Brianna in her mind was answering her mother with snide comments about all the things her mother was saying was lies. Joan looked at her daughter with wise, sad eyes, if Brianna had turned to look at her mother at that moment her resolve for revenge, might have dissipated. However, she was so bent on revenge and so wrapped in her own anger, she did not see the tear that slowly rolled down her motherâ€™s cheek. She Â did not see the sadness in her motherâ€™s eyes and the knowing look that she knew exactly what Brianna was about to do and there was nothing she could do to stop the train wreck. Joan slowly turned and quietly left the room. Brianna never turned from the computer and her plot to leave with Josh.Â <span style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: ; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA" face="'Calibri','sans-serif'"> Â Â

Posts: 4

Review By:T.M. Mason, author
06.Mar.08, 15:54 EST
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By: T.M. Mason, author Wars of Storms, Souls of Chaos Â A sickly twisted vicious cycle,... one reflective of true life,... in too many ways to list within this review. A fast paced,... swerving ride through generations,... like and out of control vehicle, in a California Farmerâ€™s Market. 
Â

Yvonne Mason, reaches into the depths of humanity to pull forward several characters of inter-twining evils among Mankind. Looking at how one bad choice can create a chain reaction,... worthy of displacing Enrico Fermiâ€™s, Nuclear Chain Reaction,... as the most powerful set of cause and consequence within the realm of Man.

Â

At once heart-wrenching and educational,... while sustaining an entertaining look into the destruction of so many lives,... within the consequences of one hastily made, un-thoughtful,... impulsive choice. Showing the exponential explosion of devastations, the combination of bad decisions, and lack of individual responsibility and integrity, can lead to.

Â
Review by Rozetta Mowery, Author Tragedy in Tin Can Holler
05.Mar.08, 15:59 EST
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"Tangled Minds is aÂ fascinating, and eye opening story.Â It makes you realize that this could be your family.Â The author tells the story in great and vividÂ detail, which makes you go throughÂ all of the emotions thatÂ the characters are feeling.Â You feel for the characters, and feel your heart screaming out to help them, and to help them see the light of their actions.Â There are so many great lessons to be learned in this story, from teenage pregnancy, poverty, and both the good and bad sides of society.Â Everyone can take a small lesson from this book.Â It is a real page turner!" Â
Review by Ann B. Keller, Author
05.Mar.08, 15:55 EST
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Tangled Minds is a masterpiece. In the fine tradition of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Yvonne Mason leads the reader through the twisted and tangled lives of Brianna Van Pelt and her son, Josh, thrusting us into a Pygmalion dilemma that has consumed scholars for decades. Is there such a thing as a "bad seed", an individual whose feet are placed upon a path of crime and evil almost from the beginning? If the circumstances of one's birth or the choices one makes cannot be overcome with love, patience and the rarely grasped opportunity for redemption, what chance is there for any of us?

Thwarted by her parents' tough love, seventeen-year-old, single mother, Brianna, allows herself to be drawn into a new world glittering with easy money and false promises, accepting that proposition that no good girl ever should. With her young son, Josh, in tow, she dazzles with new prosperity, fulfilling the fantasies of not only her glorified pimp, Ken Morgan, but those of a judge and a host of depraved, desperate men in their wake. Ms. Mason's familiarity with the legal system and law enforcement showed through clearly in several well orchestrated scenes, as the long arm of the law repeatedly tried to halt the ring of drugs and prostitution and Brianna and her son fled for the safety of the mountains.

Ms. Mason's understanding of mountain people was stellar. These simple folk protect their own with fierce loyalty and Brianna and Josh find shelter beneath their net of poverty, love, moonshine and madness. Here, transgressors simply disappear, never to be heard from again and the mountains hold their secrets close to their chests as nature smoothes the pothole's dark waters and envelops the hills in song and greenery. Even murder seems somehow justified in a place such as this, but the twisted and convoluted logic of its inhabitants finds no sympathetic ear in the outside world and Josh must ultimately face the consequences of his actions.

And yet, within this story, there lies hope. In Hannah and Miss Amy, we see the opposing force of love, the light of goodness that can blaze through even the meanest dark, if only one has the courage to reach for it. Fragile yet steadfast, this gentler emotion finally reaches even Brianna, a woman some would have classified beyond redemption. In love's golden glow, we find hope, hope for Brianna and Josh and perhaps even for ourselves, as well.

Tangled Minds should be required reading for every high school senior or college freshman, although its audience is clearly much wider. Life is, indeed, full of choices and consequences. An individual may be able to run fast and far, but in the end, he cannot outrun the ultimate judge - himself. True redemption begins from within. May love's tiny flame light the way as we reconcile our past, lift our face into the winds of change and set our feet once more upon the good road. An excellent read!Â 5 Stars Â 
Review By Crystal Adkins
06.Feb.08, 23:05 EST
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2/06/2008 Â Tangled Minds by Yvonne Mason *print book* Â Brianna Van Pelt was a seventeen year old spoiled little brat. She did not want to accept the consequences of sleeping with her boyfriend, Benny. When her son Joshua was born into the world, she hated him, hated the sight of him, hated that he messed up her teenage perfect popular life. She vowed to care for him, but never would she love him. Brianna blamed him, blamed her parents, but never blamed herself for the road she was about to choose; the road that will quickly take away her youth.

Punishing her parents for the wrong reason, Brianna ended up hatching a plan. Planning to move out, get a job, and take Josh away from his grandparents forever. Leaving him in the hot vehicle while filling out an application for a BBQ restaurant was the beginning of things worse to come.

There she met Bill, who introduced her to Ken. Bill Bredlove was a sleaze in every sense of the word; Ken Morgan on the other hand had a plan for Brianna, at least she would be well taken care of. She only had to do a few â€œfavorsâ€ for Kenâ€™s male clients. She would be paid quite well, have her own luxurious apartment, clothes, jewelry, and even a nanny for Josh. The selfish girl could not turn down the offer, no matter who it was Ken would have lined up for her to sleep with.

Ken and Bill were partners, but Bill began abusing the girls and Ken had to remedy the situation before something bad happened to the girls or Brianna. Only the threat didnâ€™t keep Bill away, it only caused him to roll on Ken and get him sent to prison. Knowing the girls would need him eventually; Bill just sat back and waited.

Always lugging Josh around in the middle of the night, it was written in the stars that he would follow in his mothers footsteps, never taking the blame on himself, it was always someone elseâ€™s fault. Little did he know he would end up following his fathers footsteps as well when he is sent to prison for 10 years. Only knowing love from two people that were not actually related to him, Josh was delt a bad hand from the start of his life. Would life in prison change him? Would Brianna ever come to realize she caused her own fate? Only time will tell.

Tangled Minds by Yvonne Mason is a fast paced novel, that will keep you on your toes. So many events happening and well detailed scenes make the story fly by, you are finished before you know it. Ms. Mason pens a tale of very real events, that really makes you think. A wonderful read, I would highly recommend it. 4.5 Hearts

Yvonne is on myspace at: www.myspace.com/yvonnemason Â Posted by Crystal Adkins at 9:15 PM

Blog: Tangled Minds- Prolog and 1st Chapter

2008

Review By:T.M. Mason, author

Review by Rozetta Mowery, Author Tragedy in Tin Can Holler

Review by Ann B. Keller, Author

Review By Crystal Adkins