More about the Reality Series
by C.J. Greene
The second book: “Facing this Side of the Moon”continues with the story of Ms. C.J., but the focus is now on her children and her grandchildren, and some of the other characters that were introduced in the first book. Her granddaughter is growing up fast and is now becoming a young lady who is attending Middle School, and becoming more curious about sex and the lives of the adults around her. Marcella (Ms. C.J.’s oldest daughter) is a busy hairdresser, who is now pregnant with her second child. Unfortunately, the baby’s father is a drug dealer who has committed a very serious crime and must then face going to jail, leaving Marcella to raise her baby and her young daughter on her own. She meets a budding political figure, named Northrop, who is the attorney who gets her exonerated after she gets arrested for attempted drug trafficking in an innocent act of passing off drugs to someone gone awry.
Northrop has his sights set on becoming the next African-American presidential candidate, and runs for State Senator of New York. He falls in love with Marcella and promises to take care of her and her children, but he is torn between being a step-parent and a high profile political figure in Washington DC. He is also dealing with some serous identity issues, and how to deal with temptation and seduction by a revengeful, political rival. We learn how to deal with professional prejudices, answering our children’s questions about sex and sexuality, and with paying attention to the needs of our children while forging a successful career in the public eye.
It also continues with the life and trials of Darette, (Ms. C.J.’s niece) who returns to her life in Atlanta and meets a young lady at the airport who becomes a friend. Earline is the child of a Crack-head mother who died in jail, and Earline has spent the majority of her life in Foster homes. Upon turning 18, she searches for her real father, David, who turns out to be an ex-basketball star. She goes to Atlanta to visit him and to find out more about her biological mother. David decides to adopt her to bring her back into his life, but he is having difficulty getting her to adjust to a life as a sophisticated young woman in high society. Having come from the ghetto in New Jersey, Earline is unprepared to live with her famous millionaire father and is having trouble following his rules. She is the example of the unbridled, sex-hormone driven youth, and we get a glimpse into the lives of successful, wealthy business people, and how difficult it is for them to raise children, even in the most privileged of circumstances.
Ms. Darette finds herself in a world of trouble when she assaults her live-in boyfriend and gets arrested. She finds out that she is pregnant, and loses everything that she owns while she is incarcerated, but has the hopes of getting back up on her feet when she meets David, and begins a tumultuous affair with him after Earline gets killed. Darette is a mega-talented clothing designer who wants to start her own clothing line, and hopes that David will help her get her business started. But, David is an overly cautious, workaholic who is mainly concerned with making money, and is skeptical about starting a relationship with anyone, no less a homeless, ex-felon pregnant woman whom he barely knows. After his daughter is killed, he has an emotional breakdown and becomes vulnerable to Darette, whom he helps to begin her life as a famous designer.
We also get a continuing look at the life of college student/turned street hooker/ turned budding CIA agent in training, Joanna (Ms. C.J.’s middle daughter). We first met Joanna after she had been seduced by a young man she had just met at a dance club, who promises her a life of luxury if she would only come and “work” for him in his business. Not knowing exactly what kind of business the young man was in, she gives up her life in New York as a college student and unwittingly becomes a prostitute for Mr. G-Money in Atlanta. After almost getting killed by a rival pimp, Joanna is abandoned by G-Money after she decides to return home. On her trip back to New York, she meets an ex-Marine officer but unfortunately, she becomes entangled in a terrorist attack and ends up getting kidnapped by The Sergeant who has her come work for the government as a computer geek. We see how exciting a college student’s life could be with the proper goals, but we also we find out how hard it is for Veterans to adjust to civilian life after leaving the Military Service.
The 2nd book ends with everyone’s life in the balance. They have all found a bit of happiness, but there are still some questions to be answered...