As Attorney Gerald Rainey sat down with Alicia, she revealed some disturbing details to him that he couldn’t believe. She said, “My father used to take me riding with him in his patrol car all the time…” she choked on her words as tears began to flow from her eyes. “Yes, go on, Alicia, “ the attorney said. “I know it upsets you to talk about this, but you have nothing to fear now. I am right here with you.” She dried her eyes, tried to compose herself and said, “I thought my dad wanted to teach me how to be a police officer like his father had taught him, but that wasn’t what he wanted from me…” “What was it that he wanted from you?” the lawyer inquired. “It was something much more sinister.” He looked at her curiously and asked, “Did you kill your father, Alicia?” She hesitated a moment and said, “No, I wasn’t there when he died.”

As a child growing up in the south, Carl Patterson had aspirations of one day becoming a published author. After the tragic death of his grandmother, his single-parent mother relocated him and his brother to the gang-infested streets of Bed-Sty Brooklyn to live. Knowing that he had to quickly adapt to the ways of the streets or become a street gang victim, he learned how to survive. After graduating from high school, he took a Creative Writing course to learn how to write. In 2006 he used his true-life experiences to publish his first novel entitled Cross Roads, which is a coming-of-age story. Carl has now embarked on a new challenge, which is called A Time to Rejoice. It is a story about four individuals with different views in life and obstacles they will have to overcome. Carl is hoping the reader will enjoy reading the story.