The worst part didn't even happen sixty years ago. It still haunts me day and night for what happened to my poor son, Noah.
He would've been 58 years old today. He probably would have had a loving wife and beautiful children; maybe even grandchildren. He would have a well working job that would've put food on the table and clothes on his family's back. He would have a whole life of his own with his family and, he would be happy.
Everyone in the family would've loved all of his achievements. They would have celebrated every victory and expressed about every loss.
No one knew he wanted to be an astronaut when he got older. He wanted to go to space and be the first man to walk on the moon. Our family, and everyone else who shared the same skin color as us, would have been overjoyed that he would have made history as not only the first man on the moon, but the first black man on the moon.
Even if 100 years would've gone by after he would've made history, we would still talk about it as if it would've happened yesterday.
I loved my Noah. I still do love my Noah. I miss him every day. It's painful to walk past his room like nothing ever happened. To know someone lied and took my Noah.
Didn't make it better that that woman lied. After everyone hearing me say that he didn't do anything wrong, nobody believed me. Everyone was marching downtown with signs saying: Let him go! while I was trying to save my baby's life with real words.
Everyone was trying to get the police's attention but I was trying to distract attention from the press. Noah's face was everywhere you turned. I threw all the things that reminded me of what happened thirty years ago in the trash can.
The protest signs. Gone. The shirts and all the clothes. Trash. The endless pile of blankets and pillows. Garbage. The voice messages from Africa. Nonsense. None of them can bring my Noah back. None of them can change the fact that the lady lied and ultimately killed my son. Nobody can change that.
She came to my house one time. it was about forty years ago - maybe fifty, I don't keep track of the years anymore. She came to apologize for everything that had happened. I hit her in the face. I told her to never show her face in my neighborhood again. I guess she got the message because I haven't seen her in a while. Not even in the supermarket where she worked, or where she supposedly been offended.
The press asked me for my statement after it happened. I told them that she deserved it. She knew not to walk onto my property after all those years. After the trial. After they hanged my son. After all this time, you think that an apology will make everything disappear and all the pain will go away? You wouldn't even come to the funeral.
I told the officiant that I wanted Noah's casket open. I wanted everyone to see what she did to Noah. I can admit, I wanted her to feel ashamed. Almost ashamed enough to disappear from the planet? No. Just ashamed of what she did. Probably to atone to the Lord.
She went to the press a few months ago. She said that she lied about what happened with Noah. She said that nothing could justify what happened to him and she was sorry. No. She said she felt "tender sorrow" for me. I don't care what she feels. She had plenty of opportunities to come clean and sixty years later, now she wants to apologize.
I'm old now. I'm about to be 81 in the fall. I still remember the cheers of the police officers watching his execution. I remember seeing a little boy in the crowd from the article I saw - where they posted a picture of everyone in the room with Noah. He didn't look happy; he looked disgusted.
I could tell he was uncomfortable and he didn't want to be in that room with those men. He probably didn't want to see that execution and his dad brought him anyway. Every time I close my eyes I see that little boy and it brings me peace that there are nice people in the world. Even the ones that don't have the same color as my skin. There are world changers in the world.
I wanted Noah to be a world changer. Make history. But Noah did make history. Everyone around the world knows his name. They know what happened and why it happened. With this in mind, am I only at peace with the world.
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This is the shortest story I've ever written and I'm so happy with how it turned out. Everyone who responded to the first part of this story, "Noah Adir", thank you so much! You have no clue how much you boosted my self-esteem. It's people like you who keep me writing stories and sharing history. I'm giving a huge shoutout to everyone who read the second part of my story, "Witnessing Adir". You all prompted me to make a part three so I did (as you can see). I think this "trilogy" turned out so amazing and I thank anyone and everyone who enjoys my stories and gives so much great feedback (A.G. Scott, I'm mainly talking about you😁)
I have nothing else to say so I'm just going to spam Thank you's everywhere until I get 1,000 words. I'm not going to individually go out and comment that I have a part 3 to everyone like I did part 2 so whenever you see this is whenever!! Bye!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
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60 comments
Awww, I love how you wrote it from a mother's perspective, there's so much emotion and detail you've put into the story. Amazing job, Carla :)))))
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Thank you so much!!
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No problem :))
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I love the first sentence...looks like you really know how to hook people into your story! :)
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Thank you so much!! I try I try!!
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Of course!
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This is the end of the Adir Trilogy I wrote. I hope everyone likes this version. Don't forget to give good feedback or edits if something is wrong. Remember I'm trying to perfect my writing on racial discrimination and my writing in general. This story is told through Noah's mom 60 years after he... well if you read Part 1 ("Noah Adir") then you know :)
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Ahhhhh this was a great conclusion- I loved basically every word, and reading about Noah's mother was pretty heartbreaking.
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Tank yous!!!
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Thank you for writing this. Seconds into the first story, I realized this was about Emmett Till and I couldn't stop that feeling that made me want to cry. All three stories were written so so beautifully, and you have a great talent. Thank you for bringing awareness to this; the fact that the accuser lied in real life only adds fire to the fact that even if the event had happened, he should not have been murdered for it. The day I did my research on it, I stumbled upon that picture of the open casket and couldn't think about anything else ...
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I really am very appreciated of the comment. I wish other people can understand that we have a way to change the way we live in the world. We don't have to be silent to get what we want and our lives are just as important. I wrote this story for this purpose. I am really glad that you and everyone who commented on my story really liked it. I didn't think I could make this much of an impact and I am so blessed that I could share this to Reedsy. Thank you so much!!
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Wow. What an end to such a beautiful, heart wrenching series! I loved every part of it. Well done!
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Thank you so much!!!
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this trilogy was AMAZING. Carla, I am so happy with your stories. I love LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE how you put the story into the perspective of the mom and how she was growing old still thinking about her late son all those years ago. :)
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Thank you so much!! Everyone kept egging me on to keep writing another part to the story so I just went ahead and did the trilogy. Your kind words on my story is literally making a huge smile break across my face. Thank you so much for the feedback!!!!
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I LOVE THIS. :)
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Thank youuuuuuuu!!!!
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:)
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🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
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Thank youuuuu!!!!!
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yepppppppp XD
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🍪🍪🍪
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Thanks for the Cookies!!!
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hahahah no problem! XD
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🍪
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Tank you tank tank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for the cookie!
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This is one of the best 'trilogy' short stories I have ever read(even though I've never really read any short stories). You are a wonderful writer. You have a message to share and a story to tell and that is what makes you a good writer. Great job!!!!!!!! Love, Whitney!!(as you can see. lol)
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Thank you so much!! You all really don't understand that all your feedback, kind words, and positivity is making me a better person, and in the long run, a better writer. Thank you all, you too Whitney, so much!!
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Hi, I thought you did a wonderful job writing this story. Keep up the great work.
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Thank you so much!!
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Hi Cookie! This was a fantastic end to the trilogy! I loved reading each part of it, and I'm so glad the woman came clean. I hope these things don't happen ever again. I can't wait to read more of your stories soon! Keep writing! :))
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I actually did a spinoff on this story too. It's called "Restart Button" (on my profile page). In this story a man who is at a protest for Noah gets shot over and over, but wakes up again and again just as confused as before. Thank you so much for reading my stories!! You have no clue how much this means to me at this moment.
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That's cool, I'm off to read that now! :) No problem! Your stories are really nice! :)))
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🍪
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Thanks for the cookie 👍🏽
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XD
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Halo!! How does this sound?: A man goes to a museum about old artifacts (well that's what a museum is right? :DD) and he sees a little girl in trouble. She was trying to get a necklace back that someone took from her and she got caught. The man feels sorry for her and decided to do a sit-in along with some other people that he finds along the way.
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HALLO HALLO!!!!! That's awesome, and I like the idea of it taking place in the museum. Are you trying to make it current or in another time?
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I'm not sure. Maybe in the present because I think I'm going to take your flashback idea and put it in there sometime. Maybe have my main character have a flashback about a time he was in trouble and someone ganged up to help him.
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I just finished the story!!! It's called "Two Birds, No Stone"
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YAYYYYYYY ILL CHECK IT OUT SOMETIME TODAY
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Tank youu!!
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Noo Prooblem!!!
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This was awesome!!! One thing, tho... she would be entirely against admitting any possibility of anything done against her son being wrong. Try to reflect that entire opposition. Other than that OMG YOU SUCH A GOOD WRITERRRRRRR
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Well I mean... in Emmett's case, she really did come out 60 years later saying that it was all fake and none of it happened (she was protecting her husband from going to jail) so I guess that was the only real part of the story that I put in there. But thank you so much!!!
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Really?? You should make that clearer that it was some sort of speech because it wasn't very clear, maybe develop setting. Still, the tone she used was kind of impartial when a mother's would be very mind-made-up.
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Ohhh ok I see what you mean!! Try to make the mother kind of have her mind set of "it's her fault and I'm not forgiving her... but I'm still moving forward with my life" and then have the lady (I just realized I'm not giving some of the main characters any names) make a speech saying that she was sorry. I guess that kind of makes sense because in the real story, she disappeared from the media and like nobody heard from her and stuff but then she talked to the press about the lie. Yeah I get it!!!
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Yeah that's exactly what I mean!!! Yerp yerp yerp yerp!!!
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Yerp yerp!! I got it! Thank you for reading my Adir Trilogy stories. You have no idea how much you helped me!!
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