"David's mark" Details added in Prep for Promotion

"David's mark" is to be considered for nation wide promotion and the non-profit pointed out some suggestions they are looking for. When I wrote the book I was interested in telling the story of "David" I never considered that it might help other boys that had a background similar to mine. I made some changes to "David's mark" adding over 45 pages of content and some photos. The photos are in the printed edition only. These changes will hopefully help ones like me.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 7 "I Held my Breathing Steady"
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With the moonlight filling the living room and kitchen I looked around trying to find something that I could use against Doug. Nothing caught my eye, until the moonlight caught it. The light of the silver moon danced off the sharp blade of a carving knife sitting in the dish drain on the sink counter. I took the first step toward the drain and felt a tightness and resistance in my mid-section, then warmth running down my legs. At some point of seeing Doug stabbing my mom I had peed in my underwear, creating resistance as I tried to walk. I added a little more effort ignoring the inconvenience and made my way to the kitchen sink. I picked up the large carving knife and turned around to go back to my mother’s bedroom; when nothing, no more screaming. Somehow I managed to pee my underwear a second time, realizing that Doug had just killed my mother and now he was going to turn his attention to me. I did have one advantage; he did not know I was up, unless he stepped in a puddle of my urine.

I made my way to the area beside the stove and the half wall between the living room and kitchen and forced myself in the crack. I could see out, but the shadows would hide me from Doug. I made myself as small as I could, and this time I controlled my breathing, something I had learned from Spock. I watched as Doug passed silhouetted in front of the big picture window, backed by the glow of the moon. He was walking to my room. I scampered from my hiding place and moved quickly to my mom’s bedroom. I had to know for sure; I had to be sure before I ran from the house, that she was dead.

When I entered her bedroom she was laying limp across the corner of her bed. A dark splattering covered her body and ran down along her arm and dripped from her hand that hung over the edge. I was now sure, Doug had killed my mom and if he found me in the house he would kill me.

“Brian.”

Doug had found my room empty and was now hunting for me. I could only hope he would not return to mom’s room, he had other rooms to search first.

“Brian.” Doug was dragging out my name, in a dark playful manner.

“Brian get out here NOW! I want to kill you and I’m too tired to go around hunting for you, so let’s just get this over with and just let me kill you. I ain’t got all night.”

I went to the far side of my mom’s bed and squeezed myself under it, still clinching the carving knife. My mom’s bed sat low with her dead body on top, so I had to exhale and squeeze myself in tight. I pushed myself over to the same side my mom was hanging off of so I could see when Doug entered through the door. Then steadied my breathing and waited. As I waited my mom’s blood was dripping in a pool right in front of me and each drop splattered and splashed on my face. With each splash I could hear Doug’s taunt for me to come out of hiding.

“I’ll tell you what Brian, if you come out now, I will kill you fast, go easy on you, make it quick. It’ll be good for me to do it quick; I have to be at work in a few hours.”

I held my breathing steady.

“Brian? Did you come into your mama’s room to see if I killed her? Well I did, now where are you?”

Doug stood in the doorway to my mother’s bedroom, holding his own knife, which was dripping black drops in my black and white nightmare.

I held my breathing steady.

I watched as he made his way across the room and toward the edge of the bed.

I held my breathing steady.

He stopped, his foot just short of the pool of blood next to my face.

I held my breathing steady.

I could tell he twisted his body in the direction of the closet.

I inched forward, just enough to put my left shoulder and left arm out from under the bed.

I held my breathing steady.

When his twisting motion was completed he called out again.

“Brian you hiding in the closet like you used too when I found your bed covered in piss? Come out…”

As I thrust the knife in his foot and through his shoe I had to make sure it pinned him to the floor.  Doug let out a scream that sounded like no man that I had ever heard scream, and still I pushed down on the knife harder. In quick fashion I managed to pull myself out from under the bed. My body dragged through my mom’s pool of blood, covering my chest, wet underwear and legs. As I pushed down on the handle of the knife with my full body weight Doug let out another scream, dropping his knife. It landed on the other side of his body out of my reach."

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