The radit battle tested

Chapter 3 - Library Discovery

“What kind of books do you like?” I asked Tiana. She didn’t know. “Did you read books in school?” She looked at the library floor.

“No,” she answered shamefully. “I dropped out of school in 7th grade. I got pregnant and quit.”

I didn’t want to pry into her personal life, so we sat quietly in the library. “Let’s talk about your interests,” I said. “What do you like to do?”

Tiana did not know. No one had ever asked her.

“Where did you grow up,” I asked. In a sad voice she said, “I grew up in New York in the Bronx.”

I had never been to the Bronx, but I didn’t want Tiana to feel sad, so I moved on with other questions. “How about cooking,” I said, “Do you like to cook?”

This subject hit a spark of pride in Tiana.

“I know plenty about cooking,” she said. “I cooked and cleaned and took care of my whole family most of my life.” Again I admired her.

She and I walked up and down the rows of the library looking for the cooking section. Tiana pulled out a book on rice and said she was going to read it at home. Then, she told me a story about all the rice dishes she could cook. I didn’t know there were so many. Tiana liked to tell stories. I asked, “Do you have a library card?” “No,” she replied.

“Well, let’s get one,” I said.

We walked to the library counter and her kids ran up and said, “What are you doing, Mom?”

“I’m getting my first library card,” said Tiana.



Jasper and Casssandra smiled at Tiana. “We want one too!” they yelled. That day, Tiana and her two children got library cards. Everyone checked out books. I was happy because the library is a great place to take your family or to visit yourself. They all got into Goldie and promised to meet me at the library the next Friday. I wondered if they would come back. Sometimes we make promises we don’t keep. Later that night, I thought about this young mother and her family. She was not like anyone I had ever met. She was tough, polite and “street smart,” another word that people

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

“Will Jasper and Cassandra help you to learn to read better?” I asked Tiana.

“Yes,” she said. “But sometimes they say things to hurt me, like I’m dumb because I cannot read. I’ve been bullied all my life. Growing up, people said mean things about me because I could not read.” I don’t know why people bully others. Is it because they lack confidence? Tears welled in Tiana’s eyes. She had courage but little to show for it—just Goldie, her beautiful children and a hard life. My respect for this young mother grew because she wanted to read to better herself.

And she was taking the necessary steps to do it. That is a very powerful thing to do. Many people think about taking action, but don’t make a plan and follow through.

When a person pushes past their fear to dare to do something new, they grow and get better results.

I could see that the kids loved her and respected her. She wanted them to be proud of her. She was determined to push through her fears and needed someone-- to believe in her -- maybe it was me?



Chapter Questions:

1) How do you start to make a plan?

2) Why do you think some people bully others?

3) What can you do if someone bullies you?

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

When you read to a child, it is a way to express love and time well spent. Reading can bring about a love of adventure, too. Have you ever heard the expression, “lost in a book?” I wish more people would get lost in a book, rather than their cell phones or video games. Tiana was holding her cell phone the whole time we were in the parking lot.

A group of teens were smoking across the street in a cemetery. Tiana’s son, Jasper, watched them.

I wondered if Jasper smoked. Lots of teens try ci******es, even though they know how bad they are for your health. Later, I found out that Tiana smoked, but encouraged her kids not to. I wish parents followed their own advice.

I had lots of questions for Tiana. Where did they live? Where did the kids go to school? Did they have friends? Why couldn’t Tiana read well?

So, our tutoring sessions began in the library with this unusual friend, a girl from the ghetto who I misjudged. The girl who taught me a lot about life, strength and overcoming hard times.

Chapter Questions:

1) How many kids does Tiana have?

2) What do they call the car? What color is it?

3) What does the word “ghetto” mean to you?

4) Why do you think smoking is a bad habit?

Chapter 2 - Train Tracks



When you live in a hot train, an air-conditioned library can feel good. Tiana could not read, but she still took her kids to the library. I admired her for making that choice!

Tiana told me that she needed my help. “I can’t get a decent job or help my kids with homework,” she said. “People make me feel dumb and I’m tired of it.” My heart ached. I wanted to help Tiana.

We walked in the library and I said, “Let’s make a plan. We’ll start with a list of goals and then we will work toward them in small steps.” Tiana smiled. That day she made her first list:

1) Set aside two hours each week to read.

2) Try to read newspapers.

3) Get help with job application forms.

4) Practice sounding out words.

“Will Jasper and Cassandra help you to learn to read better?”

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Tiana did not look like the people I usually see in my town. She looked sort of “ghetto.” The dictionary says the word ghetto means a part of a city where members of a minority live together, due to social, legal, or economic pressure. Ghetto means to me falling on hard times. People use ghetto as slang, so the word can mean different things to different people.

When we don’t know much about a person, we sometimes judge them wrongfully. We may use labels and have false impressions. When I first met Tiana, I had wrong assumptions about her. This is called stereotyping.



Tiana’s two kids were leaning on an old, yellow car at the library. The car had dents and rusting paint. Tiana called the car “Goldie.” Goldie was their traveling home and they parked it under a bridge near train tracks. Goldie was a dirty car.

When I peeked inside the seats were piled high with food and clothing. Was it everything Tiana and her kids owned? The miles on Goldie read 172,000. By the looks of Tiana, her kids and this car, they had traveled many miles. I guessed they had many stories to tell and wondered what had brought this different family to my small town.

I stuck out my hand and said, “Hello, I’m Nina.”

She said quietly, “Hi.”

Tiana had the sweetest smile and big hands. They were warm and strong.

“Thanks for meeting me at the library,” she said. “This is Jasper and Cassandra, my kids.

Her children were dark skinned. Their clothes were ragged, but they wore new red sneakers--Converse I thought. “Hello,” they said softly. They did not make eye contact with me.

They were both watching all the moms and dads and kids walking into the library.

I knew these people would curl up on comfy sofas and read together. Many moms and dads read to their children, but I had a feeling that Tiana and her kids had never been read to.

When you read to a child, it is a way to express love and time well spent. Reading can bring about a love of adventure, too. Have you ever heard the expression,

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

The Ghetto Girl

* * *

Ghetto girl struggles to read

Feeds her children foods so cheap

Tirelessly, forging forward

Amidst the spray of bullets

Aiming for a sound night’s sleep

* * *

The Ghetto Girl

by the radit battle tested

Reading Level: 4

Chapter 1 - Tiana & Goldie ...The Car

It was a summer day when I met her in a parking lot behind our local library. She was young, maybe 23. Not a small woman. Her face and body were big and round. She wore a black beaded T-shirt with a fierce lion on it and really tight jeans. Her shoes sparkled! Those high heels towered above me. Her name was Tiana. She was tall and looked Hispanic or African American. She had wild orange hair. Her looks didn’t give me any clues about her heritage. My name was Nina, I’m a tutor. We were very different looking. “Who is this gal,” was my first thought.

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

What do you think would happen if one day you decided to never wash or cut your hair again?

Well, that's precisely what little Cristobal has decided. And no one, not even his father, his mother, or his teachers can talk him out of it.

Little Gardenhead is a tale of innocence and freedom.

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Free Data

 the radit battle tested

Free Books by the radit battle tested

Book menu

As she walked the sun seemed to shine less and less above her. She walked for several minutes, thinking about how late she would be for school and how her father would most likely beat her for being so late. Unless he had already gone to work. She smiled. This was very likely. She relaxed a bit, letting the forest grow denser. Soon it had grown dark and mysterious. She could see the sun above but its light did not reach through the trees. Chidera shivered but continued on.

“It’s beautiful, no?” she heard a woman’s voice say.

“Always,” said another voice. “It’s wonderful to the eyes.”

Chidera heard the voice of whoever was singing chuckle as she continued to sing. A strange feeling was settling over her shoulders. If she had been older and wiser and just a tiny bit sharper, she would have known that the feeling she was having was the feeling one gets just before something life changing happens.

It was around this time that she started seeing the beautiful designs. They were everywhere. On the ground, on every tree leaf, from the top to the bottom, tree trunks, on the vines, on stones, even the backs of lizards who scampered out of Chidera’s path and the wings of grasshoppers that flew by.

Zigzags, circles, swirls, simple but striking drawings. It was as if the entire forest was tattooed with the dark broad-lined shapes and symbols. Some were the size of Chidera’s nails, others were the size of her head. Still others had no size. For example, a palm tree had a dark thick line swirling around its trunk all the way to its crown. Though the patterns were black, they seemed to be highlighted with a blue purple similar to the colour of lightning. The forest, Chidera knew, was alive. Here it was churning, like a wound up toy that had been wound even tighter. Chidera sighed with awe as she stopped to look around her.

“What is this?” she whispered. She was afraid to speak out loud for fear of blowing away the designs.

She loved the delicate shape of the long palm tree trunk and how it burst like green fireworks at its leafy top. She was pouring the water into her container, noting how the drops made perfect circles in the dirt when she heard the voices. She stopped pouring and looked around, listening. At first all she heard was the forest and the life it carried. Then she heard a soft laugh, a woman speaking and another woman singing. Three voices.

Chidera looked around. There was no one else waiting to draw from the well. She set the bucket down. The singing was so sweet and the other two voices were so welcoming. But they aren’t talking to me, Chidera thought. She looked at her half filled leaky container. She didn’t think anyone would steal it.

Slowly, she stepped around it and looked in the direction of the voices. From deep in the forest, she thought. Down the small path that branched from the big one. Few women used this path, having no real reason to do so. The men used it when going into the forest to hunt or to tap palm wine. She had only walked down this path once, out of curiosity. There was a particularly tall iroko tree that grew about a hundred steps down the path. It was the only iroko tree that she’d ever seen, for iroko trees were very rare. Chidera had stood before it and craned her neck all the way back so she could see its top.

Chidera took a step toward the path. Then another. Then another. She didn’t know the song. It didn’t sound like it had any words. She didn’t know the tune, either. But it was like sugar water and her ears were like her parched throat. The path was overgrown with branches and intruding vines. But it was still a path.

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Chidera looked down at her white shirt and navy blue skirt. She would get water on her clothes. There was no way around it with the container’s tiny cracks. She wore flip-flops instead of her good sandals and didn’t think she’d have time to change them. When she got to the well, there were many other women waiting to draw water. Chidera sighed and took her container off her head. She was wearing her flip-flops instead of her good sandals and now she didn’t think she’d have time to change them before running off to school.

“Good morning, Chidera ,” said Mrs. Odum.

“Good morning,” Chidera said.

“How are your mother and your father?”

“They’re well,” Chidera said.

“And how are your studies going?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Several of the women behind her chuckled.

“Fine,” Chidera said. “I-I know I will be late for school but my father needs water.”

When the women continued talking amongst themselves, each of them filling their containers, Chidera relaxed. She knew the women would talk about her and her family. She was sure someone had heard her father’s yelling. Someone always did. Her friend Florence told her this.

“My mother and her friends are like wall geckos, always listening to everyone’s words,” she said. “Your father is always yelling, so you can assume he’s a man they like to talk about.”

When it got to be Chidera’s turn to get water, she took her time. What was the use in hurrying now? She was already late and if she took long enough, her father would have left for the construction site where he worked and her mother for the market with her shrivelled vegetables and wooden figurines. With the chattering women gone, Chidera was able to sink back into her better mood, the good mood she only experienced when the forest surrounded her. She sighed as she brought up a bucketful of water, her sad face coming as close to a smile as it could. She looked up at the palm trees.

She loved the delicate shape of the long palm tree trunk and how it burst like g

Do you know how to move like a lady, eh?!” her father shouted at Chidera . “Look at this mess. Always knocking things over and breaking things. You move about like a fat man! But you’re NOT a MAN, you’re a GIRL!”

By this time he was waving his hands about and he knocked over his cup of tea. This enraged him more.

“Go and bring back water from the well!”

Chidera wanted to cry but she didn’t. Nor did she protest that she would be late for school. Her father didn’t care about this. He didn’t think she was very intelligent anyway. When he came home from a bad day at work, she often heard him telling her mother how slow in the head she was.

So she wrapped cloth in a small circle on her head and placed the large green container on top of it. She balanced it easily though it was almost as big as she was. Chidera was not a small or big girl. But she was strong. So when the container was full, she could still easily keep her balance, the only drops that spilled on her coming from tiny cracks in the container.

She slowly walked down the dirt road to the well. She passed homes and patches of forest. As she walked, the patches of forest became denser and she began to feel better. The forest was the only place that had such an effect on her. She heard the flap of wings, the click of flying grasshoppers and the soft voices of women at the nearby stream.

She didn’t expect to pass any of her friends on the way to the well. They would all be on their way to school. Her close friend, Florence Mgbafor, would be wondering where she was as she looked at herself in her mirror to make sure her hair was perfect and her nose was not oily. And the teacher would surely punish Chidera for being late.

Chidera looked down at her white shirt and navy blue skirt. She would get water on her clothes. There was no way around it with the container’s tiny cracks. She wore flip-flops instead of her good sandals and didn’t think she’d have time to change them. When she got to the well, there were

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Continued. The girl with the magical hands
There is Florence Mgbafor. This girl thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the village. Probably because her loving parents have told her so since the day she was born. I watch her walk to school each day looking more at the mirror in her hand than the cars on the road. Luckily people driving by seem to know her. Drivers are never surprised to see her walking down the middle of the road, as if she owned it, and easily swerve around her.

Now, Chioma is the tallest woman I have ever seen. She’s tall as those male basketball players in America. Her husband, Bem, is even taller and an albino. Epperi Drewbrass is a stout man who always walks with hunched shoulders as if he was a snake in a past life. Not surprisingly, in this life, he’s a businessman known for committing all types of fraud.

I can go on and on about the people I have seen, greeted and waved at on their way to the market. I’m old, so I’ve seen thousands and know each and every one of them.

But this story is about Chidera. Oh what a miserable child she was. Chidera had the saddest face you could imagine. Her face was so long with sadness that her chin might as well have dragged on the ground. Poor Chidera rarely laughed, though she had friends and did well in school. Miserable children are usually the result of miserable parents. Chidera was no exception.

Her parents were poor though not so poor that they could not afford food, a tiny house (which was closer to being a hut), and Chidera’s schoolbooks and uniform. But even the slightest bit of poorness can become terrible when it is mixed with sadness.

Everyday, her mother would wake up and go to her garden behind the house to see how it was doing. And everyday, she’d come back with a face sadder than the one she’d left with. The tomatoes were dying or the cocoa yams were not sprouting or the peppers were rotting or it had rained too much or it had rained too little or there were worms and beetles attacking

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

The Girl with the Magic Hands

By the radit battle tested

The flap of a butterfly's wing could change the weather hundreds of miles away

-A Nigerian proverb

Have you ever seen a painting or a sculpture that made you smile? Brought you to tears? Made you laugh? Or shake with fear? Made you wonder if the artist had been drinking too much beer?

It’s a wonder how merely looking at works of art can cause you to feel such powerful things. As if the artist had cast a magical spell on that piece of canvas or wooden sculpture. What if that artist were to draw on you? Would the spell still work? A girl named Chidera would probably think so.

My name is Nwora Sunday Okafor. However you may call me Periwinkle. I am an old man who has seen many things in my many years because my favorite pastime is to sit on my porch and watch people. There is much you can see if you sit still and watch things. The world in front of my porch is like an on-going painting. A work of art at play. Over the years, I have watched many interesting characters come and go.

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Yeji Yun





One night a little girl who lived not far away from you was woken up by a strange sound.



She was surprised to see a mouse making a home in her bedroom wall.



"What are you doing?" the little girl asked. "You can’t live here. This is my home!"

"No, this is your house. Your home is much bigger," said the mouse.

"Bigger?" thought the little girl to herself. "Really?"



So she ran to the kitchen where she saw her pet cat, Nat.

"Is this house my home?" asked the girl.

"No," said Nat the cat. "Your home is bigger.

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Pay it forward is a concept that former Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes consistently discussed with his players... See how The Hog Mollies and their friend Ruby learn how kindness becomes contagious when you help others. This story helps kids understand how they can positively effect their surrounding by using the Golden Rule.

AGE 6-12

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Tony Jefferson in

Double Back

by the radit battle tested

New Readers Press

Dedication

For Christina, who gave me a chance.

Chapter 1

The suspect knew we had him surrounded. His face was filled with anger and fear. With nothing left to lose, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger. I saw my partner go down. A flurry of shots followed, then silence.

My partner was more than just a coworker; he was like family. And now the man I’d worked side by side with for 10 years was dying in a Baltimore alley.

He was a cop who loved his wife and kids. He coached Little League on his days off. Now he was gone because a frantic criminal did not want to die alone.

My name is Tony Jefferson. I grew up here in Baltimore, Maryland. My whole life I wanted to be a cop. Now, for the first time, I’m not sure what I want to do.

In school I was a patrol boy. I helped other kids cross the street safely. I patrolled the school grounds like I was walking a beat. Police work is in my blood.

Now I’m 31 years old, and I still can’t imagine being anything else. But the thought of starting over with a new partner was more than I could take. I quit the force right after the funeral.

My parents came for a visit to try to cheer me up. But Baltimore just wasn’t the same for me anymore. Everywhere I looked I saw cops and criminals. My mother suggested a change of scenery. So when my grandmother called to invite me down to Virginia, I jumped at the chance. Maybe visiting my grandparents in rural Bath County would be just what I needed.

There are few folks in this world as welcoming as Mamaw and Papaw. Honest, that’s what I call them to this day.

So this morning, I gassed up the Chevy and threw my battered suitcase in the trunk. I told my German shepherd, Chance, that we were going for a ride, and he eagerly jumped in the car beside me. And we headed south. After I passed the traffic around Washington, D.C., there were fewer and fewer cars. It was a sunny day, and the closer I got to the mountains,

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

When I walked into the dining room, Mrs. Simon was just sitting down. She was a tall woman who wore her graying hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes, behind thick glasses, were sad. Tears welled up as she spoke of her missing daughter.

“It’s not like Dawn to disappear without a word,” said Mrs. Simon. “She always tells us where she’s going. And she didn’t show up for work today either.”

“Even her boyfriend, Sam, doesn’t know where she is,” added Julie. “I just know something’s wrong.”

Julie Simon was probably in her early 20s, but she was unlike any of the women I’d known back in Baltimore. She wore no makeup, yet she had a fresh, natural beauty.

Honesty and intelligence shone from her vivid blue eyes. Her skin glowed with good health, but her hands showed the calluses of hard work. I wanted to know more about this woman. Maybe helping the Simon family would be interesting, after all.

At any rate, I found myself saying, “Mrs. Simon, Julie, I’d like to help you find Dawn. I won’t make any promises, but I’ll do what I can.”

“You see,” Mamaw cried. “I told you Tony would help. He’s my favorite grandson!”

“Mamaw, I’m your only grandson,” I replied.

“A minor detail, my boy, a minor detail,” chuckled Papaw.



Chapter 3

I walked Julie home and asked if I could meet with her the next day. I hoped she could tell me more about Dawn. She smiled and asked, “Do you like dogs?”

“I sure do,” I answered. “My dog, Chance, is here with me.”

“Good!” Julie said. “I promised weeks ago that I would be a judge at our annual dog show tomorrow. Why don’t you and Chance come? Maybe Chance can enter one of the contests. It’s just a local show for animal lovers, so you’re welcome to join in. And we can talk more about Dawn.”

“That sounds like fun,” I said. “Chance was trained to trail and catch criminals. He can follow a week-old trail like it was just made an hour ago. But he was injured in the line of duty, so now he’s just a civilian, like me.”

Julie grinned. “I’ll come

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

Social details
Go -comedy light entertainment
Press message and text my RBT code and six digit code will be sent to you send the code to radit battle tested
And you be sent the RBT storys
Thank you and invites your friends

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

The radit battle tested episode 2™
🚭
Continued with no trouble an the among us gave them a watch to contact them when they are in trouble. Cj and joh made a gang which there name was kooky, aj, & desix cj was the leader while the gangs where enjoying their food the among us called them that king kian has returned cj was surprised he named there gang the radit cj took the gang To the among us world to destory king kian. But it was impossible the gang tried but they couldn't kill king Kia was unbeatable he can't be beaten and they went back home, and sat down we'd cj said :aj get me the remote. Cj turn on the TV 📺 bring surprise he saw king kian on the television saying ,TBD news ,There a ugh moster in town trying to destroy people King Kian was in town because he knows where the transporter is. The gangs went out to kill him with there gun and sword they try all there best but they couldn't kill king Kian. king kian wanted to kill them but the trap them and hang them on top of 🔥 fire it was so hot that they can't escape. to be Continued.⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪

The radit battle tested Send a message to learn more

https://www.facebook.com/100069869923973/posts/230725882599741/?app=fbl