The Bridge to the Rainbow

About the Book

It was not how he wanted his week to start. It was only Monday, and things were going from bad to worse.

Another relationship, his fifth in as many years, was coming to an end. Later in the day, he learns he´ll be one of many to get laid off from his job. And if that wasn´t bad enough, his landlord sold the two family home he lives in, forcing him to move.

Though in themselves these are not catastrophic events, it just so happens that these things begin to happen during the week that ends with the anniversary of his parent´s death, who were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver, a tragedy Marcus blames himself for because of unforeseen circumstances.

But Marcus will soon learn that his problems are inconsequential when compared to those of his sister, Carmella, and his best friend, Samir.

His sister´s marriage to an abusive, alcoholic husband reaches a point where she considers terminating the union, leaving her and her children with the possibility of emotional and financial ruin.

His best friend, Samir, a Moslem from Cairo, Egypt, becomes the unsuspecting victim of racial prejudice, resulting in almost fatal consequences.

But even before these events start to affect Carmella and Samir, Marcus learns a few lessons about life. The most profound being that he doesn´t corner the market on trials, pain and adversity.

Working as an orderly in a nursing home while going to school to become a male nurse, he is confronted with the plight of the elderly in a way he never noticed previously.

His friend, Samir, opens the world of the homeless to him, causing Marcus to feel guilty about his own insignificant problems.

But it is only the beginning of the week. By Wednesday things start to spiral downward.

Late Tuesday night, Marcus comes home to find Carmella and her children in his apartment. Another episode of domestic abuse forces her to leave her own home and seek refuge at his residence.

Wednesday morning finds his friend, Miguel´s donut shop destroyed, the result of a pipe bomb. A casualty from that violence weighs on Marcus. Later that morning, an elderly man Marcus has taken care of for two years and developed a close bond with, dies, resulting in a strange feeling of inexplicable sorrow.

And later still, Samir´s deli is destroyed, the result of a pipe bomb also.

By early evening, the tragedies of Carmella and Samir weigh on him, causing Marcus to lose focus. Their problems become his. By the late evening´s end, Marcus snaps.

It is only when Samir comes to his aid and rescues him from emotional self annihilation, that Marcus sheds the demons that have plagued him for eight years.

Things start to return to normal by Thursday. But events in life, Marcus will also learn, sometimes take strange turns. A secret that was concealed for twenty-five years is revealed. A new love interest forms to help mend his broken heart. And a beautiful woman comes back into Samir´s life.

His sister´s life becomes anything but peaceful. Just when things start to look up, Carmella and her children are caught in the middle of a bank robbery, held up by the two men responsible for Miguel´s and Samir´s stores being destroyed. Marcus and Samir must now risk their lives to save her and her children. But tragedy strikes again when her husband, Steve, just released from the holding center earlier that day, confronts her inside the bank moments before the hold up.

Marcus stands to lose the only remaining family left to him, unless he and Samir try to save her and her children and help them to survive.

By the week´s end, Marcus will learn that a rainbow, the reward that awaits those who cross the bridges of life successfully, is within reach to all those who strive for it.

About the Author

Mario Giancola, a professional hairstylist, lives in Buffalo, New York.