Introducing “The Secrets that We Keep”

By Titus Johnson…

I was convicted of two counts of rape 32 years ago. I have never been convicted of such offenses since that time. However, like every other offender and victim, the guilt and shame is something that barely ever takes a recess.
As result of being convicted of these offenses, I always wanted to know how I could go about helping victims and offenders in dealing with this dilemma.
Three years ago I realized there weren’t any books written by Offenders who were truly sorry for their crimes and needed to express this, while helping society in understanding the different types of offenders and how it all plays out in everyday life. I wanted to contribute something to this cause besides having my name on a registry.
With that said, I’m do to release my book titled, ” The Secrets That We Keep” sometime in June. I’m also thinking about advocating a” Forgiveness Act ” that would allow victims to have say in an individual being freed from the registry. However, for now, I would like to share the outline of my book before it’s released.

I would like to thank organizations like NARSOL for having a platform that offenders can share on

Between the corrosive soil of fiction and reality a seed of truth is planted. Through the tears that flow from the hurt, pain, and shame, this truth is given life. Although challenged by the winds and storms of humiliation, and blame, it’s roots take hold. However, it’s potential, and it’s growth, depends on the light of forgiveness. Without this light it will wither and die. Nonetheless, once fully grown, its properties are miraculous. For its petals are rich in remorse, and the flower itself possesses the power to heal. Be that as it may, this precious flower can only be grown within hearts of men and women. As a result of the corrosive soil in which it is sowed, fiction and reality, the chance of cultivation is already been cut in half. For it is often times difficult, if not impossible, for truth and imagination to cross lines. If it were not for the very things in which we can see and touch, first having existed in the imagination, crossing the line into reality would not be possible. However, he/she who has the belief and faith to plant such a seed, makes this type of flower, possible.

Titus L. Johnson Sr.

Travel down the road of Daniel Carpenter, Michael Moore and Richard Frost and witness how “The Secrets We Keep” play out on three different levels, in the lives of three different individuals. It will not be a road used to go to back and forth, or from one place to another, but a highway leading to different destinations. The paste and momentum will quickly carry your feelings and emotions to places considered to be taboo. A unique work of Literary Fiction that grabs hold of reality and uses it as a vehicle for truth. The reader will be carried over cobblestoned highways cemented with reality, personal experiences, and understanding. A winding road leading to places that will sometimes surprise, confuse, amaze, and anger you. It is road everyone is familiar with, but no one wants to travel. Therefore, you are encouraged to hold on as you witness the lives of these individuals unfold; because one of them will undoubtedly become someone you’ve come to know personally. When this happens, you will experience fiction turning into reality. In most cases, the journey will not be a smooth ride, for there are many bumps in the road. Some will jar your memory while others may open wombs. Nevertheless, you will never have to worry about being alone on this journey. For you will always run across friends and family at the crossroads. If not, it could only mean one thing. The particular road that one of them has taken has led directly to your own front door.

Meet Daniel Carpenter, a thirty two year old white male who will be catapulted from doing simple deliveries for a local meat company to becoming the CEO of one the largest Media Technology firms on the east coast. His ability to shape numbers has given him a Bachelors Degree in Math, and a head start in his career. However, a Nasty divorce have left Him and his 17 year old son living with his new girlfriend and daughter. Although Daniel appears to be happy with his new relationship, as well as his ascent up successes’ slippery slope, inside he’s emotionally battered and appears to be missing something he can’t seem to find. It isn’t until he begins working at the local high school he discovers exactly what is. His insatiable desire to obtain what he’s been missing will cause him to grab hold of the reins of power and begin using the tools of his position and influence to dismantle the barriers which stand in his way. However, it isn’t long before he learns that power and success, when mixed with corruption and deceit, usually causes moral decay in the heart of the one who possesses it. Nevertheless, he will risk everything he has in order to keep both his relationship and his secrets, but it’s only a matter of time before the two collide.

Michael Moore is far from your average African American teenager. Unlike the majority of his childhood friends, the lifestyle he’s chosen has already caused him to fall through a couples cracks in life. At nineteen, he’s already addicted to marijuana and alcohol. As a result of this, he’s dropped out of school, doesn’t have a job, and has chosen crime as a way to pay for his addictions. Simply put, Michael is a follower. His choices in life are being influenced by the friends he keep. It’s more than obvious he’s struggling with the decision making process. It has become difficult for him to choose between doing what is right versus doing what his friends are doing. Michael really isn’t a bad person at all. However, the consequences of his actions will soon lead him down one of the darkest alleys in America. A place where drugs and crime, give birth to hopelessness and despair; where morals and principles are twisted like pretzels and give birth to corruption and mischief. Nonetheless, for Michael there is hope; and her name is Renee Williams. She will provide him with just enough affection to push back the darkness of despair; and his grip on her heart will be the only thing capable of keeping him from being lost between the cracks in which he has fallen. Yet the same love which rescues him, will be the same love responsible for causing his worst nightmare.

Richard Frost is a fifty two year old single white male working in an assembly plant in Albany New York. He has no children, no friends and lives a very simple life. Most of his days are consumed by the hours of employment followed by evenings alone sitting on the computer eating fast foods. Richard has never been considered normal by any stretch of the word. That is, he seems to be lacking basic social skills, has an inability to express affection, and a dark side in which he struggles to keep hidden. Aside from these defects of character, Richard is very intelligent. Although he’s an introvert, and prefers to isolate from everyone else, in his heart he knows he is quite different. It is the combination of these differences which reinforces the belief that he doesn’t fit in. Nevertheless, this all changes when he begins dating his co-worker, Hellen McAllister. Her genuine concern and sincere affection will render him powerless. He will surrender to her parts of himself he never knew he had control of. Emotionally, she will end up taking him to places he’s never been before. Once there, his life will appears to be normal. The relationship that develops between Richard and Mason, Hellen’s nine year old son, will prove to be therapeutic. The time they share together will aid in unlocking the levels of Richards differences, and help to peel back the many layers of his abnormalities.