Bus 13
A complete short story. Not a preview, not a first chapter, not three pages and a paywall — the whole thing, start to finish, free.
Imani misses her ride home on a Friday afternoon and catches the 13 instead. She falls asleep before her stop. The story is everything that happens between those two facts.
I only rode the 13 once. I fell asleep before it reached my stop. When I woke up, nothing felt the same.From the dedication
A gift, not a sales pitch.
You shouldn’t have to gamble twelve dollars to find out whether you like the way somebody writes. So take this one instead. Bus 13 stands entirely on its own — you don’t need to have read a word of Souls for Sale II to follow it, and it doesn’t stop halfway to ask you for money.
If the voice lands, the novel is waiting. If it doesn’t, you still got a story out of it, and that’s a fair trade.
How it starts.
Imani stayed in her seat after the bell, watching everybody rush out like nothing mattered anymore.
Her bag sat heavy on her lap, stuffed for the whole weekend. It was Friday, and she was supposed to be heading straight to her friend’s house — they’d made plans all week, and she wasn’t trying to throw that off.
At Kensington High, the last bell meant buses lined up and people flooding out fast. Imani knew that rhythm. A tenth grader who never stayed late for anything, she moved quiet through the halls, a Black girl people saw but didn’t always pay attention to. Hoodie up, hair pulled back, keeping to herself unless she chose otherwise.
Ms. Carter spoke without turning from the board, her voice flat, like it came from somewhere else. “You’re staying after.”
Imani looked up slow, then leaned back like it wasn’t worth reacting to. “For what?”
“Talking in class.” Still not looking. Still facing the board.
Imani let out a breath through her nose. She hadn’t been talking — but once it’s said, that’s the end of it. Sometimes you just get picked, and there’s nothing clean about why.
The rest of it is yours, below.
Where should Bus 13 go?
First name and email, and the story downloads on the spot — no confirmation message to wait for, no account to make.
Your email goes to Will and nowhere else — never sold, never traded. You’ll hear from him only when there’s a new book, and every message has an unsubscribe link. Questions: blackwny@gmail.com.
Rather not give an email? Just download the story — it’s a gift either way.
Bus 13 is downloading now.
Check your downloads folder for the Bus 13 PDF. If nothing happened, tap here to grab it directly.
When you’re finished, there’s a whole city waiting.
You’ve had the sample. Now enter Bethany.
One ride on the 13 is a short, quiet, wrong afternoon. Souls for Sale II is a whole neighborhood of it — a funeral, a mother dead at 1:58, her body gone by 2:14, and a city changing hands while everybody is busy grieving.