In Between - Softcover

Love, Dwayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1490742379 ISBN 13: 9781490742373

Verlag: Trafford, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

When his brother betrayed him, the musician Derek was sent away from his family for ten years-only to return to bury his mother who died of cancer. The brother who betrayed him tries to reconcile, and the woman he once loved tells him about a secret he never knew about.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dwayne Love was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Moved to California and was raised in Los Angeles from the age of 4. Graduated High School in 1990 and joined the U.S. Army. Dwayne now lives in a suburb in Seattle, WA.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

In Between

By Dwayne Love

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2014 Dwayne Love
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-4237-3

CHAPTER 1

Ten Years Earlier

* * *

All I can remember about that day is walking into my brother Jason's unlocked front door to his apartment to see her walking out from the bathroom through the living room area wearing nothing but a white T-shirt. Jason stood up from the black leather couch he was sitting on and started trying to explain. I could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear a word being said 'cause my heart was beating so loud. I could feel blood rushing to my head from the anger and knew my face had to be turning red as the color of the American flag.

Like watching a scene from an action movie, I saw an arm swing. A split second later a fist connected to the left side of Jason's chin just before the second fist connected and landed on the right side, forcing Jason to fall backward through the glass coffee table. After hitting the floor, black-and-white Nike Air Max shoes started kicking and stomping him. I heard him yell out in agony when one of the shoes landed on his left rib cage, but still he was able to gain his composure by kicking his legs up and hitting me in the stomach. That's when I realized it was me attacking him. The kick to the stomach had me backing up while bending over from the pain, giving Jason a chance to stand up. I swung with a right again and missed. He caught me right above my left eyebrow with his own right punch that stunned me, and I could feel blood start to flow down into the corner of my left eye. I dove at him, and we both fell over the arm of the black leather couch, landing awkward enough to give Jason a chance to put his right arm around my neck, putting me into a headlock as we both somehow got to our feet. He continued trying to explain, but I wasn't hearing any of that. He said, "D, let me explain," and at that time, out of the corner of my right eye, I could see the fireplace poker leaning up against the wall next to the fireplace, so I reached my right arm out, barely able to grab a hold of it. With what seemed like a lunge, I was able to grab it with a tight grip. I swung it over my shoulder, hitting Jason in his. That's when I heard her scream for me to stop before somebody got hurt.

I don't even remember how I made it to my car, but I found myself at the airport. Twelve hours later, I was awakened by a US Airways flight attendant telling me we had landed and everyone else had already exited the plane. With the pain in my heart and a fresh bandage over my left eyebrow, I exited the plane to start my new life.

CHAPTER 2

Sheldon

* * *

Six Weeks Earlier

Knock, knock, knock. Three knocks at the door of the manager's office.

"Come on in, Ms. Betty."

"Boy! You might want to ask who it is before saying come on in."

"Oh, hey, Momma Liz."

"How you doing, baby?"

"So what can I do for you?"

This is what I asked of my best friend and business partner's mother as she made herself comfortable in the same blue office chair she sits in every time she wants me to get a message to her son Derek.

Every time I look at her, I think she had to be fine as hell back in her day, 'cause she's in her midfifties now and still holding her own. Momma Liz is a slender-built woman, about five feet seven inches and 130 pounds, and anyone would think she was an athlete or a dancer years ago, but she's just a little ole fair-complected Creole woman with long black hair from New Orleans. She reminds me of the actress Jennifer Beals from the old-school movie Flashdance, but older now. Anyway, she was there to ask me to tell Derek to "bring his high yellow tail home" as she has always said since the day he left ten years ago. This time she added "His momma needs him," which somehow seemed different than any other times she wanted me to tell him something. She had been going through a bout with cancer that she was hiding from one son and held me to a promise not to tell the other. She always had to be the strong one that didn't let anyone see her sweat. That was Momma Liz from the day we met back in my college days when Derek and I used to fly home to LA on breaks from school, but now I think the cancer and the years are taking its toll. I told her Derek had left for a tour in Europe a week earlier and wasn't expected back in the States for another six to seven, so she said to just let Derek know when I talked to him. That's all she said on the matter except to remember the promise I made to her. Then she stood up from the blue office chair and left just as quickly as she came.

I sat there awhile, looking over the big desk made of oak, at the permits and pictures I put up on the wall. Of course I had a picture of my family, but what sticks out the most for me were two pics. One picture was of Derek and me when he first purchased the building eleven years ago, when it was called the Monteleone Hotel, and the second was six months after the remodel. There was a third pic of Derek, Jason, and I, but that was well after we were already open. The remodel consisted of changing the bar on the first floor into a restaurant; the second floor into Club Zeus, a couple of offices, and a locker room for the staff; and the third into two suites and a storage room. Derek wanted a suite for Momma Liz and a suite for himself.

This business has had its ups and downs, but we've seemed to have done well, and as I think back, that was the last real conversation I had with Momma Liz besides the usual greeting of hello or good-bye as we sometimes passed each other in the building.

CHAPTER 3

Derek

* * *

It was a week before the tour ended in Europe when Derek got the urgent message from Sheldon informing him of the grim news that his mother, whom he hadn't seen or spoken to in ten years, passed. Derek hopped on the next flight leaving London and headed to the States. It took a couple of layovers at a few different airports before finally making it back to New Orleans, a place he hasn't been to in years, but he never thought he would be gone so long. He strolled the French Quarters of the Vieux Carré as most knew it, admiring the revelers as they stream down the street with drinks in their hands.

He purposely parked his rental car over on Bourbon Street so as not to get stuck between cars if he needed to make a quick exit. Finally, he stopped across from the building he purchased eleven years ago with plans on making this the perfect place for guests to come and get a good meal and great entertainment. He watched patrons go in and come out. It hadn't changed much since he'd last seen it. There were a couple of minor changes to the front, which now opened up so the patrons could partake in whatever the festivities are, because New Orleans is known as a town that has many.

Club Zeus was the club to be at when it opened a little over ten years ago. Derek played for a packed house every time he came off tour and stayed home for any lengths of time. The outside of the building matched that of the surrounding ones. It had been dated and updated some, but not much, considering the Preservation Society wasn't going to allow them to do much renovating of the buildings outside. They wanted it to remain untouched as it had for hundreds of years. The club picked up even more when Jason came on board, bringing in more money than they projected each night, allowing Derek to pay off the loan he'd taken out to purchase the building within three months of Jason's arrival. A few months later, Derek made Jason a partner in the club, giving him 25...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Trafford
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1490742379
• ISBN 13: 9781490742373
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 98
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland