This is a crime novel based on my recent trip to Africa. I think I am making some good headway on it.
“The Bad Seed” is now an ebook on Amazon.
Here is the part of the first chapter of Joe in Africa.”
Joe Monroe woke with a feeling of dread. The bed was cold and empty next to him. “Where was Suzan?” he wondered. He listened intently for the usual morning sounds but didn’t hear the shower running or the usual rattling of kitchen ware.
A bottle of scotch sat on the night stand next to his side of the bed. A shot glass sat next to it. A shot glass sat on Suzan’s night stand as well. The sight sent a flash of memory through his brain and he remembered the fight.
He looked down quickly to his hands. They bore no scratches or signs of injury. Hopefully the two of them hadn’t come to blows, again. He was still rebooting the rest of his memories from the night before. Then suddenly, it all came back to him and he sat bolt upright in bed. “What the hell have I done?”
He lit a cigarette and took in a deep breath that filled his lungs with that magic mix of toxic smoke filled with tar and nicotine. Then as those chemicals entered his blood stream, he remembered more.
He and Suzan had had another silly fight again over their wedding plans and their large debt, as he saw it. Much of this was about the loan Suzan wanted Joe to take out to cover the cost of their large wedding plans. Susan wanted a large affair with all of the trimmings, like that of a princes, or so he felt. It all would be very expensive.
Joe tried to reason with her about the spiraling cost. “If we spend thousands of dollars on a ceremony it will put us deeper in debt than we already are.” “I want a decent wedding Joe,” she retorted. “That costs money Joe. All our family members and friends will be there and we can’t disappoint them. It’s a direct reflection on our commitment to each other,” she went on as Joe listened as he had many times before when this topic came up.
Joe knew all about her spending habits. They had talked about them over and over again. Suzan’s spending habits were not “restrained” enough and not as modest as their financial circumstances required. Joe had mentioned this again to her last night as he had in the past. “We already have a good load of debt dear. We shouldn’t add to it unnecessarily.” Things didn’t go well after that. He remembered more of the argument now.
Joe rolled over and placed his feet on the floor. It was hardwood and cool on the bottom of his feet. He climbed out of bed and stood up. He scanned the room and noticed that the bigger half of the closet was empty. Bits and pieces of his clothing lay on the dusty floor where they had fallen as Suzan quickly threw her belongings into the two missing suitcases that usually sat in the far corner of the closet on her side.
Those suitcases of Suzan’s were very nice and expensive, unlike his which had seen little of the world and only rough places and hard times in the city. His suitcases were as battered and worn as he was.
So we have met Joe and know a little about him. He is no angel, there is no doubt about that. Suzan is a beautiful woman with needs and ideas. She knows what she wants and how to get it. Will Joe be the man that gives her all she wants and needs? More tomorrow when we meet Suzan.
The first chapter of “The Bad Seed” and many of my other novels are here to read.
“Sunrise, Sunset,” my book of short stories and “Kazu, son of Osheda Kamasaki,” my Asian adventure romance novel are now available on Audible.
As always, go to Facebook and Instagram at r.c. hand for more stories and travel adventures.
