Chapter One

Joe Monroe woke with a feeling of dread. Fall was nearly over and winter was arriving early, or so it seemed to him. Frost clung the window bottoms of his small apartment.

He rolled over on to the middle of his wide bed and felt for Suzan. The bed was cold and empty next to him. That was unusual. Where was Suzan?

The sunshine hit him in the face with a harsh glare bouncing up from the surface of the nearby river and in through his bedroom windows, hitting the white ceiling first and then crashing into his eyes.

The reflection of the sun’s rays swirled on the river before they hit Joe’s bedroom ceiling and then crashed onto his face. Most of New York was already awake if it had ever gone to sleep the night before in the first place.

He was among the late risers. He was a nine to fiver and lived close to his work while many in the city never seemed to sleep six hours, let alone eight. “Where was Suzan?” he wondered again. He listened intently for the usual morning sounds of the shower running or the rattling of kitchen ware.

A bottle of Scotch sat on his night stand next to his bed as a reminder of the night before. He was lying cold and naked under crumpled sheets with a bad hangover. His mouth was dry and his tongh stuck to the roof of his mouth.

He spied another glass on Suzan’s night stand across the bed from him. It seemed like a mile away as he focused on it. The sight woke a flash of memory in his muddy brain and he suddenly remembered the fight. He looked down quickly at his soft hands. They bore no scratches or signs of injury. He hoped that they hadn’t come to blows again.

He was still trying to reboot the rest of his brain and memories from the night before when suddenly, they all came rushing back to him. He sat instantly bolt upright in bed. “What the hell have I done?”

He reached for the pack of cigarettes next to the bottle of alcohol filled with that gold, warm poison sitting next to him. Some of the whisky had spilled on the night stand. He could smell it on his fingers after grabbing the pack of cigarettes. The smell of it now almost made him feel sick.

He found his lighter where it always was when he was in bed. It was on the closer side of his light on the night stand. He pulled a cigarette from the crumpled pack and lit it without thinking. It was a natural movement now after so many years of smoking. He inhaled the mornings first deep breath of grey smoke.

It filled his lungs with that magic mix of toxic chemicals of tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide and others. As those chemicals entered his blood stream, he started to feel like himself again. He then remembered more of the fight.

He and Suzan had had another fight over their wedding plans and the large and growing debt that he now had accumulated from this wedding that Suzan had to have. Much of the argument was about the loan Suzan wanted Joe to take out to cover the cost of their large and fancy wedding. That prospect loomed over him like storm clouds sitting ominously off on a distant horizon.

Suzan wanted a large affair with all of the trimmings like that of a princess. Diana Spencer, in particular, seemed to be Suzan’s model for the perfect wedding at the moment, or so Joe thought. Joe had tried to reason with Suzan about spiraling costs over and over again to no avail. “If we spend thousands of dollars on a ceremony it will put us deeper in debt than we already are honey.”

“I want a special wedding Joe. It’s always been my dream,” she retorted. “That costs money Joe. All of our family members and friends will be there and your boss as well, we can’t disappoint them. It’s a direct reflection of our commitment to each other,” she went on to say as Joe listened as he had so many times before when this topic came up.

“I’m already paying on our new life insurance policies in case something were to happen to one of us in the future after we are married, Suzan.” And I still have my rent and all my living expenses to cover. it’s starting to feel like I’m drowning in debt sometimes,” he added with a shrill tone to his voice.

“Those insurance policies will help the one left behind if something ever happens to one of us. I don’t want to end up living in a crumby apartment in the city for the rest of my life if something ever happened to you, Joe.”

“But Suzan, six hundred thousand dollars on each of us seems a little excessive, don’t you think?” “The cost of living just keeps on going up Joe, and buying those policies now actually saved us money in the long run.”

Joe knew all about Suzan’s wild spending habits. They had talked about them over and over again since they had gotten serious about each other. Suzan’s spending habits were less than restrained and not as modest as their financial circumstances dictated. Joe had mentioned this again to her last night as he had so many times before. That had started the fight, again.

“We already have a sizable pile of debt dear. Can’t you just keep your spending down just a little. We shouldn’t add to our debt without good reason.” Things didn’t go well after that statement. Joe then remembered more of the argument. It had gotten pretty ugly.

Joe rolled back over, sat up and placed his feet on the floor. The hardwood felt cold on the bottom of them.

He scanned the room and noticed that the door to Suzan’s half of their closet was open. That half of the closet now stood empty. Bits and pieces of his clothing lay on the dusty floor where they had fallen as Suzan quickly threw her belongings into her two, very expensive suitcases. They were no where to be seen. They usually sat in the far corner of the closet on her side of it.

Suzan’s suit cases were expensive and well traveled, unlike Joe’s which had seen little of the world. His had only been to rough places and seen some hard times in the city. His suit cases were battered and worn as he was.

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As promised, here is Chapter One of “Joe in Africa.” This is a wild story coming your way. I have several chapters finished and I am working on more. You have seen bits and pieces of what might come next, but there have been some changes as often happens in writing and life.

A new character is coming to this novel. He is a reoccurring character from another one of my novels. It will all make sense as we travel on this journey together. Chapter two will be up in a day or two. I have tennis tomorrow morning as usual.

The photos of my recent trip to the Balkans and London are now on TikTok at R.C. Hand22252. They will be up on my website in time. Some are up on Facebook at R.C. Hand and Cowboyproductions52.

I hope all is well.