Destiny's Odds

By R. L. Johnson

What are the Odds that eight separate people’s lives can change based on one solitary incident that occurs in one home? That is exactly what happens in Destiny’s Odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781304411174

Book preview

Destiny's Odds

Destiny’s Odds

Dedicated to

Willie Mae Woodson

Thank you for the inspiration

Destiny’s Odds:  A predetermined course of unlikely events.

©Copyright 2013

Contents

Destiny’s Odds

Preface

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

Destiny’s Reason Sneak Peek

CHAPTER 1

Preface

Quincy and Raina

Friday, February 17th, 9am

There were very few people in the world that could attest to having a perfect life.  If she believed in such, Raina Weaver would say that her life was perfect.  She smiled in the foggy bathroom mirror as she stepped out of the shower.  There was no need to make herself visible.  She didn’t care how she looked today. 

She sat at the vanity in her master bathroom and rubbed lotion on her newly shaven legs.  She couldn’t go without shaving her legs once a day.  She looked her legs over to ensure she hadn’t missed a spot or cut herself anywhere.  Then, she made her way downstairs. 

The wooden stairs creaked as Raina walked down them.  She made a sharp left into her living room that she had decorated in two shades of brown.  It was her favorite color.  She walked over to her computer desk and turned on her home computer.   She smiled as the computer came to life.  She rubbed her hand across the screen wiping away dust.  The woman that Quincy had hired to clean their home must have missed it.  Raina would be sure to mention it to her. 

She clapped her hands together to remove the dust that had gotten on her hands.  Just as she did this, her husband Quincy Weaver walked into the living room from the kitchen.  It was on the other side of the stairs that Raina had just come down.  He was adjusting the tie on the expensive suit he was wearing.  Raina smiled at him as he completed the task.  Perfect.  The sight of him made her want to leap across the room into his arms.  She loved him more than life.  He smiled also noticing her presence in the room. 

Leaving for work?  She asked, walking over to him.

Yep.  Quincy answered putting on a leather jacket and opening the front door to leave.  A cold gust blew in from outside causing Raina to pull her robe tighter around her.  There was still some melting snow on the ground and the blowing wind made it seem colder than it was.

Well, be careful and have a good day at work.  She said leaning in to kiss her husband.  She gave him a swift peck on the lips.  He smiled at her and cupped her face.  He kissed her passionately.  Raina swore she could see fireworks behind her eyelids.  His kiss always had this effect.

You’re staying in today I assume?  He asked noticing the robe that Raina still wore.  Normally, she would have been dressed by now.  Raina attempted to clear her head enough to answer his question.  She was still floating from his kiss.

Yes.  She accomplished.  I just don’t want to go to work today.  If it’s alright with you, I would just like to sit around in my robe and do some home shopping.  It was a lie and she knew it.  She knew that once she sat in front of her computer that she wouldn’t turn on the television at all.

Buy whatever makes you happy. 

No limit?  Raina asked.  She knew that she wouldn’t spend anything.  She would just tell him that she didn’t see anything of interest.

I trust you to know your limit.  He said giving her one last peck on the cheek.  I’ll be home early today.  I’m just tying up a few loose ends and then I‘ll be able to join you in your lounging. 

How early?  Lunchtime or dinner? 

Dinner.  Quincy said.

Dinner will be ready then.  Raina said.  She didn’t believe that Quincy would come home early at all.  His work hours were usually between 9am and 3am and sometimes he didn’t make it home at all.  Although, he did make sure he made it home before 9pm at least twice a week to spend time with her.  He had already done that this week so, there was no need for him to try and convince her otherwise.

What’s on the menu?  Quincy asked pleased with his wife.

Pork roast?  She asked.  She would cook it the way he loved it, put a plate of it in the refrigerator for him and freeze the rest.

Pork roast sounds wonderful.  He replied as he carefully dashed to his car to avoid slipping.  Raina stood in the doorway waving goodbye as he barely cranked the car before backing out of their driveway.  An elderly neighbor was standing in her yard across the street and waved to Raina.  She waved back.

Quincy’s off to save the day I see!  She yelled from across the street."  Raina smiled.  He was a superhero; one of a kind and always saving the day.

Yes Ma’am. 

That’s one special man you got.  The old woman said.  Raina smiled and closed the door to her home.  She was right.  Quincy was special.  His popularity as a lawyer came with being known as the man that had put away more sexual offenders in Virginia than any other lawyer.  Quincy was very well known and listed among the most accomplished lawyers in the State of Virginia.  There wasn’t a lawyer in their small town of Glen Allen or in the city of Richmond that could hold a candle to him.  He had been on the front page of every newspaper in Virginia and West Virginia.  He was a local celebrity and he took pride in everything that he did.  Raina shared his pride, and was never shy about bragging in regards to Quincy‘s many accomplishments.  She was spoiled to death and was happy to be married to him.  They shared eight blissful years together and Raina wouldn’t trade any of them for anything.  She had everything she ever wanted and more.  The only thing she wished for more than the many treasures she already had was more of Quincy’s time.  That was the only price she had to pay for him being such a success.  Although, she did find interesting things to do to fill the time they spent apart.

She took a deep breath as she thought about the sacrifice that she had to make to be happy.  She blew the air from her lungs slowly and closed her brown eyes.  She thought of how their life would be if Quincy didn’t put his all into his work then, she opened her eyes.  They wouldn’t have what they have now and that was enough to help Raina accept things the way they were.  She liked to live well.

Quincy drove his silver Mercedes towards his law firm in Richmond with a smile on his face.  He felt invincible and not just today; he felt this way every day.  His success was his own; no one had given him anything.  He had it all and would take more if he could.  He felt that there was nothing he couldn’t do; he was in total control.  He had proven it.

He bit his bottom lip slightly as he thought of his impending day.  He had a couple of meetings that he was dreading but, he had to be there.  His job would be the death of him some day, he just knew it.  He ran his fingers through his brown hair as he thought of this.  With all he had accomplished, would he die happy?  He thought of his life as he drove towards Richmond.  He realized after mentally analyzing, that there was only one thing missing; he needed someone to carry on his legacy.  He needed a son or daughter that would carry on his blood line.  He had everything except that.  One child would be all he needed.  Any more would be excessive. 

Quincy began to fantasize about how it would be to have a child replica.  The child would have his intelligence and Raina’s personality and looks.  He already had an idea of how this child would look and behave.  He wondered how Raina would feel about it.  There was no reason for them not to have a child.  They were living comfortably and they were financially stable.  They would always be financially stable.  He would always ensure that, no matter what it took.  Quincy felt that it was past time for Raina to leave her time-filling job as a loan officer at a small bank in Glen Allen.  Why should she have to work?  He decided to call her from his cell phone and ask her opinion of reproducing. 

Hello?  She answered.

I have a question for you.  Quincy said trying his best to sound debonair.  It wasn’t hard when he considered himself to be.

Alright.  Raina said.  He imagined how she looked at that moment.  Her big brown eyes were probably stretched wide with curiosity.

It’s a life changing question. 

OK.  I’m listening.  Raina said laughing and playing along.  He loved to make her laugh.

I was wondering how you would feel about starting a small family?  The line went silent.  A few seconds passed and Quincy wondered if Raina had hung up.  Are you there?  Surely she would want to start a family just as he did.

YES!  ARE YOU CRAZY!  YES!  Raina suddenly screamed into the phone.  Quincy pulled the cell phone away from his ear and laughed.  He loved Raina.  She always did exactly as he expected of her.

Good.  We’ll talk about it this afternoon.  Quincy said.

Are you sure?  Raina asked.

Yes, I got a couple of meetings and then I’ll be home.  I would like to begin production as soon as possible if you know what I mean.  Quincy said now attempting to sound sexy.  This wasn’t hard for him either.  He was ecstatic.  Nothing would please him more than to have a child with his prize; Raina.  A child would complete their lives.

Can we start right now?  Raina suggested. 

What do you mean? 

"I mean, why can’t we start now?  If you’re serious, I think we should start as soon as possible.  Don’t go to work today.  Turn the car around and let’s get started."  She pleaded.  This turned Quincy on.  He loved it when Raina pleaded with him.  She could get him to do almost anything when she pleaded the way she was pleading now.

Right now?  Quincy asked hoping for more pleading.  Sugar Rai, you know I have to work.  Besides, I’ll be home early.

I’m sure they won’t mind if you missed one day from the firm.  They know that it’s because of you that they are so successful.  Raina bragged.  Quincy’s chest rose with pride.  She was right and he could miss one day.  What was the harm in that?

Alright.  I’m turning my car around as we speak.  Quincy decided.  He loved it when Raina made him feel like the King he was.  He ended his call with Raina and called his firm to tell them that he would not be coming in to work.  He asked his Secretary to reschedule all of his meetings then, he returned home to his waiting wife. 

At home, Raina hurriedly turned off her computer.

It wasn’t meant for us to spend the day together.  She said touching the computer screen as it shut down.  She was spending the entire day with her husband.  Something she hadn’t done in a long time.  Just the thought of spending the day in bed with Quincy made her take off her robe and take the telephone off the hook.  She put her black hair into a ponytail.  She didn’t want anything to get in the way of their lovemaking.  They were going to have a baby.  If people weren’t envious of her now, they would be.  Having a child with Quincy would complete her.  She would have a part of him with her at all times.  The nights he worked late would be spent with the baby.  It was perfect!

Minutes later, Quincy rushed into the house out of breath and full of passion.  He started ripping his clothes off as soon as the door closed behind him.  He ran to a waiting Raina, kissed her hungrily then, picked her up and carried her upstairs to their bedroom where they made love for hours.

Friday, February 17th, 7:45pm

After numerous rounds of lovemaking, laying in bed all day watching television and discussing baby names, Quincy and Raina decided to go out for dinner.  They wanted to discuss their child’s future; Quincy would do all of the discussing and deciding as he always did and Raina would just accept whatever he decided.  She loved and trusted him more than anything. 

Where would you like to go for dinner?  Quincy asked Raina while getting out of bed. 

I don’t kno….   Raina said stopping in the middle of her sentence.  Did you hear that?  She asked Quincy startled.  She hurriedly searched for her robe.  She couldn’t find it.  It was downstairs where she had taken it off earlier.  She grabbed one of Quincy’s T-shirts from a drawer and pulled it over her head.  Her heart raced.  There had been a loud bang...an extremely loud bang.  It had come from downstairs.  Something was terribly wrong.  Her heart seemed to want to pound out of her chest.

Of course I heard it.  Get into the closet and stay there.  Quincy instructed Raina while sliding on a pair of jeans.  Raina couldn’t move.  She was afraid.  Quincy pushed her hurriedly into the closet.  Raina wondered if she should have grabbed the portable phone before Quincy pushed her into the closet, then remembered that she had taken the phone off of the hook downstairs.

Maybe it wasn’t anything at all Raina hoped.  She tried to convince herself that the sound had come from nothing at all.  She wasn’t convinced.  The noise had definitely come from something.  It sounded as if something had just smashed into the front door.  Raina wondered why the alarm wasn’t going off and then remembered that she had never turned it on after Quincy left for work that morning.  She hadn’t even thought about it after he returned home shortly after his leaving.

Suddenly Raina could hear multiple voices coming from downstairs; voices she didn’t recognize.  She listened to see if she could hear Quincy.  If she could hear him speaking with them then, it would be safe for her to come out of the closet.

Quincy stood in the doorway of the bedroom after asking Raina to get into the closet.  He could hear voices coming from downstairs.  His heart seemed to pound in his throat.  He wished he owned a gun as he grabbed a golf club from his golf bag near the bedroom door and tried to listen.  He slowly crept down the stairs, so that he could try and distinguish how many voices he heard.  He counted three.  He stood now on the bottom stair.  The front door to his home lay flat on the floor in front of him.  Quincy’s jaw dropped in amazement.  Someone had forced the entire door from the hinges.  He gulped hard.  He had to protect his home.  He took a deep breath as he leapt from the stair, around the corner and into the living room.  His mind raced with negative possibilities as he now faced the invaders.

What do you want?  The police are on the way!  He yelled.  He wished he would have thought to call the police. 

Raina stood in the closet terrified and shaking from what she was hearing.  She heard Quincy yell at someone and he sounded terrified.  It was all of the confirmation she needed to stay put.  Someone had obviously broken into their home and Quincy was downstairs with them now.  What if they had a gun?  Should she do something to help?  Was it safe for her to leave the closet and call the Police?  She couldn’t move.  Things like this didn’t happen in their neighborhood.  She needed Quincy to tell her what to do.  Until he could, she would stay put and pray for him to hurry and return.

Come here!  Raina heard an unfamiliar voice say breaking her prayer.  Then there was maniacal laughter.  She heard thumping, glass breaking, three gunshots and then….Oh shit!  She heard two voices say in unison.  What was happening?  Where was Quincy?  Why wasn’t he saying anything else?  Raina wanted to dash from the closet but, didn’t know if it was safe.  She could still hear a lot of rumbling.  Besides, Quincy had instructed her to stay there.

Come on Quincy.  She prayed wringing her manicured hands tightly. She waited a few minutes.  It got horribly quiet.  She could hear her own breathing.  She waited a few more minutes.  Still it was quiet.  Maybe it was safe now.  She eased the closet door open just in time to see Quincy limp into the bedroom.  There was rumbling on the creaky stairwell.  Someone was coming.  Quincy’s entire upper body was covered in blood.  Raina started to run to him, but he whispered for her to stay back, just as he passed out onto the bedroom floor.   She complied and eased the closet door closed, just as a man appeared in the doorway.  Startled, she noticed another man standing behind the man in the doorway.  Raina could hardly see through the closet door blinds.  She suddenly realized that she was still naked under the T-shirt and began to slowly take clothes from the hangers inside of the closet and quietly put them on.  She slid her feet slowly into a pair of flat slides after she was dressed.  She was glad that her walk-in closet was so large.  Otherwise, they may have seen her moving.  She tried to peer through the holes in the closet door blinds again to see if she could see anything else. 

I don’t think he was here alone.  A voice said.  We’ve got to eliminate all witnesses.

Look around.  There is no one else here.  It wasn’t like he knew we were going to do this.  Another voice said.

Suddenly, a backpack fell from the top of the closet and hit the floor with a soft thud.  Raina covered her mouth in horror and backed into the right corner of the closet behind Quincy’s suits.  She prayed that they hadn’t heard the bag fall.  They hadn’t.  They were too busy talking.

Let’s just finish this and get out of here.  Someone will find him soon.  The first voice said.

Let’s hope those two cowards don’t go to the police.  The second voice said.

They won’t.  I’ll pay them a visit later.  The first voice said.  Raina leaned over to see if they were looking her way.  She could hardly see over the bed.  She moved forward to try and get a better view as they continued to talk and noticed that some old clothes had fallen when the bag did.  She picked them up and put them in the bag.  She thought about what the men were saying.  They seemed to be deciding to finish whatever they came to do then leave.  She would let them finish then, she would find a way to call the Police and an ambulance for Quincy.  Quincy would need some clothes and so would she.  They wouldn’t be coming back to the house until it was safe. 

She began to slowly take some of her and Quincy’s clothes off of the hangers within the closet and put them into the bag.  She would find her and Quincy a nice hotel suite until the police could ensure their safety.  She zipped the bag quietly as she peered from the closet blinds to see one of the two gentlemen stand directly over Quincy, who was still face down and passed out on the floor.   He pulled out a gun and fired it at what seemed to be the back of Quincy’s head.  Raina dropped the bag and covered her mouth to avoid screaming.  The man didn’t flinch.  His stance was so cold; it was robotic.  Her husband was being murdered and there was nothing she could do.  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she picked the backpack up from the floor with shaky hands.  She stumbled within the closet causing more clothes to fall off of the hangers.  She crept up to the closet door to look through the blind holes again and noticed that the two men were now facing the closet.  They had surely heard the clothes fall to the floor.  She quickly grabbed the clothes that were scattered over the floor, moved to the back right of the closet behind Quincy’s suits again and sat in the corner.  She put the backpack in front of her feet and piled the clothes on top of the rest of her.  She left a small hole in the clothes so that she could see a little. 

The closet door opened and Raina tried not to move.  She tried not to breathe.  She didn’t want them to find her there.  She had to get out of the house and to a phone somehow.

Let’s go.  I told you that ain’t no one else here.  One of the men said.  The other man walked out of the closet leaving the door open.  Raina waited as she heard them going back down the stairs. 

A few minutes later, everything seemed to be quiet again as Raina peered cautiously out of the closet.  The window was just outside of the closet.  If they were still there, she could sneak out and they would never know she was there.  She couldn’t take any chances.  She eased out of the closet with the backpack on her back and eased over to Quincy who was now lying lifeless on the floor near the bed.

Quincy?  She whispered trying to wake him.  She put her face near his mouth.  He wasn’t breathing.  There was so much blood.  Raina saw what seemed to be bullet holes in the lower part of Quincy’s head and his upper back.  She covered her mouth and began to shake from grief.  There was nothing she could do for him.  He was gone.  She ran to the window and looked back once again to see Quincy lying there lifeless as she opened the bedroom window.  She blew a kiss to him before climbing out of the window and down the side of her house. 

She ran across the grass to the old neighbor’s home that she had seen that morning.  She knocked rapidly, but no one answered the door.  She ran back across her expensively landscaped yard, keeping to the shadows and trying not to slip on the melting snow.  She ran to her guesthouse located behind her home where a family friend lived and tapped lightly on the windows, no one was there either.  She looked back at the house and saw people moving around inside.  They were still there.  She looked at her car in the driveway wishing she would have grabbed her keys.  She pulled a jacket of Quincy’s from the backpack and put it on.  It was cold out.  She was going to have to get away from the house.  She continued to keep to the shadows and the trees as she made her way down the block.  She decided to go to the nearest pay phone and call the Police.  She wished she had seen their faces.  What was she going to say?  What was she going to do without Quincy?

Friday, February 17th, 8:15pm

911?  This was a free call from the payphone Raina was calling from.  Raina wanted to talk when the dispatcher answered, but she couldn’t seem to find her voice.  Hello?  The voice asked.  

Someone just killed my husband!  She screamed and cried into the phone.  He’s dead…I don’t know what to do.  She said.  She slid down the concrete wall next to the pay phone shaking in anguish.  What were the Police going to do?  They would probably find the people who did this but, that wouldn’t bring Quincy back. 

Calm down Ma’am.  What’s the address?  The dispatcher asked.

He’s at our home…dead!  She continued to scream.

I can’t help your husband without knowing where he is Ma’am.  The dispatcher said.  Raina said nothing.  She just continued to cry.  Ma’am?  The person asked.  Again, Raina said nothing.  Ma’am, I need you to talk to me so that we can help you.  Raina was silent.  "Ma’am did you hurt your husband?" 

No!  They shot him in our bedroom.  Raina replied continuing to cry hysterically.  A harsh reality seemed to settle over her entire body.  Quincy was gone.  He was dead.  Without him, she had nothing and nothing to live for.  The person that she centered her entire life around was dead.  Her body went numb.  What was she supposed to do without Quincy?  She didn’t hear the man talking to her on the phone.  She didn’t want to talk.  All she wanted was Quincy and she wouldn’t have him anymore.  Was there any use in talking to anyone about something that couldn’t be undone?

Hello, Ma’am?  Are you still there?  The dispatcher asked.  Raina hung up the telephone.  There was no use.  No one could bring Quincy back.  Her husband was gone forever.  She was in shock.  She just wanted to run away from it all.  Where was she going to go?  She couldn’t go back to the house.  The murderers were still there.  Someone had to have heard the gunshots or the horrible bang that she and Quincy had heard.  Why hadn’t she grabbed a cell phone?  Raina couldn’t think logically.  Her thoughts seemed to be unreasonable.  But, she couldn’t go back.  She would never go back.  Her life had ended with Quincy’s.  She had seen them kill him.  Just minutes before that, they had been cuddling warmly. 

Raina sat on the steps of a nearby building thinking of her husband.  What should she do?  How could wonderful and terrible things all happen so quickly in the same day?  They were going out to dinner….they were going to start a family.  Now, she had no family.  Her husband was dead.  She couldn’t live without Quincy.  Her life was over.  She seemed hollow.  She couldn’t cry, she couldn’t breathe.  There was no need to go back without Quincy.  She silently wished that they would have killed her too.  She wanted only to love Quincy and keep her life the way it had been.  She sat thinking of their lives together.  She wailed in grief for her husband and their love.

An old pick up truck pulled up in front of her as she sat crying on the stairs; still in Quincy’s jacket, a pair of flat slides, a big t-shirt and a pair of black yoga pants that she had gotten off of the hanger.

You look like you could use a ride.  The driver said letting the window down.  He was a concerned old man.  Her face was wet with tears as she stood.  She grabbed her bag and thoughtlessly climbed into the truck.  Once she got in, she looked through the back window towards her home.  She was too far away from it to see it physically but, mentally, she saw it; she saw the house that she and Quincy had shared for seven of the eight years that they had been married.

Where ya headed?   The driver asked.  Raina looked at the man.  She had no idea.  I’m headed to Richmond.  Is there anywhere I can drop ya?  He asked.  Raina realized then, that she had not grabbed her purse so, she had no money.  Panicking, she reached into the coat pocket she’d grabbed to see if Quincy had left any money in the pockets as he usually did.  She was lucky.  There was a fifty dollar bill, and a couple of quarters; fifty dollars and fifty cents.  Those were her chances of surviving without Quincy; fifty, fifty.

Richmond.  Raina said.  Take me to Richmond.  She didn’t have anywhere else to go.

CHAPTER 1

Chandler, Liza and Mona  

Friday, February 17th, 5pm 

Mid-February in Virginia wasn’t very pleasant to someone that was not used to such ascetic conditions.  It was hoped that it would be warming up by now but, snow still melted on the ground.  Chandler Austin prayed that the groundhog prediction that had called for warmer weather would soon prove true.  He sighed heavily as he suddenly grew homesick.  He missed his home in San Bernardino, California.  His parents had sent him to Richmond in fear that he would continue to get into trouble and bring shame to the Austin name.  Chandler still didn’t think it was fair that he had gotten arrested for verbally assaulting a police officer.  As far as he was concerned, the guy had deserved it; he pulled him over for a broken tail light that he had just gotten from his then jealous girlfriend.  His parents assumed that sending him east would make him appreciate what he had.  It had worked…somewhat.  He definitely missed what he had in California.  He was ready to go back and move forward with his life.  He appreciated the education that his parents had doomed him with but, was ready to graduate and start his own accounting firm (funded by his parents, of course).  The thought brought a smile to his face.  He should feel guilty for wanting his parents to pay for his dream but, he didn’t.  He was bred from a wealthy family so, why not?  They owed him for sending him to this Hillbilly State.

I’ll be so glad when the semester is over.  He voiced sitting on the hood of his silver jaguar, outside of a Richmond shopping center.  He had asked a girl that he was seeing to meet him there.  He had to be as discreet as possible when seeing this girl.  He didn’t want his girlfriend to find out that he was seeing someone on the side.  He loved that the girls on campus loved him but, he knew that they didn’t like him because he was good-looking.  It was because most of them were born and raised in Virginia or further South and they had never been exposed to someone as well-to-do as he was.  He was irresistible to them.  He thought about the many girls he had met and dated throughout his college years.  There were many but, he had a Virginia-born girlfriend that he had begun to care for deeply.  He couldn’t say that he loved her but, he cared.  She was classy enough for his family to accept, yet familial enough to wait on him hand and foot and that’s what he wanted in a wife.  The plan was that he would ask her to marry him, find a house that his parents would purchase in California and move her there with him. She’d be crazy to reject him.  He just hoped that the girl that he had asked to meet him at the shopping center wouldn’t ruin his plans.  He needed to break it off with her as soon as possible.  That had been the reason for asking her to meet him.

"Not me.  I’ll miss some things."  Mona Veneable said.  She was the girl that Chandler had asked to meet him.  She was very troubled and lonely, and Chandler loved and hated it; he loved that she was troubled so that it was easy to take advantage of her but, he hated that she was so lonely.  She was always trying to turn their fling into a relationship.  He constantly reminded her that he was already in a steady relationship.

He rolled his eyes at her as he jumped from the hood of his car and walked around to the driver’s side.  Mona had a way of always getting on his nerves.  When she did this, he hated to even talk to her.  The only time he could tolerate her was when they were having sex and they wouldn’t be doing that if Liza was a little more creative in the bedroom.  It didn’t matter anymore.  He was ending it with Mona. 

"I’ve got to take my girlfriend to dinner.  It’s her birthday."  He said attempting to start an argument with Mona.  He had never been totally faithful to any of his girlfriends but, he had never had one of his girls on the side become attached to him as Mona had.  She wanted him to dump Liza for her and that would never happen.

Are you going to tell her tonight?  She asked.

I told you, I will never leave Liza.

Never say never.  Mona said walking towards him.  He hurriedly jumped in his car.  His escape attempt didn’t work.  She climbed in his car on the passenger side.  Chandler was trying his best not to be totally rude to Mona but, if she didn’t get the message, he would have to.

Mona wanted badly for Chandler to leave his girlfriend.  They had been messing around for almost a year now and she knew that he was starting to have feelings for her.  She couldn’t allow him to leave her as her mother had.  He had been the only person outside of the people she considered family that she had allowed to get close to her.  It was hard to trust people when your mother leaves you at the age of seventeen to fend for yourself.  Her Mother had openly admitted that she didn’t know who Mona’s father was but, that she knew that he had to be African American or she wouldn’t have been born mixed.  Mona remembered how funny her mother had thought that fact was.  It hadn’t been funny to Mona.  She would never know where she came from. 

Her Mother hadn’t had a totally legal job; well, at least one of the jobs she worked wasn’t.  She was a legitimate housekeeper by day and a prostitute by night.  She must have made a lot of money because it allowed them to live in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Glen Allen.  Mona had never been totally happy until she met Chandler.  He took care of her when they were together.  She knew that if they were together, she could move out of the guesthouse that her mother had left her to live in and start her life over. 

Her Mother had sold their home prior to deserting her.  She had met a guy that wanted to marry her and show her the world.  Mona was obviously hindering her.  Her mother mailed money to her old neighbors for allowing Mona to live in their guesthouse but, stopped when Mona turned eighteen.  She was left to look after herself.  She got a job, graduated from high school and enrolled in college.  Once she started college, the owners of the guesthouse would not allow Mona to pay rent anymore.  They had gotten close; they were like parents to her.  They loved her.  Now, she hoped that Chandler would love her as well.  With her statuesque figure and permanently died blonde hair, that complemented her dark complexion beautifully, Mona was starting to lose confidence in herself.   

She leaned over and tried to kiss Chandler on the cheek once they were both in his car.

"I told you not in public.  Someone could tell Liza."  He said jerking away adjusting his shirt.  Mona laughed. 

Who’s going to see us in the car? 

Liza is important to me.  He said glaring at her.  I’m going to marry her.  Mona thought that she would vomit at the mention of her name.  Marry her?  What did Liza Greensboro have that made Chandler choose her? 

You’re really going to marry her?  She asked slightly hurt.

Yes.  Now I need you to get out of my car so that I can go and pick her up.

Are you proposing tonight?  Mona asked.

No.  He said.  Mona smiled.  I don’t have the ring yet.

She won’t fit into your life.  She’s too green acres.  Mona said. 

Chandler thought about what Mona was saying.  He did want Liza to be pretentious