Expecting Rain

By Joseph J. Costantino

Meek and shy Johnny Taylor finds a best friend in high school and a new girlfriend in college. Will they change his life for the better, or will he wish he had never met them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781490776965

Joseph J. Costantino

As a kid growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I was fascinated by movies, music, and literature. I always wanted to write as the great writers did. Songs, screenplays, and novels always held my attention. I began writing songs for my band back in the seventies. Great stories from my past and a vivid imagination are the driving force behind my writing.

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Copyright 2016 Joseph J. Costantino.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN

: 978-1-4907-7697-2 (sc)

ISBN

: 978-1-4907-7696-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Trafford rev. 10/03/2016

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

I dedicate this book to Mom and Dad for doing the best they could in the toughest circumstances.

To Dale, for all her hard work on this book and with me.

CHAPTER 1

S taring at the clock on the wall, I realize it is only 1p.m. Mr. Chedwood is still talking as the classroom is going into the alpha state of sleep. Mr. Chedwood is a nice looking Native American man, well educated, clean looking, gold rings on both hands and wears nice cologne. He does pretty well keeping his class in order, especially with students that would rather not be there. His full name is James Luther Chedwood. He is well respected by his students and the faculty. He likes law and order in his classroom. He took his belt to me few times for daydreaming and talking. His class was filled with students, some bright, some not so bright. There was always some student working on an ass kicking after school. Two guys fighting, two girls fighting and sometimes a guy and a girl. Yeah, the school was that tough. We always referred to these fights as swing outs.

This particular day was not so typical. You see we had a new student being introduced to our class. This student was transferred from another school. He was transferred because he broke into a teacher’s car, hotwired it and drove it down the street. From the moment I saw him I knew he had a way about him. The student was Cliff Clemson, jet black hair, short in stature but well built. He was quiet and did not make eye contact. He just stood there and waited for Mr. Chedwood to introduce him. He then took a seat in the back of the room. Some kids turned around out of curiosity. Cliff looked back at them and said with a smirk, Nice to see everyone.

He noticed that the class had no energy. Kids were either daydreaming, sleeping or just staring into space. No one seemed interested unless a fight was brewing, usually to be continued outside after class. I, on the other hand, kept to myself and had no friends. I wasn’t tough, I was weak and frightened. I wore a shirt and tie while everyone wore jeans and a tee shirt. I was a real nerd, but I was looking for some kind of action, maybe even some interactions with women. I was sixteen years old and my life was boring. Cliff was not boring. After all, he had stolen a teacher’s car and gotten expelled from school.

As days passed, Cliff sensed that I was unlike the other students. I was bullied or picked on more than the other students. They would slap me on the back of my head and pretend that they didn’t know who did it. Cliff jumped in one time and told them if they hit me again they would have to deal with him. For some reason they didn’t want to test him.

Cliff wore a plain black tee shirt with bell bottom pants and construction boots. I wore straight leg khaki’s. It was the 60’s and bell bottoms were the in style. Most kids wore them. They were also more money and I was on a fixed budget. I was fixed with no money. Cliff and I eventually became friends. We would cut class and walk the neighborhood looking for action.

One day we walked home together. I met his father. His mother was deceased. When I asked about her he would only say that she had been sick. Later on I was to learn the real reason for her death.

As time went on