Get in Where You Fit In

By Sharon O. Fletcher

Friends from three different ethic backgrounds come together sharing life, love and heartbreak.

Theres Joyce, the African American whos every encounter with love has been disastrous. She crosses the color line only to discover that the differences in men arent in color but in character.

Italee, bi/racial, She has everything. Looks, money and intelligence. The one thing she wanted most was unattainable. That happened to be another womans husband. She discovered first hand that love is not impressed with connections grounded in deceit.

And Shyann, the Caucasian, known for being the hot-headed one of the three. A speeding car brought significant changes to her life. Her feisty demeanor would be challenged. Her fire will face a cooling off process when she meet up with the Heat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 26, 2007
• ISBN: 9781469124148

Book preview

Chapter One

It was the beginning of April under Philadelphia’s sky and the heat of summer’s approaching was already making its presence felt.

She was sitting in a deeply cushioned round lounge chair. Her long thick hair was pulled back from her face, held tightly by a huge rubber band. Feet tucked under her thighs Indian style.

Her eyes were closed while in deep thought about the unfolding of events that had happened a few days ago—being reunited with her friends after what seemed like forever; meeting their children and going back to the place where her misery had begun.

The misfortune of meeting and mixing with Phillip, a man who belonged to another woman through marriage; a man who in the end was responsible for almost destroying her life.

Born Italee Cadashe on October 7, 1975, she was the second-born child of Issac and Imogene Cadashe of Denver Colorado. Her brother’s name was Issac Jr. and he was three years older than she.

By the time she was two years old, their father died because of a medical mix-up. They say if it ain’t one thing, it’s another; and every cloud has its silver lining. Well, the silver lining here was a multi-million dollar malpractice suit.

The family then moved to Philadelphia, PA. This would be home as she would know it for the next eighteen years.

Predictions of the world’s end would happen in 1999. It never entered her mind to give a damn, one way or the other.

Her first three years of college were at Pennsylvania State University. It was noted as being one of the hardest schools in the country to get accepted into.

She finished up and received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from North Carolina School of Arts. This was a well-known school of arts conservatory in Salem, North Carolina. Its motto: A Passionate Preference—her feelings exactly.

She at one time was considering going on Broadway. Then she decided she could be most productive if she opened a school of dance. She had somewhat of a control problem. She wanted to be in control at all times. The only thing she wanted someone to say to her was something she wanted to hear. If that was not the case, she had rather not even be in their company. Incidentally, she did not see control as a problem. She looked at it as a preference.

The name of her dance studio was LEGS. She was an excellent instructor. Her creations were ingenious and brilliantly executed. She moved with the defining statue of the gazelle and the grace of a swan.

Sometimes her body moved as though she had not a bone inside of it. She also had an evening class for adults. This was were Latin and belly dances were taught. Her sexual cultivation exploded during these erotic movements. The way she titillated and grinded her hips during these dances sometimes seem to arouse the male students.

All of this was only as a means of being self-sufficient. After all, she was not hurting for money. She had an inheritance from her father just lying there in the bank collecting interest.

The dance studio was on the second floor of a large building site adjacent to a small mall of boutique stores. As a matter of fact, inside of the mall was a store called, CAN WE DANCE. This was where she referred her dance students to purchase their outfits.

Because of the referrals, the owners of the shop gave her a gratuity of ten percent on items purchased through referrals. This worked out to be quite lucrative for both parties.

Adult evening classes were on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Saturdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. and closed all holidays and two months during the summer. June was reserved for recitals. This was where she made the bulk of her money and all the hard work paid off.

This was also around the time she met Philip. While pulling into the mall to go to the dance shop and to make inquiries regarding a shipment of costumes due, they appeared to be after the same parking space, glaring at each other with curiosity, she wondered, Are you going to let me in or what? He gave in and parked a bit further down.

Through some ironic coincidence, they both arrived at the door of the boutique shop together. Again they gave each other the Mexican standoff, and again he gave in to her by opening the door for her.

She smiled and functionally said, Thank you. His reply quite astounded her. He said, You are not welcomed!

She was caught completely off-guard. She rolled her eyes at him and said, Then I take my thank you back. He replied, And I take my you’re not welcomed back. That’s when he smiled.

She all but melted. He had the most beautiful and warmest smile she had ever seen. She actually felt a ray of heat from it. Nervously she laughed out loud. He then took her hand and introduced himself.

I am Phillip and you are? Before she realized it she found herself saying, I am Italee. He asked if she was looking to purchase dance outfits for her daughter or daughters. She replied, I don’t have any children, I am here strictly for business. What about you?

He said, For my niece. My sister asked that I stop by on my way home and pick up some ballet and tap shoes. They should now be ready for pick up.

She asked if he knew what dance school his niece attended. He answered, No. With that she said, It was nice meeting you and preceded to go on about the business at hand.

He went to the counter and requested the items to be picked up. All the while he was watching her out of the corner of his eyes. Damn, he thought, She is really eloquent looking. Perfectly shaped and rather feisty too. He wanted to get to know her and his interest was more than sparked.

While entering the door to the back of the store, she could hardly keep from bumping into the wall for watching what he was doing and where he was positioned at while in the store. He was so fine. It might be well worth finding out who he was. She kind of hoped she would see him again.

However, she did not want to involve anyone in her business, so she dared not ask Gloria, one of the owners, who his sister was. He did say he was in there on an errand for her.

When she came from the back of the store, he was gone. She felt a bit dismayed but it all vanished once she got outside. There he was, standing alongside of her car—waiting with pearly whites gleaming forming the perfect smile.

As she approached him she smiled and said, So here you are again. What can I do for you? He replied, You can give me a way to contact you later on." He went on to say how he liked what he saw and would further like to get to know her on a more personal level other than just a wave here and there.

She said, My, aren’t we direct. He said, That’s the only way to be.

So from there came a blooming romance. One filled with all the drama of a chilling love story and the everlasting innuendo of an Edgar Allen Poe’s poem.

Phillip called two days before she was to have the recital performances—two weeks to be exact from their first contact. She informed him that now was not a good time but perhaps sometime later on like the following week. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing she had been waiting for him to call.

On the other hand, he was not going to beg her for a date either. So he simply said, Will do.

The recital was at North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. It was beautifully decorated and had a very large crowd. Lots of family and friends, professional photographers and it was even rumored that a couple of talent scouts may be in the audience.

The night went over big. Everyone looked and did their best. The children were exceptional and the dance costumes were magnificent. All in all, everyone was satisfied—both the performers as well as the audience.

After the show, she was glad to be going home. This had been a long day. Her plans were to go home and get straight into the shower, drink a small glass of wine or warm milk—which ever one was easiest to deal with—and then go to bed.

She got into her sky blue Mercedes. When her pager went off, she started not to pay it any attention. It was Joyce, one of her best friends. So she began searching through her purse to locate her cell phone. She had turned it off during the recitals.

Joyce wanted to know if Italee would join Shyann and herself for drinks in about an hour at the club. Italee was really too tired but she did not want to disappoint her girls. So she figured she’d get home, rest for about forty-five minutes and then get dressed. She was always the one who was late, so it would not be unusual for her to take longer than the allotted time.

It was 7:15 p.m. now. It would take twenty minutes to get home, another forty-five to rest and then… She’ll be ready for 10:00 p.m. Joyce and Italee had been friends for about three years. She really admired Italee for the way she carried herself. Nothing or no one appeared to really phase Italee. She was outspoken, intelligent, defiant; and her attitude at times bordered on arrogance. She was someone who could make you laugh without a reason.

Joyce herself was quiet-spoken, patient and very forgiving. That probably explained why she was always taken for granted by both sexes.

The men in her life seemed to know just what to say to seek her forgiveness for their betrayals. The women knew she could not hold a grudge and would readily be friends again.

However, no one really realized the toll it began to take on her. It was overshadowing her self-appreciation. Little by little she was becoming an introvert.

Joyce had been engaged several times but always at the last minute something would come up and prevent the nuptials. Her friends would laugh and say, Joyce you’re always a bridesmaid, but never a bride. She was beginning to