First Word

Chapter 12 I walked into an old Italian bakery that was nothing more than a narrow hallway cut into a brick building. After I left the meeting, thoughts of Evan consumed my mind. He had asked me to meet him here, but the restaurant was hardly glamorous. I wasn’t sure if this was a date to which I shouldn’t be “dating” anyone as a married woman. As I walked in, smells of pastries and fresh-baked breads filled the air. I looked around and spotted Evan who sat near the back wall. He boldly stared at me. I walked straight over and sat down. He motioned to the gal behind the counter and within seconds a cappuccino was placed in front of me along with a basket of mini-muffins. “I love cappuccino … how did you know? How do you always know?” “Try the mini-muffins – best in the world in my opinion,” he said. I obliged and gently plucked a blueberry mini-muffin from the straw basket. I took the flakey tiny cake, sliced it in two, buttered it, and took a bite. My eyes grew lar...

Chapter 11 “Yo man, you played checkers with her?” groaned Leron when he heard his partner’s story from the evening before. They were standing in the line to board the plane, a three-way stop to New York. The woman Gladys at the precinct who booked travel always chose the cheapest flights to save money. Phil thought how ridiculous since the time lost cost more money, but you couldn’t argue with a five-foot tall Asian grandma who ruled the travel budget with an iron gavel. And the verdict was always: three-stops, period. Delta was cheapest, and that carrier stopped in many hubs. Phil and Leron each held two black nylon gym bags and inched forward with the procession of passengers. “Not checkers!” Phil groaned and added, “Chess.” “Dude, you’re like some retard who plays chess with a hot chick! What the fuck is wrong with you, man? You’re supposed to bang her with that foot-long of yours,” he said and shook his. “Fuck!” “We’re working together moron,” r...