Authors: India T. Norfleet
After an hour of exploring scenarios to determine a way out of this mess, she pulled herself up to her desk and began a Google search on Michael Alexander. If it's war he wants, then so be it!
To be continued…
India Tasheena Norfleet-Lewis was born and raised in a home on the west side of Detroit where education was the top priority. As a result, she became an avid reader at the age of ten. Additionally, she was encouraged by her cousin to read on a daily basis.
Sometime during the late nineties, India was introduced to African American authors. From then on, she was never seen without a book. Although India began reading
The Baby-sitters Club,
R.L. Stein's
Goosebumps
series, and Stephen King
Horrors
, romance quickly became her favorite genre. By the time she entered high school, India’s biggest dream was to become a published poet and romance author.
As years progressed into adulthood, aspirations of becoming a writer fell by the wayside as doubt consumed her and the real world set in. However, writing romance was never far from her heart. Family and friends, as well as some of her favorite authors continued to encourage her. Persuading her to never give up on something she was so passionate about. Therefore, in the summer of 2010, India finally sat down to pen what would become her first novel,
Playing For Keeps
. India currently lives in a Michigan suburb and is hard at work on her second novel.
Other Books by India T. Norfleet-Lewis
Playing For Keeps (Available in paperback & on Kindle)
Kindle Only Erotic Shorts (e-books
)
Panties in the Pantry
Eboni’s Pizza Delivery Guy
Naked on a Dare
The Red Rom
Seduced by the General
Check out India’s website @
www.indiatnorfleet.com
for upcoming releases, news, and events.
-1-
“Where in the hell is my shoooooe?!”
Brandie ran around her house searching like a madwoman for the mate to her black Coach pump with the cute burgundy buckle on the side. She loved those shoes and had built her entire outfit around them. She’d searched all four closets and the basement of her ranch-style home and still, no shoe.
Think, Brandie…
She dropped down to her knees for the third time and threw her arm under the couch for her Hail Mary, making sure she swept the floor with her hand. Nothing.
She stood quickly, squinting her eyes to get a glance at the green neon clock on the stove.
“Shit! Lord, please don’t let me be late.”
It was 7:15. If she didn’t leave the house by 7:45, she would be late for her company’s biggest benefit dinner since the graphics company opened its doors twelve years ago.
After checking the hall closet once more for the shoe, Brandie gave up and grabbed her all black with gold trim spiked heels from the pile of shoes that now almost completely blanketed the hallway, then scuttled to the bathroom to finish getting dressed. She stood in front of the full length mirror, making sure she was sassy but classy as she admired the burgundy cocktail dress waiting for her in the dry cleaner’s plastic, hanging on the bathroom door.
She nodded, pleased with her last minute change in wardrobe b
efore carefully removing the plastic and sliding her curvaceous frame into the snug fitting, knee-length dress.
“Very nice Brandie,” she purred, turning to her side and a
dmiring her perfectly shaped backside. The fight with the Spanx was definitely worth it.
She applied a deep burgundy tinted lipstick to the full lips of her lightly made up face and made sure that her pinned curls were still in place before finally exhaling into a smile.
“7:40. Perfect timing,” she whispered as she put on her black pea coat. She grabbed her keys from the coffee table by the door when she noticed something sticking out from underneath the other end of her coffee table. Sending up a silent prayer, Brandie walked over to the table and grabbed her pump, snatching it so quickly that she knocked some dusty magazines onto the floor.
“Ugh,” she grunted. She knelt carefully, picking up the mag
azine and tossing it back on the table when a picture slid out onto the floor.
“Perfect.” Kneeling down a third time to pick up the photo, she glanced at it and then took a seat in disbelief.
“This can’t be—how did this get in here?” She thought she’d burned everything she owned with her ex’s face on it years ago. She couldn’t help the small smile that tickled the corners of her lips at the irony of Kahlil finally being the scum under her feet for a change.
Brandie took one last look at the photo. Kahlil was washing her car, no shirt on. They had been together for three years and he’d lost a bet. The car was only the first thing he had to do for her. That was one unforgettable Indian summer, she thought. Sha
king her head at the memory, Brandie crumbled the faded photo into the palm of her hand and tossed it in the kitchen trash can.
After making a quick switch into her Coach pumps, she grabbed her small clutch purse from the closet and ran out the door.
She revved up the Cherry Red Cherokee and pushed play on R. Kelly’s “Chocolate Factory”. She had butterflies of excitement at the thought of being a part of such a special night, but it was still a bittersweet celebration for her since Kahlil wasn’t there to wi
tness her joy and see how far she’d come in the company in such a short time.
“Wow,” she whispered. “Seven years to the day.”
He’d left her seven years ago on this very day. She’d accepted the job offer from Sweet Cheeks Graphics and was so proud of herself. The suppressed memories came roaring back as she relived that horrible day.
“Kahlil, Kahlil baby I got the job! I can't believe it. I got the frea
king job! I am now the new marketing V.P. for Sweet Cheeks graphics!!” Brandie was beside herself with excitement. Her long, naturally curly hair was bouncing over her shoulders as she slammed the front door, threw her purse and briefcase on couch and took the spiral staircase two at a time until she reached the second floor landing and headed for Kahlil's bedroom.
“Baby, did you hear me, I got—”
“Congratulations Bran, I knew you would get the job.” Kahlil said as he smiled a half smile that never quite reached his eyes before he went back to packing the two extra large black suitcases sitting on the edge of his bed.
“Uh baby, what's going on? Why are you packing?” Brandie asked a very troubled looking Kahlil before glancing around the damn near empty room.
In the three years that they had been a couple, Brandie had never seen him or his personal space like this. His usual classically handsome pretty boy features were now gloomy and painfully sad. Her brows furrowed as an uneasy feeling settled over her while she waited for some sort of explanation.
“I...I uh, have to go away for a while.” He mumbled while shoving his undergarments into the netted pocket inside of one of his bags.
“Go away where, Kahlil? And why the hell am I just now finding out about this? Were you even going to tell me if I hadn't come home early?” Brandie asked. She was pissed but tried to control her anger as best she could.
“Brandie trust me, now is really not a good time to come at me like this with all of these damn questions.”
“You can't possibly be serious right now Kahlil?” A frustrated Brandie asked.
“Brandie, I'm sorry but I have to do this for me.”
“Do what? And where are you going that you need to pack like this? Is this about another woman? Am I the other woman, Kahlil?” Brandie yelled.
“I'm going to the military. I enlisted.” He said as he walked over to his closet. He grabbed the remainder of his clothes from the practically deserted walk-in and stuffed them in the suitcase.
“You're what? Wait, no. You know what, just tell me the truth. Just tell me that you’re leaving me because you’ve been living a double life and that you’re married with a wife and kids because I don’t believe that military bullshit for one minute. Cause I know that you wouldn’t dare make a life altering decision without us talking first.”
“Cut out the drama, Brandie. You heard me. I’m serious and you know it.” His jaw twitched in anger as he zipped up the overstuffed bags.
“Kahlil, why would you enlist in the army and not tell me until the day you're leaving? What in the hell did I do to deserve to be treated so harshly that you would make this kind of decision wit
hout any regard for my feelings?”
“Brandie—I—don’t know. It slipped my mind.”
“It slipped your muthafuckin’ mind?”
“Brandie watch yo’ mouth.”
“Watch my mouth?”
“Bran you my damn echo now?”
“You're lucky that that's all that's come out of my damn mouth right now.” Brandie said ignoring his smart ass remark.
“Did you forget that we are or—excuse me—we were in a commi
tted relationship? I mean, you could be killed in combat or an ambush attack!” Brandie shrieked through the aching knot of anger and despair trapped in her throat. Her eyes began to cloud over but she forced the heavy tears to stay behind her eyelids.
“Yeah I thought about it but none of that is relevant right now. I don’t care about none of that.”
“Kahlil everything I just asked you is-wait, I'm not relevant?” Brandie asked.
“Brandie—no. You are not relevant to me right now. And I can be killed walking out the door or at a party or leaving work, or a muthafuckin’ gas station just like Dewayne did one month, two weeks, five days, four hours and thirty two fuckin’ seconds ago by some shady bastard who decided that they wanted to fuckin’ play God and take my life for fifty dollars and a gold chain!” Kahlil yelled as he yanked the empty top drawer from the dresser and threw it so hard across the room, it slammed into the wall and sha
ttered into pieces.
“And that's all the fuck that's relevant to me right now!” he yelled, his deep voice shaking.
“Baby I know you're hurting right now about losing your cousin but enlisting in the army is not the answer. Leaving me is not the answer!” Brandie cried. She wanted to go to him, console him and whisper in his ear that everything would be okay but she didn’t know if she could handle Kahlil pushing her away anymore than he’d already done. She was still stunned at the open suitcases on the bed they shared many nights in.
“Brandie it’s the only answer for me. I got to go. Take care, and congrats again. Oh and don't forget to lock up after I'm gone.” Kahlil grabbed up his suitcases and headed for the door.
Not once did he look back over his shoulder. Not once did he say I love you. Not once did he say goodbye.
The sounds of honking horns in the distance quickly jolted Brandie back to the present as she checked her make-up in the drop down mirror one last time. While adjusting her side mirrors, Brandie decided that she was done reliving the past and looking behind her. She was ready to give light to the possibility of finding new love.
“Kahlil Young, wherever you are, I am so over you. If I never see you again, it’ll be too soon.” Brandie pulled onto the road, driving right past Kahlil as he pulled up in front of her house on the other side of the tree-lined street.