"And Then Some" Excerpt

Tiffany’s raw nerves were almost as painful as her aching heart. Her mind puzzled over the events of the night before. How had things gotten so out of control? She was tired; her argument with Nelson, her fiancé, played in her mind throughout the night, precluding sleep. She turned the key in the ignition and drove away from the house to think and clear her head.
The leaves on the trees were the autumn colors, orange, green, yellow, and red that she loved. Some of them laid wet in the wet street as she drove over them. The temperature was in the upper thirties and there was a slight breeze in the air.
Tiffany drove for miles up and down the hills on one of the main roads not too far from where she lived in a quaint little brown stone in Arlington, Virginia.
Barnyards with black and brown horses were on her right. To her left she saw luxurious homes planted firmly on a hill far back off the road.
The drive relaxed her and at first she tried to think of nothing, preferring to drift into the soft music coming from her Miles Davis CD. She truly had not meant for the argument with Nelson to get out of hand as it did. They had blurted insults - some unintentional, some aimed to penetrate each other’s hot buttons. She knew she wanted to stop it, right in the middle as it was happening. She wanted to turn back the clock to where they had last felt each other’s comfort, not pain. But, no matter how hard she tried, her good intentions just didn’t prevail. Now, she was concerned that Nelson wasn’t convinced of her sincere efforts to try to make things work between them. That’s not good, she thought. After all they were about to become husband and wife and have a family.
Did Nelson still understand her? Did he even care to the same degree as before? Or, had he just become accustomed to her?
Her racing thoughts absorbed her attention until she heard the horn from another car blowing and the screeching of its tires. She screamed! Then, there was dead silence.
The paramedics ran from the ambulance, instruments in hand. Tiffany drifted in and out of consciousness. With utmost efficiency, they freed her from the car. It wasn’t until they placed her on the stretcher that one of the paramedics took a good look at her. “Dear God.” he said…

Theodore took off his microphone, gathered his papers and placed them in his briefcase.
“I’m out of here.” He said to his co-host Jerry.
He headed straight for the elevator, trying to avoid other co-workers to keep from being delayed. He tapped one foot as he waited for the down elevator arrow to light up. He felt someone hurriedly approaching him and he turned to see who was there. His co-worker and best friend Jim stood behind him with his briefcase in his hand.
“Where’s the fire?” Jim asked.
“Hey man, I had enough of ESPN for today. I just need to get out of here. I’m exhausted.”
The elevator door opened and the two of them stepped inside.
“I know what you mean. I was going to stay late, but I changed my mind. Plus Naomi is going to kill me if I stay late one more night.”
“Yeah, it’s best to get home to the wife.”
“How was your trip to your parents?” Jim asked.
“Fine, but I’m still concerned about my Pop’s health.”
“I know you are. Listen, what did your mom think about Leslie?”
“Leslie didn’t go with me.”
Jim looked puzzled. “No?”
“No.”
“Oh. I ran into her at lunch last Friday and she told me different.”
“That’s because she thought she was going. I never told her that.”
“Oh. Still not introducing her to the parents, huh?”
Theodore sighed. “It’s not like that. I do care about her, but... You know how things go with me man. You date one woman after another, after another and the same old same old.”
“You just haven’t met the right one yet my brother. I keep telling you––you ought to let me hook you up with one of my wife’s single girlfriends.”
But, before Jim could continue, Theodore held up his hand and said, “No thank you. I’ve seen your wife’s girlfriends.”
“Oh, no man, you’re thinking about Dana. I told you she was just having a bad hair day.”
“Yeah and a bad attitude day, bad dress day, bad perfume day.”
Jim held his hands up in mock surrender. “Ok, ok suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t offer to help.”
“Thanks man. Have a good one and tell Naomi I said hello.”

As soon as Theodore got home he went straight to the phone to check his answering machine. There were no calls. He decided to take a hot shower and then try to call Leslie. He figured she must still be mad about him going away last weekend without her, which is why she had not called. It was unlike her not to have a message waiting for him when he got home from a trip. The message normally would go something like––‘Hi Hon, miss me? Well, I sure missed you.’ But, this time, there was no message waiting for him.

Theodore picked up the phone and dialed Leslie’s number while drying off. He held the phone to his right ear listening to it ring––two, three, four rings, but still no answer.
Hmmm he thought, I wonder where she could be. He considered taking a drive over to her place, but quickly dismissed that idea, because he was just too tired. Instead, he settled into his favorite recliner chair in his family room with a turkey sandwich and a tall glass of lemonade.
His mind drifted back and he was tormented with those same thoughts that had lingered with him for a very long time. When will it end, he wondered? When would he finally get past that dreadful incident in Brazil that had claimed the life of his wife Vanessa eight years ago?
And this day was no different from all the others. He thought about her, wondering what their lives would have been like and about the children they would have had. He was still convinced that what she never got a chance to tell him before she died was that they were expecting a child.
Theodore and Vanessa had been high school sweethearts, and they always knew they would marry someday. Even after they went their separate ways to college, they knew in their hearts that they were destined to be together. Two years after Vanessa graduated from North Carolina A&T and Theodore from Morris Brown University they married.
Now, at thirty-three Theodore wondered if he would ever be able to fill the void in his life. ‘I’m sorry Mr. Johnson, we did all we could.’ Those words from the doctor still rang in his ears like a nightmare, even after eight years.