CHOICE ONE: TYE
Tye: My favorite character and this is my current opening, it reads like urban fiction.
Unlocking the door to his black Mustang, Tye slid into the sports vehicle.
"I'm just going to get my drugs and go home,” Tye said to himself, surreptitiously avoiding his own gaze in the rear view mirror. Tye could tell himself whatever he wanted, but the demon inside knew the truth and the lie could be seen in his eyes.
Less than forty minutes later, Tye reached his destination and parked his car three blocks up from the spot. Faraway enough from the roving eyes of the night creatures, close enough for a quick getaway in case the spot was hot tonight. Paranoid, walking quickly, Tye approached the first woman he saw.
"You holding?" Tye asked.
The woman looked him up and down, "You a cop?" she asked.
"Nah man, you holding?" Tye repeated.
Anxiety permeated from him as he shifted from side to side while nervously looking over his shoulder. If this bitch don't come the fuck on, he thought. Damn she know me.
The woman chuckled to herself. She was teasing Tye. He always looked so nervous. She thought the little joke might make him lighten up and relax, but it didn’t; he remained tense and serious.
"Yea, you ain't no cop." "You a shook nigga," she said. "How much you want?"
"Lemme get a dollar," said Tye.
"A dollar will make you holla," the woman said laughing. "I ain't holding but I got work back at the crib."
Desperate, Tye ignored common sense and followed the woman back to her apartment. Ignoring the drug dealers, drug addicts, pimps, hoes and johns…the night creatures, Tye followed the woman watching her round ass switch back and forth with each swivel of her ample hips. Need of a different kind rose in Tye, "I'm just going to get my drugs and go home," he repeated to himself like a mantra.
SEAN: He is boring in the beginning but gets more interesting as the story progresses. This is how he is first introduced:
CHOICE TWO: SEAN
Sean laced up his running sneakers; he had already dressed for his morning run from the night before. He usually slept in his running clothes, a pair of shorts and t-Shirt in warmer weather, sweats and a hoodie on cooler days. It was simpler that way, kept the routine consistent. Sean learned this trick from his cross country coach at boarding school. When Sean had first started the team he was consistently late, relying on the alarm clock to wake him up. He would hit the snooze button at least two times before finally getting out of bed; then he had to find his running outfit and sneakers which took an extra fifteen minutes. By the time he caught up with the rest of team he had to sprint the first mile and a half to catch up.
AJNA: She brings the magical realism element into the story.
CHOICE THREE: AJNA
"Body in motion, she has curves like the Nile Ocean, twists and turns like the Mississippi River, her embankments crash into my delta, as she moved I felt her..."
Ajna listened to the brother on stage at the weekly spoken word event at Cafe Angelie. While not exactly poetic, what he lacked in skill he made up for in delivery. His voice was full with a rich timbre, strong and confident. She liked the sound of it. Ajna listened closely and picked up on the undercurrent of vulnerability underneath the bravado. She could do that; Ajna had the ability to see what was not apparently visible and hear the unsaid. She allowed herself to be lulled by his voice: enjoying the sound, ignoring his words.
She drank in the sight of him. As he stood on the small stage, she examined him from head to toe twice and on her third look over; she paused. She was arrested by his amber brown eyes. His eyes spoke directly to her and commanded her to stop. “Silence…Stop thinking and listen,” his eyes said to her. They had something to say. So she did. Ajna cleared her mind and opened her heart.
I copied and paste from Word and the text is all screwy. Sorry!
ReplyDeletei would want to read 3, 1 then 2 last. There is some captivation in 3 and 1. While 3 is common place depending on your audience, 1 is comparatively rear. Being your literary agent I would want to read more about Tye.
ReplyDelete@shai:Thank you for your contribution.
ReplyDelete