Excerpt from Finding Katie

WHEN I CAME IN with a box, there was Melosa and a very light-skinned woman who looked to be a mix of American Indian and Negro. She stood almost seven feet tall, weighed about ninety pounds, with hair of natural golden-blond. She wore a pair of jogging pants that were too small and looked like a new style of Capri pants. Her blouse looked like the shirt of a uniform, maybe a postal uniform. The sleeves were rolled up and exposed on her right forearm was a dollar-store tattoo of a crack pipe. Her shoes were used Keds that at one time had been white but were now gray. I suspect that everything she wore was second-hand. I also suspected she never had anything new in her life other than the drugs she took.

…

Sistah looked at me and uttered, “Hunh, he don’t look like no big hero to me. He looks like nothin’ but trouble.”

I proffered my hand, hoping she would return the courtesy but she ignored me. “Hi. I’m Preston Meadows.”

She turned and left the room, saying over her shoulder, “I don’t care who you are. I don’t need no white boy coming here who is able to find a job and work for a living. He ain’t nothin’ but trouble. You know what I am saying?”

Melosa followed her into the other room and I could hear her tell Sistah my story and that I needed a place to stay until I found Katie. When Sistah learned that it was Delgado that I was looking for her voice boomed a “HELL NO! That white boy will be bringing nothin’ but trouble here. Delgado stays away because I stay out of his bid-ness.”

Then I heard Melosa reply in Spanish. If Sistah wouldn’t help me then she would stop helping Sistah.

…

Then I heard the loud slapping of angry footsteps, and when Sistah banged through the door, she had her finger shaking at me. “I’m gonna let you stay here but you gotta work and I mean work. And if you piss off that Delgado and he comes here making trouble I’m gonna hurt you, you unnerstand?”

…

She jammed her hands on her hips and leaned that skinny body in close to me, and then stuck her face in mine and yelled, “WELL! What’s it gonna be white boy?”

ExcerpTuesday: John J. Smith

“Veronica–Veronica Williams?” Jared said in a surprised manner.

She turned to him, hesitated for a long moment while fighting a severe case of nervous jitters that she hadn’t expected. She went from being angry to being nervous as she boarded an emotional roller coaster.

She feigned surprise. “Jared?”

He smiled a warm smile. “I thought that was you–how are you?”

She touched her neck as she tried to conceal her nervousness and answered in a choppy and rapid manner, “I’m fine, good, and you?”

He proffered his hand, hoping for a moment when they might touch, but she didn’t offer hers back, she merely stood in silence as he continued, “Good. How have you been?” She didn’t answer. “What’s it been, twenty years now?”

Too nervous to talk, Veronica nodded. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, cleared her throat. “Twenty years last June.”

He flinched. He couldn’t believe that she remembered the date. He always assumed that he was the only one who had remembered every moment that they had spent together, every moment that they had spoken on the phone, and every silly note that they had passed to each other in the hallway when they were between classes. Each date, event, note, and conversations were deeply etched into his mind. Especially the love he had felt for her.   ...

They stared at each other in a long silent awkward moment, neither knowing what to say or do next.

Jared looked to the gate, glancing at the ticket agent as she updated the time of departure on the board. When he turned back to Veronica, he noticed that she had never let her gaze roam, and smiled at the thought.

Jared asked, “Can I buy you a drink, a coffee, coke, beer, or something?”

Veronica hesitated. She was in no mood for this. That was the last thing she wanted. “I better not.”  ...

Jared glanced at to a table that was near the entrance. “If we sit there we’ll be able to see the gate, and hear the announcements”

Veronica hesitated. She really didn’t want to. Why should she, he dumped her. Why should she give him another chance?  ...

“Please,” Jared softly whispered. “I’d love to visit with you for a few minutes.” He turned to the window. “From the looks of it, the snow isn’t going to let up anytime soon, and I don’t know if you’re going to Dallas or just passing through, but I have good word that an ice storm has hit Dallas shutting down the airport.”

Unable to control her anger, Veronica furiously snapped, “Aren’t you just a plethora of bad information.”

                                                                                                                             Page 1 of 2

Delayed Flight Description:

Publisher: DarkRedPress

Category: Romance, Mystery

Date: January 1, 2011

Available in Paperback, Kindle, and Nook: 300 Pages

After 20 years, two former childhood sweethearts meet and discover that the love they had for each other never died. (Woman) painfully realized that it had been her own father that had come between them forcing her to live a nightmare of separation rather than her schoolgirl dream of "ever after" with her sweetheart. 

About John Smith:

John writes under two names John J. Smith and pen name Jonathan Black. Why does he do this?  He has been told when a reader sees his work they have an expectation, hence the two names. He has won several awards under each name.

He has been called a prolific Fiction writer. he enjoys writing romance and mainstream as John and paranormal and paranormal romance as Jonathan.

Several of his novels have been converted or rewritten into screenplays; for which he has also have won several awards.

John J. Smith resides in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.