The Characters of My Universe (part 1)

Hello Awesome Visitors! Welcome to another episode of ...

Today, I want to address a question that came about as I was chatting with my Sisters and Brethren in Write.

The discussion centered around character building and if any of us ever built a "weak character" or perceived any of our characters as "weak individuals". It made me think of some of my characters in a few of my stories.

Today, I would like to talk about some of my characters as well as provide excerpts from each. Just for a bit of brevity, I'm going to divide this into parts. I will also spread this out (like Part One for this Thursday, Part Two for next Thursday, and so forth).

Part One will focus on characters in my individual works.

Part Two will focus on my characters in the Divergent Ink collection.

Part Three will focus on my characters in the Concordant Vibrancy collection.

Part One

Read more here.

The first character up for discussion is my latest character Brielle. In the short story that is her namesake, she is a woman that is very honest about what she needs sexually. Although some may perceive her as being "loose" or a "hoe", I believe that it speaks to self-assurance and confidence.

To thwart the narrative that her behaviors aren't a result of any trauma, Brielle gets to the point in this excerpt:

Hiya. My name is Brielle, and I love to fuck.

I know it’s not the politically correct term to say or the PG thing to tout. But saying it any other way wouldn’t be my style.

My sexual boldness does not stem from any form of molestation. My mother wasn’t a whore. My father was far from a pimp. To any outsider, we look like the 1950’s version of not only the American family but the American dream. My mother never had to work a day in her life. My father donned a suit and tie by day, wore a pageboy hat and roamed the streets at night. If any money was acquired by less than kosher means, it was not talked about. Nor did my mother care, provided my father could afford the lifestyle in which she’d become accustomed.

My insatiable hunger is not born of extreme discipline. If anything, my parents were atypical in talking to me as if I were a young adult. None of the exchanges of cooing and weird noises. When I couldn’t have something, the why was revealed. When I behaved badly, the how and the why was dissimilated along with what served as proper punishment. It honestly gives me a leg up in the world.

My emotional sensitivity is not cultivated by neglect. If one’s style of love was defined via The 5 Love Languages, my father’s—one of Service. My mother’s—a mix of Physical Touch and Affirmation.

Like I said, no fuck up here. Just a woman that knows what she wants, when she wants it, and doesn’t beautify the facts to satisfy the softer sex stereotype.

Note: I realize this is the old cover to Delectable Things. It is because I want to focus on the story Delectable Things more so than the updated one, which features additional stories.

Although the focus of Delectable Things is primarily Sabrina, I don't really see her as a strong character. Her weakness is that she doesn't fully think things through and in certain situations, life seems to happen to her. This is reflected as things come to a head between Sabrina and her boss Mr. Torrance in this excerpt:

“Divorce papers? That’s crazy! How could she hit you with divorce papers? She doesn’t know anything-”

Mr. Torrance held up his hand, cutting her off in mid-sentence.

“You see, my dear Sabrina that is where you are wrong. She and I had it out. She had photographs of the two of us having lunch and dinner and you leaving my office at night. Somehow she found out, and she gave me an ultimatum: to quit messing around with you or we’d have it out in divorce court.”

Sabrina nodded. The last thing she wanted to do was to cause trouble between him and his wife.

“Okay. We won’t mess around anymore. I have no problem with ending the affair. I don’t want to cause trouble.”

He sighed and ran fingers through his wavy brown hair. “You see, Sabrina, it’s not that simple. There has been talk around the office about us, and I know I haven’t told anybody. One of my employees has threatened to ruin me with this information. If this gets out, nobody in the business world will ever deal with me again!”

“Mr. Torrance, they have no proof! It’s just hearsay.”

“Sabrina, this person has you on tape, telling about our affair and our nights together. Now, did you tell anyone else in detail about what went on with us?”

Sabrina opted for silence.

“Well, since you are at a loss for words right now, maybe this will refresh your memory.”

He brought out a small cassette player and started playing the tape. It was the conversation she had with Veronica a while back. Sabrina’s face turned crimson with guilt, disbelief, and anger.

“It sounds like your voice, Sabrina. Are you going to sit here and tell me you didn’t say anything to anyone about us?”

The moral of the story: Keep personal and business separate. If they are intermingled, don't tell anyone, especially someone at work. Sabrina knew her boss was married but because of the benefit she received from the arrangement, she didn't mull over the consequences. Plus, Sabrina naively trusted Veronica who wanted to find a way to get rid of Sabrina, believing Sabrina is to blame for not getting a raise (whether it's true or not).

Note: This is the cover that goes to my story "Simmer Sweet", not to be confused with the anthology, Simmer: Smoothe and Sweet.

Next, I'd like to talk about Simmer Sweet. One friend (Kesha) reveals that she is in love with another friend (Teresa). It takes a lot of courage to reveal a crush, not knowing if (1) the person reciprocates the feelings and (2) if that person is into the same sex. To me, that in itself represented strength.

This excerpt focuses on Teresa's thought process after the big reveal:

As the pouring rain smacked against her living room window, Teresa reclined on her black leather sofa. She couldn't help but think—not about her fiancé, but about her best friend, Kesha.

She and Kesha had talked a few days ago. This was different from all the other times. On that day, Kesha confessed that she had sexual desires for women. It took Teresa by surprise. She never even suspected a thing.

However, that wasn't the only surprise. Kesha also revealed that she had desires for Teresa and was not afraid to go into detail:

“Each time I look at your beautiful breasts, I lick my lips. I envy your fiancé. I crave to have the same pleasure as he, to make love to you night after night ...”

Little did Kesha know that things were stagnant between her and her fiancé.

Lately, Chris was coming back late from work. At times, his breath stunk of whiskey, and his body had hints of unfamiliar scents. She and Chris had not made love in over two months. However, she didn't have enough concrete evidence that he was running around.

Teresa was feening, too.

During this current drought, she was masturbating every night. Most of the time, she fantasized about Chris. Recently, she had resorted to watching pornos. Teresa got the most excited seeing the women in action: particularly when one woman licked the other woman's forbidden heaven—and this was before Kesha admitted her budding attraction.

As Teresa continued looking at the rain, her nipples became pregnant with arousal and pushed against the constraining cups of her satin bra. She continued to think about Kesha and her words. She would definitely be lying if she said she hadn't been curious.

But with Kesha? Kesha was her best friend. Would their friendship change if they crossed that line? However, Kesha said that she would put no pressure on her, and Teresa could use the information in whatever way she chose.

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to discuss "Handy". 

"Handy" originally was a free offering before it graduated to becoming H.E.R. (Handy: Extended Release).

"Handy" is the story of Darbi, a woman looking for a life outside of just work, along with sexual fulfillment outside of battery operated machinery. Just as she is about to close out her account on a dating website, three men send messages to her. Based on their messages and pictures, she agrees to set up a day and time to meet with them all.

Darbi's strength is her ability to not lie to herself: to know what she will and won't stand for in the world of dating. However, that may come across harsh to certain men, as reflected in her what took place between her and Possibility #1, Ade.

Darbi was so tempted to have a strong drink but she still had work to finish. She started to think the main reason why Ade always chose the back dining area was because of his shame. Little things entered her mind.  One would be his difficulty in driving certain vehicles. With Ade's size, he probably had to invest in a huge truck/SUV or get chauffeured everywhere he went. He would have to purchase two airline seats for comfort. Plus, the looks others would give Ade no matter where he was.

Before, Darbi had never considered herself a vain person. Yet discomfort greeted her at every turn. If she did take the chance to know him in a romantic way, could she conjure up desire for him? Darbi's lust was wrapped up in the Ade of old. This current Ade did nothing for her. Even worse, her mind started calculating how she would get past that massive gut to reach his equipment. His being on top was definitely a no-no. How would she mount him?

Darbi caught herself in mid-retch. She rushed to the bathroom. Chunks of apple vinaigrette dressing, half-chewed croutons and lettuce blended with the toilet bowl water. She flushed the toilet and emerged from the stall. After rinsing with her travel-sized Listerine mouthwash, she reapplied her lip gloss. Darbi couldn't do this. No matter how shallow it looked, she knew in the long run she wouldn't be able to get past his current look.

When she returned, Abe looked alarmed. “Darbi I almost sent someone in to check on you. Are you alright?”

She pulled out a ten-dollar bill and placed it on the table. “No I'm not alright. This isn't going to work Ade. I had a right to know what you looked like before we met.”

Ade's face flushed with irritation. “Don't you understand? This is the reason why I didn't, because I feared you would react this way.”

Ade flung the money back at Darbi. “Keep your money; I told you it was my treat. I could have easily just kept talking with you back and forth online for a bit longer. I wanted us to meet. You seemed like a nice lady. I prayed you would be different. But you're just like the rest, Darbi!”

Darbi scooped up the bill and shoved it back in her purse.

“I'm sorry but I don't do well with liars.”

“Answer me this Darbi.  If I was the hot hunk of years ago, would you even be leaving right now? Even if every other thing out my mouth was a lie, would it matter to you if I was your hot idea of a fuckable fantasy?”

Darbi was stunned silent.

“That's what I fucking thought! Darbi, keep your sorry and get out of my sight. You won't have to worry about me contacting you again.”

Thanks for joining me on this episode of "Let's Talk Thursdays". Stay tuned when I focus on my contributions to the Divergent Ink collection.

Until next time,