Excerpt

Kevin was heading toward the parking lot, his mind swirling with all of what had become his life, his wonderful life. He was finally graduating with a degree in business. He was going to marry a beautiful, intelligent woman whom he loved and who loved him. And to top it off, he had a career that he loved and would get rich on.

The representatives of several NFL teams pursued him relentlessly, pressuring him to make that final decision. Which team would he choose? So many offers to choose from; how could anyone possibly choose?

He would meet tomorrow for dinner with a representative for the New Orleans Saints. As always, his father would accompany them. Boy, was it nice to have a father who was a lawyer, Kevin thought. It takes a shark to know a shark. Herbert’s soft, easy manner hid his steely determination. The word was out now among NFL scouts and sports agents. When dealing with Kevin Hart, watch out for the Old Man.

What had he done for his life to be so wonderful? He had a beautiful fiancée that he loved and liked. He looked forward to having a job that he loved doing. One of his father’s friends, an Air Force fighter pilot, had told him when he was a boy, that the only jobs worth having were rock-and-roll star, movie star, professional athlete or an Air Force fighter pilot. “Or a lawyer,” his father had added hopefully. Well, he had one of those jobs.

Kevin didn’t know what he might do after football. All he knew is that God had given him the best life in the world and that he would do his best to make the most of it.

With his head spinning with his great good fortune, he paid no attention as he walked into the false cul-de-sac that led into the parking structure. Hearing the murmuring of several deep voices, he looked up. There were five black men standing in front of him. He recognized a couple of them. They were from that Tau Sigma Pi fraternity, a black fraternity. He remembered a couple of them from the dinner. Some of them had been the ones who had forced him out of the back door of the dinner hall and tried to tell him why he shouldn’t have been at the dinner with Felice. He fractionally relaxed. These guys were students. They might want to do a little intimidation but no real harm. Then he remembered what Felice had told him about their confrontation with Adrienne.

Kevin steeled himself, and then nodded his head in greeting at a couple of them. He got no response, but it seemed as though they would let him pass. Then one moved to block his progress.

“Hey, ain’t you that white punk that likes himself a little black pussy?” sneered a voice behind him.

“Well he sure don’t like it fresh, because that one’s been used a bunch of times,” said another at his back. “Ain’t that damn good, either. I guess you white boys like fourth-hand goods.”

Kevin turned around to look at the four behind him. “Nice to see you fellas again. In my experience, a woman is only as good as the man she’s with,” he said, remembering his father’s words to him. “If she’s got one who knows what he’s doing and who cares about her, she’ll be the best thing a man’s ever had. Guess you guys didn’t know which buttons to push.” Kevin smirked. “A woman’s got three buttons. I will do y’all a favor, not that you deserve it, but I will. I’ll tell you where the two main buttons on a woman are. They’re here and here.” He pointed at his head and his chest. “Once you realize what’s going on in those two places, that third button is a cinch. You guys must not be too bright. A couple of you had a brilliant and beautiful woman with a good heart and you used her for a mattress tag. Just because you didn’t realize what you had, don’t blame me.”

Kevin turned back to the man blocking his way. What was his name? Kevin racked his brain; Trevor–one of the ones who had been with Felice. “So, what now?” He said to the man, obviously the leader.

“What happens now is this,” said Trevor. “Apparently, you don’t understand talk, so we make you understand that you have no right to disrespect black men in public, nor do you have the right to take our women for yourself.”

Kevin was astounded. “Your women? You treat her like crap, turn her name to mud all over this campus, but now all of a sudden she’s yours? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t they outlaw slavery in this country about one hundred thirty years ago?

“Do not take your ancestors’ dirty deeds and twist them to suit your own purposes. We are not like you!” Trevor’s teeth were clenched. “Even if none of us want her, she should be with an appropriate man-a black man.”

“Yeah, she tried that, but you screwed that up for her, too. I know all about it.”

“It would be better for her to be alone for the rest of her life than with one of the children of slave-owners.”

“So now you, someone who doesn’t give one damn about her, are going to decide how she should run her life. Sounds like slavery to me.”

Kevin felt the wind of swift movement and heard the unmistakable ‘click’ of a cocked revolver behind him. He whirled around. The first man that had spoken to him was holding a gun pointed directly at his head.

“Didn’t my big brother tell you?” yelled the man. “Do not twist our words or our actions and make us like you! You are the devil, the white enemy! You are the one that deserves to die!”

Kevin looked at the man’s eyes, then at his gun. Here was a factor he had never considered when he first noticed the fraternity brothers, nor at anytime during their conversation. They were going to kill him. They had planned it, laid in wait and now, they were ready to execute their plan and him. Kevin decided that he wasn’t afraid. His life had been short, but it had been everything that anyone could ask for. He found himself thinking of God and became calm.

In his unruffled state, he was able to take his eyes off of the man with the gun and look at the other three men in front of him. He now saw clearly that the plan hadn’t been to kill him, for all three had expressions of shock and fear on their faces.

“Don’t do it, man,” said one. “They’ll put us all in jail forever! This one isn’t the one! Let him have Felice if he wants!”

“‘Dre,” said a stunned and trembling voice behind Kevin. “Little Brother, this isn’t what we wanted. We want to teach him a lesson, make him understand, but not kill him. He can’t understand if he’s dead.” Trevor stepped out from behind Kevin and approached the gunman. “You’re right, Little Brother,” he said. “We are not like him or his kind. We may debate, demand, or even explain with force, but we aren’t murderers.” His voice was soft and pleading. To Kevin, he seemed to almost be in tears. Trevor stopped at the gunman’s side.

“Little Brother, I love you. I don’t want to see you go to prison or get a death sentence.” Trevor was almost whispering into the man’s ear. “There are far too many of us there already. Think, Little Brother.” Andre began to lower the weapon.

Then Kevin, in his fearless state, made a mistake. He spoke to the man.

“If you kill me, you won’t hurt me. You’ll hurt the people that love me, yes; my father and my girl. But, the person you’ll hurt the most is yourself.”

“Shut up, white punk!” Andre raised the weapon again. “I don’t care about your devil-father or your race-traitor bitch! It will be worth it to go to prison if I can send you to Hell!” Then, just as Trevor grabbed his shooting arm, he fired.

Copyright © 2009 by Luo American Inc.