Russy & Mandy precursor

This excerpt is ripped from my first novel, Be A Man, which delves into themes of identity, struggle, and the journey toward self-acceptance. It plants the seed for my 5th novel, Russy & Mandy: a Be A Man story, where the characters navigate their intertwined fates in a world that challenges their beliefs and aspirations. In this new narrative, readers will explore the depths of friendship, the complexities of love, and the obstacles that test the limits of courage. Check it out!

  I sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room where Russell was seated, and Rachelle sat in a chair that was between us. She did not know whether to sit beside her father or beside me. “I’ve already told Rachelle that I wanted to speak with you two before me and Mandy took our trip up to NYC. I certainly take a lot of stock in the relationship that you two have, considering that you two have been hardheaded and tend to do whatever you want to do. So, Mr. Burkett, how are things going between the two of you?” Mr. Arlene asked.

            “I’m just fine. I’m almost afraid that you might kill me if I said anything else,” I said. Then he started to smile. He put his elbows on his knees and put his hands together. I saw that he had a big ring on his right ring finger.

            “Don’t worry, Mr. Burkett, nobody is going to get hurt today. Maybe me, but I’m not in here to tell you what to do. I’m not your father,” Russ told me. “So where is your mother, Mr. Burkett?”

            “Daddy, I just—” Rachelle began before I interrupted her.

            “Babe, I can answer for myself. Mr. Russ, she had to go to work early this morning. With it being just her taking care of us, when there are slots open for overtime, she takes them whenever she can. But I have one question for you. Why are you calling me Mr. Burkett?” I asked him.

            “It’s just a sign of respect. You might be a generation younger than me, but I still have to show you the same respect that I want you to show me,” Russell said.

            “Yes, sir. Call me Walton or Walt,” I said.

            “Or KB1!” Rachelle added.

            “KB1? What’s that?” Mr. Arlene asked.

            “That’s one of the nicknames that we started calling him, Daddy,” Rachelle said. “But he wants me to call him the Great One. He must be crazy or something if he thinks that I’m gonna call him that.”

            “Well, KB1, just call me Russell or Russ. When I grew up, I grew out of my old nicknames,” he joked.

            “Yes, sir,” I replied as I figured that he wanted to get more comfortable with me. “So I see that you have shaved your beard. It looks good.”

“Yeah, Mandy was telling me that I look better without my beard, and I guess you know how that is by now with the Lawrence women?” Russ asked.

“I sure do. Rae is very persistent about everything,” I replied.

            “She got it from her mother,” Russell said. “Mandy and Rachelle are almost just alike at the same ages. Back then, Mandy got on my nerves all the time. What about this one?”

“You know,” I began, “it happens every now and then.” Even though I didn’t look at Rachelle, I knew that she was burning a hole straight through my head with her stare at me.

            “Well, Daddy, I’m sure that you got on Mom’s nerves as well,” Rachelle added while continuing to stare at me. “With the constant hanging out with your friends and riding everyone around town in your old Mustang and things like that.”

            “Well, you know, it happens.” Russell laughed. “Mandy is a handful, but I knew right when I placed my eyes on her after the first day of school back in Doraville, she’d be mine for the rest of my life.”

            “Well, Russ, when and where did you meet Rae’s mom?” I asked him.

            Russell paused for a moment before sitting back in his seat. “Well, that’s a good story, Walt. It was September of 1979, and it was the first day of school. School had just let out for the day, and I sat out in the parking lot with a couple of my boys next to my ’76 Mustang. Because we were only about ten years out of segregation ended in our town, there was still a little getting used to whites and blacks getting together for anything. One of my best friends was a guy named Tim,” Russell began his story.

            “Daddy, whatever happened to Tim?” Rachelle asked him.

            “We lost contact after we moved to Wake Forest. I really wish I knew where he lived because he was my best buddy,” Russell stated. “But anyway, Tim was complaining about breaking his new glasses and crying that his mother was going to kick his ass, when I spotted the most beautiful lady in the school waiting with her friends in the carpool area. Mandy was just sitting there looking elegant and pretty while I had my jaw dragging the ground as I marched over to her. Walking over to her made me think of all the best ways to get to her so I could lay some groovy lines down on this chick.”

            “Daddy, this ain’t 1979. Please speak like it’s 1998!” Rachelle told her father.

            “Rae, he’s fine. It gives his story a bit of historical meaning when he talks like a dude straight out of the ’70s. I can dig it!” I told my girlfriend. “While he’s talking, can you get us a drink of water?”

            “Sure, babe,” Rachelle stated before getting up from her seat to fetch me and her father a drink of water. “But you are coming over to connect my stereo to my TV after your aunt picks up your brother.”

            “No problem. I can do that for you,” I told Rachelle. “So, Russ, did you get a chance to talk to her?”

            “Yes and no. By the time I got to her, I didn’t know what the hell to say. I was too dumb to say anything worth remembering. Shortly after I approached her, your girlfriend’s grandmother pulled up in her brand-new Mustang convertible with the top down. I didn’t know it was her mother because Mandy’s skin was colored like caramel. Mrs. Hailey was white as chalk and very young. She was like thirty-five at the time. I stopped in awe of that beautiful car and the three beautiful women riding off in it,” Russell explained.

            “There were three beautiful women in the car. Who was the third woman?” I asked.

            “Oh, the other was Mandy’s best friend, Katie. Everyone thought she was kind of slow, but she was probably one of the smartest people in the school,” Russell replied. “But that doesn’t matter anyway.”

            “What year was the Mustang?” I asked Russell.

            “It was a ’78 and sounded great!” Russell exclaimed. “Every time I see that car, I ask Herbert if I could buy it from him.”

            “They still have the car?” I asked in shock that a car that was twenty years old could still be in the possession of Rachelle’s grandparents.
            “Yeah, Ms. Hailey loves that car. She said it keeps her young,” Russell explained as Rachelle reentered the room with two tall glasses of water.

            “Are you guys talking about Grammy H’s car?” Rachelle asked as she handed her father one of the two glasses of water before sitting closer to me than she did before. Before handing me my glass of water, she took a sip.

            “Yeah, she still drives that car like it’s brand new. It has just over two hundred thousand miles on it, and it has never broken down on them. But anyway, that next day at lunch, I introduced myself and talked my way into her heart,” Russell explained.

            “No, wait, Daddy. Mom’s story is much different. She said that you guys went out that weekend and she gave you the coldest shoulder in the world,” Rachelle explained.

            “Yeah, it was the worst date in the world,” Russell replied. “But at the end of the night, she saw me for who I really was. Even though she was rude to me and had no regards to my feelings, I treated her like a queen because that’s what she deserved. Amanda was special way back then, and I tried to show her that.”

            “What do you mean she gave him the coldest shoulder?” I asked.

            “Mom said that because of rumors spread throughout the school, she nearly lost Daddy. Mom said that she treated him like he was nothing during the date, but at the end of the night, he still opened the car door and walked her to her doorstep. While standing at the door with Daddy, Mom said she fell in love with him in an instant but knew what she had done to ruin their date,” Rachelle explained. “But apparently, the way that Daddy reacted around the family was even more special to her. She said that Granddaddy and Daddy had chemistry early on, and it meant something to her that they could get along.”

            “Hey, it worked,” Russell explained. “Now ask Mandy if it has been worth it. We’ve traveled to greater than thirty states, three countries, and almost two planets.”

            “Two planets, eh?” I sarcastically asked Russell.

            “Well, that’s how I do things,” Russell replied while laughing. “But that story is way longer than we have time for, but yeah, life with Mandy has been great. It was tough in the beginning, but we made it work.”