Snake Walkers by J. Everett Prewitt

Author:J. Everett Prewitt [Prewitt, J. Everett]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9761927-2-5
Publisher: Northland Publications Company via Indie Author Project

Carla shook her head that next day as she checked off the three minor projects she planned on finishing the upcoming week. For some reason, though, thoughts of Anthony kept resurfacing. Maybe it was because he pissed her off so much. She placed the hot teacup on the kitchen counter and wandered to her living room.

Not that she liked him or anything. He was on the other side of the spectrum about the things she felt strongest about. How could someone be so removed from the struggle? How could someone be so detached? When she first met Anthony, she had been pleasantly surprised. He was quick, engaging, and well read. It was also gratifying to see he was a neat dresser, trim, and cute. Cute? Maybe attractive or handsome was a better description, but when he smiled, his eyes crinkled up like a baby’s. Maybe cute was the right word.

When Anthony talked in the slow, deliberate way a world leader would when addressing the nation, he reminded her of her father. Carla smiled, then sighed. But there was something else happening with him. Carla remembered watching the way he glided as he walked, like someone who didn’t want to bring attention to himself or disturb anything around him. Introverted? Shy?

And although Anthony carried himself like a man, there was a little boy in him that remained hidden, sheltered. Carla had watched him grimace when he had mentioned her book, Strange Fruit. Deep furrows appeared across his brow if only for a second, like a crying child, but in that second she had also seen a profound sadness in those eyes—like the eyes of someone who had just lost someone dear to them. As a child, Carla had seen that same haunted look in her best friend’s eyes when her mother died after being hit by a car. And it was the same look she had seen when they first met at the coffee shop.

Carla had to admit that his anguish had affected her that day. She wanted to hold him, comfort him, and assure him that everything would be all right. But from what? Exasperated, Carla returned to the kitchen and threw out the rest of the now lukewarm tea. What was it with him? What was it with her that she had just wasted the last fifteen minutes analyzing him? Carla sighed again. It had been a year since she had even sat down with a man. After the trauma of losing a husband, she’d wrapped herself in her teaching and research.

“It’s time,” her best friend Charlene had advised. “Three years is long enough.” But although she missed the warmth of a man’s touch, she still wasn’t ready. And if she ever considered dating, she wasn’t going to start with an ostrich, oblivious to the things that mattered most, whatever the reason.

Carla raised her hand and flicked her wrist in dismissal, knowing full well that this time it was temporary. Anthony needed help. From what, she didn’t know. But something was happening with him, and he hadn’t come to grips with it yet.

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