Lee Jay Stura

Prenup From Hell - Chapter Eight

What am I twelve?

He might not have needed to adjust the mirrors, but that didn’t keep Nick from leaving fingerprints on them. He knew that he was acting like a twelve year old if not younger, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. As soon as he left the garage, he killed the Bluetooth on his phone and Des’ car. The last thing he needed was for Des to start shrieking through the car to bring it back. He’d already muted Des’ known numbers from his phone and smart watch. No shouting through the car. No shouting into his head. It was almost perfect except Des didn’t have a secreted pack of cigarettes stashed in the glove box like he did in his car. He’d need to remedy that by buying a pack somewhere.

“You are so weird, Des,” Nick said, shaking his head at Des who was watching the scenery through the monorail window. The shiny white train was slowly winding around the outskirts of Disneyland. The original monorail had been installed when the park was young, and it had been through decades of upgrades mechanically, but cosmetically it was the same as it had ever been—long sleek trains painted either white or in bright colors. They were on a red train with dozen other people most of them children with big smiles on their faces.

“How am I weird?” Des asked, nibbling on his bottom lip as he watched a ride where a car full of tourists plummeted down a wall of water. 

Yesterday my mother informed me that she has terminal cancer in her lungs, spine, and throat. I spent the day dealing with the shock of losing my mom so close to the anniversary of losing my father.

I was raised to accept that when it’s someone’s time to go that it’s their time to go. All you can do is make sure they are happy and enjoying the quality of their life. I’ve already made peace with her going.

She told me this morning that she’s been dreaming of my dad coming to see her, looking like he did when I was a baby. I think that’s beautiful, but being my mom, she complained it was unfair that she wasn’t young anymore. I tried to remind her that he might see her just as young, and by the way, my parents were damned fine looking people.

We laughed some more, and I told her I’d had dreams about holding her hand. I haven’t asked the big question, which is how long. My mouth refuses to ask those words, and I know I need to. I might cheat and ask my brother who is taking care of her since he lives there, and I’m over 1000 miles away.

Went on a dumpster dive this morning, and I found an external hard drive with all of my music, video, and WRITING from half a dozen years ago. I'm trying to decide which of my first drafts to work on after the Prenup from Hell is finished.

I'm torn between exploring more of my Vampire series. I miss writing my fanged boys and expanding their world. There's Denver who was the star of Dead Man's Hand.  Denver started out as a side character in Jace Winter’s book, but he was so loud that he pretty much took over. Dead Man’s Hand is his origin story, and it’s set the day of the Great San Francisco Earthquake. 

Denver has more story to tell. I’ve been debating whether to set his second novel during the early days of Hollywood or during prohibition in Chicago where he can do some bathtub gin and rum running. 

Jace’s story needs to happen too, but I’m not sure if I want to pour into it yet. It is an angst festival or pain. Jace is a homicide cop in Las Vegas who was turned against his will in a world that knows the supernatural exists. 

Then there’s Carter Price who was a CIA agent that was sent into deep cover with a very dangerous man--who ended up not being human. Now he’s looking for a way to break free from his Sire and starting to wonder if he’s not still undercover. Carter’s set in the end of the Cold War. 

My other series is set 200 years in the future in Japan where the Feudal System has been reinstated. Toya is from a samurai family, and he’s caught in a tangled mess. Toya’s book was the first novel I ever finished. I did it for NANOWRIMO, so you know it’s a total mess! But he’s a good character, in  a good world that I was given permission to use from my sister who created it for our gaming group, and I love his story.