Delaine's Dilemma-An Excerpt

                                               Delaine’s Dilemma

                                                            by

                                                   Austin Mitchell

                                                     Chapter One

          Delaine Taylor was the most striking woman Marc Evers ever laid his eyes on. She was about five feet six inches tall and copper colored. She had long beautiful legs and her hips and bust were the envy of most women. Marc sold insurance for Midland Life and General Insurance company. Easton Rivers had a liquor and gambling outfit in the Half Way Tree area and that was where he first saw her. Like himself, Easton was an ex-policeman. Marc heard that he also had a security firm. He had never seen Easton with a gun, but suspected that he might have one hidden away on his body. Marc had  never applied for a license to carry a gun. He felt he didn’t need one, although there were times when he had been tempted.

            Marc had spent ten years in the force before quitting at thirty years of age. He had been selling insurance for five years now and had no regrets about his change in profession.

               Marc would stop by mostly on Wednesdays and Fridays to buy the lotto and cash pot. Delaine would stop by mostly on Fridays and play a few games. She was with two other girls, Charlene Distant and Candace Bernard. One thing Marc always noticed was that there were two guys who were always around Charlene and Candace but Delaine always traveled alone. Then he learned that she was Easton’s woman. He guessed her age at around thirty and Easton would be about fifty years. Marc had heard that Easton was married. He was sure that he had seen his wife at the establishment on more than one occasion. Two children, a boy and a girl were always trailing behind her. Maybe grandchildren, he had always thought.

            “Hello, Marc, is that your right name?” Delaine asked him one evening.

            “Sure it is and I know you’re called Delaine. Can I buy you a drink?”    

             “Thanks, but I’m okay.”

            Marc looked over her shoulder and he saw Easton watching them.      

          “I’ll see you around,” Marc said as he went back to playing some games.

            An hour later and Marc looked around for Delaine and her friends, but they had disappeared. He saw Easton coming over.

            “Marc, I want you to have a drink with me. I want to put a proposal to you.”

            Marc didn’t reply, but looked quizzically at the man.

            “One of my daughter’s getting married and she wants me to come up for the wedding. I want you to give an eye on this place for me.”

            “I don’t understand you, Easton. You have many friends in the Force, why not ask one of them?”

            Easton drank some more of his rum and coke. Marc drank some more of his beer.

            “I don’t trust any of those guys. If I could do better I would keep them out of here. I have to be giving them money and free drinks all the time.”

            “Okay, so what do you want me to do?”

            “Just keep an eye on things.”

            “What about, Delaine?”

            “What about her?”

            “Is she your woman?”

 An excerpt from the short story - Delaine's Dilemma from the collection of short stories-Better Days are Coming by Austin Mitchell
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