Fonnie Flagrant
by
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The next afternoon, Basil stepped into Lake Street Barbershop. It was packed with men awaiting a vacant chair.
“How’s it going?” Basil finally said to everyone since all activity seemed to have stopped on his behalf. Basil stood by the glass front door awkwardly looking for a free seat in the waiting area.
“Hey, man,” a young barber said to Basil. He was handsome and mahogany. “Can I help you with something?”
“Yeah.” Basil pointed to his own head. “Can someone trim me up?”
The young man looked around. “Uh, yeah-yeah. I’m the third chair over there. Go on and have a seat.”
After Basil sat in the chair, the shop returned to life. “My name is Jamal. I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“I’m Basil Jenkins. I just moved here so I’m checking out some places.”
“Yeah?” Jamal asked, cutting Basil’s hair. “Where did you move?”
“Over there on Pine.”
“Pine Street?” Jamal asked. “Have you met anyone yet?”
“As a matter of fact I did. Lily Blue.”
“Yeah,” Jamal said nodding. “I know Lily. She’s one of the nicest people I know. She’s going out with some fool, though. I can’t stand him.”
“Oh, man,” Basil said. “There was this fine girl with Lily. She lives right across the street from me. Mean as hell! Her name is Fonnie Bishop.”
“You met Fonnie?” Jamal asked laughing hysterically. “You need to stay away from her. She’s going to tear you to pieces.”
“Naw,” Basil said, shaking his head. “I think I can handle her.”
“Aight, man,” Jamal said. “You’re going to learn.”
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About the Book
Fonnie Bishop and Basil Jenkins just met and their relationship is already going straight downhill. Let’s just say that Fonnie isn’t exactly the most receptive person. Why mince words? She’s mean. Utterly and entirely unbearable. However, her waspish attitude does not faze Basil at all and neither does the color of her skin, which he finds most tempting. Being of the vanilla persuasion himself, he’s always had a preference for chocolate.
Miraculously, Fonnie has managed to retain one lone friend. The bubbly, giggling Lily Blue. Lily is in a bit of a pickle. While the entertainment of her day is seeing Basil woo her best friend, she’s got some serious domestic issues to handle. Time is drawing near for her to make a decision about her own relationship and it’s a true matter of life and death.
During the escalating tension between Basil and Fonnie, their gay neighbor, Dante, and mentally unstable neighbor, Crazy Joe, both offer their unsolicited advice about how to assuage their smoldering situation. Their advice is not helpful.
No matter, Basil is determined to break down Fonnie with or without help. He has the rest of his life to break her down one day at a time…no matter how much she hates it.
About the Author
R. Caresse Hightower earned her B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She’s been writing since she was nine years old and loves picking at the scab of culture versus ethnicity. She also likes anything that has to do with Martha Stewart and watching really, really bad movies. Fonnie Flagrant is her first published novel and she hopes you enjoy it.