Sounds like erotica, doesn’t it? Sorry, Skippy, but Homie don’t play dat.
No, this is an excerpt from my “comedy of bad manners,” SIDESHOW IN THE CENTER RING. The scene takes place on a planet where slavery is both legal and strictly regulated. The residents are humanoid but covered with fur; a shave-tail is a resident who shaves their fur to look more like a human. Connie, the first-person narrator, is a human whose skin is blotches of different shades of human flesh tones. “Mama’s Little Man” is Darryl Moran, her mortal enemy.
A Hot Time For Mama’s Little Man
excerpt from SIDESHOW IN THE CENTER RING
by Marian Allen
Me, I was going to see if there were any laws I could report Darryl for breaking. If there were, I would. If this town was straight, I might just be able to make things hot for Mama’s Little Man. If the town was crooked, maybe I could pay somebody to act honest. I had more money than Darryl and Marissa put together; if it came to a graft war, it was over before it started.
Tiph walked to Honey’s right, almost even with her, which is not how she’d walked with the broker. She had walked to his rear, except when he was putting her in and out of the sedan. I had a feeling that Honey was being insulted, and that it didn’t matter to Tiph if Tiph was the only one in the room who knew it.
She gave me the twice over as she and Honey passed; down to my feet and back to my face. Her golden eyes were dusky with contempt – nothing personal, just a touch of all-purpose arrogance to show class. She wasn’t even really looking at me; her eyes had that slightly unfocused look people get when they think they already know what they’d see if they were paying attention.
She thought I was a shave-tail.
“Look again,” I said, holding out a hand and turning it over, showing my thin palms, bare knuckles, and useless nails. I showed her my profile – my poor, flat face – and smiled. All the time, I was thinking about the civic hot-foot I hoped to give her Master, and the smile came from the heart.
I couldn’t have startled her more if I’d jumped on a chair and done my impression of The Mad Conductor.
~*~
SIDESHOW IN THE CENTER RING is available at Amazon in print and for Kindle, and from independent booksellers (check here at IndieBound).
