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Overview
It's election night and Henry Louis Davis II waits for the results that could make him the first African-American president of the United States...the impossible goal he had held since the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot...back when he shared his dreams with the love of his teenage life as they promised each other it would be for "always."
The years have taken Henry along a path filled with highs and lows. His wife, Leslie, is his lover and best friend, a woman to whom he has pledged himself for always. His long ago love, Cheryl, is the mother of a grown daughter...with a yearning for the one man whom she has loved for always. Now three people face an historic night alone--each recalling the dreams of yesterday and the promises of tomorrow that will bring them to a love meant to last for...
Always
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062467836 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 01/17/2024 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 304 |
| File size: | 854 KB |
About the Author
After graduating from Florida A&M, Timmothy established Timmothy McCann and Associates, a financial planning firm. The agency achieved national recognition within its industry, but Timmothy sold the business to pursue his true passion, which has always been writing, and a gift that began with composing love letters grew into Until...,his first novel. He currently resides in Florida and is at work on his second novel, For Always.
Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
November 7, 2000
NBS News Studio
7:00 P.M. EST
"Good evening, America. This is Franklin Dunlop reporting from our NBS studios in Washington. Tonight we will elect the next American president, and the first president of the new millennium.
"Not since the election of 1960 has a race looked as close and compelling coming down to the last day as this one. The results of our NBS/New York Times poll completed last night show only a five percent margin between the leader in the race, Democratic senator Henry Louis Davis the Second of Florida, and Vice President Ronald R. Steiner. Trailing is third-party candidate Republican governor Thomas Baldwin of Arizona, but he is running close in enough states to make things very interesting.
"Davis is the candidate who has had an almost meteoric rise within his party, while Steiner is representative of the compassionate conservative wing of the Republican party. Staunch conservative Governor Baldwin lost the GOP nomination and is running on the Reform party ticket. He has strategically focused his time and money on several key states and is the wild card who could have a significant impact on this election.
"We have much to get into and we have reporters standing by in Atlanta, New York, Miami, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Chicago. When we return, we will take you to a couple of those spots for an up-to-the-minute report.
"Prepare yourself America, for when this night is over, we will walk into history. We will elect either our first African-American president, our first female vice president or the first true third-party candidate in the history ofthe country. Whoever wins tonight will lead this nation into the third millennium, so stay with NBS election-night coverage. Now to your local station."
Fontainebleau Hotel
Presidential Suite
Henry rubbed the crystal of his watch while he gazed at the newscast he had waited for his entire life. As he sat alone in the bedroom of his suite beside a two-olive dry martini, he listened to a dark-haired reporter who compared him once again to an African-American JFK. With his legs crossed at the ankle and still wearing the wrinkled shirt and slacks from the last day of the campaign, Henry could hear his inner circle of supporters in the living room of the suite cheer every time his name was announced. Every positive comment from the television would ignite the chant "We want Hen-ry. We want Hen-ry!"
The first time he had heard the cry, he'd been running for Congress and it had sent tingles down his spine. He had rushed to the phone that night and called his mother, then held the phone in the air so she could enjoy the moment with him. Given the enormity of what was happening on this occasion, the chants had no effect. He knew from reviewing the numbers taken by his pollsters that he was in for a long night. He also knew he carried the hopes and dreams of the staffers waiting for the results in the next room, as well as millions across the country and around the world. As the chants subsided, Henry closed his eyes, cracked his knuckles, and attempted to hold his raw emotions close. Placing the remote on the end table beside him, he said the first of what would be many prayers on a night in which he hoped the last words Franklin Dunlop would say before signing off would be, "Tonight, America, you have elected your forty-third and first African-American president of these United States. President-elect Henry Louis Davis the Second."
My eyebrows are expressive -- I find myself sometimes making a conscious attempt to keep them straight when I'm hit with a question by surprise and our brain trust never approves an official campaign photo unless my dimples are clearly evident.
I collect the artwork of Paul Goodnight, my wife and I own a few rare imports in our wine celler and I enjoy the work of Richard Wright so much I hear music when I read his words.
I enjoy playing basketball. I'd rather hang out with Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter than Tiger Woods, but Tiger has a higher Q rating, so guess who made it into the final thirty-minute television commercial. I have nothing against Tiger whatsoever, but for me basketball is a release, although my people have been on me for the last eight years to play more golf.
As I said before, my name is Henry Louis Davis the Second, and yeah, I know it sounds pretentious, but sometimes in my profession being a little ostentatious is not necessarily a bad thing.
I have an older brother by the name of Herbert. Why was he not given my father's name? When Herbert was born, our parents were not married. That was an act that could have you ostracized in and of itself in the forties. My father wanted to give his son his name, but my maternal grandfather would not allow it. He was ashamed because my father would not marry my mom until he was able to do so financially.
Although my dad was unable to serve in the military he did desire to go to college but could not afford it. As a result, my grandfather would not allow them to see each other until my mom was eighteen and Herbert was seventeen months old.
I know Herbert has made up several stories to explain why he is not named after our father, none of them close to the truth, and although he has never mentioned it , I don't think he has ever forgiven me for having the name Henry Louis Davis.
Last year I was invited to work on a book about the twentieth century that went into a time capsule. The author of the book asked me what year I felt was the most important in the previous one hundred years. Although it was a knee-jerk response, I answered 1968.
I felt that was when the country came out of its pubescence in the areas of technology, medicine, and social issues and was thrust headfirst into adulthood with the realities of what lay ahead.
On a personal note, the first day of that year is etched in my mind forever. I will never forget it for the strangest reason. That was the day I smoked my first joint, although when I was asked about it by Ed Bradley before the presidential debate, I categorically denied it. I gave him the impression that I had never touched, inhaled, or even seen a joint. The only way I would ever admit it would be if someone had produced a videotape. After all, the only witnesses that day were my cousins Percy and Johnny, so I felt confident the truth would never get out.
Did I feel uncomfortable telling a bald-faced lie to millions of people and doing what so many people expected of me as a politician? Even though it was my first and last taste of marijuana, the answer is no. Why? Because sometimes I'm convinced that America would like for you to lie to her...
What People are Saying About This
An excellent novel…stands head and shoulders above the rest.
—(Eric Jerome Dickey)
A fresh, gifted, intuitive voice in contemporary fiction.—Lolita Files