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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781449028787 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 09/18/2009 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 112 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
Read an Excerpt
Moral Obligation
By Gary Sowell
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Gary SowellAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-2877-0
Chapter One
Reyna's StoryA hard working achiever with a degree in business and economics, Reyna learned the key for life success was only by making the right decisions. At the age of 22, her dream of a management position came true. It was a critical position that required her to make decisions for the company which affected the company's gross profit. She gained respect and admiration from everyone that came in direct contact with her.
Reyna meets her ideal man and after dating for two years. She accepted his marriage proposal but only after both Reyna and Lexus agreed to stay true to each other as long as the quality of love and life prevailed. By agreeing to the conditions set forth and their ability to fulfill each others needs, the wedding date was set.
Believing that this was a story-book match, both sides of the family were very excited to hear their plans of marriage. Reyna and Lexus took the time to address both families to assure them that their decision was well planned, right down to the smallest detail. Each family member supported their decision which reinforced Reyna's and Lexus' commitment to one another. It was evident that Reyna was not about to accept anything less than what was agreed upon and Lexus, knowing that Reynawas a very intelligent, kind, loving woman, would hold him to his word no matter what. She made it very clear to him that she was determined to live a happy life and was willing to do whatever it took to achieve it.
Reyna's determination to a happy, sound married life came from past family observation. She witnessed many problems when she would visit her half sister, Kristen during the summer months. She promised herself that she would never allow her life to be controlled by an unfaithful husband. After Kristen's husband tried to make advances toward her, she stopped visiting during the summer months. When Reyna told her about his unfaithfulness, her half sister never believed Reyna. To Reyna's dismay, all communications had ceased between them.
As an only child from a wealthy family, Lexus was given many more opportunities than most, but he never allowed it to cloud his visions of others. Instilled in his upbringing was a code of conduct that set him apart from the rest - always keep an open mind to the things that are going on around you and let your common sense be your guide. His father was retired from the military and the airlines as a civilian pilot and his mother was a very successful home mortgage broker. He was a natural born leader, respected in the community. Lexus learned well from his father who always held him accountable for every decision he made.
On the other hand, Reyna came from a very different family background. She was raised as an only child even though she had an older half sister, 10 years her senior. As a second generation emigrant from Mexico, her father worked his way up to starting a very successful construction company. Reyna's mother was raised in the South where she was the youngest of five sisters and two brothers, but her father passed away when she was very young. With the help of the two older brothers, they managed well to keep everyone together. Reyna's mother met her husband through a friend. They immediately knew they were right for one another and were married within a year. Reyna was well provided for, received a good education, and had the support of many cousins and family members that gave her a good foundation.
Planning everything together, Reyna and Lexus were married in the spring. They set goals for the future as to when they would start a family. They talked about names of their children and the type of schools that they wanted them to attend. A few years had passed and life for Reyna and Lexus was grand. Everything was going better than ever and the two of them continued to display to others around them how happy they were together. All household activities were shared together, shopping, cooking and cleaning. She liked that Lexus was a very tidy person, putting everything in its proper place. Both were doing very well at their jobs and between the two of them they were able to save money for their future.
One Saturday afternoon Reyna decided to go shopping with her mother and have a late lunch with her older sister, Kristen, who was in town for a visit. This was the first time that Reyna had seen her half sister in about five years. Reyna's last meeting with her did not go well, but she was willing to dismiss the conflict and start afresh. She had heard from her mother that Kristen finally got divorced from her husband and was already dating another guy. Reyna was excited to hear more about her new life as well as tell her about what was new in her life. She had sent Kristen an invite to her wedding but never got a response back nor did she come to the wedding. Arriving at the restaurant where they were to meet her sister, Reyna and her mother walked right past her not recognizing her. Hearing Reyna's name across the room, the two of them turned to see this woman and man standing together. Reyna could hardly believe her eyes. Kristen had lost about 40 pounds and her hair was dark and had grown to shoulder length. Reyna and her mother were in shock because the last time that either one of them had seen her, Kristen was a mess. Now they saw this beautiful changed woman standing in front of them.
"Oh my word, it's Kristen"! Reyna's mother called out.
Reyna was totally speechless until Kristen reached for her and gave her a hug saying, "Sis, how are things with you. It has been a long time since we've seen one another." Kristen introduced her boy friend to them. He offered them to sit at their table and join them. During the reunion, Reyna received a call from Lexus telling her that he had received a call from a few of his old college friends that were in town for a few days. He had not seen them in many years and asked if Reyna would like to join them at a local pub close to where his friend's lived. She suggested that he go and be with his friends and she would see him later at home because she was enjoying her lunch with her sister and mother. Lexus agreed.
Lexus joined his friends at the pub. It was a great reunion and reminded Lexus of times he used to spend with his father. The pub was showing highlights of games from their old college days. Lexus was a big sports fan and his father would always treat him and his friends by taking them out to the home ball games. But his father would trick them all by taking them to the dance studio first to learn ballroom dancing. The dance studio was short of male dancers, but it turned out to be a fair trade because there were some very nice looking older women who attended. The long, sexy dresses that they wore would show off their legs and sometimes even more when being twirled around on the dance floor.
Actually, dancing was how it began for Lexus and Reyna. Reyna was at the dance studio with her parents who were taking the dance lessons. Sometimes she would just watch and other times she would get up and dance with her father, specifically the Salsa style dances. Finally one day Lexus asked Reyna why she only danced Salsa. Reyna replied back by saying, "I like the beat of the music and the moves that my father taught me to do." Intrigued, Lexus asked Reyna if she would teach him to dance the Latin style dance. Reyna and Lexus started going every week with their parents and learned to dance very well together. It was not long afterward when the two began dating and enjoying other activities together.
While celebrating with his buddies, Lexus was frequently coaxed to have a drink with them. Lexus had not taken a drink since he met Reyna and felt that it was not a good idea for him to start now, but the excitement and the peer pressure had got the best of him. He decided to take just one drink, thinking that it would stop all the jokes toward his moral obligation toward not drinking alcohol. One drink led to another and then another and soon he started feeling light headed and when passed another beer, he knew it was time to stop. Unbeknownst to him, it was too late. His senses were already impaired; he was no longer in control. The beer weighed heavy in his bladder so he excused himself, asking his friends directions to the men's bathroom. On his way to the bathroom, his first thoughts were of Reyna and what she would do if she saw him this way. Still having guilt about drinking, he decided to go home before she arrived and see if he could hide the fact that he had been drinking.
He left the bar without seeing or telling his friends. He got into his car and drove out of the parking lot without too much difficulty. His vision was a little blurred and he started to feel sick, so he rolled down the window to get some fresh air but rolled it back up because the outside noises were hindering his ability to think. Needing time to lie down and recover before Reyna arrived at home, his only thought was to get home as quickly as possible.
The next few events changed Lexus' life forever. It was as if time stood still and everything was moving in slow motion. He came to a full stop when he noticed the light was red, but his senses were so impaired that his car stopped a few cars length away from the intersection. He waited until the light turned green and slowly drove through the intersection causing a few cars behind him to sound their horns in frustration. Lexus reacted to the blowing horns by heavily pressing the gas pedal when the light turned green but because of his slow reaction, the light turned from green to yellow to red. The cars from the opposite side had the green light and caught Lexus in the intersection. The first car hit its breaks very hard and skidded to a stop just missing Lexus car. The other car in the left lane did not see Lexus' car and hit Lexus' car right on the driver's side, causing his car to spin around several times into the traffic lanes of cars traveling the opposite direction. This chain reaction caused two more cars to hit Lexus' car. When it was all over, the intersection was scattered and blocked with wrecked cars. Smoke filled the air as fluids from the cars' cooling systems spilled out all over the intersection. People began to scream as others got out of their cars and trucks and rushed over to assist the people that were trapped in their cars. Within minutes the fire department showed up with emergency help. One woman directed them to Lexus' car where they saw that he was not responding at all. His car looked like an accordion, crunched up on all sides. After a lengthy time of cutting him out of the wreckage, Lexus was transported to the City Hospital where he was rushed into emergency surgery room.
Meanwhile, his friends had no idea what was going on. They realized it had been about 25 minutes that Lexus had not returned from the bathroom. After discovering that Lexus was not in the bathroom, they first checked inside and outside the Pub, discovering his car was not there. Trying to remember exactly what he said to them before he left the table, they all came to the same conclusion that he said he would be right back. He did not say anything to them about leaving. It seemed very odd for Lexus to leave without telling them. Mike decided to give him a call on his cell phone. With no answer, he left a message on his phone for him to call back. They decided to go back in the pub and finish their drinks, thinking that Lexus would return their call soon.
Reyna arrived at home, noticing that Lexus was not there. She checked her cell phone to see if he had left her a message, knowing that sometimes she did not get good reception and her phone would show the missed calls or the calling party would leave her a message. There were no missed calls or messages on her phone so she decided to call Lexus. Of course, there was no answer. Just as she was leaving him a message, she heard a car door close and looked out side to see a police car with two officers getting out of the car. They disappeared from her sight so she thought nothing more of it. She walked away from the window and turned on the TV set and sat down thinking about the day's event and about how happy she was to see her sister. A few minutes passed and she heard a loud knock on her door. As she answered the door, the same two police officers she saw before were standing at her door step.
"Are you the wife of Lexus Goldsmith," inquired the police officer. Reyna responded stating that she was that person. After an introduction, one of the policemen told her that her husband was in a very serious car accident and that he was taken to the City Hospital a few hours ago. Reyna's heart filled with fear as she looked at both officers in disbelief. The other officer pulled out a cell phone and asked her if it belonged to her husband. Reyna took the phone from him and acknowledged that it was Lexus' cell phone.
Just at that moment the phone started ringing. Reyna looked to see who was calling. The name Mike appeared on the caller ID. She remembered that he was one of Lexus' friends that he was meeting at the pub. When Mike heard Reyna's voice, he introduced himself to her and asked if Lexus was there. Reyna listened while Mike told her that Lexus left the Pub without telling any of them he was leaving. Immediately, one of the officers interrupted Reyna, asking her who was on the phone. Hearing some of the conversation between Reyna and Mike, he asked to speak with him. As Mike was telling the officer what had happened, he rethought what the consequences might be for Lexus and quickly stopped. The officer asked to meet with Mike and the others to get a statement from them. Mike asked why the officer needed a statement. The officer told him that Lexus was in a serious accident and was transported to the hospital. Distraught over the news, Mike relayed the information to his friends and agreed to meet the officers at the hospital where they would check on Lexus' condition and get more information.
Reyna was beginning to go into shock. She started gasping for air and her face turned very pale. She started to back up to reach for something to help support her. The other officer noticed Reyna's condition and reached over just in time to keep her from falling. Sitting her down on the sofa, she began to panic even more. Crying out to the two police officers saying, "Oh my God! Oh my God! I must go to the hospital to be with Lexus." She jumped up and darted toward the door screaming out Lexus' name. The police officers stopped her short of the door by grabbing her by her arm. The two of them held Reyna back from leaving and once she calmed down they offered to take her to the hospital. Regaining her senses, Reyna accepted the offer and left with the officers. As they were driving to the hospital, one of the officers reported to the other about the information he had just received from Lexus' buddies.
They arrived at the hospital to be told that Lexus was in surgery. No other information was given to them except for Lexus' injuries were very serious. They would have to wait to get an update from the doctors performing the surgery. When Reyna called her mother to let her know what had happened, she asked her to contact Lexus' mother and father to let them know that Lexus was in a serious car accident. Reyna's mother first contacted her husband who was on his way home at the time. He told her he would be home in just a few minutes and the two of them could go to the hospital together. On the way Reyna's mother was able to get in touch with Lexus' mother and told her about the accident. Both parents arrived about the same time to see Reyna waiting for them. Intensely worried, she tried to answer as many questions as were asked, "Lexus is still in surgery and there is no more information other than his injuries are very serious."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Moral Obligation by Gary Sowell Copyright © 2009 by Gary Sowell. Excerpted by permission.
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