A risky business with no corner office required
Caribbean Life, June 19-25, 2020 39
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
How is it that there’s never
enough money?
No matter how much
comes in, more goes out,
even when you work hard,
scrimp, and save. You can’t
keep doing this, don’t know
how long you can keep your
nose above water, and in the
new book “The Business of
Lovers” by Eric Jerome Dickey,
you’ll do just about anything
to make more money.
Brick never did mind being
Penny’s driver.
He wasn’t working anyhow
so when she asked for a ride
to meet a “client,” he said
he’d wait to be sure she was
okay. She threw a few bucks
at him, he made sure she
was safe, and it was all good.
So when Penny brought two
other women back to Brick’s
car after one night at a highend
hotel, he suddenly had
himself a “pace” of women,
a full-time bodyguard job,
and three part-time lovers–
sometime-roommates.
He hadn’t meant to sleep
with Penny in the beginning;
she was in love with a cheater,
though, and she needed comfort.
Brick was captivated by
Mocha Latte, who’d grown up
on a Texas farm and wanted
that life again, plus husband
and kids. He was attracted to
Christiana, the Cuban, who
was so bruised by the past
that she could only look into
the future.
It was Christiana who told
Brick about the business; it
was she who offered to set
him up with rich women who
wanted love on a single-night
basis.
It was Mocha Latte who
actually pulled him in.
Not that he couldn’t use
the money.
Some months before,
Brick had fought cancer
alone. He didn’t want his
younger brother, André, to
know about his problems;
André had a career to manage.
He didn’t want to tell his
big brother, Dwayne, about
his illness; Dwayne lost his
job, had a teenage son and a
baby–mama who demanded
more child support.
It was money that ended
Brick’s last relationship.
Money that put him in
strange women’s beds. What
else would being broke cost
him?
These days, there are three
things you can count on for
sure: The sun will rise tomorrow.
It’ll rain somewhere in
the world. And author Eric
Jerome Dickey will tell a
good story.
This one is a little bit different,
though.
You shouldn’t be surprised
that there’s plenty of sleeping
around in “The Business
of Lovers” or that it’s
graphic, so be warned. It’s
filled with grown-up drama
but at the risk of spoiling,
you can expect a happy ending
that you won’t expect.
It’s got a touch of humor, the
sly kind. This book’s profane,
even nasty but none of it gets
out of hand, that’s the most
enjoyable part of it. You’re
leisurely taken through a
surprisingly small community
of characters on a tight
number of mattresses with a
mini-arsenal of plot moves, a
lack of too much that’s absolutely
refreshing, like a cool
drink beneath hot sheets.
That’s what you want this
summer, right? So whether
you’re stuck inside or turnt
out, “The Business of Lovers”
is on the money.
“The Business of
Lovers” by Eric Jerome
Dickey
c.2020, Dutton $27.00
/ $36.00
Canada 387 pages
Book cover of “The Business of Lovers,” by Eric Jerome
Dickey.
“The Business of Lovers” author, Eric Jerome Dickey.
Joseph Jones Photography