OK, so forget the attempts at first paragraphs, forget Lan Cho for now... and know that Tara needs a personality-lift and Tamika Muller needs a little bit shorter and terser given name and a bit sharper temper... and LET'S START AGAIN!PART I: Introduction:The story opens in Barbados (up in the hills in some slightly deserted but still swanky neighborhood overlooking not the Caribbean Ocean, but the Atlantic... wilder and windier. It is the middle of the night and [Tamika], who normally drives like a bat out of hell (no need to worry about wind even in her convertible as her short straightened head-hugging hair never moves) is cutting the engine of her sports car and coasting to her destination (which she clearly hopes to keep secret as she has been requested). Slowing her pace to reduce the clicking of her designer 3 inches heels is a struggle for someone used to doing everything in a hurry! Destination: friend and lawyer(not hers)'s house - he [call him Ezekiel for now] is a middle-aged, greying, slighly paunchy recent divorcee. He has called her there as strange circumstances led him to be in the possession of a thick envelope with her name on it taken from a bolted-down Brinks safe in the inner office of a man gone missing for over 4 months. The opening of the safe was a strange occasion: there was no combination and no key, so locksmiths and a heavy drill were required, and in attendance were lawyers representing 5 different parties. All crammed into a little room, it felt like a lawyer's convention. Anyway, [Tamika] has a mini-anxiety attach on recognizing the handwriting (actually it was printing) on the envelope and has to sit down for a minute. As soon as she can, though, she flees Ezekiel's home - she hasn't been comfortable there since his divorce (the atmosphere is too depressing... even the furniture seemed to sag since).
The Letter: The letter is a long - no VERY long letter to [Tamika] from Kamal (the 4-month missing man). It,in a round about way, outlines his feelings for her (in brief: he thinks she is different and special because she makes him laugh). Later development of her character will let you know that it must be a very special relationship since not much makes HER laugh and she seems most of the time to be bitterly without humor and entirely consumed by cynicism... at least to those who don't know her well. Then Kamal apologized for what he had put her through (not the long 4 month silence, but the stain on her reputation- the stain of being both associated and not associated in the right way (it is complicated - to be explained later) with the likes of himself (a hedonist, epicurean, playboy , incurable player - whatever label you care to use). The letter then moves to talk of what is to happen, the rumors she is likely to hear and the people she is likely to encounter in the coming months... and gives vague instructions re: how to deal with these different individuals(some of them being the 5 parties represented by lawyers at the opening of the safe) and situations. Finally, it tells some personal history and ends with a gentle breaking of the news which has led to the long silence... and then a final goodbye.
Framework of Part I:[Tamika] is unable to read the letter all the way through as she cannot deal with the things it makes her feel and the memories that resurface in the reading, including memories of times with Kamal... and nightmarish events that took place within her own family history. The reading of the letter is interspersed with chapters dealing with [Tamika]'s visits to her psychotherapist, bouts of near agoraphobia in which she stays home with her internet connection and uses her pet Doberman as a sounding board for making sense of the rumors she is in fact starting to hear and plans to get to the bottom of them. Other things which break up the reading of the letter are visits with each of the people who were represented at the safe-opening; a table dancer (named Jolyn?), Christian Bell (recently out of prison for... dealing?), a former employee who claims to have given Kamal something for safekeeping (the revolver mentioned in previus post), a relative from Toronto, and (mystery person?). We also get to see some of the chain of events [Tamika], hard-headed businesswoman, has started (by starting proceedings for property searches in three different countries and other discreet inquiries via bank managers, manicurists, you name it...).
Conclusion of Part I: As this section started, it also ends, with [Tamika] in discussion with Ezekiel. It turns out he has become ill and the part he was supposed to play in the drama unfolding, he is no longer able nor willing to shoulder. He hands Tamika yet another letter (but an extremely thin one this time and asks her to head to [Toronto] to seek out and deliver the letter to Tara.
NOTES: Not sure about the Toronto bit either - it could be a more remote and wierder place... like something with an incredible Mic Mac name on the east coast, or with an incredible Kwagiutl name on the upper part of Vancouver Island. vancouver Island might be easier for the people likely to read my novel (namely my Vancouver friends... ha ha) to relate to.
Anyway,
PART II will clearly take place in Canada and will involve the development of the relationship between Tara and [Tamika]. An unlikely friendship develops and the two take several non-scripted adventures together, including visiting a fortune teller (Ba-gua Master) to explain about something related to Kamal... and to a witch doctor (related to something in Tamika's past). At the end of Part II, I imagine the two make plans and separate to solve the mysteries and meet again.
PART III: I am not sure yet, but I imagine this will be following the paths of the 2 protagonists and will see the ways in which come to terms with the things they have been set to do... (although neither accomplishes the aims)... And about how the mysteries remain mysteries and the two do not in fact meet again... BUT, at the same time, lives have changed and something suprising happens which links the two and kamal in a way in which they are unaware.
If you have any ideas for actual things that could take place in these second sections... or ideas for rhe development of events surrouding the characters in part 1, they would be very welcomed.
