Jaycee Woods

The rough draft for the 1st chapter in my novel The Misadventures of Chad Seeking a Wife started as a separate teaser short story. For variety, I like having some stories where Chad is outside the setting of the restaurant where he meets his blind dates.

This story occurs right before Chad’s first blind date, so is the introduction to his character.

He was pickpocketed while walking down the street. Chasing the thief, he threw her against the wall to disorient her. As she lies about stealing his wallet, he first slapped her and then gut-punched her before threatening to publicly strip her to search for his wallet. At this last threat, she coughs it up and stops lying.

Can’t hit a lady? She was no lady. I wanted to give the reader a reason to dislike him so he begins as a character that shouldn’t be automatically liked.

As he interrogates her about why she robbed him, he guessed, and she confirmed that she was a drug addict stealing for her next fix. He gave her the cash for drugs and a lecture about how she has a choice to risk her life for another high that might be cut with fatal fentanyl or to buy some food and make better choices. As she recognized that her broken life was the creation of her choices, he gave her the business card to a drug rehab facility.

How did he recognize that she was an addict? Why does he carry a card for a rehab facility? How can he go from hitting her one minute to saving her the next? Is he a patriarchal villain or not?

I like how this intro ties to the book’s theme of people dealing with their history of bad decisions and learning to make better choices. Plus, it foreshadows his Iris (FWB who died from overdose) backstory, his relationship with Keith (fraternity brother who runs the drug rehab facility) & Mary (Keith’s wife, who sets up Chad’s blind dates), his charitable contributions to that rehab facility, and particular stories like his blind date who overdoses during the date & his fight with the stalker who followed another of his blind dates.