Excerpt from Between Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

The light is green, the illuminated white man is on, those three sweet coo-coos telling me I have the right-of-way. With me coming both out of darkness and from behind a huge column that supports the 980, and everybody and their momma rushing to get on the Alameda on-ramp before they lose the light, that is a deadly moment in the making. I'm sweating, legs aching, but feeling invincible, trying to catch the Roadrunner, in a zone, and when I sprint off the curb, traffic doesn't give a fuck about me.

I'm facing a fast-moving death disguised as one of those ugly-ass PT Cruisers, that atrocious car that is built like a hearse for a midget, this one with windows tinted pallbearer black.

The driver of the uglymobile is on the phone. Zooming right at me. I can't move. Can't break left because it looks like that bastard wants to do the same. Can't break right because that would throw me in front of the traffic that is zipping up Broadway.

The sparkling grill on that Chrysler widens; death is smiling. The engine rumbles out a soft chuckle.

I think of Lolita. I think of the obsessed man who dies at the end. This is where I meet Joe Black.

The driver drops his cell phone, cringes, makes a wide-eyed, oh-shit face as he cuts left, his tires screeching a bit, then his sideview mirror slaps my arm so hard I think I'm shot.

Brotherman sends back his curses and speeds on, his radio blaring "Shake Ya' Azz, Watchya Self."

Nicole is still running, accelerating like a bullet, has no idea that I just cheated death.

I come alive, race through the other cars before they mow me down.

Nicole zips by the row of sushi joints and a plant store offering Psychic Reality, her heels smacking her ass with every stride. I don't give up, lengthen my stride, arms pumping, knees high like Olympic great John Carlos. I dig as deep as I can. She's doing the same.

She stops at the edge of Second Street, not once looking back. She never looks back.

Fifteen seconds later, which is a runner's lifetime, I catch up and stop next to her, my chest heaving, muscles burning, sweat coming from every pore, my face cringing with pain stacked on top of pain. There is a glimmer in her eyes, the shine she gets whenever she wins. There is competition. She's pimp-strutting like she just left Maurice Green and Michael Johnson in the dust and won a gold medal.

I check my watch. We've covered ten miles in an hour and twenty. Not bad, considering we lost a good five to ten minutes talking. She spits like a pro athlete, wipes her mouth on the sleeve of her damp sweatshirt, and then walks in circles.

I take deep breaths, in through my nose, out my mouth, and tell her, "You run like a cheetah."

Her shoulders are tense, face cringes, fights to control her breathing. "You call me a cheater? It's not cheating. If both of you know, it's not cheating. I have never lied to you. Never lied to her."

There is a pause. "I said cheetah. C-h-e-e-t-a-h. Not cheater."

"Oh."

"At least I know where your mind is."

A flash of embarrassment skates across her face.

I ask, "Are you comfortable?"

She gets animated, talks with her hands, like a teacher before a class breaking down a problem to its simplest terms. "A lot of women are attracted to women, but are scared to admit it."

I pause and we stare. "I meant are you okay. I thought you were limping."

Her mouth becomes a huge letter O.

I say, "Let's try this again. How do you feel?"

"Like screaming."

"Because of me?"

"Because of my cellulite."

I laugh. That's just like her, to jump to the trivial concerns stirring inside her head. "What cellulite?"

Reprinted from Between Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey by permission of Dutton, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright © 2001 by Eric Jerome Dickey. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced without permission.