Meet Terrance: Character Profile & Excerpt

This is the third of six character profiles to introduce you to the group of friends in Beautiful & Terrible Things, about which Chat About Books wrote:

“These characters…have an important story to tell, not least about the importance and power of friendship.”

Character Profile: Terrance

Meet Terrance Washington: Terrance is a 30-year-old, straight Black man who works as communications director for an environmental nonprofit. He moved to the city and took the job six months before, hoping to make this city his own regardless of whatever racism he might encounter.

What He Represents: Our logic

Personality in Brief: The Analytic

Personality in More Detail: Several readers have said Terrance is their favorite character. He is warm and thoughtful as well as highly analytical, always asking Why? and What if? Physically, he is tall with an all-black wardrobe offset by bleached blonde hair. His “love of a list” is explained in this passage:

“Terrance loved a list for its clarity of expectations and sequence. If your boss approved your list of priorities, you could pursue those projects with abandon. If your girlfriend wanted more quality time, you defined the list of actions that constituted quality time and established the desired frequency.”

His Challenges, Hopes & Dreams: Terrance wants an orderly life with a successful career, a Black wife who shares his values, and several children who will be open-minded and cherish the planet as he does.

What Others Say

How The Friends Describe Terrance:

Xander: Terrance scratched his close-cropped, dyed-blonde hair, which contrasted dramatically with his dark brown skin and all-black clothing. One of Terrance’s diamond stud earrings winked in the sunlight filtering through the leaves. He removed his heavy, black-rimmed glasses, pulled a microfiber cloth from his pocket, and wiped the lenses.

Jess: Terrance called time out [in the basketball game] and struggled out of his sticky shirt. His well-defined chest and arms resembled an ad for an exercise machine if it featured a once-fit thirtyish man softened somewhat by hours at a desk.

Buwan: Terrance smiled, his glasses nudging his cheeks up and transforming what Bu thought women would call a handsome face into a boyish one.

What Terrance Says

Quotable Quotes:

To Xander, who is White: “Your right to protest is more protected than mine. When I attend a protest, I become a target. That’s a conflict I’d rather avoid. Doesn’t make me bad.”

“I’ll always believe in helping the planet, but I also want to raise a family someday, and I want to make career decisions based on what’s best for them, not just me.”

“No city will ever be my city. We take what we can from it, but don’t expect it to give back everything you need.”

“I did something horrible once, too. Something I’ll never forgive myself for. You’re not alone.”

Excerpt: Terrance

“Every time I come here, the yard looks smaller,” Terrance said to his mother as she emerged from their side of the two-family house with a glass of iced tea and a beer. Mary Washington wore dungaree shorts and a white sleeveless blouse. Her short, salt-and-pepper hair capped cherubic features that echoed the trace of baby face her son was stuck with for life.

“Really? To me it seems bigger without the toys and sports stuff.” She sat down at the dimpled, glass-topped table on the back patio. “Still like the new job?”

Terrance braced himself for the requisite maternal inquisition—a regular feature of visits home regardless of the number of phone calls in between. If only Jasmine were here to join in the fun. “I love it. It’s important work and I’ll be in a great position to apply for the national communications director job in a year or two.”

“That’s my boy. I know you’ll make me proud.”

“Mama, you should already be proud. Wilderness Protection is a major organization and we’re doing good for the world.”

She clapped her hand over his where it lay on the table. “I am, I am! Although with all the hurt in this world, why you’re protecting animals is beyond me.”

He flipped his hand over and clasped hers, shaking it for emphasis. “I’m trying to save the environment. What bigger cause is there? Racism, sexism, you name it—none of those will matter if we destroy the planet and everybody on it.”

She sighed as if unable to fathom that concept. “Have you got a new girlfriend yet?”

“No, still trying.” He swigged his beer, already warming in the heat.

Mary stared over his shoulder and smacked her tongue against her palate—a familiar sound that meant a lecture was coming unless he cut it off at the pass.

“Mama, trust me—I want a wife and family as much as you do. The right person will come along. Give it time.” He thought about letting her in on the list of qualities he was seeking—ranked by “must have” and “nice to have”—but decided it was safer, on balance, to drop the subject.

She sighed and returned her gaze to him. “Are you going to church?”

“Every Sunday, and praying every night.”

“Got enough money?”

“Yes. And I’ve got sixteen-thousand saved toward a down payment on a house.”

She smiled but winced, and he knew she was wondering what city and state that house would be in. “Being cautious?”

Terrance studied his mother for clues to the intent behind her question. With her, being cautious could mean anything from looking both ways before crossing the street, to wearing a condom, to not joining a gang.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m staying true to the docile boy you raised. Don’t make trouble. Stay alive.”

She slapped the side of his head lightly and lovingly, but her voice rang strident. “Don’t sass me. You have no idea what it’s like to give birth to a Black boy. Motherhood is supposed to be the greatest joy a woman can feel, but when you give birth to a boy, all you are is scared. I was scared then and I’m scared now.”

Terrance bowed his head. He’d grown up in the shadow of his mother’s omnipresent worry, but she’d never explained the root of her fear so bluntly and personally.

“What about Jasmine?” he asked quietly. “Don’t you worry about her?”

“Of course, baby. But for different reasons. Too many people see a Black man as a threat, and I live in fear someone will take action against you as a result.” She scanned his six feet of height and broad shoulders and shook her head as if his size either incriminated him or was not nearly protection enough.

Terrance picked at a loose corner of the beer bottle’s label. “It’s the Black boy with the least courage who stays alive, you said to me once. Remember?” Mary didn’t respond. “I was so mad ‘cause I thought you were telling me to be a wimp.”

Mary’s eyes narrowed and saddened at the same time. She opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the back door banging open.

Where to Buy

Beautiful and Terrible Things is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook, on all major sites. Click here to get to most of them; it’s also available on Walmart and Target.

_{Illustration credit: webstockreview.net}