When I Love You…I Die
by Steven Todd Fisher

The setting takes place at the turn of the twentieth century, in the year 1902. The location is a town called Sully Village in Middle America. When I Love You…I Die is a story about how life and death intertwines in the lives of its residents. The majority of the townspeople are high-minded, religious folk who choose not to live their lives by any other standard than what is written in the "Good Book." Rufus Steen, a young African-American, does not share the views of this town or the views of his family. He falls deeply in love with a young Native American woman, Le Eagle Feather, who is mentally and spiritually on the same evolving path as he. But there’s one problem. Le has a gentleman caller…a red-haired, blue-eyed attorney by the name of Stonewall Oliver, who would stop at nothing than to gain and to keep the affections of his sweetheart and future wife. DeArthur plays a deceptively intricate role (between his best friend Rufus and Rufus’ nemesis Stonewall) in determining how the romance will end up. Lady Medicine is a middle-aged Native American woman who sets the mood of the atmosphere with her blend of organic and spiritual potions that drives the townspeople to the brink of their own imaginary madness. She had to suffer the consequences of their closed-mindedness by being forced to live on the outskirts of town, shunned by the community. The town teeters on the edge of an unstable calm which leads to a smooth and sometimes violent chaos.