LITMIR.BIZ

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Barbara on the floor set them all off into a fit of near-hysterical laughter, until Ellie’s piercing voice broke through the cacophony.

      “Have you all lost your mind? Doesn’t anyone care about my problem?”

      The laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. Three sets of eyes rested on Ellie’s tear-streaked face.

      “We would, but you won’t tell us what it is we’re supposed to care about,” Stephanie murmured.

      Elizabeth looked from one concerned face to the next. She swallowed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Matthew wants a divorce.”

      Barbara’s mouth opened and all she could say was her dear friend’s name.

      Ann Marie whispered, “No,” then covered her mouth.

      “Not you and Matt,” Stephanie muttered.

      Barbara scrambled up off the floor and sat back next to Ellie. “What happened, Ell?”

      Ann Marie sat up. “You bot’ seem so happy.”

      “When did this happen?” Stephanie asked.

      “This morning. Over breakfast.” She laughed. “Grits, eggs and homemade hash browns just the way he likes them.”

      Barbara put her arm around Ellie’s shoulders and squeezed. “Ell, what did he say?”

      Ellie drew in a breath. “He said…he can’t live with me anymore. He…doesn’t…love me anymore. He’s in love with someone else.”

      “Matt?” Stephanie asked incredulously.

      Ellie nodded.

      “Who is she? ’Cause it sound to me like she need her arse whipped.”

      “Ann Marie,” Barbara scolded. “That’s not going to solve anything.”

      “Maybe not, but it would make me feel better.”

      “Yeah, me, too,” Stephanie seconded.

      “I’ve met her. Sweet young thing. Not much older than our daughter! Can you believe that? Oh God!” she wailed.

      “Oh, girl, it’s probably just a fling. A midlife crisis or something. You know how men get. He’ll come to his senses,” Stephanie offered.

      Ellie reached for her purse, tucked near the arm of the couch. She opened it and pulled out a thick set of folded papers. “Does this read like a midlife crisis to you?” She sniffed and shoved the papers toward her friends.

      Barbara opened them up. It was a petition for divorce. She passed them to Ann Marie, who then handed them to Steph.

      Ann Marie pushed up from the floor, crossed the room to where she’d left her purse on the table and pulled out her bottle of Courvoisier. She put the bottle under her arm and collected their glasses. She handed a glass to each one and began to pour. “We need a real drink after that.”

      “You ain’t lying,” Stephanie said.

      Barbara took a hearty sip that went straight from the pit of her stomach to her head. This really was serious.

      Chapter 4

      Silence hung over the quartet for a good five minutes as they worked on digesting the startling information that Elizabeth had shared. The only sounds were the wail of Miles Davis’s trumpet on the stereo and the steady beat of rain pounding against the windows.

      Finally, Barbara found her voice. “Have you spoken with a lawyer, Ell?”

      Elizabeth nodded. “This morning. Right after that bastard left for work.” She sniffed.

      “What did your lawyer say?” Stephanie asked.

      Elizabeth wiped her eyes to make room for more tears. “He said if I wanted to fight it I could and that basically I could get everything since he…he cheated on me!” she wailed. “I can’t believe it. I had that little hussy in my house.”

      “Don’t worry about that now,” Ann Marie said. “Just take Matt—I mean that bastard’s bags and set them on the curb.”

      “I don’t know if I even want to live there…too many memories.” She lowered her head.

      “But you deserve that house. You put your heart and soul into it all these years. You stayed home so that he could pursue his degrees and his career. You raised your kids there. That’s your house,” Stephanie insisted.

      “She’s right, Ell,” Barbara said. “And it’s worth a fortune. I wouldn’t give it up. Let him find someplace else to live.”

      Elizabeth sighed heavily. “I guess. Besides, where would I go? I certainly can’t live with Desiree or Dawne, they have their own lives. Ohhh, what am I going to tell my daughters?” She erupted into a new wave of tears and sobbing.

      “Your daughters are grown and doing their t’ing. They are mature young women. They will understand. At least you don’t have to worry ’bout dem moving back in wit’ you like some daughters,” Ann Marie said with disgust. “And really upsetting your life.”

      Stephanie turned to Ann Marie. “Like who? I know Raquel didn’t move back home.”

      Ann Marie sucked her teeth. “Girl show up on me door bag and baggage. What me gon’ do?” She sucked her teeth again.

      Elizabeth leaned forward, her red-rimmed eyes wide. “Raquel left Earl?”

      Ann Marie looked from one to the other. “Yes.” She muttered something that no one could understand. “Grown chile ain’t got no business moving in wit’ her mudder.”

      Elizabeth reached for Ann Marie’s hand. “Annie, something awful must have happened for her to leave Earl. Did you talk to her?”

      “Me too upset to talk.” She shook her head.

      “But don’t you even want to know what happened?” Stephanie asked, perplexed.

      “What can me do even if she tol’ me? Nutin’. What me gon’ tell Phil when he come back next week?”

      “Phil!” the trio sang in unison.

      “Girl, you have got to be kidding,” Stephanie croaked.

      “He’s fine and everything, but that’s your child. What are you worried about him for?” Elizabeth asked.

      “I have a one-bedroom apartment for a reason. Don’t keep no company that’s not sharing me bedroom, if you get what I mean.”

      “But that’s your daughter, Ann Marie,” Barbara scolded, unable to fully understand Ann Marie’s total lack of concern for her child. It was unreasonable and cruel, not characteristics that she associated with Ann Marie. But when you put folk’s backs up against the wall there was no telling if they were going to come out swinging or singing. She always felt that Ann Marie’s relationship with her daughter was not all that it could be, but this turned her stomach. There had to be more to it than what Ann Marie was saying.

      “Yes, she’s my daughter wit’ a ’usband.” She pushed herself up from the floor and fixed herself another drink. “I don’t want to talk ’bout it no more.” She took a long swallow and for an instant her gaze connected with Barbara’s, and Barbara was stunned to see fear in Ann Marie’s eyes.

      “You know what’s best for you and your daughter,” Barbara said, letting Ann Marie off the hook. “But don’t let a man come between you and your child. That’s all I’m gonna say besides pass me the bottle. I really need a drink now.”

      The women giggled, releasing some of the tension in the room as Ann Marie refilled everyone’s glass. They sipped in silence.

      “What would you do if you didn’t want to have sex anymore, but the person you didn’t want to have sex with was your boss?”

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