Read Online A Lova' Like No Otha' by Stephanie Perry Moore - Free Book Online Page B

that boy cheated on you all through college, but you stayed with him anyway.”
    I felt the tears coming to my eyes.
    “Girl, once a dog, always a dog. Like I always try to tell the ladies that come in here, you gotta keep your eyes open.”
    I prayed that she would just stop talking.
    “We women can't afford to be naive these days. But your friend said that's what you were—naive.”
    “Who told you all this stuff?” I cried, not able to hold it inside anymore.
    “Now, you hold still, dear,” Keisha said, grabbing the sides of my head and positioning me. “How short do you want it?”
    I couldn't believe Keisha didn't understand. “I don't care,” I said. “Just make it look nice.”
    Keisha pulled a long pair of scissors from a drawer and scrutinized my face, her head tilted. Then, with a decisive nod, she started chopping away.
    “So?” I pressed. “Who told you all that stuff about Devyn?”
    “I think she was your matron of honor. Well, maid of honor,” Keisha corrected herself. “She came in here the other day just flappin' her gums about you.”
    I sat dumbfounded, staring at the mirror before me but not really seeing anything. How could Tasha, my best friend, have been so casual about spreading my business all over town? I knew we had issues, but this kind of betrayal really hurt.
    “You know, I thought y'all were tighter than that,” Keisha said as if she could read my mind. “But you know how folks are. Smile up in your face, then talk behind your back. It ain't right. But you sure ain't the only one. I lost my best friend when I took over this shop.”
    “You mean Chantay?” I asked. I didn't really care who Keisha was talking about, but I was glad to be talking about someone else's problems.
    “Oh, yeah. You notice she don't work here no more. When the owner sold this shop to me, Chantay got mad and left. Couldn't stand to see me do good. That sounds like the same mess you're in. Your girlfriend seemed almost happy that you got embarrassed; I guess 'cause she wasn't the one gettin' married.”
    I just nodded, annoyed that the conversation had come back to me.
    “Now, please don't tell her I said nothin', 'cause she's been in here a couple of times since the weddin', so don't mess up my money. But I'm tellin' ya on the sly Zoe, that girl ain't your friend.”
    For the three hours I sat in that shop, I thought about what Keisha had said. Tasha wasn't my friend. And as I drove home with those thoughts still consuming me, my pulse raced and my breathing quickened. First Devyn, then Aisha. Now Tasha. I couldn't take much more of this pressure. It was coming from all different directions. I needed a release. I needed to get away. But where could I go? What could I do? Whom did I have to turn to? I couldn't even trust my best friend.
    I rushed into the apartment and went straight to Chase's Bible. I opened it again to the Twenty-third Psalm. But instead of reading just the first line, I went a little further.
    “‘The Lord is my shepherd,’” I read out loud. “‘I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.’”
    Ha! That's a trip,
I thought. My grass seemed brown and dead.
    “‘He leadeth me beside the still waters.’”
    That's another thing that's not true for me. I got a whole lot of waves ragin' in my life right now.
“Father,” I prayed, “I need You to say, ‘Peace; be still’ to all these crazy situations I'm going through.”
    Before I could read or pray further, I heard a rattling noise in the back room. I looked up, startled. What now? An intruder?
    My heart pounded as I heard footsteps coming from the back. My eyes darted around the room, searching for anything that I could use as a weapon. I grabbed my purse. With as much junk as I had in it, I could probably knock someone out cold, or at least give him a good scare. My eyes opened wide when the intruder entered the living room.
    “Chase!”
    He looked at me blankly.
    “What are you doing