Read Online Borrow Trouble by Mary Monroe - Free Book Online Page B

I was happy for you, anyway. Not that I didn’t like Vince, but I honestly didn’t think that he was the right man for you at the time.”
    â€œWell, apparently Vince didn’t think he was the right man for me, either,” Inez told me.
    â€œExcuse me? Inez, tell me what’s going on,” I demanded.
    â€œI packed his shit and told him to get the hell out of my house before I threw him out. I filed for divorce yesterday.”
    â€œAlready? You’re practically still a newlywed!”
    â€œBetter now than later. He wanted to change me. He started talking about how he wanted me to tone down my wardrobe, stop wearing so much make-up, and get rid of my blond weave. No man is going to change me.”
    â€œAre you all right?”
    â€œI am now. Some of my best friends are bartenders.”
    â€œI’m sorry I wasn’t around to…to talk. I swear to God, Inez, if I had known, I would have been there for you.”
    â€œYou need to be there for your husband now, baby girl. I’ll be fine.”
    â€œI’ll stop by the shop as soon as we get home, day after tomorrow. We can go for drinks,” I suggested, feeling guilty because I was so happy about my marriage, and Inez’s had just ended—again.
    â€œWhere are you?”
    â€œWe are at the Hyatt. Uh, Leon didn’t want to go to Niagara Falls or on a honeymoon cruise.”
    â€œWell if I was him I’d have chosen the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Cleveland over Niagara Falls, too.”
    â€œInez, please don’t start that shit,” I said, blowing out a plaintive sigh. “You didn’t want anybody to make fun of you when you married any of your…uh… three husbands.” There was a moment of silence before we both laughed. I didn’t know about Inez, but I had to force myself to laugh. “So when and where do you want to hook up for drinks when I get home?”
    â€œI’m getting out of town for a couple of weeks. I’ll call you when I get back and we’ll decide then. I booked a flight to Barbados this morning. As a matter of fact, the cab’s out there now,” Inez said, talking fast. Inez had already seen more of the world than any other person I knew. Being her own boss, and having the kind of money she needed to do just about anything she wanted, it was nothing for her to jet off to some exotic location at the spur of the moment.
    â€œWill you call me as soon as you get back home so we can get together?”
    â€œI will. And, Renee, congratulations and good luck. I really mean it.”
    I was surprised when I turned around and saw Leon standing a few feet behind me.
    â€œThat was Inez. She and Vince broke up. He’s moved out, and she’s already filed for divorce.” I shook my head and looked away. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cruel smile cross Leon’s face.

CHAPTER 12
    L eon was the one to break the news to Mama. I didn’t even know he had done it until she called the hotel the day before we checked out.
    â€œI don’t care what that man do to you, you better stay with him. There ain’t never been a divorce in our family,” Mama told me. “And your baby sister is mad because she spent her last penny on one of them throwaway cameras, which she bought to take pictures of the wedding with. I hope you know what you doing, gal,” Mama said in a gruff voice. I never got mad at my mother when she stuck her nose in my business. I didn’t know too many women who didn’t go through some of the same things with their mothers that I went through with mine. I usually listened to Mama, with respect and patience. After all, she had made a lot of sacrifices for me. But I was my own woman, so I always did what I wanted to do, anyway.
    â€œI love Leon, Mama,” I purred. I had just come out of the shower. One towel covered my body; another one covered my wet hair. Leon was stretched out on the bed,