Wyrita walked into the kitchen with two of the children and saw me in Bully’s arms earlier today. She’s good helpin’ me with the children, but she’s also a mild pain in the booty.”
50
Mary Monroe
“Oh. Well, Rhoda, you should stop getting too friendly with Bully in your house. You know how Lizel and Wyrita like to spread gossip, and it doesn’t matter to them that they work for you. Not to mention Jade. She’s the last person who needs to know about you and Bully.”
“I’m more worried about the children seein’ me with Bully than I am Lizel, Wyrita, or Jade. I don’t think Wyrita is goin’ to shoot off her mouth about this. Not as long as I’m the one signin’ her paycheck. Now, what’s up with you? I guess I can spare a minute or two.”
I let out a deep, loud breath before I told her. “Pee Wee’s having an affair.” Just saying the words again gave me a bad taste in my mouth. This was not something that I would have ever in my lifetime shared with Jade, but I had just done so by mistaking her for Rhoda when she answered the phone. There was just no telling what was going through that girl’s sick mind about me and my husband now. But this was one time that I didn’t give a damn.
“What did you say?”
“Pee Wee is having an affair,” I said for the third time, my voice firm and cold. I silently prayed that she’d heard me this time, because this was one thing that I didn’t want to hear myself say again on the same day.
“What makes you think that?” Rhoda paused, and I heard her slam a door. That made me feel somewhat better. It sounded like she was in her bedroom. Lizel and Wyrita usually stayed in the back room with the eight preschool children that Rhoda was in charge of, but their ears and mouths were almost as big as Jade’s. I knew that if those two magpies overheard Rhoda talking to me about Pee Wee’s suspected infidelity, they’d be in gossip heaven, despite the fact that Rhoda signed their paychecks. And with everything else that was going on in my marriage at the moment, I didn’t want this piece of information being discussed all over town. “I thought you said he had lost his sex drive.”
“He did lose his sex drive, but just with me! How could I have been so stupid! How could I not have realized that he was involved with another woman? No wonder Pee Wee has been playing a game with me since last year. That devil! Well, I’ve got news for him. I can play the same game, and I can beat him at it, too. I should have GOD AIN’ T BLIND
51
known that another woman was what he was up to. And all this time he had me walking around thinking that I had lost my sex appeal. Oh! I can’t wait to get my hands on Louis tonight!”
“Pee Wee’s havin’ an affair? Shit, girl! I didn’t know he had it in him! Do you know who she is?”
“Huh? Oh! No, I don’t know who the bitch is yet. And to tell you the truth, I am not going to waste my time trying to find out. I will be damned if I go through some shit like that again, like I did last year.”
“But last year was a witch hunt. Pee Wee was not fuckin’ another woman,” Rhoda reminded me.
“Bah! That was then. This is now!” I hollered.
“What makes you so sure he’s doin’ it this time? Did somebody see him? What’s the smokin’ gun?”
“He’s having an affair, Rhoda. I feel it in my bones. It all makes sense now,” I insisted, speaking so fast, the words shot out of my mouth like cannonballs.
“Annette, please calm down and speak more slowly. You sound like you are about ready to explode.”
“I am about to explode!” I told her, my lips trembling and my teeth grinding so hard, I almost bit my tongue. “That man had no reason to go outside his marriage.”
“Annette, if that’s the case, you didn’t, either,” Rhoda said calmly.
“Even if Pee Wee is involved with another woman, I don’t understand why you are takin’ it so hard. You’ve still got Louis to fall back
50
Mary Monroe
“Oh. Well, Rhoda, you should stop getting too friendly with Bully in your house. You know how Lizel and Wyrita like to spread gossip, and it doesn’t matter to them that they work for you. Not to mention Jade. She’s the last person who needs to know about you and Bully.”
“I’m more worried about the children seein’ me with Bully than I am Lizel, Wyrita, or Jade. I don’t think Wyrita is goin’ to shoot off her mouth about this. Not as long as I’m the one signin’ her paycheck. Now, what’s up with you? I guess I can spare a minute or two.”
I let out a deep, loud breath before I told her. “Pee Wee’s having an affair.” Just saying the words again gave me a bad taste in my mouth. This was not something that I would have ever in my lifetime shared with Jade, but I had just done so by mistaking her for Rhoda when she answered the phone. There was just no telling what was going through that girl’s sick mind about me and my husband now. But this was one time that I didn’t give a damn.
“What did you say?”
“Pee Wee is having an affair,” I said for the third time, my voice firm and cold. I silently prayed that she’d heard me this time, because this was one thing that I didn’t want to hear myself say again on the same day.
“What makes you think that?” Rhoda paused, and I heard her slam a door. That made me feel somewhat better. It sounded like she was in her bedroom. Lizel and Wyrita usually stayed in the back room with the eight preschool children that Rhoda was in charge of, but their ears and mouths were almost as big as Jade’s. I knew that if those two magpies overheard Rhoda talking to me about Pee Wee’s suspected infidelity, they’d be in gossip heaven, despite the fact that Rhoda signed their paychecks. And with everything else that was going on in my marriage at the moment, I didn’t want this piece of information being discussed all over town. “I thought you said he had lost his sex drive.”
“He did lose his sex drive, but just with me! How could I have been so stupid! How could I not have realized that he was involved with another woman? No wonder Pee Wee has been playing a game with me since last year. That devil! Well, I’ve got news for him. I can play the same game, and I can beat him at it, too. I should have GOD AIN’ T BLIND
51
known that another woman was what he was up to. And all this time he had me walking around thinking that I had lost my sex appeal. Oh! I can’t wait to get my hands on Louis tonight!”
“Pee Wee’s havin’ an affair? Shit, girl! I didn’t know he had it in him! Do you know who she is?”
“Huh? Oh! No, I don’t know who the bitch is yet. And to tell you the truth, I am not going to waste my time trying to find out. I will be damned if I go through some shit like that again, like I did last year.”
“But last year was a witch hunt. Pee Wee was not fuckin’ another woman,” Rhoda reminded me.
“Bah! That was then. This is now!” I hollered.
“What makes you so sure he’s doin’ it this time? Did somebody see him? What’s the smokin’ gun?”
“He’s having an affair, Rhoda. I feel it in my bones. It all makes sense now,” I insisted, speaking so fast, the words shot out of my mouth like cannonballs.
“Annette, please calm down and speak more slowly. You sound like you are about ready to explode.”
“I am about to explode!” I told her, my lips trembling and my teeth grinding so hard, I almost bit my tongue. “That man had no reason to go outside his marriage.”
“Annette, if that’s the case, you didn’t, either,” Rhoda said calmly.
“Even if Pee Wee is involved with another woman, I don’t understand why you are takin’ it so hard. You’ve still got Louis to fall back
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