Read Online Mattie's Call by Stacy Campbell - Free Book Online

way I like it. Don’t stop!”
    Low moans were the response from his bedmate. Alice gritted her teeth. She kicked the door open, startling Beryl and the woman. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Davina Crenshaw. Davina stopped mid-stroke, jumped off Beryl, and fell to the floor. She clutched the mattress, managing to cover herself with the duvet. He pulled the wet sheet around his midsection, raising one arm in surrender.
    â€œLet me explain, Alice!”
    â€œHe said you wouldn’t sleep with him anymore. I’m so sorry, Alice.”
    â€œShut up, Davina!” he shouted.
    Alice picked up the closest object she could find, her favorite decorative ceramic cat, and hurled it at Beryl. The cat shattered against the wall, narrowly missing Davina’s head.
    â€œYou’d be nasty enough to bring another woman in my house, and you couldn’t pick someone clean!”
    â€œIt was a mistake, baby. A big mistake!”
    Alice turned on her heels, keeping down waves of nausea. She slammed the wall as she hurried downstairs, drowning out Davina’s and Beryl’s voices following closely behind. When she reached the bottom step, he touched her arm.
    â€œDon’t walk out like this. At least hear me out.”
    She faced them. Davina, now clad in one of Alice’s robes, stood next to him. “Please don’t tell my husband. If this gets out, the church will be ruined.”
    â€œOh, now you’re worried about appearances? You both disgust me.”
    Davina swept Alice up in a hug. “Sister, God wouldn’t be pleased with this dissension.”
    Overpowered by Davina’s body odor mixed with sex, Alice vomited on her. The morning’s waffles, eggs, yogurt nut mix, and water cascaded down the robe and Davina’s manicured toes. She ran out of the front door, Beryl followed, balancing the sheet wrapped around his body as he yelled, “Don’t go, Alice. I’m sorry.”
    Alice ran toward the car, arms flailing. Synaria opened the door for her as she jumped in. “Go! Get me to Josh’s.”
    â€œWhat the hell?”
    â€œI’ll explain later.”
    Synaria backed out the driveway, unsure of how to comfort Alice who was shaking like a caught shoplifter. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on but stopped short when Beryl lost control of the sheet he wore.
    I’ve seen it all. A naked man in December. In Savannah, Georgia.

12
Even As A Child
    â€œW ho is it?” Joshua yelled. The banging interrupted the conversation with his boss. Whomever was ringing the doorbell and banging at the same time had better be the police or someone with an update about his mother. “Stu, let me call you back. Some nut is banging on my door.”
    Joshua took cautious steps to the front door, gazed into the peephole, then relaxed when he saw Synaria. He snatched open the door. “What’s wrong? Is Alice okay?”
    The look of panic on Synaria’s face answered his question. Synaria’s shaking head and trembling hands gave him pause.
    â€œDo you need to sit down? Say something, Synaria.”
    â€œIt’s your brother-in-law. He—”
    â€œDid he touch my sister?”
    She shook her head. “She caught him with someone in their house and now she’s sitting out in my car. She won’t talk, she won’t move, she won’t respond to me at all. She was fine after she got in the car, but she shut down after that and I don’t know what to do. She’s in a catatonic state.”
    Joshua stole a glance around Synaria and motioned for her to follow him. They walked to her car, Synaria using the key fob to unlock the door.
    Joshua knelt, touched Alice’s hair. “Al, it’s okay. Whatever happened, it’s going to be okay.”
    Alice stared ahead.
    He closed the door and pulled Synaria aside. “Even as a child, Alice couldn’t handle conflict or confrontation. Fights on the playground,