Read Online The Company We Keep by Mary Monroe - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mary Monroe
Ads: Link
bedrooms upstairs.
Just like the backyard, Teri’s old room looked like she had never left it. And it was the only room in the house that had a youthful touch. There was a brass bed in the center with a blond nightstand on either side. A bright chenille bedspread covered the bed. A few stuffed animals still occupied a high-back chair in front of a vanity table.
“The dreams I used to have in this room.” Teri sighed. “Would you look at us?” She pointed to a framed photo of herself and Nicole on top of the vanity table. “This is the only picture that the folks wouldn’t let me take. We both look like a pair of crazy women trying to imitate Tina Turner with our flyaway wigs and short skirts.”
“We were the original crazy women.” Nicole laughed, looking at the picture as if she were looking at a picture of two sideshow freaks.
“Tell me about it,” Teri responded with a nod. The nostalgia brought tears to her eyes, causing her to blink hard and sniff a couple of times.
“And now look at us.” Nicole paused. “Speaking of crazy, do they know?”
“Know what?”
“That your crazy ass is seeing a shrink?”
“Are you kidding? I’d rather run naked down Sunset Boulevard before I let them know that. You know what their generation thinks about shrinks. Besides, I don’t think of Carla as a shrink in the traditional sense.”
Before Nicole could respond, Elliot, one of Teri’s other young cousins, came tearing into the bedroom.
“The Lakers won! Dwight Davis hit a three pointer at the buzzer!” the boy reported.
“Boy, get your knotty-headed self out of here,” Teri ordered. Elliot did a jig, crossed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue before he ran back out of the room. “That’s what you have to look forward to in a few years with Chris,” she told Nicole.
By five o’clock, most of the Stewarts’ guests had left. Teri and Nicole volunteered to stay and help clean up. They ended up doing all the cleaning. Grandpa Stewart had returned to his favorite chair in the living room and was now snoozing like a baby. Grandma Stewart kept trying to help, but all she did was get in Teri’s way.
“I appreciate your coming over,” Teri told Nicole just as they were about to finish their chores. “I know you’d rather have spent the day with your son.”
“You’re right about that. But you know how inconsistent Greg is. And Chris absolutely adores that fool. I have to let him see his daddy whenever I can get him to come over. I don’t want my son to grow up resenting me someday because he didn’t get to spend enough time with Greg.”
“Well, you’re raising the boy right and that’s all that really matters. Let’s just hope he turns out to be a better specimen of a man than his daddy,” Teri said. “We could use a few more good men in our race.”
“Oh, we already have a lot more good ones than we know. We just have to find them,” Nicole offered with a laugh. “It might take a lot of searching, though. And I know you don’t want to hear this from me again, but if you don’t get busy, you never will get one…”
CHAPTER 12
I t was the first day back to work in the New Year for some people. Teri and Nicole both knew a lot of their friends and associates were still celebrating or recovering from the arrival of the New Year and had called in “sick.” Bobby Ming, the young Chinese man who delivered the mail twice a day, had called to say that he was “so sick he couldn’t even get out of bed.” But two of his coworkers saw him on their way to work that morning cruising down Olympic Street with his fiancée, grinning like a man who didn’t have a care in the world. The bookkeeper who occupied the cubicle next to the break room had called to report that her flight from Cancun had been cancelled so she had no choice but to take another day off.
Nicole, loyal and dependable to a fault, had arrived an hour earlier than her usual time. She wanted to jump-start her first workday
Just like the backyard, Teri’s old room looked like she had never left it. And it was the only room in the house that had a youthful touch. There was a brass bed in the center with a blond nightstand on either side. A bright chenille bedspread covered the bed. A few stuffed animals still occupied a high-back chair in front of a vanity table.
“The dreams I used to have in this room.” Teri sighed. “Would you look at us?” She pointed to a framed photo of herself and Nicole on top of the vanity table. “This is the only picture that the folks wouldn’t let me take. We both look like a pair of crazy women trying to imitate Tina Turner with our flyaway wigs and short skirts.”
“We were the original crazy women.” Nicole laughed, looking at the picture as if she were looking at a picture of two sideshow freaks.
“Tell me about it,” Teri responded with a nod. The nostalgia brought tears to her eyes, causing her to blink hard and sniff a couple of times.
“And now look at us.” Nicole paused. “Speaking of crazy, do they know?”
“Know what?”
“That your crazy ass is seeing a shrink?”
“Are you kidding? I’d rather run naked down Sunset Boulevard before I let them know that. You know what their generation thinks about shrinks. Besides, I don’t think of Carla as a shrink in the traditional sense.”
Before Nicole could respond, Elliot, one of Teri’s other young cousins, came tearing into the bedroom.
“The Lakers won! Dwight Davis hit a three pointer at the buzzer!” the boy reported.
“Boy, get your knotty-headed self out of here,” Teri ordered. Elliot did a jig, crossed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue before he ran back out of the room. “That’s what you have to look forward to in a few years with Chris,” she told Nicole.
By five o’clock, most of the Stewarts’ guests had left. Teri and Nicole volunteered to stay and help clean up. They ended up doing all the cleaning. Grandpa Stewart had returned to his favorite chair in the living room and was now snoozing like a baby. Grandma Stewart kept trying to help, but all she did was get in Teri’s way.
“I appreciate your coming over,” Teri told Nicole just as they were about to finish their chores. “I know you’d rather have spent the day with your son.”
“You’re right about that. But you know how inconsistent Greg is. And Chris absolutely adores that fool. I have to let him see his daddy whenever I can get him to come over. I don’t want my son to grow up resenting me someday because he didn’t get to spend enough time with Greg.”
“Well, you’re raising the boy right and that’s all that really matters. Let’s just hope he turns out to be a better specimen of a man than his daddy,” Teri said. “We could use a few more good men in our race.”
“Oh, we already have a lot more good ones than we know. We just have to find them,” Nicole offered with a laugh. “It might take a lot of searching, though. And I know you don’t want to hear this from me again, but if you don’t get busy, you never will get one…”
CHAPTER 12
I t was the first day back to work in the New Year for some people. Teri and Nicole both knew a lot of their friends and associates were still celebrating or recovering from the arrival of the New Year and had called in “sick.” Bobby Ming, the young Chinese man who delivered the mail twice a day, had called to say that he was “so sick he couldn’t even get out of bed.” But two of his coworkers saw him on their way to work that morning cruising down Olympic Street with his fiancée, grinning like a man who didn’t have a care in the world. The bookkeeper who occupied the cubicle next to the break room had called to report that her flight from Cancun had been cancelled so she had no choice but to take another day off.
Nicole, loyal and dependable to a fault, had arrived an hour earlier than her usual time. She wanted to jump-start her first workday
Similar Books
