Read Online The Devil Made Me Do It by Colette R. Harrell - Free Book Online Page B

weather.
    â€œSo, that’s why you slapped me, stole my money, and went out on the town?” she shot back. She felt a ripple of a chill and shivered again. In defense, she folded her arms across her chest.
    Roger’s voice slithered out like a serpent’s hiss. “See, you got to listen. I’ve been feeling bad. No job or money will jack a brother up. Sometimes a man needs to blow off a little steam. A real woman would understand that her man has needs, and she’d be ready to take care of them. If you had stayed home last night, none of this would’ve happened, and I wouldn’t have gotten mad.” He punctuated his words by pointing his finger in her face. “You . . . hurt . . . me. All of this is really your fault.”
    Esther ignored Roger’s skewed logic. She was so done with him, nothing he said mattered. But she saw it again. Was that the shadow of a snake? She took a deep breath and stepped toward it. When she moved, Roger turned and the shadow disappeared. She shook her head and silently prayed, “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’”
    Fear departed and warmth filled her soul. “I’m letting you keep the house, but we’re done. Just let go.”
    She turned away, and Roger jumped up and down in a full-fledge two-year-old tantrum. “What am I supposed to do? How can I pay the mortgage on this house? You know I don’t have a job. How will I eat? You ain’t leaving me!” he panicked and reached for her.
    Tony sprinted over, ready to intervene, but she held up her hand stopping him. “Hold up, I got this.” She stretched and rolled her neck—from the I’m an Angry Black Woman Handbook—irritated that she had to go there and that this needed to be said. “Roger, the Word says in Second Thessalonians 3:10, ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’ Find a job, Roger; go to work.”
    Roger, desperate to refute Esther’s words, opened his mouth and gulped air, emitting dry croaking sounds. Esther scoffed, understanding he had no Word, and therefore, no weapon. In the realm of the shadows there was a hissing sound that slithered back into the earth.
    Esther directed the crowd that had shifted closer to her and Roger into the house. As she gave directions on what to do, her cousin Tamela, Tony’s youngest sister, remarked as she looked around, “Cuz, this house is hooked up. Anything you don’t want, I’ll be glad to take off your hands.”
    Tamela’s home sewn weave, long scarlet fake nails, had her shuddering thinking about her nice things in her cousin’s two-bedroom, Section Eight apartment. She knew Tamela’s three children would destroy everything before the day was out. However, this was family, and she loved her.
    Esther smiled politely. “We’ll see, Tamela. Right now, I just need to get it all out of here.”
    Before Tamela could answer, Phyllis chimed in, “And don’t none of y’all help yourself to anything you haven’t been given. All right?”
    Tamela swung her full head of swap meet hair in front of Phyllis’s face and pointed her scarlet, rhinestone finger at her. “I came here to help out of the goodness of my heart, Phyllis Wiley. So don’t ya be acting like ya better than nobody else or that me and mine steal. I coulda stayed home with my children’s daddy if I wanted to be treated bad.”
    Phyllis huffed, “My name is Phyllis Davis. I got a husband, Tamela.”
    â€œYou need to be minding him, instead of other folk’s bizness,” Tamela flung back.
    â€œWhat did you say?”
    Esther could feel a headache coming on, and the two of them were causing it. As her brow wrinkled, she placed a hand on both women’s arm.
    â€œOkay, today is about