Big Girls Do Cry by Carl Weber Read Free Book Online

listening to us. It had something to do with the fact that Rashad used to be her man. She could imagine full well what he was doing to make me scream, which was why I never allowed myself to go there when she was in the house. When we had the house to ourselves, I would scream and moan like a porn star. I guess that made it even more frustrating for him when I held back.
    He’d been dealing with it pretty well up until now. Tonight the look on his face told me he’d reached his breaking point. Damn. Why the hell did I have to bring up my sister? I tried once more to explain my side.
    “I just didn’t want Isis to hear us having sex. It’s embarrassing.”
    “Embarrassing! No, you didn’t just go there. Look, this is my damn house. If I want to scream while I make love to my wife, I should be able to holler from the top of the damn roof. So should you.”
    I felt bad that he was frustrated, but his angry tone put me on the defensive. I couldn’t believe he was so upset.
    “C’mon, Rashad. You know what I mean.”
    “I sure do.”
    The next thing I knew, he’d rolled over and turned his back to me, threatening for the first time since we’d been married not to kiss me good night.
    “Aw, baby, don’t be like that.” I reached out and tried to turn him back toward me, but he yanked his shoulder away. His back formed a wall between us. “Rashad, don’t do this. Talk to me.”
    “I would, but I’m afraid your sister might hear us. Wouldn’t want to disturb her freeloading ass while she’s getting her beauty rest—if you know what I mean.”
    I sighed. Our conversation felt like a CD stuck on repeat. He was forever putting down my sister, but the way I saw it, she just needed some help getting back on her feet. “She’s not freeloading. She’s just staying here until things turn around for her. We talked about this. You agreed she should stay with us until she got better.”
    “I agreed to three months.” He turned over to face me. “She’s been here almost a year, Egypt. You swore it would be only three months. Shit, she ain’t even got a job yet. Eating us out of house and home.”
    “I know, baby.” She was my sister and I loved her, but Rashad was right about everything he’d said. You could look at the situation and see that Isis was taking advantage of us to a certain extent. Shoot, I was just thankful that he hadn’t mentioned that she hadn’t so much as picked up a broom since she arrived.
    “Rashad, you’re the best husband in the world, and you have been so understanding. You know Isis ain’t wrapped too tight. I promise I’ll talk to her about getting a job tomorrow, okay? I just can’t see her out in the cold.”
    “I know, but, you know, this is awkward for me.”
    “Awkward how?”
    “Uh, are you kidding? I used to sleep with her, remember?” he asked with a bite to his tone.
    “How could I forget? I mean, I know you used to be together, but I thought that didn’t matter to you anymore.” Yeah, I know I was being a hypocrite. The fact that they used to be a couplewas always in the back of my mind too. It’s just that he’d promised me he never thought about their relationship anymore, so it irked me that he still felt awkward. Or so I thought. His explanation was actually a little deeper than that.
    “I don’t know. I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells when she’s around. I can’t explain it except to say sometimes I think she feels she’s the wife.”
    I jackknifed straight up in the bed. “She what?”
    Rashad hesitated for a second. I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows, waiting for an answer. I loved my sister, but I knew she had done some devious shit in the past. I wouldn’t have expected her to do something shady with my man, but now Rashad had me wondering.
    “Well?”
    “I’m not going to lie to you. She looks at me kind of funny.”
    He knew Isis well enough to interpret her face, so if he said she was looking at him funny, it was about to