Ex-Terminator Life After Marriage by Suzetta Perkins Read Free Book Online Page A

hardened him and he never forgave the Army for treating him the way they did, especially after he put his life on the line for them during Desert Storm. He was a communications man, and he was still able to get a respectable job working with the phone company laying wires.
    “After we got married, we began to argue a lot. We argued about what time breakfast and dinner would be ready. We argued about how much it cost for Pampers and baby formula. We argued about my weight since I seemed to be gaining ten pounds every year. We argued about the unwholesome shows he said I watched on television. We argued about how much water to put in the sink when I washed dishes like I’d never washed a damn dish a day in my life. We argued about washing the floor with a mop or getting down on all fours and hitting it like my grandmammy did back when she was washing the massa’s kitchen floors. Yes, and there were days when I cried out and sang that old Negro spiritual, ‘My Lord Done Delivered Daniel .’
    “Oh, the blessed day arrived seven years later when we had a beautiful baby boy. We named him Kwame after T’s uncle he liked a lot. Reebe was T’s angel, but Kwame was his heart. He doted on Kwame day and night—couldn’t wait for him to grow up so they could play ball together. And me and Reebe—soul mates.
    “Then me and T began to argue again. We argued about my weight. We argued about what Kwame should eat. As he grew, we argued about what he watched on TV. When he grew into a bigger baby (you know they never grow up), we argued about what friends he could see. We argued about the violence that was on the video game T’s uncle Kwame gave little Kwame.
    “We were arguing so bad that day, the video game came to life. I tried to throw a karate chop on Tyrone, but he pushed me hard and I fell and hit my head on our kitchen table. And that’s how I got the scar on my forehead. Tyrone felt bad and tried to help me up but not before saying, ‘If your ass wasn’t so big you might of kept your balance.’ And one day after picking my children up from school, I didn’t return home.
    “Oh, he was still arguing. I just had enough. He complained about everything and wasn’t happy about nothing, but he didn’t do anything to make it better.
    “Before we were divorced, I did open my beauty shop. That was a great day. I believe Tyrone was a little jealous about that. I was independent, didn’t need him if push came to shove. Believe me it came to that. It took awhile, but I was able to get a good clientele—that’s how I met Ms. Jacqueline Monique Baptiste—and her head needed me.”
    Mona rolled her eyes. “Nobody asked you to divulge my personal information, sugar.”
    Claudette shooed Mona with her hand and continued her story while the others giggled.
    “And who says a full-figured woman can’t have herself a man?” Claudette’s braids swung wildly about her face as she became even more animated. Her curved, sculptured nails looked like a set of knives dancing in the air.
    “Not a day goes by that some good-looking man who’s had the pleasure of my hands massaging his head doesn’t make me an offer for dinner and conversation.”
    Claudette didn’t miss the looks that passed between Rachel and Sylvia.
    “Oh yes, I take them up on their offer. Sorry, Mona, but your beautician don’t tell all her business. I smother Kwame, but occasionally I get smothered, too.
    “I call them my disposable men—one exposure at a time. Dinner and a movie, dancing and drinking, even small trips to Birmingham for a hot, romantic interlude—lip smacking, hands pawing all over me. And it be’s so good that in the key of G, I sing ‘do, re, me, fa, so, la, tee, dooooooooooooooooooooe.’”
    Marvin let out a mouth full of air. Eyes rolled around the room until they had nowhere else to go except back to Claudette, who had not missed a beat.
    “I’d like to add that when I get up the next morning, only one egg, two slices of toast