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

and two pieces of bacon will be on my breakfast table for me along with cereal for the children. I use them and lose them—disposable. Just so you don’t go and misinterpret anything, I didn’t say I didn’t like men, because I love me some man, but the only clothes I’ll be washing and the only food I’ll be cooking will be for me, Reebe, and Kwame.
    “Maybe I’m in denial; I don’t know. I just don’t want no one telling me what to do, how to do it and when to do it. I can do it all by myself when I want to. I guess I can close my Ex-Files because I’m doing all right, all by myself.”
    Claudette took a bow and looked at each member of the group. “If you have questions, I’ll be glad to answer them. If not, I’m finished.”
    No one said a word except for an occasional giggle that seeped through someone’s lips. Then a lone voice spoke up.
    “So, why are you here?” Marvin asked, his eyebrows contorted as if trying to understand her purpose.
    “Same as you, I’m sure. There are days when it’s hard coping with all your household stuff, the children, the finances, an irate client and so on. For me, I was used to sharing those things with my husband and I valued his opinion, in between the arguing that is. And when T and me were together, I was a one-man woman. Can’t trust all those diseases out there; I hate the feel of condoms. I won’t risk my life, though. I’ve got Reebe and Kwame to think about. I can bounce things off of you all, and while I may not have been the most pleasant person here tonight, and I’ve apologized to Ashley already, I do feel like family.”
    Everyone got up from their seat and gave Claudette a sister hug.
    “I hope you’ve accepted me into the family,” Ashley said to Claudette.
    “Oh yeah, you my white-skinned pregnant sister. And I’ve got my eye on you and that baby. I’ll even baby-sit on Mondays since the shop is closed on that day if you need me.”
    “I’m going to hold you to it.” Ashley smiled.
    “Look, I’m ready to expose my files,” Mona said. “Get back in your seats because Mona Baptiste is ready!”

Jacqueline Monique Baptiste
    “I ’ve got my own successful catering business, I ride around in a bad Jag, and I have a forty-two-hundred-square-foot home overlooking a beautiful lake. Does it look like I need a man?”
    “You go, girl,” Claudette said, while Ashley and Rachel traded glances.
    “So the question becomes, what am I doing here? The answer is simple. I am here to help you divas—and this one pitiful man—move on with your lives.”
    The group erupted in laughter.
    “If you don’t need a man,” Sylvia interjected, “why is it that every time I look around, you’ve got one either strapped to your bosom or sniffing around you like bees to honey?”
    “You answered the question, honey. It’s the nectar, and you can interpret that any way you like.”
    “That’s not a hard one to figure out,” Claudette said.
    “Don’t hate, Claudette.”
    Mona paused, blinked her eyes and shifted her body several times. She began to rock back and forth on her heels, as if contemplating what was to come next.
    “When I was with Timothy, we were so young. Well, I was nineteen and Timothy was twenty-three. Anyway, I grew up in a wealthy family, sheltered by two older brothers and two older sisters. They treated me like a porcelain doll—too fragile to be touched. I had to be protected from all the elements—and that included the boys who tried to date me. So when I met Timothy that first year in college, I fell hard because I had been forbidden all my life to experience what it was like to have real male friendship.
    “Timothy was from Trinidad-Tobago. He was a little dark for my liking, but his speech was smooth as butter. I spent a lot of time watching those lips and listening to the tone of his voice without ever really paying attention to what he was saying. I’m sure I fell in love with his rich, sexy voice that played out in