The Company We Keep by Mary Monroe Read Free Book Online

snarled.
    “Greg hurt you when he left you for that other woman. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”
    “Greg was my husband. He had certain commitments to me that he didn’t fulfill. Being with Carl and the other men I see these days is all about me having a good time. Nothing more. If I don’t get much more than that, it’s still all good because I don’t expect it.”
    “So you let Carl use you?”
    “Use me! Ha! If anything, I’m using him. The last time I hooked up with him, he couldn’t even bust a nut. But I always get mine. With him and every other man. Shit.” Nicole laughed and folded her arms. But then she looked more serious than she had at any other time that night. “What’s your point?”
    “Sex isn’t everything, Nicole,” Teri said in a weak voice. “Don’t you want more?”
    Nicole nodded so hard her turban slid to the side. “Right now I want more sex,” she admitted, rearranging her headgear. “T, you know I love you to death. We both say a lot of shit to each other when it comes to our love lives. I know that what I say to you goes in one ear and out the other. You should know by now that it’s the same way with me. I’m a big girl and I can do whatever the hell I want and with whomever the hell I want. Life is too short and I want to enjoy it while I still can. And you should, too! Shit. If I were in your Jimmy Choos, I’d have thrown Harrison over my back like a sack of flour and hauled his black ass to the nearest motel room as soon as I saw him tonight. But you didn’t!”
    “That’s not what I came here for,” Teri insisted, leaning against the wall. They stopped talking and waited for two other female guests to pass by and enter the bathroom, both so drunk they didn’t even notice Nicole and Teri, anyway. Teri maneuvered a thick slab of meat off the chicken wing bone with her tongue. “At least I’m enjoying the food,” she said with her mouth full.
    “That’s not all you’re enjoying. I saw the way you looked at Harrison. You looked like you wanted to fuck that man out the door. Then you had a second chance to do the same thing with Dwight! Girl, just about every other woman in this place tonight would have done just that. What you do is your business, honey. And what I do is mine. Let’s not forget that, okay? Now help me get this damn poncho back on straight.” Teri helped Nicole adjust her black poncho and then she watched her stumble down the steps like a wino. Teri shrugged and started to attack another one of the chicken wings on the saucer in her hand, even though she already felt like a sow gone wild.
    Before Teri could leave the spot she occupied, Nicole returnedwith a sheepish look on her face. “Uh, I just wanted to let you know that Harrison is still here.”
    “So?” Teri managed, still chewing.
    “He’s been keeping to himself most of the night and I’ll bet it’s because he’d rather spend his conversation on you…”
    Teri stopped chewing. “Where is this conversation going?”
    “Teri, I don’t know what you are waiting for. And maybe you will get exactly what you want one of these days. Knowing you, you will. But in the meantime, have yourself some fun, girl. There is nothing wrong with that. You could probably wrap Harrison or Dwight, or any other man, around your little finger if you wanted to. Do it while you still can.”
    Nicole’s words gave Teri something to think about, but not for long. However, it did make her lose her appetite. She set the saucer on a table outside the bathroom, even though a couple of chicken wings remained. “Are you through? Is there anything else you need to say to me?” Teri asked, licking grease off her lips. She couldn’t remember the last time she had behaved so “ghetto.” It was a liberating experience.
    “I had a dry spell—by choice like you—for a year after Greg did his disappearing act. It didn’t bother anybody but me.” Nicole paused and shrugged, then gave Teri one of