Chapter Forty-Three
Forty-Three
“He’s a slob,” Crystal whispered to me.
“What?”
“A fucking slob.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Geneva, I have to pick up after him like he’s three years old.”
“Really?”
“Socks, shoes, his shitty drawers!”
“Shitty?”
“He’s been lying around here for a week, claims he’s on vacation.”
“Well, maybe he is.”
“I don’t think so. His father has called here twice, but Kendrick won’t speak to him.”
“What the hell is that about?”
“I don’t know, but what I do know is, Kendrick ain’t washed his ass in about four days.”
“Stop your lying, Crystal!”
“I don’t know who this man is sleeping up in my bed.”
“You still sleeping in the bed with him?”
“Hell, no! I’m sleeping on my couch.”
“Oh.”
“Something is wrong here. I mean, I go to work and he’s asleep, I come back home and he’s asleep. I know he’s eating because there’s dishes in the sink and crumbs on the counter.”
“Damn.”
“And he’s drunk up all my liquor.”
“Say what?”
“Not that I had much, but what little I did have, he drank.”
“Shit!”
“And—and I’m telling you this and no one else—the night he proposed to move in to my place…”
“Yeah, yeah?”
“I had to pay for the dinner! He claimed he left his wallet at home, but I swear I saw it in his back pocket when we walked out of the restaurant!”
“Get the fuck out of here!”
“Not only that, this morning he rolls over just as I was leaving for work and asks me if I could leave him a few dollars.”
“No, he didn’t!”
“Yes, girl.”
“Something ain’t right, Crystal.”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”
“Look, when shit started going bad with Eric, I tried to hang in there for as long as I could, but it just kept getting worse. I mean, he was fucking around on me, had the women calling the house like I didn’t even live there, like he didn’t have a wife and son!”
“I remember.”
“We were fighting like cats and dogs. Every night was a battle, and then there were the nights when all I could do was cry because he didn’t even come home!”
“Hmm.”
“I just finally got sick and tired of the fussing and fighting, and besides, I had Little Eric to think about. He didn’t need to be growing up in a household filled with so much anger. I had to put myself second and think about the welfare of my child.”
“Yeah, well—”
“Things ain’t going right. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better any time soon. You may not have a child, but you do have you, and that’s a hell of a lot.”
“I know—”
“Don’t be putting yourself second to a man who has stopped putting you first in his life. Isn’t that what you’re always telling me?”
“Yeah, I guess, but—”
“No buts. Take your own advice.”
“I hear you.”