God Don't Make No Mistakes (2 page)

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Authors: Mary Monroe

BOOK: God Don't Make No Mistakes
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CHAPTER 2
P
EE WEE GAVE ME A DRY LOOK AND SHOOK HIS HEAD. THEN
with a jerk, he turned and scurried across the floor like a frightened rat. He tripped on the area rug on the floor at the foot of my bed. He didn't like it when I brought up Lizzie's name.
“You don't have anything else to say to me?” I wanted to know, looking at him from the corner of my eye as he was about to flee.
Pee Wee's hand was on the doorknob, clutching it like it was trying to escape. He didn't even bother to turn around and look at me. He shook his head again. “I'll call you,” he yelled over his shoulder, literally running out of my upstairs bedroom. He clip-clopped down the hardwood stairs so fast and hard, you would have thought that the cops were chasing him. This was the first time that he had left without kissing me good-bye.
As soon as I heard Pee Wee shut my front door, I got up and went to the window with the sheet wrapped around me. I raked my fingers through my hair, holding several strands away from my eyes so I could see him better. I watched him scramble into his red Firebird.
It was only seven-thirty. It had rained a few hours earlier, so it was a chilly day for July. Because of the low, dark gray clouds hovering in the sky, it felt and looked like it was much later.
I released a loud breath and eased back down on the bed. I didn't need to be at work until nine, but I usually went in earlier just so I could be prepared for any unexpected issues. You could expect just about anything to happen at Mizelle's Collection Agency. A couple of weeks ago, I got caught up in a ruckus between two of the women who reported to me as bill collectors. The night before, Rita Lockett had discovered that Beverly Hawkins was dating her fiancé. Rita had come to work early to confront Beverly. It didn't take long for things to escalate into a violent physical altercation between the two angry women. They had hurled staplers, paperweights, and other desktop items at one another. I got scared when Beverly picked up a letter opener, but I quickly wrestled it from her hand. Had I not been present at the time, there was no telling how much damage they might have done. I had no choice but to fire both employees. I had been going in an hour early all this week, but two days ago, the temp agency that we worked with sent me a young Asian man. Not only was he extremely personable, he was so efficient that he got us all caught up before noon on his first day. It was because of Daniel Hong that I didn't think it would be a problem if I took my time going in today.
I was even thinking about taking the day off. I needed to get my nails done, I needed a facial, and I wanted to run a few errands that I had been putting off. I also wanted to treat myself to a nice lunch and a movie. Afterward, I could come back home, put on my robe, and kick back on my couch with a large margarita. I couldn't get that comfortable at home on the weekend or in the evening because that was when most people dropped in on me unannounced. Another inducement for me to take the day off was that I would not have to rush home to cook dinner today like I usually did. I still had some of the barbecue in the freezer left over from the Fourth of July cookout that I had hosted a couple of weeks ago.
I already regretted the harsh way that I had jumped on Pee Wee about Lizzie calling my house. It wasn't his fault that she was such a bold-ass bitch. As a matter of fact, I was even thinking about calling him up and offering to take him out to dinner as my way of apologizing. In spite of our separation, we still had one of the strongest relationships in town. I knew people who had never been separated who didn't have a relationship as strong and hopeful as ours. I couldn't deny the fact that Pee Wee was the best thing that had ever happened to me, as far as men were concerned. One reason I thought it was in my best interest to get back with him was because despite his cheating, he was still a good man. He was dependable, successful, generous, hardworking, smart, and family oriented. I was all of those same things myself, so I felt that I was just as good of a catch as he was.
I decided that it would be smart for me to wait a couple of hours before I called him. I didn't want to seem too eager. And I wanted him to cool off a little so that when he heard my voice, he wouldn't get defensive. In the meantime, I planned to relax in my bed for a few more minutes.
Before I could get comfortable and finish reading the latest edition of
Jet
magazine, the telephone on the nightstand rang. I looked at the clock next to the telephone. “Now who in the world is calling my house this time of morning?” I asked myself out loud. Unless it was my mother or my best friend Rhoda, the only time my phone rang this early was when somebody dialed my number by mistake.
The telephone in my bedroom didn't have caller ID, so I had no idea who was calling me at this ungodly hour. It was none of the above. To my everlasting horror, it was Lizzie Stovall again, the woman who had broken up my home.
I was so taken aback, there was only one thing I could think to say. “Well, speak of the devil!” I shrieked.
“Whatever!” Lizzie hissed. She sucked on her teeth before continuing. I didn't know if that was because she was tuning up her mouth to say something I didn't want to hear, which would be anything that slid out of her mouth, or because she was nervous. “Annette, I advise you not to hang up on me like you did the last time I called.” This woman had no shame whatsoever!
“What the hell—” I almost choked on my words just as she cut me off.
“Let me speak to Pee Wee. And don't fix your lips to lie to me like you usually do and tell me he's not there. I just passed your house a little while ago and I saw his car parked out front,” Lizzie snarled, her words striking my ears like rocks. “Like I told you the last time I called, I've been trying to get a hold of him for several days! I am not going to stop until I reach him. You can tell him that. The sooner he talks to me, the sooner I can stop bothering you.”
“Bothering me? Woman, as long as you live in this town you will be bothering me. You didn't care about bothering me when you were fucking my husband! Well, I've got news for you. Just hearing your name bothers me these days!”
Something that I didn't know and didn't want to know was the details of Lizzie's affair with my husband—like exactly when it started or which one of them initiated the affair. But the one thing that I really didn't want to know was
where
they'd slept together the first time. The thought of her sleazy ass stretched out in my bed was unbearable. If I ever found out that they had been tacky enough to fuck in
my
bed, I would not be responsible for my actions. There was just no telling what I would do to Lizzie—and Pee Wee—even though their relationship was over.
Or was it?
“Are you still fucking my husband?” Even if she was, I didn't expect her to admit it. But I had to ask anyway.
“Annette, you've got some nerve asking me that. How dare you!” Lizzie erupted.
I could not believe how calm I managed to sound. “Well, are you?”
“No, I am not still fucking your husband! I wouldn't let that man touch me again even if he had healing hands!”
My pulse was racing and my eyes were burning. I had balled my free hand into a fist. “Why did you call my house again? Why do you keep calling here? Don't you have anything better to do with your time these days? Can't you find another innocent woman to torture?” I jeered.
“You innocent? That's a joke! You've got a lot of nerve to even think of yourself as innocent—”
“Get your ass off this phone, bitch!” I hollered. “You're about to make my bowels move!”
“I will hang up when I am good and ready. Look, I know you're still jealous of me, but I can't help that. It is what it is. I gave your man something that you weren't giving him, and probably never did. That was some good loving. The very first time he was with me, he realized what he'd been missing.”
These were the last words that a scorned woman—especially a scorned black woman—wanted to hear. If Lizzie had been standing in my room saying that shit to my face, she would be stretched out on the floor by now with my fist mauling the side of her head. I couldn't imagine what Pee Wee had said to her for her to think that I didn't give him what he needed in the bedroom before she slid into our lives. I didn't believe what she had just said for one minute—at least not her version.
“Hmmm. Then tell me, why is he not still with you? Why is he coming over here to be with me whenever I let him? And I can assure you that we do a lot more than just talk when he's here. Does that sound like I don't know how to give him what he needs?” I taunted.
“What
ever
, Annette. I just need to talk to Pee Wee.”
“Pee Wee is not here, goddammit!” I roared. “And let me tell you again—”
“You're a damn liar! He is there! Now, you look, girl! I am not in the mood for any of your shit this early in the morning!”
I hated profanity. It was crude. I didn't like it when people cussed in my presence, and I didn't like to cuss myself. But under the present circumstances, there was no reason for me to act like a “lady” with Lizzie.
“Now, you look, bitch! If you don't want to deal with my shit this early in the morning, don't call my fucking house this early in the morning!”
There was a long moment of silence. I wasn't even sure that Lizzie was still on the line. I was just about to hang up when I heard her spit out a few sobs. Then she started to wheeze and cough like she was choking on some air. I had heard enough. I slammed the telephone back in its cradle. I felt like I was on fire now, so I needed to get out of the house as soon as possible. I no longer considered playing hooky from work. I couldn't wait to get to my office.
Just as I was about to go to my closet and pick out what I was going to wear to work, Lizzie called back. “You can't get rid of me that easily, Annette.”
“Look, bitch, I'm going to hang up again. This time I'm going to leave the phone off the hook, so don't waste any more of your time calling here again,” I told her.
“Don't you hang up on me! I advise you to put Pee Wee on this telephone, Annette,” she ordered in a voice that was dripping with a combination of anger and desperation.
“I advise you to go straight to hell.”
“Let me ask you again. May I speak to Pee Wee? I don't want to keep calling your house any more than you want me to, but I don't have any other choices.” She had toned down her voice, but that made no difference to me. “This is really important. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be trying to get in touch with Pee Wee this hard.”
“Why don't you tell me exactly what it is you need to talk to my husband about? I can tell him, and if he wants to talk to you about it, he'll call you.”
“You'll find out soon enough,” Lizzie mumbled in an ominous tone. It sounded like she had a mouthful of food, or that her hand was covering part of her mouth. “And believe me,
you won't like it
.”
CHAPTER 3
L
IZZIE'S LAST WORDS HAD PIQUED MY INTEREST. AND BECAUSE OF
the snooty way she had spoken those words, I felt that I needed to know right now what it was that she wanted to talk to my husband about.
“Look, Lizzie, if you want to tell me what it is that you need to talk to my husband about, that's fine with me. I will track him down and make him call you back. That is, if he wants to talk to you. I'm willing to do just about anything if it'll make you stop calling here.”
“That's fine with me. The only reason I keep calling your house is because Pee Wee changed his cell phone number and the number at the apartment. When I try to reach him at his barbershop, they always tell me that he just left or he's too busy to come to the telephone,” Lizzie whined. “I even tried to go talk to him at the old apartment last week, but he had the locks changed. He wouldn't even answer the door when I knocked. I left him a note in his mailbox. I even sent him another note by registered mail and he signed for it—so I know he received it. I still have not heard a word from him! What else can I do but call your house and hope to catch him there?”
It dawned on me that whatever it was that Lizzie needed to talk to Pee Wee about, it might affect me in some way. That being the case, now I was even more interested in hearing whatever that was before I hung up. Knowing her, there was just no telling what it was. I knew that she was living with another man now, and that she was working for his nephew. I seriously doubted that she wanted to move back in with Pee Wee. I had heard that she was not too happy with her new job, so it was fairly reasonable for me to assume that she wanted to beg Pee Wee to rehire her. What else could be so urgent for her to be trying so hard to get in touch with him?
There was no way in hell that I was going to let my husband rehire this woman. I'd do everything in my power, except burn his barbershop to the ground, to prevent that from happening.
I was the one who had practically forced Pee Wee to hire this backstabbing home wrecker in the first place. If he was crazy enough to put her back on his payroll, his relationship with me would be dead in the water immediately this time.
I was really curious now. “Why don't you go ahead and tell me what it is you need to talk to my husband about? That is, if you don't mind.”
Lizzie hesitated for a few seconds. “I think you should hear it from him. You just tell Pee Wee that if he doesn't call me back by the end of today, he will be hearing from my attorney.” There was a threatening tone in her voice that chilled me to the bone.
Attorney?
I was no longer just curious. Now I was also frightened. A sharp pain shot through my stomach like a ball of fire. Why would Lizzie need an attorney? And why in the world would she use that word in the same sentence with my husband's name?
“Did you just say that my husband can talk to your attorney?”
“That's exactly what I just said! If he won't talk to me, he'll be hearing from my attorney. And after today, that's the way it's going to be. I won't waste any more of my time trying to reach him.”
“What do you need an attorney for?” That was one thing that I needed to know before I got off the telephone. Had something happened while Lizzie was doing manicures at Pee Wee's barbershop that constituted legal action? Money! This ruckus that this no-good heifer was causing
had
to be about money! What else could it be? “Why, you greedy bitch,” I snarled in a loud voice, hoping I sounded as menacing as I felt. “You don't know when to quit, do you? I know for a fact that my husband gave you a generous severance package when you left. If you think you're going to get paid again, you're wrong.”
Lizzie let out a dry laugh. “As usual, you are too stupid to figure out what is really going on. No wonder it was so easy for me to take your man.”
“Good-bye, slut—”
“Don't you hang up yet!”
I didn't care what it was Lizzie had to say now. I was not going to let her verbally assault me any longer. I was going to hang up on her again, but when she cut me off, I decided to continue listening. I didn't think our conversation could get any worse.
But it did.
“This is not about money, Annette. Well, not directly.” She paused and cleared her throat. “It will eventually involve money ...”
“I can't imagine how.” As far as I knew, when Lizzie quit working for Pee Wee, she got everything that she had coming and then some. Not just two weeks' severance pay; he had also paid her for vacation time that she had not even earned. What more could this miserable beast want?
“When you see your husband, you tell him that I said we need to discuss my future.”
Her attorney and now her future? Something told me that this was a lot more serious than I thought.
“Your
what
?” I guffawed. “What in the hell does my husband have to do with your future, woman? You've got some goddamn nerve! First you con me into helping you get a job at my husband's barbershop and you wasted no time hopping into bed with him. Then you went behind his back and screwed his rival's uncle, and moved in with that man! I've known some skanks in my life, but you give the ordinary skanks a bad name!”
“Are you finished?”
“Hell yeah, I'm finished. Are you?”
“All right, bitch. I didn't want to drop this bombshell on you before I told Pee Wee, but now I'll be happy to tell you
why
I need to talk to your husband. I just wish I could see your face when you hear it.”
“You've got exactly one minute to tell me and then I'm hanging up this telephone whether you've said it all or not,” I warned.
“I don't need a minute.” Lizzie sniffed. Then she immediately announced in a mocking tone that made my blood boil:
“I'm pregnant and your husband is the father of my child.”
She hung up before I could respond, but the telephone suddenly got so hot in my hand I dropped it to the floor.

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