Bad Girls Finish First by Shelia Dansby Harvey

never managed to pull themselves away. They ogled her breasts and legs, and couldn’t stop, even when Raven looked them in the eye, or Michael tried to stare them down. Their hunger for her was so raw it was ugly. Raven had an idea or two on how to get Minshew to change his mind. She just needed to hear Michael confirm her thoughts.
    Michael was still trying to puzzle out the problem. “Minshew and I move in the same circles, we share the same politics; at least I thought we did. Judging how he treated me in the meeting, maybe I’m wrong. For all I know he’s one of those neoconservative black houseboys.”
    â€œI don’t buy that, Michael. This sounds personal, not political.”
    He looked sharply at Raven. “You’re right. Even if Minshew disagrees with me on a few things he knows I’d make a better governor than Sweeney. He didn’t kill me on the issues. All Minshew was interested in was finding out more about you. I swear the man’s obsessed.”
    She nodded to herself. Just as she thought. A plan started to unfold in her mind. If Minshew wanted to know what Raven Holloway Joseph was all about, then she was ready to give him the uncut version.
    Â 
    Â 
    That night when Raven made her ritual refrigerator raid, she found Dudley and Michael in the same seats they’d been in for the past three nights.
    â€œAnother sleepless night, huh? Dudley, you should go home to your wife, and Michael, you need to come to bed with yours.” She winked at Dudley and looked directly at him as she said to her husband, “It’s been—what?—three days? I’m missing you.”
    â€œHoney, I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m in serious trouble here. David’s helping to get votes from black women, but without the newspaper’s endorsement I could still lose.” Michael looked so miserable that Dudley thought he might actually cry. Dudley wished for a tear, just one, but Michael braced himself and the moment passed.
    Raven returned from the kitchen with a slice of apple pie. She stooped and rubbed Michael’s shoulder. “I keep telling you, don’t worry about it. Things are going to turn your way. You’ve got my word.”
    Raven and Dudley exchanged a look that Michael didn’t notice, and then she headed back to bed.
    â€œRaven’s trying to help, but she doesn’t understand,” Michael said when he was sure Raven was out of earshot.
    â€œI don’t know, Michael, your wife’s something else. If she says you’ll get a break, I don’t doubt it.”
    â€œI’m surprised you value her opinion. What’s that you used to say in law school, brains and breasts don’t mix? Tell you the truth, I’m shocked that you two get along at all.”
    â€œWe do okay.”
    Â 
    Â 
    â€œToo short. Not short enough. Way too much—might kill him.” Raven was in her walk-in closet, going through her manhunting clothes. She slid outfit after outfit along the rack, looking for the perfect bait. She had ensembles suitable for catching men of all persuasions, and she was experienced enough to know that a girl couldn’t put on just any sexy little thing, it had to be the right sexy little thing. Some men didn’t even want a sexily attired woman—they wanted a women dressed like their mother, or like a man.
    She thought about Jerry Minshew. A loser like him would definitely want sexy; he’d probably never dated anyone who wasn’t as funny-looking as he was. And Minshew was plenty funny in the looks department. He was one of those men who wore his blackness on his sleeve because at first glance he was often mistaken for white. Minshew was very fair-skinned and had gray eyes. The look worked well for some black men, but he wasn’t one of them. He’d been partially bald for years, with a horseshoe shaped gap in the middle of his oddly shaped head. One day he up and