God Ain't Blind by Mary Monroe Page B

the Mahoning River.” As grim as this conversation was, I still had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. But I got serious again right away. “What about you and Bully? You’re forty-six, and he’s almost fifty,” I reminded her.
    “Well, Bully and I are exceptions to the rule. We’ve been together almost as long as I’ve been with my husband. You know that.”
    “Rhoda, do you think that Pee Wee is seeing a doctor, and do 62
    Mary Monroe
    you think that he’s spending time with some woman every Friday, like I thought in the first place?”
    “Both. But if I had to choose one, I’d pick the woman. It makes the most sense. He’s at that age when men start foolin’ around. And like we both know, your husband would rather get a whuppin’ than go to a doctor.”
    “That’s what I think.”
    “Are you goin’ to confront him?”
    “Why should I? All he’ll do is lie about it. Remember last year, when I thought he was having an affair with—”
    “Yes, I do. And you thought it was with my daughter.”
    “I didn’t suspect it was your daughter when I first got suspicious.”
    I didn’t like the silence that followed.
    “Anyway, he denied he was having an affair with anybody then, too,” I said.
    “He was tellin’ the truth.”
    “How do we know that for sure? The only thing that we know for sure now is that he was telling the truth about not being involved with the women I accused him of seeing. He could have been fucking five other women, for all we know.”
    “So what if he was? Annette, you’ve already fucked another man and lied to your husband. You don’t need to justify it now. And certainly not to me. This is the real world, and you can’t change it to suit you, so you may as well go with the flow like the rest of us, like I’ve already advised you to. If Pee Wee is screwin’ somebody else, you can’t stop him.”
    “I know that, Rhoda. And I’m not going to try and stop him,” I snapped.
    I didn’t bother to mention to Rhoda the time that she had violently ended an affair her husband had drifted into years ago.
    When she had found out the woman’s name and address, she’d paid her a visit and attacked her. But fighting over a man was one thing that I felt women our age were above. However, I could only speak for myself.
    “I’m glad to hear you say that. You’ve done your job, and if he can’t appreciate it, that’s his problem. In my opinion, you’d be a fool to get in his face about another woman—unless you want to give him up altogether. Besides, Louis is in the picture now.”
    GOD AIN’ T BLIND
    63
    “I don’t want a divorce,” I whined. “And I don’t want to grow old by myself. I like Louis, but I don’t know if I could live with him. Besides, he’s still a young man. He’ll want children someday.”
    “Who the hell said anything about divorce? If Pee Wee drops dead tomorrow, you’ll be alone, anyway. And as far as you movin’
    in with Louis and havin’ his babies, I don’t think you have anything to worry about in that area.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. Feelings of insecurities that I thought I’d laid to rest crept up on me like armed muggers.
    “Girl, Louis is not stupid or naive. That man can see that you are not anybody’s spring chicken. I am sure he knows that Mother Nature has put your baby-related equipment in the attic and left you nothin’ but a playpen. All he wants is to join you in that playpen for a while. And as fine as he is, he could pick and choose. So if you don’t want him, he won’t have any trouble findin’ a woman who does.”
    “Pee Wee and I have been through so much together. He’s as much a part of my past as you are. I can’t dismiss any of that.”
    “Who said you had to? Look, this is your life now. Enjoy it while you can. Let me get off this phone. I need to go make myself beautiful for my man, and my husband. You should be doin’ the same thing for yours.”
    “I will,” I replied. I