Confessions. Sasha Campbell

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СКАЧАТЬ were already there. If it had been me, the first thing I would have questioned was, if Cory had all that money why didn’t he get his own place?”

      She rolled her eyes. “Cory told me his mom lived with him because her health wasn’t the best.”

      “And you believed him? I bet her name pops up on the caller ID.” I gave Trinette a long look. She just stared at me, neither confirming nor denying my statement until she could no longer hold a straight face and started laughing. “Goofy ass! You can be so gullible sometimes.”

      When she finally stopped laughing, she said, “Yeah, I know. I wasn’t thinking straight with that one. How’d you know the phone was in his mama’s name?”

      I shifted my eyes and glared at her. “Why you think? Because that’s his mama’s house, not his.”

      Trinette gave me a long, hard look. She hates when she’s wrong and I’m right. “All I know is, he better not even try to call me. I can’t believe his ass is already broke. That fool can’t afford to pay for me to get my nails done. You know I don’t have time for a brotha if he can’t provide me the lifestyle I’m accustomed to.”

      “Accustomed to? Trinette, you forget, you grew up in the projects just like me.”

      She cringed at the reminder, then had the nerve to look embarrassed as she glanced over at the table beside us to make sure the couple hadn’t overheard. “That was a long time ago,” she whispered. “Now quit talking so loud!”

      Our waitress arrived, and while Trinette placed our order, all I could do was stare at my friend and think how stupid she can be at times. She’d been married to Leon Montgomery, a CFO for one of the largest financial institutions in America, for almost eight years. Now, he isn’t all that to look at. Leon’s got a serious receding hairline and is too skinny for my taste, but he has all the personality in the world to make up for it. I love him like a brother. Have for years. The only problem I have with Leon is that for the last two years, he has allowed Trinette to do whatever the hell she wants, and as a result she has absolutely no respect for him as a man.

      “And bring us some more salsa and chips,” Trinette tossed over her shoulder as our waitress departed with our orders. She straightened the cowl-neck of her black knit dress. As always, everything was accessorized all the way down to the diamond bracelet dangling from her wrist. I love her style. One thing about Trinette, she may be a size 16, but the chick can dress her ass off. She has the smallest waist and big perky breasts, and she makes sure everything she wears emphasizes both. I’ve envied her assets for years.

      “When’s Leon getting home?”

      Trinette pursed her magenta-painted lips in a thin line at the mention of her husband. “He’ll be here Friday. I guess I better change my sheets,” she added, then had the nerve to cackle. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help but to laugh along with her and shake my head. My girl was seriously living on the edge. Because he worked in Richmond, Trinette saw Leon one weekend a month, which allowed her ass twenty-eight days a month to pretend she was single.

      I gave her a warning look. “You think that shit is funny, but as I’ve said to you many times before, one of these days he’s gonna sneak up on your ass.”

      She tossed a heavily jeweled hand my way. Unfortunately, the one ring missing from her finger was a wedding band. Trinette swears up and down that yellow gold breaks her finger out. Yet it’s funny how that sucker is back on her finger like clockwork the second Leon’s plane lands at the Lambert–St. Louis International Airport. “Leon would never come unannounced, because he doesn’t like surprises.” She gave me a look of satisfaction just as her eyes traveled over toward the entrance. I followed the direction of her gaze and spotted a tall man in a gray suit who had just strolled into the restaurant…alone. I’ll admit he was gorgeous and just the way Trinette liked them. Leon was due home and she needed to be trying to save some coochie for him, which meant keeping her attention on our side of the room. I swung the toe of my stiletto boot at her shin.

      “Ouch!” She shot an accusing glare across the table at me.

      “Stay focused! After Cory, a man should be the last thing on your mind.”

      Trinette tossed me an incredulous look. “That will never happen.”

      “Well, it should…at least for the rest of the week. You know Leon’s home this weekend and he’ll wanna talk about you moving to Richmond in June like you promised.”

      “I’ll just give him some extra loving and he’ll forget all about me joining him.” She wagged her brow suggestively.

      I took a long, deep breath, shifting my body in the chair before speaking. “Trinette, Leon’s been living without you for two years. One of these days he’s gonna decide enough is enough and find another woman.”

      She raised a finger to chastise me, then looked like she had second thoughts before she finally spoke. “And when he does, I guess it will be time for us to finally go our separate ways, but I don’t see that ever happening. Leon loves me. We’re already talking about going to Hawaii for Christmas this year.”

      Sometimes her overconfidence was enough to make me sick. I love my girl, really I do, but she can be so self-centered at times. Two years ago, Leon accepted one helluva promotion that sent him to the corporate offices in Richmond. Ever since, Trinette has been coming up with every excuse imaginable as to why she hasn’t joined him yet. Last September she enrolled in a master’s program at Lindenwood University just so she’d have an excuse to stick around at least another year.

      The waitress returned with our frozen margaritas and chips. Mexican happy hour once a week had been a ritual of ours for years. I reached for the homemade salsa and poured some on my plate.

      Trinette grabbed a chip and popped it in her mouth. “I’m thinking about buying a new car.”

      She had to be kidding. “Your Mercedes is less than two years old.”

      “You just said it. Old. I want that new E-550 I saw on a commercial last night.”

      “Oooh! I love that car.” I’m sure the envy was apparent in my eyes. “What color?”

      “Red, of course. I think while Leon’s here I’ll convince him to go over to the Mercedes dealer with me.” I watched her eyes wander briefly across the room again. I snapped my fingers in front of her face, drawing her attention again.

      “So in other words, you need him to buy you this new car. Have you even started working on fixing your credit yet?”

      “For what? As long as I got a generous husband, who needs good credit?”

      I brought my untouched drink to my lips. “If you fixed your credit you could buy stuff yourself and not have to depend on Leon or all those other men to buy you the things requiring credit to purchase. The last thing I’ll ever be is dependent on a man,” I replied between sips.

      “Leon loves me depending on him.”

      “No, you love depending on him. All you have to do is work on one debt at a time and start paying off all those damn credit cards along with whatever else you have on your report.”

      She rolled her eyes. Trinette hates me talking about how fucked up her credit is, but come on. She’s a grown-ass woman and it’s time she started standing on her own two feet and stop using men to provide СКАЧАТЬ