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“Let me tell y’all something.” Corinne placed her wine glass down. “When a man has money, treats you well and generously, but don’t fuck you right, for some cultured women like Shizu, it’s an incurable deficiency. After they fucked in Cuba last summer, she told him she wanted to slow things down…dial it back romantically. That was a red flag for that nigga. Shizu’s wasting her time. She doesn’t want him.”
I sneezed. Then again. And again. The fourth sneeze had me backing into the fridge.
“You okay?” The ladies asked simultaneously.
“Sounds like an allergy attack,” Ines correctly perceived.
I leaped to the counter near the stove to grab paper towels. “Peach,wha—where were you? Back away!”
Alarmed with large saucer eyes, she obeyed, sniffing her coat. “What did I do?”
“Where are you coming from?”
She shrugged, face tight and puzzled. “I was…” She tried to think. “I was at a parishioner’s house—Cynthia’s, you know her.”
“That bitch has cats?”
“Shi-Shi!”
“My bad, but that shit’s in my apartment! I’m allergic to cats.”
“Ah, man! I forgot all about that. I’m sorry!” She continued backing away.
“I’ll fix you a plate to go, honey.” Ines turned to a cabinet and pulled down a bottle of an antihistamine. She opened it and handed me a pill. “Take this.”
I grabbed my wine and swallowed back the pill with an itchy throat.
“I’m sorry, friend,” Peach sounded regretful.
Then I felt bad. I didn’t mean to snap at her. “I’ll live. Why were you over there?”
“Her father, Deacon Pollard, has been sick. His doctor doesn’t seem to know what’s going on.”
“What’s he presenting with?” Becky asked.
“High blood pressure, fever, nausea…a few things of concern, but nothing matches up. His wife called my father, but Dad’s in Trenton at a governor’s ball. He asked me to go and lay hands on him. He’s been to the emergency room four times in like six days.”
“Damn,” Corinne chirped.
“Yeah. Tell me about it. His daughter, Cynthia, was just diagnosed with diabetes and she’s dealing with personal…crap.” Peach sighed.
“A man.” Corinne assumed. “It’s always a man. What he do?”
My eyes shot over to Peach. She met my gaze before tossing hers away. “She got her heart broken, I guess.”
Oh, whatever, Cynthia!
I was more confident now than ever that she and Jas weren’t compatible. She was nowhere in his league. This, I knew for sure. They had no intimacy at all—
Did he kiss her?
Did I care?
“How?” Becky asked.
“Dumped. But anyway, I’m sorry again, Shi-Shi. I’ll wait in the front for my food, Ms. Ines. Bye, girls.”
“Bye, Peach,” Corinne bade.
