Free The Best of Everything by Kimberla Lawson Roby Page B

other credit cards have you been making charges on? That’s what I wanna know.”
    “I told you I’m not doing this with you. I don’t wanna argue with you, Phillip,” she said matter-of-factly and then grabbed her purse and headed upstairs.
    But Phillip followed behind her and tossed another statement onto their dresser. “And what about this?”
    Alicia saw that it was from Victoria’s Secret and was furious.“Why are you opening my mail? That’s my account and my account alone.”
    “It’s not like I wanted to but after I saw the Visa bill, I couldn’t help myself. And I’m glad I did because you charged over five hundred dollars just in the last month and the balance is over fifteen hundred.”
    “You had no right opening anything of mine. My business is my business, and it has nothing to do with you.”
    “No, it has everything to do with me. We’re married, remember? When you mess up, it affects me and vice versa.”
    “That’s beside the point, and I’m telling you now, you’d better stop trying to control me.”
    “I’m not trying to control you. I’m just trying to get you to see what you’re doing.”
    “You are trying to control me, and I think it’s time you stop and realize that I’m your wife and not your child.”
    “I know you’re my wife, and that’s why I’m so concerned about this. Alicia, we can’t afford your excessive spending habits and it’s going to have to stop. Period.”
    Alicia raised her eyebrows at him and then dropped down on the bed and turned on the television.
    “Oh, so now you’re just going to ignore me?”
    Alicia flipped through the channels.
    “Why can’t you see how damaging all of this is eventually going to be for us? I’m doing everything I know how when it comes to being a good husband to you, but you act as if you don’t care about me or our marriage. You act as though you couldn’t care less.”
    Alicia never even looked at him.
    Finally, he walked out of the bedroom and back downstairs to his study, she guessed. To be honest, she didn’t care where he was and was just glad he was no longer harassing her. He wasreally starting to get on her nerves, and he’d certainly gone way too far when he’d opened her mail. Mail that wasn’t even addressed to him. And how dare he confront her like he was her boss or like he owned her.
    Alicia reached for her purse and pulled out her wallet. Then, she removed the MasterCard that she’d just received in the mail a couple of weeks ago, the one that she’d signed Phillip’s and her name to right after the preapproved letter had come last month. She hadn’t planned on using it unless there was some dire emergency, but now Phillip hadn’t left her any choice. Now, she’d have to take it to the bank tomorrow and get a cash advance so she could pay off the Visa he was whining about. She’d also have to visit the post office first thing tomorrow morning so she could rent a P.O. box and then notify her bank and each of her credit card companies that she had a new mailing address.
    She slipped the MasterCard that had a five-thousand-dollar line back into her wallet and then went back downstairs. She picked up the Visa statement and then tossed the actual card onto the island.
    “I’ll be paying off your precious little Visa by noon tomorrow and just so you know, I won’t be using it again. Oh, and I’ve decided to take my father up on his offer to come work for the church so from here on out, I won’t be asking you for another dime.”
    “Baby, you’re taking this too far and all I’m asking is that you stick to buying only things that you really need and things that are priced within reason.”
    “No. You keep your money and your Visa. You can have your American Express card back, too, because I don’t want anything that has your name on it.”
    “But I’m not asking you to stop using our credit cards completely. Those cards belong to both of us, so keep the American Express card in your