Free Heaven Forbid by Lutishia Lovely

Love Wasn’t Jesus, but It Should Have Been.”
     
    He’d been raised to be a gentleman and would never consider bodily force when dealing with females. But in this moment, Kelvin swore he understood how a man could hit a woman. He was so mad at Fawn he couldn’t see straight.
    “What did I tell you about that, huh?” Kelvin shouted. When Fawn didn’t answer, Kelvin walked over to the couch and stood over her. “What did I tell you about doing that shit when I’m on the phone?”
    “You just mad because I interrupted whatever rendezvous you were planning with some ho. Ain’t no bitch out there as bad as me, who’ll put up with your bullshit and still give you the best pussy you ever had. You remember that.”
    “Oh, so that’s it. You think your shit’s golden, huh?”
    “You must think so, since I’m still here.”
    Kelvin picked up a glass and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into dozens of pieces. Fawn hardly flinched.
    “I must have been outta my muthafuckin’ mind to let you move in here. And your lyin’ ass saying Little Kelvin was sick.”
    “He was, he—”
    “Stop lying, Fawn! I know you haven’t been to the doctor’s. I talked to Brandy.”
    On hearing that name, Fawn rolled her eyes. Brandy was a twin who joined them regularly for a ménage à trios—one of the many women he’d slept with during his college days, and now. “You gonna listen to that ho over me?”
    “No, I didn’t listen to her. I listened to the doctor’s office after talking to her.”
    Fawn looked up quickly.
    “Yeah, that’s right. Did a little detective work. I’ve been thinking y’all was at the hospital, and instead your ass was at the mall.”
    “Look, Kelvin, Little Man was sick.”
    “So was I. I was sick as hell to let your ass move in here. But I tell you what. I’m better now. And just as fast as your ass moved in here, you’re moving right back out. You said you needed a place to stay until our son got better? Well, he’s better now. So you need to get your shit and get out.”
    “If you want to keep seeing your son, I don’t need to do a damn thing.”
    “Oh, I’ll keep seeing him, believe that. But it won’t be because you’re in my house. It will be because you want to keep getting a check every month, the one that is going to cease until I get visitation, in writing, and until you get the fuck out!”
    “I ain’t going nowhere.”
    Kelvin stared at Fawn a long moment. She was fine, he’d grant her that, but other than looks, he didn’t know what he’d ever seen in her. And all he wanted now was a life without her in it. “Fine! Then I’ll leave.”
    Kelvin walked out of the den and into his bedroom. He called his uncle Geoff, the one who was always just a phone call away when he needed to be bailed out of trouble.
    His uncle picked up the cell on the second ring. “Happy holidays, Kelvin! You coming this way for Thanksgiving?”
    “As a matter of fact, I am, Uncle. And by the time I get back to Phoenix, I need you to have found me a new house.”

13
Written All Over His Face
    Obadiah’s movements were slow as he made his way to the hall and down the steps. He could hear his wife humming from the kitchen, even as the smell of collard greens and candied yams wafted up to greet him. She’s gonna be mad as all get-out. But I’ve got to tell her. “Probably knows already,” he mumbled as he reached the bottom stair.
    Mama Max looked up briefly before placing the pan of freshly made biscuits into the oven. Just because service started at 8 a.m. was no reason for her not to make breakfast as she had almost every morning for the last fifty years. As she turned to flip the sausage, her mouth fixed into a frown from what she’d seen when she glimpsed the reverend: a fine man looking as spiffy as ever. Mama Max wouldn’t even try and lie to herself by saying the doctor wasn’t a handsome man of seventy-two. For one, he looked ten years younger, especially