Free God Don't Play by Mary Monroe Page B

sloppy kiss. They acted lovey-dovey until we left the kitchen and returned to the yard.
    Just as I was about to pop open another beer, I heard the telephone ring in the kitchen. Jade was in the kitchen so I didn’t make a move to go answer it. She stuck her head out the kitchen window and told me that I had an urgent phone call. There was a frantic look on her face.
    Urgent or not urgent, I took my time walking to the kitchen. The last time I had tried to run after drinking a few beers, I ended up flat on my face on the ground with a bloody nose, and scrapes and bruises from my chin to my forehead. As soon as I entered the kitchen, Jade held up her hand, motioning me to stop.
    “What did you say? Fuck you, you bitch! That’s my auntie you’re talking about!” Jade screamed into the telephone receiver. My mouth dropped open and I started moving toward Jade, reaching for the telephone. But before I could reach Jade, she slammed the telephone back into the cradle.
    “Who in the hell was that you were cussing at, girl?” I shouted, gripping Jade by her trembling arm.
    “Auntie, it was that bitch,” Jade sobbed. She rotated her neck and took a deep breath. “Oh, this is real messed up! That…That lady was so mean to me and she doesn’t even know me! I don’t know why she cussed at me. All I did was answer the telephone and I was real nice to her!” Jade fell into my arms, howling like a panda.
    “What? Who?” I asked, a hot flash assaulting my face like a flame.
    “The bitch who sent you that shit. The same bitch that called you up last night.” Jade let out such a strong, deep breath that I felt a breeze on my face. “I told her that if I ever find out who she is, I will beat the shit out of her with my own hands!” Jade flung her arms around me and cried on my shoulder.
    I decided I had no choice but to tell Pee Wee what was going on. And Rhoda felt the same way when I summoned her to the kitchen and told her about the disturbing telephone call that Jade had just taken.
    “Annette, you have to tell Pee Wee. And you have to tell him now. You don’t know what kind of person you are dealin’ with,” Rhoda said, shaking her finger in my face as we stood in the kitchen by the window.
    I ignored Rhoda and moved to the sink where Jade stood dabbing her eyes with a wet paper towel. “What else did she say, Jade?”
    “She, she called you a black, black cow and a…a…b…b…black heifer,” Jade stuttered, almost choking on her words.
    “Ha! At least we know she’s not too bright. Everybody knows that a cow and a heifer are the same thing,” Rhoda snarled. “What else, baby?” Rhoda asked, her lips snapping over each word. “Did you hear any background noises? Cars, music, dogs, trains, kids? Anything that might help us figure out at least where this bitch called from?”
    “And what good would that do if we don’t even know who she is?” I asked.
    “Annette, you really need to sit down and think back over the last few days. Or even the last few weeks. Who have you talked with that you might have said something they took the wrong way? At least we know it’s a woman, so you can eliminate every man we know.”
    “I don’t know,” I mumbled. Shaking my head, I moved to the refrigerator where I snatched out a bottle of beer and removed the cap with my teeth. I slammed the refrigerator shut so hard that a pan on the stove twirled all the way around like a spinning top. “There are a few women at work who are mean enough to do something like this. But not to me. I haven’t done anything to anybody at work that would make them want to get back at me,” I said thoughtfully. “At least not that I know of.”
    “Auntie, remember when I told you I heard those cows talking about you when I was in the ladies’ room that time?” Jade asked, surprisingly composed now. One thing I could say about Jade was that she was the most resilient human being I knew.
    I looked from Jade to Rhoda, shaking my head.