Free Second Time Around by Darrin Lowery Page A

through something together. She thought it strengthened black love to face adversity together.
    Korie didn’t care if she had a career or a job. She didn’t want a big house; she did want a house. She didn’t have to have a fancy car; but she did want a car. As long as the bills were paid and she was in love, as far as she was concerned, life was okay.
    When they were together, she would always plan grand vacations for them. He would always cancel. She was the one who was considered the dreamer and he was the one who kept them grounded. When they were together they were getting by okay financially. The only thing was he never wanted to just be getting by.
    She would often find new things for them to do. Many times—not all—the answer was no. She longed for three-day vacations in Vegas. For a while they went; they went twice a year. Then the trips stopped. He had to work. He was always working.
    She knew the relationship was in trouble when he one day paid for her to go to Vegas . . . with Jayna.
    He was always too busy. Always working, always planning, and always chasing that next dollar. Sending her to Vegas with her best friend was the last straw.
    There were times when she thought he was cheating; times when she was sure there was someone else. From time to time, like most black women, she started to pay close attention. She started to check up on him. She searched hard for evidence of another woman.
    There was none.
    He was cheating on her; but not with a woman; No, not with a man; he was cheating on her with the pursuit of his career.
    He promised her a big house, just as Mr. Underwood promised his wife. He promised that they would see the world one day. That day never came. She tried telling him over and over again that she didn’t share his fascination with things. She tried to explain to him countless times that all she ever wanted in life was him. That simply wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted a lifestyle that she thought was unrealistic.
    She went to Vegas. She went with Jayna and she had a good time. But there wasn’t a day that she was there that she didn’t want him beside her. When he told her that he was going to begin interning on top of working a full-time job, Korie became incensed.
    Korie was a patient woman. Some might say that she was the perfect woman. Her patience, however, was running out. She loved her man. The good times were really good. The bad times? The bad times were really bad. Their biggest argument was not over money, not over another woman, and not over anything petty. Their biggest fights were about the use of his time. She said she didn’t get enough, and he explained that she monopolized all the free time he had. There just never seemed to be enough hours in the day for her. She never had his full attention.
    He told her that she didn’t understand things. He explained to her if she were to return to school she might see things his way. He already had his bachelor’s degree. She was upset when he pursued a master’s.
    She only had a year of college under her belt. She discovered quickly that college just wasn’t for her. He used to tell her that a degree would open up doors that were forever closed to the average man. She explained to him that hard work and prayer can open any door.
    It was a point that they both had to agree to disagree on. His argument was the degree made all the difference in the world. Her point was there were a lot of degreed people out there with book sense and no common sense.
    She had since changed her mind.
    She had changed her mind now that she ran her own business. There were some things that she saw now that she didn’t see then. She understood many of the things that he meant when they would argue about money or time. She understood the drive that came with pursuing one’s dreams; she now understood his passion. What she didn’t understand is why they couldn’t do these things together.