Free God Don't Make No Mistakes by Mary Monroe Page B

have a lot of feelings for me, but ...” he paused and scratched his chin.
    â€œIf you are trying to tell me that you want to date other women, that’s fine with me,” I assured him. “I told you from the beginning that I was going to continue to see other men.”
    â€œYeah, you sure did, but I don’t want to see any woman but you. I’ve been looking for a woman like you all my life.”
    â€œI see. Well, if you are trying to tell me that you want me to date only you—”
    â€œOh no! I am not going to ask you to stop seeing other men! Not yet anyway.” Roscoe paused and poured himself another drink. He took a long swallow before he returned his attention to me. “Oh shit! I ... I’m having a hard time saying what I want to say.”
    â€œMaybe this is something we should discuss at another time,” I suggested. “We don’t want to ruin our evening.”
    Roscoe shook his head. “Now is as good a time as any, I guess. Look, baby. I didn’t want to tell you this, but I was happy to hear from Carl Hopper who works at the gas station on Morgan Street that Pee Wee got Lizzie Stovall pregnant. If you do divorce him now, I’d be happy to marry you. You are a good cook and you do real good household chores. Even better than that trifling cleaning woman I just fired—and I was paying her.”
    I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. For one thing, I had no desire to jump into another marriage, especially since I was still in one that seemed to be flying out the window at breakneck speed. And as much as I liked Roscoe, being married to him didn’t sound too appealing.
    He needed a housekeeper more than he needed a wife. A couple of hours ago, while he was still cooking our dinner, he had asked me to run the Dirt Devil over his new carpet. One reason that I did domestic favors for Roscoe was because he usually spent a lot of money on me when we did go out for a night on the town. Since our sex life was practically nonexistent, I figured that a few housekeeping chores for him was the least I could do.
    â€œYou already know that I am no sex maniac like a lot of these men around here. If you were my wife, I wouldn’t pester you every night in the bedroom like I know Pee Wee probably did.”
    I looked at Roscoe and blinked some more.
    â€œI am flattered that you care enough about me to want me to be your wife. But there is too much going on in my life right now for me to even think about a long-term relationship with another man,” I said, my voice cracking.
    He gave me a blank look. I couldn’t decide if he was desperate, confused, or what. And that made me feel sorry for him. I was fond of him, but he was probably the last man in the world that I wanted to be married to.
    â€œAnnette, I’ll say it again; I’ve been looking for a woman like you all my life.”
    â€œIf you don’t mind, let’s discuss this subject at another time,” I suggested, glancing at my watch. “And I think I should be getting back home.”
    Roscoe drove me home a few minutes later.
    As soon as his car stopped in front of my house, my porch light came on. Muh’Dear’s face immediately appeared in the living room window. She didn’t even try to hide behind the curtains and peep out like a normal nosy person was supposed to. She stood there in plain sight with her hand shading her eyes, looking at me like I was something good to eat.

CHAPTER 12
    M UH’DEAR SNATCHED OPEN MY FRONT DOOR AND STOOD IN the doorway with her arms folded and a severe scowl on her face. “Who was that?” she demanded as soon as I walked up on the porch. She had on the drab, dark green smock that she wore to work. That, and her demeanor, made her look like a prison warden.
    â€œDon’t you remember Roscoe? I met him at the Easter church picnic,” I responded, gently waving my mother out of the doorway so I could enter