Page 28 of Big Mad
After I made the transaction, I scanned the oak trees across the street that stretched out overhead, long as God’s reach. Clusters of folks buying everything from honey to pralines moved around me. Man, this took me back to my fourth year at Stanford. Searching for any glimpse of …
“Madison?” I murmured, brows pinched. My ex-wife wore a bright yellow sundress, sunglasses too big for her face, and that smug little smirk like the sun itself owed her rent. Her hair had grown. The blunt cut touched her shoulders, and bangs half concealed those big-ass sunglasses. She always called that hair low maintenance. Liar. She’d learned how to maintain it like it was a full-time job in college. Of course, that was before she damn near burned down my dorm room.
She had thatI ain’t buying a damn thing, but I’ma touch everythingenergy, running her fingers over purple soap.
“Pitié,”I groaned, which was short forI ain’t ready for this test, Lord.I needed this woman like oxygen, but what if she snatched off those glasses? Her gaze would turn sharp and piercing, as if I were an unpaid bill. I missed the good old days.
Momma followed my gaze and grinned. “Ain’t that your pretend wife?”
“Momma, please.”
“Don’tpleaseme. That girl is fine as a Sunday morning. Go over there and say hi. My money is on you. Don’t make me have to owe your Aunt Peaches a hundred dollars because I’m gonna get a nice, crisp bill fromyou. And yes, I gambled. First time in my life, I’ve already prayed about it too.”
Momma had passed over the entire issue. She and Aunt Peaches had made a bet.
But that didn’t matter because Madison approached us. “Ms. Babineaux, Mr. Bab?—”
“Bébé.” Momma cut her off and tugged her into a hug. “You been acting mannish for long enough! Wash allows it; I don’t.”
“Sorry … I didn’t mean any disrespect, Momma Virginia.” Madison stepped back after the hug. “I have … this thing … with the soap. Gotta buy some lavender soap.” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I, uh, love you, Momma Virginia. Bye, Wash.”
I stepped forward, and as she turned around to run, I strode with her. “Didn’t know avoiding my calls required a whole farmers market.”
She stopped, lowered her sunglasses, and scanned the crowd. “I wasn’t avoiding you. I was…abiding by the rules ofyourcontract. You love law-abiding citizens, don’t you, Probation Papi?”
Her subsequent eye roll implied she’d reconsidered that title. I smiled at her. “I was waiting for your daily dose of teasing, but call meProbation Papiwhenever,chère.”
She snatched her glasses off. That look said it all.Yep.She saw me as an unpaid bill. Eviction notice. All of that. Her eyes swung away and softened. “Momma Virginia, you gonna let your son harass me in broad daylight?”
“Wi, bébé.”Momma waved. “I raised him on cornbread and conviction. If he’s harassing you, it’s love.”
As I chuckled, the woman of my dreams backed away. Madison teased, “Enjoy hanging out with your momma!”
“I will. She’s my accountability partner.”
“For what, buying kale?”
“For not chasing you across this market.”
“Mm-hmm.” Madison’s smile fell a second later. Something seemed to capture her attention, and her eyes transformed into pure rage. As she reached for my chest, I grabbed her wrist.Madison gestured to my shirt. Damn, I knew what she saw. I allowed her to pull out the gold necklace I kept tucked inside my shirt. My wedding band dangled from the chain.
“Wh-why are you wearing this?” Her eyes narrowed. “I saw the necklace but wasn’t too sure I saw the band when we attended Gaston’s event, all matchy-matchy. But why? Why would you wearthat?”
“Because I can, Madison,” I growled. It took me six months to remove my gold band. When I did, I still hadn’t gotten my vows outta my mind, so I slipped it around an old Cuban link chain I hadn’t worn in a while and placed it around my neck.
Madison shook her head. “You know what? Whatever. If you’re more confused than a pretzel and a game of Twister about our divorce, that’s on you.”
“Confused, huh? Confused?” Guess who was being manhandled now. I snatched her by the waist, my hands as tight as possible. Damn straight, I wanted to hurt her. Okay, maybe not that much, so I readjusted my hold. I glared into her eyes. “I still love you, Maddy.”
“Then why are you roughhousing me in front of your momma?”
I know it didn’t hurt her because she laughed as I glanced over my shoulder. Momma wasn’t looking.Good.That saved my ass.
Madison laughed again. “Gotta run, Mr. Baby No. Meeting someone at NOMA. Work thing. I may be able to pay you for the vandalism. Prorated since I did the first date, buh-bye!”
She what?Of course, I wanted my woman to make money and care for herself. But she couldn’t break my contract. Why hadn’t I thought about that? Make that thing so binding she’d have to pay me a billion dollars to break it because she’d signed it.
With a two-finger salute, Madison walked away with the last word, my dignity, and my damn heart.
