The Devil You Know

by Mary Monroe

  “All that sounds good, but I don’t know if I want to stay in such a big house by myself.”

  “You don’t have to. You can rent out the other two bedrooms and make a profit to boot.”

  Lola looked at me like I was crazy. “Yeah, right. Libby and Marshall would never allow that to happen. If I do decide to stay, I’m sure they’ll make me start paying rent. And they’ll probably charge more than I can afford, just to force me to move out.”

  “I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right.”

  “There’s another thing to think about: Those two greedy hogs will probably want to sell the house, so I wouldn’t be able to stay on there even if I wanted to.”

  “You’re right about that too, I guess.” I gave Lola a pitiful look and sucked in some air. It seemed like the more I tried to say things to make her feel better, the worse she looked. “I’m going to go take a quick shower and put on some clothes.”

  “While you’re doing that, I’ll fix breakfast,” Lola said, forcing a smile.

  “Cool. I won’t take too long.” I started removing my bathrobe and walking back to my bedroom.

  Lola cooked grits, bacon, biscuits, and eggs and made a pot of coffee. I ate like a pig, but she left more than half of her food on her plate. “You know you can stay here until I get back from my date. The liquor cabinet is full, so you can drink all you want. It’ll give you more courage when you go home to face that cow.”

  Lola took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’d love to stay here a couple more hours and get wasted, but I don’t want to be drunk when I go home. That’ll give Libby something else to bitch about,” she said with a frown. “And I don’t want to get busted for drunk driving. Bertha used to warn me about that all the time. She said if I ever got my name in the newspaper for drunk driving it would embarrass her so much, she’d never get over it.”

  It was eight-thirty a.m. when we left my place. We hugged, and I assured Lola that everything was going to be all right. But I had a feeling that nothing was ever going to be all right for her again.

  * * *

  I didn’t like to call Ezra Spoor by his screen name, DrFeelGood, but he certainly liked to call me by mine. “Hellooo, HotChocolate!” he greeted when I arrived at his suite in the Courtyard San Jose airport hotel. I set my overnight case on the floor. He closed the door and then wrapped his arms around me and led me to the king-size bed. “What’s this, our tenth or eleventh date?”

  “This is our thirteenth date,” I said firmly.

  “Thirteenth and counting. Boy, am I glad to see you again!” He was already tugging at the zipper on my jeans.

  “Ezra, please control yourself and slow down,” I scolded, slapping his hand as I pulled away from him.

  “But I’m so happy to see you, I can’t help myself,” he said with a sulky pout. He wrapped his arms around me again and we eased down on the bed at the same time. We kissed, and he fondled and caressed my body until I abruptly stood up.

  “There is no need for us to rush into anything. I can stay all night this time.”

  “Super! And it’s about damn time. How did you manage that? Is what’s-his-face in a coma or something?” Ezra stood up and started groping and caressing me some more.

  “He went hiking with one of his colleagues,” I explained.

  “Hmmm. That’s a damn good place for him. Let’s hope he gets lost, devoured by a mountain lion, or falls down a ravine.” Ezra guffawed like a hyena.

  Despite how disgusted I was with Reed, even more so by now, I didn’t like it when my lovers talked about him in a negative way. That was my job. And when it came to bashing Reed, I preferred to do it with Lola. “That’s not funny!” I pinched his hand and gave him the most exasperating look I could manage.

  “Just kidding,” he snickered.

  “I told you to have a steak and lobster lunch ready when I got here and I don’t see it,” I complained as I looked around the room. “You know how I like to feed my face.”

  “I’ll order lunch and a couple of bottles of their finest champagne straightaway. In the meantime, get your little fanny out of those clothes so I can feed my face too. . . .”

  Chapter 36

  Lola

  I WAS SO NERVOUS ABOUT FACING LIBBY, I DECIDED TO PUT OFF GOING home until I felt better. I couldn’t go to a bar for a drink, so I stopped at the first Starbucks I saw instead. I sat at a table and nursed a large latte for an hour before I returned to my car.

  My heart rate doubled when I turned onto my street. I was pleased to see that Libby’s car was not parked in front of the house. Nor was Jeffrey’s. I parked in the driveway and slowly dragged my feet to the front porch steps. When I got to the top step, I saw something that made me freeze. There were several large, black garbage bags stacked in a clumsy pile on one side of the porch. Every bag looked as if it had been tossed onto the pile by somebody in a big hurry. I couldn’t believe that Libby had already begun to dispose of some of Bertha’s belongings. Her body had barely had enough time to get cold! Libby and Marshall were so cold-blooded and greedy, the next thing I expected them to do was have a yard sale to get rid of the rest of their mother’s stuff. The thought of them being that callous turned my stomach.

  My hands were shaking when I reached into my purse to get my house key. When I attempted to unlock the door, the key didn’t work. I figured it was because I’d used the one to the back door. The keys looked similar. I tried the other one, and it didn’t work either. I ran off the porch to the back of the house. When I couldn’t unlock the kitchen door, reality hit me like a ton of bricks: The locks had been changed!

  I returned to the front porch and decided to see what was in the garbage bags. The first one contained some of my clothes and my collection of DVDs and CDs. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t even bother to check the other bags. I loaded them into the trunk and backseat of my car. With my blood boiling, I got back into my car and sat there for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do next. I didn’t want to call the hotel where Joan was with DrFeelGood, especially since I had interrupted her rendezvous with that love-struck lawyer the last time she was with him. My mind was in such a tizzy, I didn’t even realize what I was doing until it was too late. I pulled my phone out of my purse and dialed Elbert’s number.

  He had called me dozens of times, but this was only the seventh or eighth call I’d ever made to him. “God, please let him answer,” I prayed, something I never thought I would resort to.

  He picked up on the third ring. “Lola, praise the Lord it’s you! I was just about to call you myself! I just heard about Bertha a few minutes ago!” he yelled. “Reverend Clyde stopped by the house this morning and told me and Mama all about the mean and evil way Libby talked to you when you went to the hospital last night. I couldn’t believe my ears! That was a sin and a shame, but don’t worry, because God’s got His eye on that woman!” Elbert snorted and softened his tone. “I’ve been sitting here worrying myself to death thinking about you. Are you all right? Where are you?”

  “I . . . I’m sitting in my car in Bertha’s driveway because I can’t get into the house.”

  “Did you lose your key?”

  “No.”

  “Libby won’t open the door for you?”

  “Nobody’s home. After Libby chased me out of the hospital, I went to Joan’s place and that’s where I spent last night. I may have to sleep in my car tonight because Libby had the locks changed. That’s why I can’t get into the house. I can’t go back to Joan’s place because she’s away until tomorrow evening.”

  “Bless your soul! I don’t know what to say. I always knew Libby was a bad egg, but I didn’t know she was rotten enough to behave in such an ungodly way. Lola, I have plenty of room and you’re welcome to stay with Mama and me for as long as you need to.”

  I considered Elbert’s offer until I heard what he said next. “You know I’ve been very fond of you for a long time. I’m sorry it took a tragedy to bring you to me. . . .”


  “I think I’d like to be by myself for a little while, so I’m going to check into a motel.”

  “Well, when you do, give me a call and let me know which one. You need any money? I can give you a couple of grand, more if you need it. And you don’t have to worry about paying me back.”

  “I have enough on me to pay for a room for at least a few nights. I can go to the ATM if I need more, but thank you so much for the offer.”

  “Do you need anything else? Fresh clothes and whatnot?”

  I had to swallow hard to get rid of the lump in my throat. “Libby stuffed most of my belongings into garbage bags and left them on the front porch.”

  “That no-good, no-neck, funky black bitch!” I had never heard Elbert use profanity, or any harsh words, so I was surprised to hear him refer to Libby in such an unflattering manner. “I’ll pray for you, Lola. And please keep in touch. Did that wench put your laptop in one of those garbage bags?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t checked all of the bags yet. If she didn’t, you can get in touch with me by text or call me on my cell phone.”

  “Lola, I meant what I just said. I’ve always been fond of you and I want to help you.”

  “Thanks, Elbert. I’ll . . . um . . . I’ll be in touch.”

  I checked into the Stanton Street Motel and paid in advance for three nights. I broke down and cried as I hauled the garbage bags into a neat but musty-smelling room. I had a lot of clothes and shoes, so I knew Libby had not packed up all of my stuff. I couldn’t believe how she had balled up some of my best outfits and stuffed them into the same bag with my shampoo and toiletries. A large shower gel bottle had leaked and left stains on three of my most expensive dresses. I had a desktop computer in my bedroom as well as a laptop. She had not packed either one. Also missing were the photo albums that contained pictures of Mama, Daddy, and me, and other sentimental items I’d stored in my dresser drawers. I was going to get the rest of my belongings even if I had to have the cops escort me back into the house!

  I couldn’t believe how drastically my life had changed in less than twenty-four hours. I stopped crying, stretched out on the squeaky bed, and stared at the cracks on the ceiling until my cell phone rang ten minutes later. It was Jeffrey.

  “Lola, are you all right?!” he asked in a distressed tone. “Mr. Fernandez told me he saw you loading the trash bags off the porch into your car.”

  “I’m fine,” I mumbled. It was hard not to break down and start crying again, but I managed to remain somewhat composed.

  “Where are you? Where did you go last night?”

  “I stayed with Joan. You can tell Libby she didn’t have to change the locks to keep me out of the house. All she had to do was tell me to get out and I would have packed my stuff myself.”

  “Well, she’s really pissed off. I was with Marshall at the funeral home when she packed up your stuff and had the locks changed, so I couldn’t stop her.”

  “Jeffrey, I need to get the rest of my stuff. Can you help me? I hope you can so I won’t have to bring the cops to the house.”

  “Don’t worry about your stuff. I’ll make sure you get it all within the next day or so. Where are you now?”

  “I’m at the Stanton Street Motel in the room right next to the office.”

  “Oh hell no! What are you doing in a rat-infested flophouse like that? That place is nothing but a glorified crack house!”

  “It was the cheapest one I could find. I’m going to have to stay here until I figure out what to do next.”

  “The first thing you need to do is check into a safer, cleaner motel. I can get you a room at the Dawson Motor Inn across from my work station.”

  “No, Jeffrey. I may need your help later. Until then, let me do as much as I can on my own. I’ve been using other people as crutches long enough.”

  “Well, you’ve never used me and I want to help you. That cheap dump you’re in will get real expensive if you stay more than a few days. Do you need any money?”

  “I’m fine, Jeffrey. Thanks for asking. I will let you know when and if I need your help.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Have the funeral arrangements been made yet?”

  “The service will be held at Second Baptist Church this coming Wednesday at eleven a.m. We would have scheduled it for sooner, but it took a while to get in touch with all of Bertha’s relatives in Mississippi, and some of her friends and former students.”

  “Thanks for giving me that information. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait to read it in the newspaper obituary column. Libby didn’t pack all of my stuff. I really need the rest of my clothes and my computers. Can you bring those things over here by tomorrow?”

  “You can relax. I’ll be there in about an hour if not sooner.”

  Jeffrey arrived exactly one hour later. I helped him haul in my belongings. He had been kind enough to put everything in moving boxes instead of trash bags.

  After he set down the last box, he glanced around the gloomy room, frowning and shaking his bald head and narrowing his dark eyes. Jeffrey was a handsome man, but the frown on his face now was so severe, he looked beastly. I flopped down in the wobbly chair by the side of the bed, and he stood in front of the scarred dresser with his arms folded. “Lola, you were very good to Bertha and I’m sure she appreciated everything you did for her. She would not have lasted as long as she did without you. I don’t know anybody else who would have tolerated her antics as long as you did.”

  “She was good to me too. She drove me up the wall, but I’m still going to miss her.”

  “Everybody is going to miss that sweet woman. She touched a lot of people’s lives.” Jeffrey paused and gave me a sympathetic look. “Um, I guess you know she left an impressive estate. Libby showed me the amended will for the first time this morning. She and Marshall had badgered Bertha for weeks to change it, and she finally did back in January. Her house is worth four times the amount she paid for it forty years ago. Her bank accounts include that huge settlement she collected back in the seventies from Uncle Sam when her brother died in that freak accident in Vietnam. In addition to that, she’s still got money left over from the insurance your daddy left her, which has been collecting interest for years in another one of her bank accounts. And there is a one hundred thousand dollar life insurance policy she took out on herself.” I was surprised when Jeffrey abruptly stopped talking. He bit his bottom lip and started blinking.

  I narrowed my eyes and stared into his. His sudden silence and the way he was still blinking confused and scared me. “Please finish telling me what you started,” I prodded. “Are you going to tell me something bad?” With my stomach in knots, I stood up and put my hands on my hips.

  “Yes, I am. I’m about to tell you something bad,” he warned with his voice cracking. “Something real bad. . . .”

  My mouth dropped open and my blood pressure shot up so high, I was surprised I was still conscious. “Oh Lord. I think I know what it is!” I wheezed, and then I started blinking too. “Libby and Marshall are going to make a big fuss about whatever Bertha left me. I just know it!” I angrily waved my hand in the air and gritted my teeth. “Knowing those two boogers, they’re going to go out of their way to keep me from getting it and—” I stopped talking when Jeffrey shook his head again.

  “Bertha left several thousand dollars to her church and a couple of her favorite charities, but Libby and Marshall will inherit everything else.” Jeffrey paused and gave me a woeful look. “She didn’t leave you a plugged nickel.”

  It felt as if somebody had knocked the wind out of me, but it took only a few seconds for me to recover. “Oh,” was all I could say at first. “I’m disappointed, but thankful that I got to live rent free in such a nice house as long as I did.”

  “I know it probably won’t make you feel any better, but I want you to know that Bertha had originally planned to divide everything between you and Libby and Marshall.”

  “She did? Well, what . . .” I didn’t even bother to finish my quest
ion because I already knew the answer. I was glad Jeffrey confirmed it.

  “Two months before she died, Libby and Marshall ganged up on her and practically forced her to change her will and not leave anything to you. I didn’t find out about it until after they’d done it. I went behind their backs and tried to talk Bertha into leaving you something. She told me she would do so, but she kept putting it off because she was afraid of what Libby and Marshall would do when they found out. Unfortunately, she put it off too long.”

  “Thanks for letting me know, Jeffrey.” I felt somewhat better knowing that Bertha had intended to do something nice for me. Despite all the turmoil she’d caused me, I was happy she’d been such a huge part of my life.

  Chapter 37

  Calvin

  “YOU’RE BETTER THAN YOU WERE THE LAST TIME. YOU EVEN SEEM bigger.” Maria giggled and stroked my dick as we lay in bed in the hotel suite she’d booked for our rendezvous in San Ysidro. It was eight-thirty p.m. Sylvia and I had arrived four hours ago. Shortly after I’d tucked her away into our hotel, I headed out to the bogus meeting that Sylvia thought I had to attend.

  I’d been with Maria ever since. We’d already made love three times and finished a whole bottle of tequila. I planned to stay only one more hour. That would give me enough time to take Sylvia out for a drink and a late snack.

  “You’re better than you were the last time we were together too,” I told her, sliding my tongue across my lips. She had sat on my face so long and left so much love juice, my lips felt like a glazed donut.

  “Um, there is something important that I need to tell you.” Her tentative tone made me nervous. Glinda had been the last woman who had spoken the exact same words to me just before she told me she was carrying my baby.

  “Oh? And what is that?”

  “I’m getting married in a couple of months.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “What a coincidence. I’m getting married in a couple of months myself.”