Waiting to Exhale (1992) by Mcmillan Terry

Author:Mcmillan, Terry [Terry, Mcmillan,]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-12-19T00:41:31.812000+00:00

Chapter 13

CONTROL

"That motherfucker thinks he's slick," Bernadine said to Gloria. They were drinking coffee on Bernadine's patio. It was Sunday afternoon. The kids were with John. They wouldn't be back until six. Bernadine had five more hours of freedom, five hours left to do nothing. A rare occasion.

"You mean to tell me he owns an apartment building right here in town and you didn't know about it?" Gloria said. "He's got a time share in Lake fucking Tahoe too."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does. And that's not all. It turns out he owned two hundred acres of farmland in California and a goddamn vineyard right here in Arizona. I didn't even know they made wine in Arizona! He thought he was being clever by selling them off last year. But it's still considered community property. Listen to this. The son of a bitch owns a Subway franchise. That he didn't sell. I'll tell you one thing: I will never, as long as I live, eat another one of those crab salad sandwiches. He's got all kinds of insurance policies he's borrowed on, a 401K, and a Keogh-you know those retirement plans? I did know about those, but he's been socking money into them left and right. How much, I don't know. And check this out. Today the investigator says he thinks John has bought a house or two in his mama's name!"

"Girl, this sounds like the stuff you see on Dallas."

"How do you think I feel?"

"Like a damn fool. I know."

"But check it out, girl. An appraiser is getting ready to tear his business records apart. They're going through the taxes for the last five years, phone logs, sales receipts-you name it. My lawyer already got one continuance: We go back to court on the thirtieth of April. But now she says she'll probably need to ask for another one. They're going to try to bust his ass. I told you what he sold his half of the business for, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. It's unbelievable."

"Well, any fool could see it was a scam. The judge thought so too. And, girl, the investigator isn't even sure if he's found everything yet. He said John's done a pretty good job of forming a 'corporate web' around himself. We're not even talking about stocks and bonds and all that shit. But once they find out everything he owns, they still have to assess the value of it all, then figure out what John's real net worth is, before we can even think about a settlement. So this shit could go on forever."

"Well, I hope not, for your sake," Gloria said, and took a sip of her coffee. "This is enough to drive you crazy."

"No. This is how women get fucked," Bernadine said.

"Obviously."

"But I'll tell you one thing, Glo: This shit won't happen to me again."

"I hope to hell not."

"For real. From here on out, I control my own money. I'll never be in the dark like this again. No way."

"I hear you, Bernie."

"But then, I'm not ever going to have to worry about this happening again.

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