Can You Keep a Secret? by Mary Monroe

Author:Mary Monroe [Monroe, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Lola

WHY AN OLD WOMAN LIKE BERTHA WANTED TO BE A “JUNE bride” was a mystery to me. I had endured a lot of changes in my life, but I didn’t know how I was going to adjust to a new mother and two siblings I couldn’t stand.

One thing that kept me from losing my mind was knowing that as long as Daddy and I remained in our own house, I didn’t have to deal with Bertha’s children that often. Marshall still gave me dirty looks every time I saw him and he talked to me like I had no feelings at all. “Lola, do you ever wash your neck?” he asked after a Sunday dinner at Bertha’s house, something Daddy and I rarely participated in. We were all seated in the living room. June was only about two months away and the more I thought about it, the worse I felt about Daddy marrying Bertha. “I bet you don’t even wash your hands after you use the toilet,” Marshall added before I could answer. This occasion was especially difficult because he and Libby had come to dinner at the same time.

“If you think her hands and neck are filthy, can you imagine how nasty she must be under her clothes,” Libby said with a smirk. Marshall snickered.

“Now you two behave yourselves. You’re both way too old to be talking such trash to little Lola,” Bertha said quickly, giving me a reassuring look.

“Shut up, Mama. I wasn’t talking to you anyway,” Libby said casually. With that same smirk still on her face, she took a deep breath and gave her mother a critical look and said, “Now are you going to lend me that money like I asked? I don’t want to miss out on another Macy’s sale like I did last month.”

I gave Daddy an exasperated look. It was the same kind of look I always gave to him when Libby and Marshall talked in a disrespectful manner to their mother; which was almost every time we were all together. They did that and asked her for money practically in the same breath.

I usually kept my thoughts to myself, but this time I couldn’t control what came out of my mouth. “Libby, your mama just gave you a hundred dollars last week,” I said, looking her in the eye. “I saw her do it.”

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes got wide. She looked at me like she wanted to slap my face. “That’s none of your business, Miss Smarty Pants.” After she took a deep breath, she turned to Daddy. “Clarence, I hope you don’t let this child get away with acting this grown too often.” She turned back to me with such a severe scowl on her face, I thought she was in pain. “Lola, what Mama does with her money has nothing to do with you.”

Bertha hoisted her hefty frame up off the couch and stumbled upstairs to her bedroom with Libby walking close behind her. A few seconds later, Marshall wobbled up out of his seat and waddled off in the same direction.

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