dollars from you.” Rene shook her head pitifully.
“Can we stay on the subject?” Shavonne said. She leaned over the table. “Nina, don’t listen to this nonsense Michelle is talking. In this day and age, four million dollars will be gone in no time. Shoot, you’re gonna spend two million on gas the first year.”
“Be quiet, Shavonne,” Michelle said, turning back to Nina. “Four million, invested right, can set you for life.”
“Yeah, right,” Shavonne said.
“I agree with Shavonne,” Rene said. “That money will begone in no time, especially once she starts handing it out to her begging relatives.” Her eyes lit up with a new idea. “Hey, don’t you have a cousin who just got out of jail? Lee Roy? Why don’t you call him or one of your other shady relatives to deal with Todd?”
Michelle frowned at her friend. “Don’t be ridiculous. She can’t have Todd ‘taken care of.’ This is not the Mob. Settling is her only recourse.”
Michelle was a critical thinker, and so Nina wanted to know why she thought giving Todd half the winnings was the answer.
“Seriously, Michelle, I don’t understand the rationale behind that. You really think I should just give him the money?”
“Why are you so against the idea?” Michelle asked pointedly.
“Ummm, because the jerk left her for another woman.” Shavonne leaned back in her seat and sipped her drink. “And now you think she should give him and the other woman half her money. You have lost your mind.”
“It’s one thing if you don’t want to give him the money because you don’t think it’s right. But I believe the only reason you’re against it is because you’re being spiteful,” Michelle said. “And you know what the Bible says about spite.”
“Yeah,” Rene said, “when a man does you wrong, cut off his nose to spite his face.”
“No,” Michelle said, smiling at her. “The Bible does not say that.”
“You’re doggone right she’s spiteful,” Shavonne added. “When your husband leaves you for another woman, you have a right to be spiteful, hateful, and anything else.”
“But I thought you had worked through your issues and forgiven him.” As usual, Michelle was trying to be the voice of reason.
“I have.” Or have I? Nina had tried to tell herself that she was over what Todd had done to her, but maybe she’d just pushed it to the back of her mind.
“Look, why don’t you go talk to my friend Vanessa Colton Kirk?” Michelle suggested. “She’s a divorce court judge who goes to my church. She can advise you, off the record, what you should do. She can also tell you how to get that divorce officially finalized.”
Nina nodded at that suggestion. She could use a professional opinion. “Can you call her for me?”
“Yeah, I’ll call her this evening and see if you can go meet with her tomorrow.”
“Thanks a bunch. Hopefully, she can help me straighten out this whole mess. And most importantly, help me make this divorce official.”
“You do that. And this time,” Shavonne said pointedly, “ you handle the paperwork.”
16
N ina fidgeted as she sat in the back of courtroom 132. For three hours she’d been watching couple after couple go before the Honorable Vanessa Colton Kirk, trying to get a divorce. She was amazed at the number of people getting divorced in one day alone. And none of the couples had split up amicably. Every single one had involved a fight.
“Your Honor, I gave my all to this man. He made me iron his underwear, for Christ’s sake. And now he wants to divorce me because he says I’m too fat,” the woman standing at the left podium said.
“She is too fat,” her husband responded. “She was a size six when we got married. She’s a size sixty now!”
“I am not a size sixty!” she retorted. “I’m a size twenty-two.What else do you expect when you made me have four kids and you want a hot full-course meal every single day?”
“I want you to lose some weight so I
“Can we stay on the subject?” Shavonne said. She leaned over the table. “Nina, don’t listen to this nonsense Michelle is talking. In this day and age, four million dollars will be gone in no time. Shoot, you’re gonna spend two million on gas the first year.”
“Be quiet, Shavonne,” Michelle said, turning back to Nina. “Four million, invested right, can set you for life.”
“Yeah, right,” Shavonne said.
“I agree with Shavonne,” Rene said. “That money will begone in no time, especially once she starts handing it out to her begging relatives.” Her eyes lit up with a new idea. “Hey, don’t you have a cousin who just got out of jail? Lee Roy? Why don’t you call him or one of your other shady relatives to deal with Todd?”
Michelle frowned at her friend. “Don’t be ridiculous. She can’t have Todd ‘taken care of.’ This is not the Mob. Settling is her only recourse.”
Michelle was a critical thinker, and so Nina wanted to know why she thought giving Todd half the winnings was the answer.
“Seriously, Michelle, I don’t understand the rationale behind that. You really think I should just give him the money?”
“Why are you so against the idea?” Michelle asked pointedly.
“Ummm, because the jerk left her for another woman.” Shavonne leaned back in her seat and sipped her drink. “And now you think she should give him and the other woman half her money. You have lost your mind.”
“It’s one thing if you don’t want to give him the money because you don’t think it’s right. But I believe the only reason you’re against it is because you’re being spiteful,” Michelle said. “And you know what the Bible says about spite.”
“Yeah,” Rene said, “when a man does you wrong, cut off his nose to spite his face.”
“No,” Michelle said, smiling at her. “The Bible does not say that.”
“You’re doggone right she’s spiteful,” Shavonne added. “When your husband leaves you for another woman, you have a right to be spiteful, hateful, and anything else.”
“But I thought you had worked through your issues and forgiven him.” As usual, Michelle was trying to be the voice of reason.
“I have.” Or have I? Nina had tried to tell herself that she was over what Todd had done to her, but maybe she’d just pushed it to the back of her mind.
“Look, why don’t you go talk to my friend Vanessa Colton Kirk?” Michelle suggested. “She’s a divorce court judge who goes to my church. She can advise you, off the record, what you should do. She can also tell you how to get that divorce officially finalized.”
Nina nodded at that suggestion. She could use a professional opinion. “Can you call her for me?”
“Yeah, I’ll call her this evening and see if you can go meet with her tomorrow.”
“Thanks a bunch. Hopefully, she can help me straighten out this whole mess. And most importantly, help me make this divorce official.”
“You do that. And this time,” Shavonne said pointedly, “ you handle the paperwork.”
16
N ina fidgeted as she sat in the back of courtroom 132. For three hours she’d been watching couple after couple go before the Honorable Vanessa Colton Kirk, trying to get a divorce. She was amazed at the number of people getting divorced in one day alone. And none of the couples had split up amicably. Every single one had involved a fight.
“Your Honor, I gave my all to this man. He made me iron his underwear, for Christ’s sake. And now he wants to divorce me because he says I’m too fat,” the woman standing at the left podium said.
“She is too fat,” her husband responded. “She was a size six when we got married. She’s a size sixty now!”
“I am not a size sixty!” she retorted. “I’m a size twenty-two.What else do you expect when you made me have four kids and you want a hot full-course meal every single day?”
“I want you to lose some weight so I
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