The Man in 3B by Carl Weber Page A

it was only partly from the shock of his words. I mean, I’d sucked his dick for ten minutes straight. I knew I’d be feeling the pain in my jaw for days, but my heart? He might as well have cut it out of my chest.
    Dear Lord, this couldn’t be happening.
    “This is a joke, right?” I asked as I covered myself with the negligee I’d thought would turn him on. “You didn’t say that you want a…” I couldn’t even say the word.
    “Yes, I did. I said I want a divor—” I slapped his face hard and then attacked him with a few choice words of my own.
    “I heard what you said, you rotten, no good son of a bitch. Don’t you think you could have said that shit before I sucked yo’ little, shriveled-up dick?”
    He looked down at his manhood, which was still sticking out. “Hey, my dick is not little.” Leave it to Avery to be more concerned about his dick than the fact that he’d just hurt me to the core. He took it even further, I guess trying to destroy any shred of self-esteem I might have left. “But I guess compared to your big ass it would be.”
    His insult hurt, though not as much as you might think. You see,he’d said things like that a million times before—maybe not verbally, but through his actions. I’d let it slide so many times, made excuses for his cruelty in my head, but no more. My humiliation became a rage coursing through my veins.
    “You know what, Avery? So many other sisters would’ve left your miserable ass the second you got that pink slip, but I’ve been here supporting you, allowing you to mope around while I waited on you hand and foot. Yet I put on a few pounds and now you want a divorce? Your love for me couldn’t withstand a few pounds? Really? You’ve got a damn good woman in me, but your shallow ass don’t even realize it.” I can’t describe how angry I was as he sat there on the couch looking crazy. “You should have said that shit a long time ago.”
    “I’ve tried. I’ve wanted to, but—” He went to stand up, and I forcefully pushed his ass right back down on that couch. There was no stopping me now.
    “But what? You were too busy letting me suck your dick?” The more I thought about how he laid back and let me suck his dick—and swallow!—when he probably knew all along he was going to ask for a divorce… oh, it was on.
    “I wanted to tell you a long time ago.”
    “Then you should have!” I had so much tension building up inside that I started pacing to release some of it. My only other option would have been to strangle him, and no way was I going to jail for his worthless ass.
    He stood slowly, as if making sure I wouldn’t run over and tackle him, which I was trying very hard not to do. “Baby, who are we kidding here?” he said cautiously, then picked up steam when I didn’t haul off and hit him. “I didn’t have to say it. You know there’s been a distance growing between us for some time now. I love you. You are a good woman. You’ve always been good to me. It’s just that I want something different in a woman.”
    I stopped pacing and turned to him. “Nigga, is you crazy?” I roared, the ghetto rising up out of me. “All I’ve done for you… If you wanna be real about things now, I’m the one who should have asked for a divorce when your sorry ass made us lose our house and cars.And you wonder why I picked up weight. Stressin’ over whether or not I was gonna have a roof over my head.”
    I couldn’t help the tears that filled the rims of my eyes. Before I knew it, I was storming off toward the bedroom.
    “Wait, Connie. Where you going?” he asked, taking a few steps toward me.
    “Where am I going?” I mocked. “To get my gun so I can blow your muthafuckin’ head off. That’s where the fuck I’m going,” I raged. The next thing I knew, he was behind me, holding both of my arms to keep me from moving forward.
    “Get off of me!” I yelled, turning around to face him as I broke loose from his grip. By now, hot tears