Miss Lola.

Chapter 27.

"I'm...so sorry, Ronald." My voice was shaking so bad that he probably didn't understand me.

"Just go home, Avis." Ronald said and slowly limped away.

I couldn't believe how he simply turned his back on me as if I were trash in the streets but there were too many witnesses hanging around for me to go after him again and besides I was tired and feeling foolish.

"You lucky I didn't press charges." Lil Miss Skinny said and when I lounged at her she yelped like a scalded cat and  ran inside of room 26. The door slammed in my face.

Well, what choice did I have? I got in my car and drove back home where I packed up the rest of Ronald's things in big, black trash bags with half the mind

to drop them off at his hotel but instead I dragged them to the front yard and briefly though about lighting them up like one of those Waiting to Exhale, women but I was too chicken.

Instead of risking burning my own house down, I returned to the front room and found a dusty and half full bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 in the back of the liquor cabinet, carried it to the kitchen to find a cup and then I called Lola.

She answered on the third or fourth ring, sounding impatient. I heard music playing in the background.

"Girl? Guess what I did tonight?"

"Make it quick, Avis. I'm kinda busy right now." Lola said.

"Where you at?"

"The Silver Shoe." She paused and said after a beat. "I'm on a date."

"With who?"

"His name is Hollis Williams. So, what did you do tonight?"

"Huh?"

"Have mercy! You said you called to tell me about something you did tonight."

"Oh, right." I unscrewed the cap and filled the glass to the brim. "Well, I showed up at Ronald's hotel and attacked him with a baseball bat."

That shut Lola up for a full sixty seconds.

"Girl? Did you kill him?"

"No, but I met his girlfriend and she look a hot mess. I can't believe Ronald left me for that gutter rat."

Lola made a clucking sound.

"You a complete fool." She said.

"Someone called the cops, but get this. Ronald acted like nothing had happened but for a hot minute I thought they was gone haul me in."

"You wouldn't survive ten minutes in jail. You too soft. Well, I hope you've learned your lesson." Lola said.

"I guess so, but I'm still mad as Hell."

"I bet you are, but please don't go after Ronald with a bat again. He might press charges next time."

I chuckled, "You should have seen the look on his face."

"I can only imagine. Look, just throw the entire bat in the trash. Okay?"

"Okay." I was looking at it laying on the table right now.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

"I'm 'bout to get blazed. I found a full bottle of Mad Dog..."

"Avis? Do me a favor and don't turn up tonight. You need to get your mind right and trust me, hitting the bottle isn't going to solve your problems."

"Okay." I lied. "Enjoy your date."

"I plan on doing just that and I'm gone call you tomorrow." Lola promised and hung up.

I picked up the glass, grimaced at the anticipation of the burn, and swallowed a big gulp.

"Whew!! That's nasty!"

Carrying the glass into the bedroom, I sat on the end of the bed and cried some more.

My heart was breaking.
How could Ronald just up and leave me for a girl who looked like the Mad Hatter without the hat?

I mean, I'd been convinced that our marriage was good right up until he'd packed a bag and walked out of that front door.

We'd been highschool sweethearts, and to be perfectly honest, Ronald had pursued me because I hadn't been all that attracted to him.

He'd been too skinny and had a Jherri curl which dripped all over the collar of his shirts and a slight overbite which made him vaguely look like Bugs Bunny and I'd been popular and pretty and wanted by almost every guy at school.

Well, there'd been something about Ronald which had eventually captured my attention.

He was smart, funny and seemed to be going in the right direction with his life and that's what had gotten me hooked.

Well, that and the fact that he was the bomb in bed and there ain't nothing like some good loving to turn a girl's head.

We'd fallen in love, married soon after graduation and settled down to raise our family and everything had seemed...perfect.

I guess, Lil Miss Skinny is getting all of that good loving now.

Restless, I jumped up from the bed and went into the bathroom to get a new box of Kleenex off the top shelf and while I was doing that, my land line started ringing off the hook and I had to stumble my way back into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Mama? Dad just called and said he's in the Emergency room. What's going on?"

It was our oldest son, David who lived in Houston.

"What did he tell you?"

"Just that he was at the hospital. Shouldn't you know what's wrong with him?"

"Well, baby. Your daddy left me."

"What?"

"Yeah, and I just never got around to telling you kids."

"Wait a minute. You mean left as in y'all have broken up?"

"That's about the gist of it." I said.

"Well, what happened?" David asked.

"He's found somebody else. So, I reckon you should be calling her to find out why your daddy's in the hospital."

"This entire conversation is blowing my mind right now. I mean what the Hell?"

My cellphone went off.

"Hold on a second, my other phone is ringing." Laying the handset down I returned to the bedroom for the mobile.

"Hello?"

"Mama! What's daddy doing in the hospital? Should I fly back down there?"

It was our youngest daughter, Karen who now lived in Oregon with her husband and kids.

"That's up to you baby. I might as well tell you now that your dad and I have broken up."

So after I got off the phone with those two I went ahead and called the rest  and filled them in and had to endure their questions and incredulity which was draining.

And then to cap it all off, Ronald himself called me.

"Avis, you broke my shoulder." He didn't sound very upset, just tired and sad.

"I'm so sorry Ronald..."

"And you should be. What were you thinking, Avis?"

"I don't know, suddenly my mind went blank and I saw red."

"Well, you need to see a psychiatrist about that but I'm not going to press charges. Just don't let it happen again."

10/31/21
Edited 12/20/21.