Marie dealt the first hand of spades while the ladies ate, drank and drank some more. Before the first game was finished, two bottles of wine were empty and Stephanie was on her third bottle of Coors. They were on a roll.
“Somebody up in here is cheatin’,” Ellie said, then began to giggle.
“I don’t see what’s so funny. I’m losing,” Stephanie grumbled. “Think I’m being taken advantage of.” She turned the empty bottle up to her lips, frowned then looked around for another one. Not finding one, she pushed herself up out of the chair, stumbled once, righted herself and headed for the kitchen. “The rest of the wine out here?” she yelled.
“In the fridge. And bring some more ice,” Barbara called out.
Ann Marie got up. “I’ll help before her drunk behind breaks something.” She zigzagged her way to the kitchen.
Barbara looked across the table at Ellie. They broke out laughing. Just another Friday night with the girls. A time to let their hair down and act the fool without recriminations.
“Good to see you laughing, Ell. You had me worried.” She finished the last of her wine.
Suddenly, as if someone had slapped her, Ellie howled in some kind of agony that scared the hell out of Barbara and had Stephanie and Ann Marie falling all over each other to get into the living room.
“What happened?” they screeched. They turned accusing eyes on Barbara, who was stunned into open-mouthed and wide-eyed silence as Ellie bawled and railed like a baby.
Ellie jumped up from the table, nearly falling down in the process. She grabbed the edge of the table to keep from going face-first on the floor.
Barbara hurried to her side. “Ell, calm down. What is it? Tell me, honey.” She put her arms around her and led her to the couch.
Stephanie and Ann Marie sat on the floor at Ellie’s feet.
“What got you so twisted, chile?” Ann Marie cooed, patting Ellie’s knee.
Stephanie patted the other knee. “You can tell us.”
Ellie sniffed hard, her body shuddering. “He… he… The bastard!”
“Who? What bastard?” Ann Marie asked.
“Matt!”
“Matthew? Your husband?” Stephanie asked.
Ellie nodded her head hard. “Don’t say his name.”
The three women looked at each other in confusion.
Barbara sat down next to Elizabeth. “Ell, just tell us what’s wrong. Maybe we can help.”
“No one can help me. No one.” She covered her face with her hands and cried harder.
“Oh, damn, she’s drunk,” Steph said.
“Oh, shut up. So are you.” Ann Marie patted Ellie’s knee a little harder.
“I know that.” Stephanie said with conviction. “What’s your excuse?”
“What!” Ann Marie tried to stand up and couldn’t. “You want a fat lip?”
“Who’s gonna give it to me, you?” Stephanie started to giggle. “Take off those damn high heels and I’ll just step over you and be done with it.” She laughed harder.
Barbara cringed. Ann Marie hated nothing more than to be taunted about her height.
Ann Marie snatched off her shoe quicker than a flash of lightning and raised it over her head ready to bean Stephanie. Not before Barbara, seeing disaster unfold, reached out for the shoe before it connected, but instead tumbled in a heap on the floor between the two would-be gladiators.
Seeing Barbara on the floor set them all off into a fit of near-hysterical laughter, until Ellie’s piercing voice broke through the cacophony.
“Have you all lost your mind? Doesn’t anyone care about my problem?”
The laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. Three sets of eyes rested on Ellie’s tear-streaked face.
“We would, but you won’t tell us what it is we’re supposed to care about,” Stephanie murmured.
Elizabeth looked from one concerned face to the next. She swallowed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Matthew wants a divorce.”
Barbara’s mouth opened and all she could say was her dear friend’s name.
Ann Marie whispered, “No,” then covered her mouth.
“Not you and Matt,” Stephanie muttered.
Barbara scrambled up off the floor and sat back next to Ellie. “What happened, Ell?”
Ann Marie sat up. “You bot’ seem so happy.”
“When did this happen?” Stephanie asked.
“This morning. Over breakfast.” She laughed. “Grits, eggs and homemade hash browns just the way he likes them.”
Barbara put her arm around Ellie’s shoulders and squeezed. “Ell, what did he say?”
Ellie drew in a breath. “He said…he can’t live with me anymore. He…doesn’t…love me anymore. He’s in love with someone else.”
“Matt?” Stephanie asked incredulously.
Ellie nodded.
“Who is she? ’Cause it sound to me like she need her arse whipped.”
“Ann Marie,” Barbara scolded. “That’s not going to solve anything.”
“Maybe not, but it would make me feel better.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Stephanie seconded.
“I’ve met her. Sweet young thing. Not much older than our daughter! Can you believe that? Oh God!” she wailed.
“Oh, girl, it’s probably just a fling. A midlife crisis or something. You know how men get. He’ll come to his senses,” Stephanie offered.
Ellie reached for her purse, tucked near the arm of the couch. She opened it and pulled out a thick set of folded papers. “Does this read like a midlife crisis to you?” She sniffed and shoved the papers toward her friends.
Barbara opened them up. It was a petition for divorce. She passed them to Ann Marie, who then handed them to Steph.
Ann Marie pushed up from the floor, crossed the room to where she’d left her purse on the table and pulled out her bottle of Courvoisier. She put the bottle under her arm and collected their glasses. She handed a glass to each one and began to pour. “We need a real drink after that.”
“You ain’t lying,” Stephanie said.
Barbara
