Big Girls Do Cry Read Free Page A

high-yellow face become hot, and I’m sure it was bright red. Part of me wanted to walk out of there right thenand there. I could feel the other patrons’ eyes all over me. I swear I’d never been so embarrassed in my life.
    Three years ago, before I was even seeing Rashad, I did have a threesome with Tammy and her husband. The whole thing was crazy. Looking back at it, I can’t even believe I agreed to it. I still can’t believe Tammy even asked me to agree to it. But she did, and I did. All because she wanted to give her husband the ultimate birthday present, and she didn’t trust anyone else with her man. Well, when it came down to it, she didn’t trust me either. She swore Tim and I started having an affair after that one crazy night. It couldn’t have been further from the truth, but Tammy’s jealousy really sent her over the edge for a while. Don’t ask me how we still remained friends after that, because it almost ruined our friendship, not to mention her marriage.
    “Tammy, you got me all wrong, girl. I wasn’t going to ask you to have a threesome. I swear to God.” I put my right hand up in the air. “Ugh. Just the thought of Rashad being with another woman turns my stomach.”
    “You weren’t going to ask me that?” I could hear relief in her voice, but she studied my face as if she doubted I was telling the truth.
    “No!” I said assuredly. “I don’t even know where that came from. I’ll never do anything like that again in my life. You know that mess was painful for all of us. Why would I even think about getting into a situation like that again?”
    “Damn, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I let my mind play tricks on me. But with Rashad’s birthday coming up, I just knew that’s what you were going to ask me. I—” Suddenly she stopped speaking, and her head went from side to side.
    I looked around to see people staring at us like we had on clown costumes. One woman at the table next to us was glaring so hard I had to say something to her. “What are you looking at?”
    “Egypt, don’t worry about her.”
    “People need to mind their own damn business.” I wasn’t normally so rude to strangers. I guess the tension of my situation and the fact that I just had to defend myself from Tammy was really getting to me. Either way, it made the woman finally look the other way.
    “Look, stop beating around the bush. You said you need a favor. What is it?”
    “Okay, I’m sorry.” I turned to her, hesitating for a second before I spoke. I really couldn’t believe I was about to tell her my secret, but part of me was happy to share it with her and get it off my chest. “Rashad and I didn’t tell anybody, but I had a miscarriage a few months ago.”
    “Oh, Egypt, I’m so sorry.”
    “We didn’t want to tell anybody I was pregnant until I was three months,” I explained. “Then when I lost the baby, I couldn’t talk to anyone about it other than Rashad. Until now.”
    “Oh, Egypt, honey, you should have told me. I would have come down sooner.” Her eyes looked like they were tearing, which caused mine to tear again. It was good to know that she really cared. “I would have been here for you.”
    “I know, but it gets a little worse.”
    I hesitated again, and Tammy said, “Girl, if you don’t tell me what’s going on …”
    “I’m sorry. It’s just a little hard to talk about.” I took a deep breath. “I just got the report back from my doctor—”
    “Are you all right?” She reached out and held my hand for support. “Seriously, you okay?”
    “I’m fine, Tammy, far as I know—except for one problem. I had an endometrial biopsy….”
    “Oh, no, girl, don’t tell me nothing bad. Please don’t tell me they think you got cancer or something.” She closed her eyes as if she was afraid to hear what I was about to say. She was being awfully dramatic about everything, and I hadn’t even gotten to the favor yet. But that was Tammy; she never did anything in an