Amaryllis Read Online Free PDF Page B

The tears that began streaming down Amaryllis’ face concerned Michelle.
    â€œAm I too rough?”
    â€œI feel so helpless, Michelle. And I feel bad because your man is downstairs waiting for you, but you’re up here taking care of me.”
    â€œJames is fine. Trust me. He’s got his food and his sports, he’s very content.”
    â€œI appreciate you accepting me into your home and taking care of me like this.”
    â€œYou’re my sister, girl. It’s just me and you, so we gotta take care of each other.”
    After the bath, Michelle applied lotion to Amaryllis’ skin and helped her into her fresh clothing.
    â€œI used to do this for Black. I would bathe him, oil his whole body and cook his meals and then feed him.”
    Michelle looked at Amaryllis as though she was a nutcase. “You’re kidding me, right?”
    â€œNo, I took care of Black like that all the time.”
    â€œYou know that it was wrong for you to do that, don’t you?”
    â€œBut I enjoyed doing things like that for him.”
    â€œAnd there’s nothing wrong with a woman taking care of her man like that as long as he’s her husband.”
    â€œWe lived together, Michelle.”
    â€œAnd that was wrong too. Some things are sacred and should be saved for marriage. If you give a man all the sex he wants, bathe him and cook his every meal, then feed him too, what has he got to look forward to after you say your vows? When you promise to love, honor and cherish your man in the presence of God, that’s when the cooking, bathing and sex comes into play. You want to keep a man guessing what else you’ve got to give, Amaryllis.
    â€œWhen you’re courting your man, he should feel like a kid in a candy store with only a nickel in his pocket. There’s so much good stuff that he would like to have a taste of but can’t afford. But because he loves candy, it causes him to save his allowance and come back for more when he has enough money. You see, Amaryllis, the candy is there for him to look at and admire, but it’s not free. If a man is able to have all the candy he wants without having to pay, sooner or later, he’ll lose his appetite for it. Now don’t get me wrong; I love James with my whole heart. He’s good to me and I’m good to him. But as much as we love each other, he’s not worthy of me sexing, bathing and feeding him yet. I give him just enough of me to keep him coming back.”
    â€œWhat do you mean you give him just enough?”
    â€œThis is my home. I worked very hard to buy this place, and God allowed me to have it. James is not allowed to bring his clothes over and take up space in any of my closets. And even though there are three bathrooms in this house, neither of them has room for James’ toothbrush. I pay the mortgage, not James. In the entire year that we’ve been together, he hasn’t once spent the night. Even if we’re watching a movie that ends at three o’clock in the morning, James has to leave here.
    â€œAnother example is the way I cook for him, if I cook at all. I don’t like to eat restaurant food all the time, so occasionally, I may cook. I know James’ favorite meal is spare ribs, macaroni and cheese, hot water cornbread with mustard and turnip greens. I hooked him up one Sunday after church and the brotha was foaming at the mouth. He said even his mother’s greens didn’t taste that good. That was about seven months ago and he’s been begging for that meal ever since. I tell him that I don’t have time to cook it, but I’ll try and make it soon. That lets him know that he’s got something to look forward to. Now, when I have the time to cook, I do the basic fried chicken or maybe spaghetti, but I don’t cook for James everyday. Only my husband will be allowed that luxury. When he becomes my husband, he’ll get his greens.”
    To Amaryllis,