Red Hats Read Online Free PDF Page A

Between the change of life and the various mood-altering medications, he never knew which Alma he was going to return home to or wake up next to. Sometimes she would be happy and so funny he couldn’t get enough of her. That particular woman had a laugh that lit up a room. It was infectious. When she laughed, he laughed. He guessed that was one of the things that kept him hanging in there with her. Her laugh! Too bad she was so stingy with it.
    “Your move,” Bob said.
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Woolgathering, I guess,” Harold replied absentmindedly. He maneuvered his pawn to take Bob’s bishop.
    “What were you thinking about? The time Alma chased Seymour with that butcher knife?” Bob teased.
    “Nah, I try to forget that,” Harold said.
    “Me too,” Seymour added.
    “That was funny. I’ve never seen a man run so fast. She was going to kill you.”
    “She was going to kill you, too, as I remember,” Harold said.
    “She sure was, told me to give this stab wound to you. I thought she was playing around until she swung that big ol’ butcher knife at my face,” Bob said. “I ran like hell.”
    Harold took out a fifth of whiskey and three small plastic cups from a brown paper bag and placed them on the stone table.
    “I was wondering when you was going to bring out that kryptonite,” Bob said as he helped himself to a generous shot of the warm, amber hooch.
    “Mmmm, that’s good stuff right there. You want some, Seymour?” Bob asked.
    “Yeah, pass it this way,” Seymour said. “Yep. That’s the joy of life right there. You want me to pour you some more, Harold?”
    Harold was holding his head in his hands. He pushed the cup away as if it was the source of his pain.
    “No. My head is hurting.”
    “She hit you in the head, too?” Seymour joked.
    “No. I’ve just been feeling funny the past few days. It’s like I don’t have all my energy. I just want to sleep, that’s all. Even when I’m sleeping, I don’t feel rested,” he tried to explain.
    “Maybe you should see a doctor,” Bob suggested.
    “See a doctor for what? The doctor is the one that got me on all these pills. Them people only think about one thing when you walk in the hospital, and it ain’t you. It’s how much insurance you got. They determine how much money they can get before they tell you what you got. Ifyour insurance is real good, they give you cancer. They make a killing if they give you cancer. Between the chemo and the blood transfusions, along with the needles and tests, plus the cost of the room, that’s over a hundred thousand dollars from one person. I don’t want to know what I got anymore. When the good Lord wants me, he will come and get me. No doctor is going to stop that!”
    “Amen,” Bob said as he poured himself another shot.
    “Y’all finish the rest of that. I’m going home to rest. I feel tired.” Harold got up to leave.
    “OK, but I won by forfeit,” Bob said.
    Harold nodded defeat.
    From the living-room
window, Alma looked in the direction of the park, hoping to see Harold. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he spent so much time with Mutt and Jeff. Why couldn’t he devote some time to the so-called love of his life? From sunup until sundown, he was in that park. All they did was sit there, drink, and play chess. What was so much fun about that? Wasn’t she fun to him anymore?
    Her mind drifted back to a hot summer’s day when they’d gone on an overnight getaway to Virginia Beach. She and Harold went swimming late at night in the hotel’s pool, which was supposed to be off limits after ten P.M . Adventure got the best of them, along with some Boone’s Farm, and they had found themselves in the pool. Theywere wearing their street clothes when the notion struck, so they swam in their underwear.
    The water was warm, and it had aroused Alma with the thrill of breaking the rules with this beautiful man and his lean, muscular frame, who kept kissing the tender spot at the nape of