God Still Don't Like Ugly Read Online Free

were both in the military, stationed somewhere in Germany. Daddy had retired from a security guard position at a rough high school and now lived on a monthly pension check.
    Other than an occasional dinner with a pushy grandmother he referred to as “Miss Pittman,” Daddy had no love life. “I don’t miss havin’ no lady friend,” he insisted, a faraway look in his eyes. “Women done got me in enough trouble to last me from now on.”
    Immediately after the elaborate meal, Daddy excused himself from the table in the middle of a sentence. He ran to the bathroom, moaning and cussing all the way.
    “He’s got weak bowels,” Lillimae whispered, rising from the table.
    I had almost forgotten how kicked-back people were down South.
    It was late in the evening and Lillimae was still in her bathrobe from that morning. There was now gravy on her bare feet that had dripped 16
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    off her overflowing dinner plate. She ignored the gnats hovering above her toes, but every few minutes she lifted her feet and shook them.
    “Poor Daddy. He’s so proud and independent, it took me a year to talk him into movin’ in with me so I could look after him. And not a minute too soon, girl. Miss Pittman was just about to reel him in like a carp.”
    “What-all is wrong with Daddy? He doesn’t look too well,” I said with concern, tapping my fingers on the naked wooden table situated in the middle of the small kitchen.
    “Oh, he’s in pretty good health for a man his age, but he was so lonely livin’ alone. And in a neighborhood that was so rough even the cops got robbed on the streets. I was just as lonely as Daddy was.”
    Lillimae paused and leaned down to scratch the side of her foot.
    Then she started removing plates from the table.
    “I’ll help you clean up,” I offered. I stood up, my legs feeling like lead pipes. I massaged my thighs, frowning at the hole on the knee of my pantyhose that I had ruined crawling out of the cab.
    She waved me back to my seat. “You just sit there. You’re company.
    It ain’t every day I get to see family.” She paused and continued talking with her back to me. “Uh, some folks wouldn’t want nothin’ to do with a man’s outside woman’s kids. Sharin’ the same blood wouldn’t mean a damn thing to them.”
    “Well, I don’t feel that way.” I sniffed and coughed to clear my throat. “Speaking of blood, where is your mother these days?” I asked, returning to my seat with a thud so hard, my tailbone ached.
    I had no love for the woman who had ruined my life, but I wanted to know more about her. Muh’Dear had always advised me, Know thine enemy, because knowledge is power. I had to know for myself what it was about the woman who had managed to weaken my daddy and lure him away from his responsibilities.
    Lillimae let out a deep sigh and pressed her thin lips together so tight it looked like they had disappeared. Then she started talking in a low, controlled voice. “Oh, she took off when I was ten. I heard that she lived in Key West for a few years. Mama’s family didn’t want nothin’ to do with me and Sondra and Amos, so we couldn’t keep up with Mama’s life. I just found out three years ago that she’s back in Miami with a new husband. I have two other half-sisters that I’ve never GOD STILL DON’T LIKE UGLY
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    even seen or talked to.” Lillimae blinked and smiled sadly. “That’s why it was so important for me to meet you.”
    “Oh.” The kitchen window was open and smoke from one of the houses next door streamed in, making my eyes burn and itch. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. “It’s too bad you don’t get to spend time with her,” I managed. Nobody knew as well as I did how painful it was not to have much of a family. My mother and my Aunt Berniece had been the only relatives I had when I was growing up.
    Lillimae continued talking as she started washing dishes. “Mama’s baby brother Lester married a woman I went to school with. Roxanne