How to Knock a Bravebird from Her Perch : The First Novel in the Morrow Girls Series (9780985751616) Read Online Free

and kicking things out his way. “I...I do right by you. I take care of you, don’t I? Pay the bills? Put food on the table? Huh? I gave you a baby! And this how you wanna repay me? You gonna sneak up outta here when my back’s turned?”
    “No...”
    “No? You think I’m stupid?” Ricky stopped pacing long enough to put both his eyes on me. “Huh? Think you about to out-think me? That I can’t see what’s right up in my face! Who is he?”
    “Who—he ain’t nobody—I mean...ain’t nobody.”
    “You fucking around on me?”
    “No. I…I was just going to the store. I was...I was coming right back.” First one hurt the most. The slap. Backhanded me like I was just a fly. But the second one hurt too. Ricky made it real clear he could send me flying in either direction with any one of his hands. Had me balled up on the bed, crying and pleading. Him on top of me. Screaming and holding me down. “Rick-ky, please...” That’s all I could get out before he hit me again. And again. And again. I just couldn’t believe it. Not me. Other girls might have that happen to them but not me. My man was not doing that to me.
    “You ain’t leaving me! You hear me, Pecan? I ain’t gone live without you. You hear me? And you ain’t living without me.” I was too busy crying to say something but he acted like he ain’t see that. Demanding an answer. Swearing and spitting on me until he got his way. “Hear me?”
    “Yeah! I…I hear you!” It came out so hard I started shaking. And he backed up off of me real slow like I was the one who was hurting him. Like me crying held some power over him. Like me bleeding and swelling and bruising was something I was doing to him. Then he looked over at Nikki. She’d seen it all. I couldn’t wait for no tissue, made use of my sleeves and wiped my face best I could. “Nikki! Come here, baby! Come to mama!” A good girl, she came and I wrapped her up in my arms. Thinking I could keep some part of me safe.
    “Stop looking at me like that. Pecan.”
    “I ain’t. I ain’t looking at you no more. Never.” Me and Nikki rocked back and forth at the foot of the bed, shutting him out best we could.
    “You...You my wife. You supposed to love me, not...”
    “I said I ain’t looking at you!”
    “It wasn’t my fault! You did this—you made me...you did.” Ricky scratched his head and wiped the sweat from his brow. “I ain’t mean to...I…I just...a man got a right to know where his wife going, and if she don’t tell him he gonna think something!”
    Nikki was crying softly into my shirt, so that was where all my attention went. I ain’t wanna think no more about this man that was supposed to love me. But he wasn’t having it. More I tried to calm Nikki, louder he got. Demanding I see things his way. How it looked to him. What was he supposed to do? Of course he lost his temper. But it ain’t mean nothing he said. I was lucky. I would’ve been out on the street if it wasn’t for him. Would’ve been all alone. I was real lucky. Ricky knelt down on the floor and his pant leg got caught on one of the floorboards that was starting to stick up so he yanked it free. Yanked it so hard he tore a little hole right on his knee but he ain’t give it much thought. Just went right on with what he wanted to say.
    “I ain’t never gone do that again. I promise. I know how sensitive you is and I ain’t mean to hurt you. I just can’t think of you with some other man...him putting his hands all over you.” His hands found they way to my back, closing in around me and Nikki like they could make us feel better. “You cold, baby? Huh?” I shook my head even though I couldn’t stop shivering. “Don’t be like that. Look at you. Your face getting all puffy. I...I ain’t gonna...again. You believe me right, Pecan?”
    “Mmhmm.”
    “You know how much I love you. I just wanna protect you, keep you safe. This here a big city and you don’t wanna end up like these girls be out