Killing Them Softly Read Online Free Page A

of the drapes; from the view from the balcony to the fact that we hadn’t seen any other black people since we got off the plane. "And what the hell is taking them so long to find another room," she fussed. She immediately picked up the phone and started blasting the front desk clerk.
    As for me, I sat quietly in a chair by the sliding glass door to the balcony. I thought the view, which overlooked the pool, was excellent. And I enjoyed watching all of the well-tanned female bodies lounging by the pool.
    Before I left New York, I had resolved myself not to buy into Taye’s mood swings, and to have a good time regardless of what was going on with her. However, my hope was that Taye would let go of some of the things that seemed to constantly stress her out, and relax for change. She was always so uptight. In my mind, I pictured us having fun at the beach. Holding hands while we took long, romantic walks together. We would once again share little jokes that nobody understood but us. I really hoped that we would rekindle that magic that we once shared.
    I looked at my wife as she wandered around the room, bitching and moaning about everything, including the fact that she should have gotten a pedicure before she left. And I knew in my heart, that was not going to be the case. I needed this vacation, and I be damned if I was going to allow Taye to ruin it for me.
    Once we were taken to our new room with a king-sized bed, things got no better. At dinner that evening, she complained about the service and that her food was cold when it arrived, and kept it up throughout the meal.
    "Really, baby? My food is fine," I said with a smile.
    "What are you smiling about? I don’t see anything funny here," Taye answered.
    I put down my knife and fork, and then wiped my mouth with the napkin before placing it gently on the table. "Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, if you hadn’t given the waiter such a hard time, that he might have taken the time to re-warm your food before he brought it out?"
    "Devin James, if that isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, I don’t know what is."
    "Trust me, Taye. I worked my way through law school waiting tables. And believe me, people like you get bad service on purpose."
    With that, Taye stood up, slammed her napkin down on the table, and walked away.
    "Taye! Taye!" I said loudly, and watched Taye walk out of the restaurant.
    I signaled for the waiter and paid the check, but when I got outside, Taye was nowhere in sight. I walked around the area for a few minutes looking for her, before finally saying, "Fuck it." I got in a cab and went back to the hotel.
    When I got back to the room, I found Taye in bed with her sleeping pill bottle and a half-empty glass of water on the nightstand. "God-damn sleeping pills," I said softly, as I looked at my watch. "It’s too fuckin’ early to go to bed."
    I walked out of the room slamming the door behind me, and went downstairs to the hotel bar and got quietly drunk.
    The next day wasn’t any better for us. When I woke up, she was already gone and stayed gone, until well past nine that night. When she came back in the room, Taye had an armful of bags.
    "Where were you all day?"
    "I did some shopping, and then I went sightseeing," Taye said.
    "You could have waited for me. Did you ever think that maybe I wanted to go sightseeing?"
    "If that were the case, you wouldn’t have gone out last night and gotten so drunk that you couldn’t get up. And don’t even try to say that you didn’t. I could smell the liquor on you a mile away."
    "Baby, why does it have to be like this? All I want is for us to have a good time. I didn’t come here with you for us to take separate vacations."
    "Then maybe you should take some time and think about somebody other than yourself," she shouted, and went into the bathroom and slammed the door.
    When she came out of the bathroom thirty minutes later, with nothing on but a towel, I was stretched out on the bed watching