Scavengers Read Online Free Page B

She laughed and put the pot on the table. “We’ll tip big, we promise.”
    Gloria laughed. “Two big spenders in one day? Soldier-boy left me a ten.”
    “Good public relations,” Hoover said, chuckling.
    Robbins’s cell phone went off. Rock guitar and drums blared as Gene Simmons’s voice sang from his pocket: They call me Dr. Love… Robbins laughed and stared at his phone. “Damn. Kiss .”
    Hoover looked at him blankly.
    “Kammie was home for a couple of hours. Kid always has a laugh changin’ her old man’s ringtone.”
    Hoover shrugged.
    “Never mind.” Robbins smiled and answered the phone. “Dr. Robbins.” Hoover struck up a conversation with Dave while Robbins took the call. He didn’t say anything but slid the phone closed a moment later. “Hospital. Gotta run, men. It’s been charming as always.” Robbins stood, downing the last lukewarm swallow of coffee. He dropped three bucks and a ten on the table. “That’s for Gloria.” He tapped on the ten. “Don’t none of you cheap bastards pinch it.”
    “It’ll be there for her. Don’t want no Army men beatin’ us out on tipping,” Ray said.
    “Although,” Hoover added, “This sets a dangerous precedent.”  The guys shared a laugh.
    Robbins started to leave, but then turned back around. “Hey, where’s Burt today?”
    Hoover waved him off with a look that accused Robbins of being Mother Hen. “Sick. He’s out there near H-systems. Army’s got those roads locked down tighter than your ex-wife’s pussy.”
    “It’s not his heart again, is it?” Robbins said, choosing to ignore the comment about the she-witch.
    “He just said he was sick.”
    Robbins frowned. “Thanks. Y’all take care.” A chorus of goodbyes followed him out the Dairy Queen door, the cowbell clanging behind.

CHAPTER 4
     
    Dejah stood bleary-eyed staring out the back window of their home in Cooper Heights and wondered why in the hell she was still here. 
    Wrapped in her maroon plush robe, she wafted the fresh cup of coffee just under her nose, hoping it would help to breathe it in, that she’d awaken magically from this dream and find she hadn’t wasted the past ten years of her life with a man who seemed a complete stranger to her now, who hadn’t touched her with a tender hand in longer than she cared to think about. If it weren’t for Selah, she wouldn’t have made it this far with Thomas. There had been problems all along. Starting five years ago, she strongly suspected that he was with other women and not on frequent business trips.
    Funny thing, she wasn’t sure it really mattered.
    But despite Selah, despite her strong feelings that it was best for them to keep things together for their daughter’s sake, Dejah wasn’t sure she could make it much farther.
    Oh give it up . Your pity party every damn morning gets tiresome. Look at this house, these things, you don’t have to work, Selah has everything she needs and then some. You could have done a hell of a lot worse.
    Yes, that was true. She knew it, and she felt a twinge of guilt at entertaining the notion of leaving, but she did it nonetheless.  Some days, she thought about going back to teaching at the junior high, but that meant having to put Selah in day care, and she wasn’t sure she could make enough money to swing it. And she’d have to―make money, that is―if she planned on leaving.  She’d have to get a teaching job again, because that was all she’d ever done (and honestly all she’d ever wanted to do).  And yes, here she was thinking of leaving him for nothing other than unconfirmed suspicions and the simple fact that she craved love. She needed to feel a throbbing current of electricity inside of her, to gasp and feel passion and excitement again, to clutch someone in the throes of ecstasy and be held tight in return … and to know that person would be there for her in every way for all time.
    “You’re dreamin’, sister,” she muttered. Standing on the bare wood