I awoke the next morning to the shrill ringing of my cell phone. I know it couldn't be about work because it was my day off. I blindly swiped for my phone an answered it groggily.

"Hello?" I asked

"Aviyah! What are you doing?" Hazel yelled into my ear

I ripped the phone away from my ear with a groan and calmly put it back.

"One, why are you yelling? And two, I'm sleeping like anyone else would be doing at-"

I paused to look at the clock.

"- 7 am! Why are you up so early!?"

"Girl you know me, early bird catches the worm! Besides, I was getting a bit fat, I had to start going on my early morning jogs again. You know, before the creeps come out."

"Haze, you're not even fat! The last time I saw you, you looked fit as a fiddle." I said, annoyed

Hazel was always trying some new fad or always over exercising. This week, jogging was in. Next week she'd be eating a strict diet consisting of food that only started with the letter A. It never ended with her trying to capture the 'perfect body', which to her was a size 2, one hundred and ten pounds, a huge butt and huge boobs. I didn't have the heart to tell her that that wasn't possible. But there were times I wanted to slap some self love into her. She was a beautiful young girl who could have the guys eating out of her hand if she wanted to!

"To you maybe, but I want to look good for Robert. You know he's been away on deployment awhile and I just want him to have a hot girlfriend to come back home to."

"Robert adores you Hazel, and when he was here, he worshipped the very ground you walked on. Even then you thought you weren't good enough for him and all he saw was perfection."

Which in my situation I would utterly kill for.

"But still Avy, I feel like I could be better for him you know?"

"Yeah Hazel, I understand. But, what are you doing today? Are you off of work?" I asked, desperate to change the conversation

"Yeah, I am. Wanna have a girls day?"

"I could really use one. What time should we meet?"

"One sound good?"

"Yeah. I'll call Selene and see I she wants to come too."

"Alright girlie, see you then."

I hung up and realized that is was almost time to have breakfast on the table. I shrugged out of bed and walked to the kitchen to get things started. I'll be honest, I was still sour about last night. I was wistfully thinking of using the rat poison under the sink for a little extra kick in his food, a smile crossing my face as the idea danced in my head. But no, what good would that even do me? I'd still be humiliated, even with that bastard gone. Then I'd be in jail. And jail was no place for a girl like me. I wouldn't last a second in there. Still, at least one of my problems would be solved.

As I put the last of the eggs and other food I had cooked on a plate and cut everything off, I decided to go and see what was taking Jessie, since he was always up at the crack of the first egg it seemed.

Opening our bedroom door, I saw that Jessie wasn't even In his bed. Perfect.

I shut the door annoyed and walked back to the kitchen to make myself some coffee and try to eat all of this food by myself. As my coffee brewed bitter thoughts came into my head. It was way too early for him to be at work, so where the hell was he? I bet it was with one of his many women out on a shopping spree with our money. Why was I so weak? With all of this evidence that I had and yet I still hadn't mustered the courage to leave this man. God, why did I love him so much when I knew wholeheartedly that he did not love me in return? And better yet, why was I allowing this man to make me deathly afraid of him to even try getting myself out of this situation? I was practically his prisoner and I hated it.

Well you know what? If he could go out, so could I. I was sick of my cheating bastard of a husband, and I wanted to show him that I could have my own fun as well. Though I wouldn't cheat on him, I would never stoop that low, I could go on a shopping spree of my very own. So when one hit, I was out of the door and heading to the mall I promised to meet Selene and Hazel at. It was a high end mall on one of the richest sides of town. And I was going to enjoy every bit of my splurging.

"Hey, its about time you got here. I got lost trying to find the place."

"Sorry Haze, I just wanted to treat myself today, so I decided to come here. Hey Selene."

"Hey girl, how have you been?" She asked, giving me a hug

"Good." I lied "How are you and the hubby?" I asked

"Excellent. Can you believe we'll be married ten years next week?" She beamed excitedly

"I really can't. That's awesome Selene. What are you guys going to be doing?"

"Well, we're dropping the kids off at their grandmothers and then we're going to Palm Beach for a few days."

"Okay, fancy!" I smirked as we started towards the mall.

"Yeah Sel, I didn't know you and your husband had bank like that!"

"We don't, but we started saving up for this trip our first year of marriage. Patience and discipline really pay off."

"And clipping a lot of coupons." Hazel teased

Selene and her husband Sal were very frugal. If they didn't have to splurge on it, they usually saved up for it or clipped coupons to make it less. And yes, they are the types you'd probably see on Extreme Couponers because they were the ones who went to the store and actually walked away with free food.

They sure had a lot of patience.

"That may be Hazel, but hey, it paid off."

"Okay, could we please go shopping now? I so want to spend a bit of money."

"Let me guess, you and Jessie are having problems again?" Hazel asked

"Of course not, I just want to look pretty for him." I lied

Honestly? I wanted to hit him where it hurt: his pockets. Now, you'd think it wouldn't hurt him because he was a lawyer, but it did. Anytime I went over my "budget" he'd get so angry at me. Yet he could spend hundreds of thousands on his little whores out here without a problem. Hm, I wonder if his colleagues or even those other women would even remotely respect him if they found out just what type of man he was. I mean, they probably get the nice man that I so desperately wanted, yet the woman who cooks, cleans, and takes care of him can't even get any respect? Oh no, if I couldn't beat him in the old fashion way, I could damn sure do it my way.

"Alright now, let me know if I have to sic Robert on him or anything. The man's a marine, he'd probably get away with it."

"No, that's not necessary. Let's just go shopping, I just want to take my mind off of everything and just have fun."

And deplete the bank account. Hey, I did say I wanted to have fun.

"Then let's go." Hazel said

We all walked into the upscale mall and went to the richest stores we could find. Oh you already know that I used each and every credit card that I had in my wallet. Some things I bought more than once in different colors. And other times, I bought Selene and Hazel outfits, lying and saying that Jessie insisted on it.

After our spree, I had spent over ten thousand dollars. Ah, how liberating it felt! Less money for his whores and a nice pay back on my behalf. I know I'd get a beating for this, But it would be oh so worth it when I saw the look on his face.

When I got home that evening, I decided to leave the various bags in my trunk and I walked inside. I already knew that the credit card company had probably called Jessie about the bill and he'd be livid, but who cared? For a small amount of time I was happy and I would so relish it!

But I was no fool, I had Hazel coming over later on that night and she of course had a key to our house. I mean, she didn't know the whole story, but she didn't hesitate coming to spend the night with me. Sometimes she was over here more than I kept count of. According to Jessie, as long as she wasn't a boy or trying to "get with his slut", then she was welcome.

You know, I was really starting to hate that asshole.

But like I was saying, I walked into the house waiting for that tirade to come but weirdly, nothing happened. It was eerily quiet as I cut on the lights in the kitchen. I sighed, starting to try cooking dinner.

I took out some pots and pans and filled them with water, and then placed them on the stove after I had turned the eyes on. As waited for the water to boil, I grabbed chicken out of the refrigerator and grabbed different spices and vegetables. I dry rubbed the chicken and then cut it up into little cubes to throw in the water. I would be making my world famous chicken and broccoli soup tonight and I was starving. Spending all of that money was taxing on my energy.

A few minutes into my cooking, I heard footsteps but didn't look behind me because I assumed it was Jessie, but it was only when I heard the voice that I knew it wasn't.

"What's for dinner? I'm starving."

I turned back around and saw a white girl with brunette hair and bright hazel eyes as sh stared at me with the biggest smile on her face.

"Um, who the hell are you and why are you in my house?"

"Well I'm Amy and I'm one of Jessie's friends. He told me his sister was staying over tonight. You're very pretty." She smiled sweetly

Sister? Oh this nigga done did it now! And even if I was his sister, why would she still stay the night anyway!? That's it!

"Well for starters, I'm Jessie's wife. I see you're yet another one of his whores."

Her smile disappered quickly and she stood up from the island that we had in the middle of the kitchen.

"Excuse me, wife?" She asked, blinking three times.

"That's right, wife. Now, I don't know if you know, but Jessie has the tendency to step out on me a lot. He's a ladies man and he has many more of you that he... entertains in his spare time."

She walked around to me and got close to me. I saw that all she had on was one of his shirts. Hm, typical after sex wear.

"So you're saying he's been cheating on you?"

"Yep, probably our whole marriage. I'm not good enough for him yet he refuses to let me leave him. It's quite confusing but honestly, once you reach past the point of fury into seething, white hot rage, that's when you get over it."

"I am sorry that this happened, I would've never slept with him if I knew he was married."

"He's ashamed for people to know that we are married. But don't worry, it's not your fault. If you'd like to stay for dinner you can."

"No, I think I'm gonna go. But I'm gonna tear him a new one!"

"Honey, I'd just go. You don't want to be around when he's angry." I sighed, scraping the chicken into the water and then adding the broth and vegetables.

"Is he really that bad?"

I wordlessly showed her an old scar on my back from when he had attacked me once while he was drunk. It almost extended all the way down my back.

I didn't know why I was telling her this stuff, but for some odd reason, I had to make sure she stayed safe because she was getting the Mr. Hyde while I got Dr. Jekyll. She was walking into a trap and didn't even know it.

"Oh my God." She gasped

"Make sure you get your things and never come back here Amy. I'm warning you, you'll regret it." I said, turning back towards the stove calmly

I hear rushing feet retreat from the kitchen and then I hear the front door close a few minutes later. I continue cooking like nothing happened and stir the soup slowly. Soon, I heard heavier footsteps and then yelling.

"What the hell did you say to her!?" I heard him yell

I wouldn't lie, I was terrified, but I continued to stir the soup.

"Nothing. So, how was she, did you enjoy yourself?"

"Aviyah, I swear I'll-"

"What? Hit me, punch me, slap me around? Fuck you Jesse, you already do that! It's bad enough you put your hands on me and you cheat, but you brought another woman into our fucking house!?"

"Our house? Bitch, you pay nary a bill here."

"I do pay the bills and I also pay your whores. We have a joint checking account, that means the checks that I do earn go towards your and your selfish ass habits!"

"You work at a clothing store, I'm a big time lawyer who makes over a million a year. Look at the house you're in and the car you drive, you get to have all of that, stop being fucking ungrateful!"

"Jesse, none of that means anything to me if I don't have my husband. Why do they get to have you in ways I never get to?"

"We've gone over this Aviyah-"

"Why, because I'm fat?! Nigga if it was a damn problem before, then you should've have fucking married me, I was a big girl in high school when you met me! If my body is so horrible, why;d you marry me?"

"Well It wasn't because I loved you that's for sure."