“It’s not what you think it is, Charlotte.”

“Oh, so I must just be crazy. I didn’t really read no letter from no woman talking about how much she love you, and by the way, did you want a divorce, Al? ’Cause, according to her letter, you been promising to get one. Where’s the papers? Bring ’em over here and I’ll sign the goddamn things right now! Or, better yet, I’ll get my own!”

“I don’t want no divorce. This was a mistake I made, and it was so long ago I had forgot all about it.”

“A mistake? And you forgot about it?”

“It was more than five years ago, Charlotte. When you was pregnant with Monique. You was having a rough time those last four months, remember?”

“So. If every husband went off and had a affair ’cause his wife is having a hard pregnancy, where would that leave us? This is so tacky, Al, I swear it is.”

“I’m sorry, Charlotte. I’m very, very sorry. It wasn’t about nothing. I was just feeling lonely, and I broke it off right after Monique was born, ’cause I got the woman I married back. I don’t even know what happened to her. I’m sorry.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m telling you the truth. I love you, Charlotte, and if I wasn’t happy, I wouldn’t be here. I’da been gone.”

“Oh, really. How decent of you. I need to stop by the house and get the kids some clothes. Please don’t be there when I get there. They wanna come home, and I’d appreciate it if you would make arrangements to find yourself someplace to live.”

“Don’t do this, Charlotte,” he pleaded, but I slammed the door in his face. Right afterwards, I couldn’t believe that my marriage was over. Just like that. That it could end with a few words in a few seconds. I was messed up. I told Aunt Suzie Mae everything. “Sit down, baby,” she said to me, tapping the top of the kitchen counter with her fingers. Thank goodness, this was before she lost her scruples. “And let me tell you something.”

“I don’t wanna hear it, Aunt Suzie.”

“You gon’ hear it,” she said, and adjusted her wig. She looked just like a older black version of Roseanne Barr. She was standing in front of the stove, adding tomato paste to a giant pot of chili. “You acting foolish. Now, I know you hurt and everythang, and this ain’t something a wife likes to go through, but at some point all men cheat. Most of the time, if they good, they don’t get caught, which makes it easier on everybody. But when they do, and they act truly pitiful and say they sorry, sometimes they mean it. If you still love that man, drop your pride and give him another chance. God asks us to learn to forgive.”

“But how can I ever trust him again, knowing he did something like this to me?”