Fred owned his house and it was only a few blocks from mine. I was surprised I had never run into him before. Everybody told me he was a good catch. Mama and Daddy loved him to death, but they admitted that they didn’t think he’d ever be as good a catch as Odell. I agreed with them to keep them happy. Fred was a much better catch than Odell. It pleased me that a man with so much to offer wanted me. When he asked me to marry him in November, I wanted to accept his proposal right away. But I told him I needed time to think about it. I didn’t want to jump into another marriage so soon.

As fond as I was of Fred, I would never trust him completely. If our relationship fizzled out and I got romantically involved with another man, the same thing would apply to him—and every other man who entered my life.

Things were going so well between Fred and me. Two years after his first proposal, he asked me again to marry him. I said yes because I loved him, and I was pregnant with his child.

ACROSS THE WAY

READING GROUP GUIDE

ACROSS THE WAY

Mary Monroe

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The suggested questions that follow are included to
enhance your group’s reading of this book.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Since the anonymous call Odell made to Sheriff Potts accusing Yvonne and Milton of setting up a white female to be gang-raped backfired, Odell immediately planned to do something more drastic. Were you surprised that he decided to kill them?

2. Even the smartest criminals are too dumb for their own good. Sooner or later, they say something to someone about their crimes. Odell carelessly mentioned to Joyce that the person who’d made the call that implicated Yvonne and Milton, had called Sheriff Potts at his private residence, not his office. Joyce innocently repeated this information to Milton, and he suspected Odell was the culprit that got them arrested. But he was not quite sure. However, when Yvonne overheard Odell mention to Dr. Patterson the exact number of minutes it took the sheriff to arrive on the scene, she and Milton were convinced that Odell had made the call. Do you think he revealed enough information with his loose lips for them to come to this conclusion?

3. Instead of confronting Odell right away, Yvonne and Milton wanted to hold off and get as much money from him as possible, which was a dumb move on their part. Odell could have easily made another attempt to get rid of them first. Was Yvonne and Milton’s greed their downfall?

4. Were you surprised when Milton demanded an additional lump-sum payment from Odell after he’d already collected one?