He looked up at me and snickered. “Aw, shuck it. You ain’t never got to worry about her getting on your case about me. She ain’t the jealous type, and she knows she’s the only woman for me.” The only time I ever heard him speak in such a mushy tone and act so cheerful was when he was talking about Sweet Sue.

Even though Odell and I had the perfect relationship, I didn’t like to judge other folks who weren’t as blessed as we were. But I felt sorry for Willie Frank. Something had to be wrong with him. What white man in his right mind would fall in love with a colored prostitute? “What about all the men she’s with at Aunt Mattie’s house?”

Willie Frank waved his hand and rolled his eyes. “Oh, that’s just business. It ain’t easy to find work nowhere these days. Folks have to take whatever they can get.” He didn’t seem so cheerful now. “The thing is, I’d still love that gal to death even if she robbed banks for a living.” He stopped talking and glanced toward the back of the room where Sweet Sue, decked out in a skimpy green dress, was hugging a man with each arm. “And she loves me. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost her.”

“I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same way about Odell. We are more in love than we were when we got married. My life would be empty if I lost him.”

“Well, you’d still have your ma and pa.”

“God willing.” I sighed.

“Plus, you ain’t no swamp frog. You’d get another man eventually.”

“Yeah, but nobody could replace Odell.”

“Cheer up. You’d still have Yvonne and Milton and me, too. I know a busy lady like you got a mess of other friends to socialize with. You won’t be lonely. The bottom line is, you’d still have a heap to be thankful for—with or without Odell.”

“Thank you for those kind words, Willie Frank.”

I didn’t want to leave early, but I had to in case Mama and Daddy did stop by my house on their way home from the restaurant. I left right after the second slow dance with Willie Frank ended. Another reason I left was because I didn’t want him to keep trying to convince me I’d be all right if something happened to Odell.