“No buts, Curtis, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You are a man of character, integrity, and more important, courage. Some day some woman is going to be very lucky to have you as her husband. But Curtis, today is not that day, and unfortunately, I’m not that woman.”

“Montana, I already know that.”

“You already know what?”

“I know that I’m not the man for you.”

“If you already knew that then why did you fly all the way to Baltimore to see me? And bring flowers?”

“Montana, I didn’t come to Baltimore to see you.”

“You didn’t?”

“No.”

“Curtis, come on now. We’re two adults. It’s okay. I know being let down isn’t easy, but you don’t have to create some fantasy scenario for why you’re here. It’s okay. God knows I’ve gone through enough letdowns in my life to know how it feels a thousand times over.”

“Montana, I need you to really hear me. I didn’t come to Baltimore to see you. Really, I didn’t.”

Okay, now I was getting a little irritated with Curtis. Not to mention I was losing respect for him not only as a man, but also as a man of God. He was playing games. Games that I was no longer interested in playing. I was tired, worn out, and my feet were hurting and this fool was standing here looking like Bluey Vuitton wanting to play some kinda high school “who quit who first” games. Okay, Bluey, you asked for it. Gaining attitude by the second, I let it rip.

“Okay, Curtis, if you weren’t coming to Baltimore to see me, then why don’t you tell me, who were you coming here to see?”

“Montana, I was coming here to see—”

“Curtis!! Oh my God, Curtis!!” Imagine my head doing multiple 360-degree turns as the voice of Gail rang through the air. She ran quickly toward Curtis, coming to an abrupt halt when she spotted me.

Screeeeeeetch!Her heels, like the wheels on a Formula 500 racing car, began smoking. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

“Montana?”

“Gail.”

“Hey, girl. Hey Curtis.”

“Praise the Lord!”

“Well…now that everybody knows everybody, would somebody like to tell me what’s going on?”

“Girl…”

“Damn it, Gail, don’t ‘girl’ me right now, I’m not in the mood.”

“You know the Bible says in Corinthians that a swearing tongue—”

“Can it, Curtis!”

“I guess you don’t care too much for Corinthians, amen.”

“Gail, what the hell is going on?” I glimpsed Curtis out of the corner of my eye squirming and making the sign of the crucifix.

“Well…”

“Well what?!”

“Well…” She stood there squirming, at a loss for words, finally blurting out a response, “You didn’t want him. So…”

“So since I didn’t want him, you went behind my back and got to know him for yourself.”