Just Short of Crazy

282 Pages·2006·0.56 MB·English

by  Nina Foxx

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just short of crazy
N I N A F O X X
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Contents
new attitude 1
those are the breaks 8
just short of crazy 15
ugly stepsisters 24
kick him when he’s down 34
canned worms 44
oil and water 61
ride or die 70
one man’s trash 78
worlds apart 86
down for the count 92
taking care of business 102
grand larceny 108
peace pipe 115
patiently waiting 128
foreplay 136
the hurting truth 140
breaking the rules 152
self-help 101 170
don’t let the high heels fool you 180
boo boo the fool 195
unpleasant necessities 205
cure for what ails you 212
too little, too late 218
see through sins 222
face-to-face 225
run to the future 231
done in the dark 238
thicker than water 242
dead elephants at dinner 250
what goes up 258
endings and new beginnings 261
scout’s honor and white horses 267
About the Author
Other Books by Nina Foxx
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
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new attitude
C
“
ut it off.” Alexis spoke before Angel even opened his
mouth. Walter had loved her with long hair so it had
to go. Part of making a clean break.
Angel acted like he didn’t hear her. He stood looking at
her in the mirror with his cutting scissors frozen in midair.
She repeated herself. “All of it. Almost a buzz cut.”
“Girl, you crazy,” he said. “I can’t attach no weave to that.”
He laughed, along with everyone around her. Alexis waited
for the laughter to die down and then simply smiled. “I know.
I don’t want one. I think I just want to go natural. Uncover
the new me.”
Angel was reluctant, but he poked out his lips and turned
on the clippers. The shop was quiet the whole time. They all
watched as Alexis lost what must have added up to five pounds
of hair. To not want mounds of Texas big hair was akin to
blasphemy.
She left the shop and ran her hair through her new hairdo.
It felt great. It had been years since she’d felt her natural hair
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and it was softer than she remembered it being. Why in the
world had I been hiding under all that rug for so long? Alexis
almost couldn’t keep her hands out of it. She chuckled to her-
self and hopped in her car. Had she become a cliché, the
scorned woman who made all sorts of changes after shedding
one hundred and eighty pounds or so of dead weight? This
new hair was part of the post-Walter Alexis. What a way to
spend a lunch hour. This was the first time in years she’d had
anything done other than her weave tightened or relaxer
touched up. It had only been a few minutes and already the
butt-length, ultrastraight tresses that used to define her felt
passé.
The cut had certainly taken less time; there was still time
left before her next appointment at the office.
Alexis grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back to prepare.
Her phone buzzed almost as soon as she walked through the
door. She stumbled across the floor, then snatched the phone
off its hook.
“Alexis Montague Pearson.”
“So serious.” It was Shana, the legal assistant to her boss,
the head lawyer. The one whose name was on the building.
Alexis could hear the smile in the woman’s voice.
“How can I help you?” She failed to understand how some
people could always wake up happy. Shana was happy all
damn day long.
“Monty would like to see you. This morning.”
A few butterflies flitted in her stomach. She cleared her
throat. “Okay. Am I in trouble?” She tried to make a joke out
of it.
“Not that I know of. In half an hour?”
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As if I have a choice. “Of course.” She hung up the phone.
What now? They couldn’t possibly have anything to com-
plain about. She was doing more casework than she had in
months.
Alexis finished up what she had been doing before lunch,
then straightened up the papers on her desk. The elevators in
the building were ancient and slow, so it would take her a
minute or two to get to Monty’s office. No need to keep the
boss waiting.
She put everything in its place and stood up just as her
phone rang again.
“Yes, Auntie.” Alexis glanced at the clock. A gnawing feel-
ing in the pit of her stomach told her she should have let this
one go to voice mail. It was her Aunt Athena.
“Don’t sound so happy to hear from me.”
“I’m sorry. I was on my way to a meeting.”
“That’s fine. I understand, you have been busy lately. Too
busy even for the auntie that took you in and gave you a good
life.”
Alexis rolled her eyes. How many times had she heard
that? Yes, she had been raised by her Aunt Athena, alongside
her cousin and best friend Paris. Back then, her mother had
been unmarried, pregnant and fourteen years old. It had
seemed like a good idea; growing up in smaller and more ru-
ral Austin with two home-owning parents would surely be
better for her future than the meager existence her single
mother could provide. Alexis bet all her money that her own
mother, God rest her soul, had no idea that her daughter
would be paying for that decision in perpetuity.
“I won’t keep you long. I just called to remind you to go
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and get fitted for your bridesmaid dress. You do have the de-
tails, right?”
How could she not have them? After the wedding infor-
mation had been e-mailed to her, her aunt had set up some
wedding site that sent almost daily countdowns with never
ending wedding updates. And there were a lot of them. Paris
could not seem to make up her mind about anything. “Yes, I
do. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I made sure that I would
be done in time to get there by eight tonight.” Not exactly
true, but it seemed to satisfy her aunt. Surely everyone was
rushing to wear an unflattering sherbet-colored dress. Alexis
gritted her teeth, then hung up and locked her small office.
It was unusual for Alexis to be summoned to the executive
suite, and she had no idea what the reason was this time. Her
performance had been exemplary, more so than usual. She’d
logged more than the necessary hours, and done all of the re-
search and depositions they’d asked her to do, even inter-
viewed other people’s clients when necessary. Alexis frowned.
She knew she had taken a hard-line approach to many of the
clients lately, especially the female ones. Maybe the people
upstairs didn’t like that or had received a complaint.
Before she and Walter broke up, she’d coddled most of her
clients. Usually she pitied them, feeling sorry for the way
most of them let men walk all over them. When the women
finally woke up or couldn’t take it anymore, then they would
end up in her office. She wasn’t a partner or anything, so new
that she was barely above a paralegal, but the firm she worked
for handled many of the high-profile divorces in Austin.
The women she pitied before had now become sisters in
the cause. It was easy to take their sides. Most of them were