Dre stared at him. “I’m sorry. What?”
Rene ignored the question, preferring to get it all out in one long wave. “I’m here in my wife’s parish-provided house because, as my mother pointed out today, I don’t actually own anything, and every bit of money I have comes from her sufferance. Sylvie thinks I’m an asshole, and she’s right since if I’d been smart enough to know what would happen, I wouldn’t have dragged her into my nightmare. If I’d admitted how much I love her, I would have let her go sooner. I’m here tonight because I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I figured this was the last place she would look for me.”
Dre stared at him for a long time and then turned and walked toward what looked to be the kitchen. “We’re going to need booze for this conversation. I might not have brought food with me. I’ll admit that I was going to let my sister cook, but she never has good booze so I picked up a bottle of duty-free whiskey. And the last time I was here, I hid my Xbox in Sylvie’s guest room closet because I didn’t trust Momma not to throw it out. Maybe we can drink and shoot things, and you can tell me how you married my sister and lost all your money. Damn, man. I was counting on you to be my moneybags brother-in-law someday. You know when you think about it, this loss is really about me.”
He followed his best friend, who obviously did not understand him. “Dre, I slept with your sister.”
Dre found his bottle and quickly located a couple of glasses. “Before or after you married her?”
“After,” Rene admitted. “But I told you why I married her.”
Dre poured out two fingers. “To trick your aunt. Are we talking about Roberta?”
It looked like the bullet hadn’t taken any of Dre’s reasoning skills. “Yes.”
Dre moved on to the second glass, pouring with a practiced hand. “Good move. She thinks my momma has the sight. She’ll probably vote with you just because she’ll think you’ll listen to Momma. Don’t, Rene. She knows little about running a business that doesn’t include cutting hair, and don’t let her tell you she does her own books. She hired LaTonja Nichols to do those after Dad died. So if she starts telling you she can see the stock market through her tarot cards, do not believe her. Actually, let Sylvie deal with Mom. It’s the best way to go. You agree with everything Mom says and then go tell Sylvie and she’ll get you out of it.”
Had Dre not heard a word he’d said? “I married your sister under false pretenses.”
Dre handed him a drink. “I doubt that. You didn’t tell her why you were marrying her? I mean you told her your bullshit reason, right?”
“I told her what was happening with my family,” Rene explained. “I didn’t lie to her. She helped me with a couple of business problems I was having.”
“Yes, she’s good at strategy. And you’re real good at lying to yourself. So why are you going to lose your job if you married Sylvie and Roberta is going to vote your way because she wants to breed my mother’s psychic abilities into your family bloodline?” Dre’s eyes widened. “Damn, did Sylvie say she doesn’t want kids? Because I can tell my mom. It might actually be good for me. Deflect attention off the bullet thing. I like the way you think.”
“Andre, I used your sister.” He was ready for a beat-down. Maybe the physical pain could make him forget the emotional ache of losing Sylvie.
“Sure you did.” He moved past Rene. “We need some snacks in here. I feel like this is going to be a long night. You are in full-on woe-is-me mode.”
He was going to have to push the issue. “I slept with Sylvie and I’m going to divorce her.”
Dre stopped. “I doubt she’s going to let you do that. Sylvie tends to get her way when she wants something. Did you tell her someone threatened her and you got all freaked out?”
It was Rene’s turn to be surprised. “How did you know that?”
“It’s not a big leap. There’s only one reason you go this loony tunes. You’ve been crazy in love with my sister since we were kids. There’s no way you divorce her without giving the marriage a real chance unless you thought she would be better off without you.”
“She will be.” He couldn’t get around that logic.
“You’re looking for a fight from me, but you’re not going to get one.” Dre’s voice had gone soft. “I know who you are. You took a crappy situation your family put you in and used it to try to make the family you actually want. Whoever is challenging you . . .” Dre stopped in front of the sofa and seemed to think for a moment. “Charles?”