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Insatiable Revenge
A Dr. Olivia C. Maxwell Novel
By
Cynthia Freeman Gibbs
Houston, Texas * Washington, D.C.
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Insatiable Revenge © 2020
Brown Girls Books, LLC
www.BrownGirlsBooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-944359-85-0 (Digital)
978-1-944359-86-7 (Print)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical or photocopying or stored in a retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages to be included in a review.
First Brown Girls Publishing LLC trade printing
Manufactured and Printed in the United States of America
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It is reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped” book.
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DEDICATION
Mom, Merilyn Faye Freeman, You are Love.
Thank you for your unending support throughout my journey.
Thank you for instilling in me the love for reading books.
I love you forever.
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The black butterfly represents change, transition, freedom, and rebirth. The associations with death and misfortune can also symbolize the ‘death’ of something bad or negative, or the end of misfortunes. The Butterfly itself is a symbol of death, rebirth, and transformation.
(www.butterflyinsight.com)
Table of Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Epilogue
Discussion Questions
Acknowledgments
ONE
Olivia C. Maxwell
San Antonio, TX
2012
The tips of Olivia’s manicured, candy apple red fingernails drummed a cadence on the wooden café table. She glanced out the window and didn’t see the vehicle belonging to Malcolm, her soon-to-be ex-husband, in the crowded parking lot. The time on the cellphone showed her generosity in giving him a chance to arrive. She tossed it in disgust after making the fifth unanswered call in an hour.
“The world does not revolve around him. He has ten more minutes before I’m out of here,” she mumbled.
This local gem of a café in San Antonio attracted a variety of diners who moseyed inside out of the unseasonably cold morning air. Clusters of men and women dressed in military camouflage uniforms mixed in with civilian entrepreneurs enjoyed items from the menu. The sight of couples dining, who have matured together through the years, brought a twinge of longing for everything lost in her waste of a marriage.
Olivia stopped the hammering rhythm of the acrylic nails long enough to raise an oversized ceramic mug of coffee to her lips. She cringed as the lukewarm beverage hit her tongue. Disgusted, she lowered the lipstick-stained cup onto the saucer and slid it away.
Honestly, she didn’t know why she was giving Malcolm a chance anyway. She’d rather bite a rotten, worm-infested apple than have any type of discussion with him.
Maintaining a connection to her husband brought about bitter resentment. He acted as if she owed him something for writing a letter to the judge to get her released after spending thirty days in jail for arson.
The way Olivia considered it; she wouldn’t have set their home on fire last year if he hadn’t cheated. Momentary insanity was why she hadn’t considered the fact that their children, Simone and Christian, were in the house when it became an inferno. She intended to burn only Malcolm to ashes. Grace and mercy allowed everyone to escape without physical harm.
Olivia waved a hand for the waitress, who sauntered to the table and smiled despite puffy, dark circles beneath her eyes. Sleep must have evaded her before an early morning shift.
“Need a refill, ma’am?” She held a silver coffee pot in front of Olivia.
“I would like to get the check,” Olivia said. The tinkling of a bell above the door at the entrance of the café drew her eyes to where Malcolm stood inside.
“Never mind. It looks like the other person has arrived at last. May I get a fresh cup? I think I’m going to need it.”
“Yes, ma’am. No problem. I’ll dump out your cold coffee and bring you a hot one.” The waitress removed Olivia’s mug.
Olivia’s face tightened once she noticed Malcolm making his way through the crowded café toward her. Despite his modelesque face, framed by wavy, ebony hair, only the ugliness of his soul stood out to her. The almond-shaped eyes, which mesmerized her into marrying him, now made her think of them being mirrors of the devil himself. Nothing about Malcolm was good or decent as far as she was concerned.
Olivia centered herself with deep breathing exercises to follow instructions from her therapist. One, two, three…Calm down, Olivia. Don’t let his actions trigger a reaction…four, five, six…I am the captain of my soul...seven, eight…strive to be happy…nine, ten…I got this.
“What took you so long?” Olivia snapped. Everything she’d meditated on flew out the window.
Malcolm’s left eyebrow raised in surprise at her tone. Before sliding into the booth across from her, he took his time removing his black leather jacket as if he were modeling for a photoshoot with a magazine.
If she wasn’t repulsed by him, she would enjoy seeing the ripple of his muscles showing through the Morehouse College sweatshirt and jeans, which fit just right. Women tended to swoon in appreciation of his tall, well-chiseled body. Not Olivia. Her nose scrunched as if a bad odor entered the room.
“And hello to you, Olivia.” Malcolm acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world about being late. “I see you cut your hair. It makes you look thinner. Why are you hiding beneath a hat? Purple is a great color on you.”
Olivia knew Malcolm’s game of distract and deflect. Smart enough to avoid entertaining him with a response, she ignored his so-called compliment.
“You could at least apologize for being more than an hour late. You didn’t even have the decency to call me,” she said.
“Whether you realize it or not, I have things to do today.”
Malcolm threw his hands in front of his chest in defense and shrugged. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I assumed you’d appreciate hearing something nice for a change. You know how traffic on Loop 1604 gets at this time of day.”
“You should’ve considered the traffic before telling me you wanted to meet this early.”
“Alright already, Olivia. I apologized, didn’t I?” Malcolm answered as if he coul
dn’t understand her anger.
The waitress returned with Olivia’s steaming mug. “Here’s your coffee, ma’am.” She wiped her hands on the apron she wore and smiled at Malcolm. “What may I get for you, sweetheart?”
“I’ll have a cup of coffee with two creams and one Stevia.”
“Coming right up, honey.” The waitress batted her eyes without discretion at Malcolm before walking away with more of a switch in her hips than she had before he arrived. He turned on a mischievous grin in her direction. Olivia cleared her throat to get his attention.
Malcolm snapped out of what appeared to be a stupor from staring at the woman’s round behind. He almost had a look of embarrassment on his devilish face.
“Do you have decaf in your cup?” Malcolm pointed to Olivia’s coffee.
“No. What business is it of yours anyway?”
“You know it doesn’t do you any good to drink caffeine since you need to control your emotions. Look at the way you took my head off.”
“Let’s get something straight.” Olivia tapped her pointer finger on the table with each word for emphasis. “I don’t need you to be my caffeine monitor. You know nothin' about me
and my emotions. Don’t even go there, Malcolm.”
“Well, excuse me. I see you can’t take a joke.”
Olivia slammed her hand in front of him, spilling the hot coffee from her cup onto her napkin. “You’re not a comedian and I didn’t come here for a comedy show.” A couple sitting at another table stared and frowned as if they disapproved of her behavior.
“Look, Olivia. I’m not trying to start anything with you. Let’s have a civil conversation.”
“Okay. Talk.”
Malcolm drew in a sharp breath. Olivia knew he couldn’t stand for her to tell him what to do.
“I’m in a financial crisis.”
Olivia’s lie radar raised. “A financial crisis? What did you do with the money I paid in restitution, not to mention what I give to you for the children each month? I’ve already agreed to pay child support once our divorce is final. Why do you need more?”
“Did you forget I had to replace everything we lost in the fire? Since my vehicles were in the garage of the house, I had to buy a new car in addition to finding a place for me and the kids to live.”
“The insurance money should’ve been used for items lost and housing. How did you squander everything?”
“What are you accusing me of? Did you forget we’re in this situation because of what you did?”
“Excuse me? Come again?” Olivia leaned forward in her seat.
“If you cared anything about the kids, you wouldn’t even question the fact I need more money.”
“Malcolm, don’t you even try to say I don’t care about our children. They’ve always been the center of my universe since their birth. They matter to me. You were too busy screwing around with a slew of women to pay any attention to anything going on in their lives.”
“This is what you wanna do? Take cheap shots? You know I love Simone and Christian. If you hadn’t insisted on us sleeping in separate beds, I wouldn’t have been looking anywhere else for sex. A man has certain needs. You didn’t measure up.”
“Oh, for real? You want to blame your addiction to sex and pornography on me? Malcolm, stop with your lying. Any time I tried to show affection, you turned me away. Remember? Hmmm. Let me see if I’m able to recall your exact words. Oh, yeah. ‘Olivia, you’re fat and fluffy. I’m not turned on by you anymore’.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did. After everything you knew about me and my past issue with bulimia, you had enough nerve to call me fat after I gave birth to Christian. I nearly worked myself to death at the gym to get the baby weight off as soon as possible.”
“I never called you fat.”
Just the memory of that period in her life made her stomach twist in knots. “Malcolm. How can you sit here and say you never said those words to me?”
“Because I didn’t.”
Olivia put her hands in a prayer pose, raised her eyes to the ceiling, and said loud enough for Malcolm’s ears, “Oh, Lord. Please send a lightning bolt to strike Malcolm Turnipseed dead for lying.”
She paused and fixated her attention on him. “The crazy thing is, after expecting me to be perfect, you found a website with women four times my size to cheat with. What kind of sense does that make?”
“Can you keep your voice down? People are looking at us.”
“I. Don’t. Care.” Olivia’s voice exploded above the noisy crowd in the café. “Explain to me and the world, how you managed to find a website called Large Luscious Latina Ladies Love Black Men. Can you tell us? Hmmm? Cat got your tongue?”
By now, several diners swiveled their heads to look at them. A few people snickered at Olivia’s question.
Malcolm lowered his voice. “Olivia, let’s not rehash everything. Especially in public. Okay? We need to discuss something of extreme importance.” He paused, dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap, and mumbled, “I’m leaving San Antonio and moving to Miami.”
Olivia leaned forward to make sure she heard him correctly. “What did you say?”
Malcolm fidgeted in his seat and rubbed his goatee with his fingers. She knew from the past, whenever he used this gesture, lies would tumble from his narcissistic mouth.
After clearing his throat several times, words spilled from his lips without him taking a breath. “Yeah. I told you how my money hasn’t been sufficient. I’m behind on rent for the apartment. I think the best thing for me to do is to move to Miami.” Malcolm stared at the silverware on the table as if he’d never seen it before. He shifted in his seat again. His eyebrows creased as he waited for her reaction.
Olivia picked up a spoon to stir her coffee in an intentional slow rotation. The rising tinkling pitch of the metal tapping the sides of the ceramic cup with each revolution made her realize she had a mental checkout for a second.
“Let me see if I understand what you’re saying. You want to move to Miami although you don’t have any money? This doesn’t make sense. It’s expensive to live there.”
“Look. If I stay here, I can’t afford to take care of the kids. Christian is eating enough food for four people in one meal. Our boy must have a tapeworm or something.” Malcolm shook his head and chuckled. He glanced at Olivia as if expecting her to laugh. She didn’t offer any signs of amusement.
Malcolm cleared his throat again before continuing. “When it comes to Simone, I can’t keep her out of a mirror. She spends too much time obsessing with herself. The way she burns through money to buy clothes, I believe she thinks her parents are Beyoncé and Jay-Z.”
Malcolm kept talking despite Olivia’s lack of response. “The cost of their therapy sessions is outrageous. I don’t think it’s helping anyway. Christian is still having nightmares about the fire and sometimes wets the bed. If the counseling worked, a nine-year-old wouldn’t be having these issues. Have you noticed Simone’s weight? She’s getting fat and she stays angry all the time. We’re throwing dollars at a therapist who can’t get the job done.”
Olivia stuck her finger in front of Malcolm’s face. “Don’t you dare call Simone fat. Do you hear me? I better not ever hear you say it again.”
“I’m only saying she’s been overeating since everything happened. She sits in front of the computer and eats junk food. You must admit she’s getting thick.”
“I’m not going to allow you to insult our daughter as my mother did with me. There is not an ounce of fat on Simone.”
“Well, I call it as I see it. Having blinders on doesn’t make it not real. Don’t be sensitive about the truth.”
“I think it’s time for you to move on with your next point. Otherwise, I’m leaving.”
“I’m trying to finish telling you. Stop cutting me off,” Malcolm huffed before continuing. “If I move to Miami, I’ll find a place for us to live for less m
oney.”
“Wait a minute. You said ‘us’. Are you talking about taking the kids with you?” Olivia’s heart pounded in her chest with the realization of what Malcolm planned to do. Fury began to mount inside of her.
“Yes. They will be moving with me.”
Olivia leaned in and fixated her eyes on his without blinking. “No. I’m not allowing you to relocate the kids out of Texas. You’ve lost your mind with your stupid idea.”
“You don’t have a say in this decision. I have custody of them.”
“You can’t move my kids. What gives you the right? I’m their mother. I need to be close to my children.”
“Yes, I can. They’re mine, too. I’ve already talked to the judge. I have every right to do it,” Malcolm responded in defiance.
The waitress stopped by again with the coffee pot. “Need a refill, honey?”
“No,” Olivia responded without dropping her glare from Malcolm’s face. He shook his head at the waitress. She shrugged her shoulders and glided to the next table.
“Olivia. You need to listen. Did you forget we lost everything in the fire? No one told you to burn our house down.”
“Don’t you even go there again, Malcolm.” Olivia pounded her fist causing him to flinch.
A woman sitting at another table widened her eyes with a stare of recognition. Olivia overheard her telling the other ladies sitting with her, “That’s Dr. Olivia Maxwell, the psychologist who burned their house down.”
Olivia glared at them and snapped, “Mind your damn business.” One of the women turned beet red and they all diverted their attention away.
Olivia returned to the conversation with Malcolm. “If you hadn’t cheated on me, I never would’ve done what I did. You being a man-whore, is what caused me to snap.”
Malcolm dropped his voice and pleaded an apology with his eyes. “Olivia, I’m not here to fight with you. I know I messed up. Okay. Let’s move past what you did. I forgive you.”
“Well. I don’t absolve you and I never will. What makes you think I care if you forgive me? We both know your intention for getting me out of jail is you realized your inability to handle the kids on your own.” Olivia tapped her foot.
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