"January?" says one, pointing.
"No," says the other. "February 15th. You must be about the same."
"Close. Doctor said March 3rd. 40 weeks." She looks at a boy running down the aisle. "Billings, stop running. You too, Bozeman."
She smiles. "My husband's from Montana, if you hadn't guessed. This your first?""
"Yes, it's a girl. My husband wants to name her Hawthorne? That's where he grew up, but I was brought up in New Jersey, near Elizabeth. I think I like Elizabeth better."
She puts out her hand, "I'm Pat, actually it is Paterson. Like I say, born in New Jersey."
"Wow, how weird, both of us named after cities? I'm Edie, but my real name is Enid. Yep, born in Oklahoma. Isn't that strange. I think my father really wanted a boy."
They both shake their heads, and smile.
Pat reads a magazine left by someone on the folding table.
A Young Man careens in on a skate board, spots an empty washer, and stuffs in his clothes. He pushes hard, slams the door, and feeds quarters.
He sits and opens a folded magazine from his back pocket. '.45 Caliber Handgunner' Magazine.
Pat points to her magazine. "$20 million dollars and he won't let his wife have a penny? Why would anybody do that? Basketball player divorcing his wife. Says he spent $20,000 on jewelry while his wife and five kids were $23,000 in the red? Allen Iverson?"
Young Man peeks over the top of Handgunner. "That was two years ago," he says. "What's the date on the magazine? 2010? Yep, two years ago."
"$20 million is a lot of money." says Edie.
"She was a golddigger," says the Young Man. "That's what my dad says. Guy's worth $20-$30 million. Iverson gave her everything she ever had. She whining about $20 grand."
"Says she gave up a career to marry him." says Pat.
"Give me a break. She married him for the money. Golddigger."
There is silence
"Maybe." says Edie. "He really needed her when he had a bad game. Support when he got home. You never know. Marriage is a two way street. They're not all golddiggers."
"Kobe, he's the one who's getting divorced now. He got screwed out of $75 million. His wife, what a snake, waits the ten years, big surprise, and divorces him so she can get more money."
"What would I do with that much money?" says Pat.
She looks out the front window.
"I'd probably save it for the future, but $75 million, new car, pay off the Visa, see about a house maybe. My husband would never have to work again."
"Give her five years," says the Young Man. "She'll be dead broke again, like she was when Kobe found her. That's what my dad says. Five years she'll be begging the court for more. She doesn't know how to do anything. Like getting a job."
"$75 million," says Edie. "With two kids, well actually three, I don't think I could ever spend that much. I'd get a nanny, someone to clean the house, do this laundry, get these kids into private schools. Free time, travel, do stuff. I got married at 19, so there're things I'd like to do."
"Now that she has all this money," says the Young Man. "She'll find some other poor sucker, latch on, and suck him dry. That's what they all do."
Enid looks down at the magazine. "There has to be trust in a marriage. Road trips, she doesn't know what he's doing. I guess they're gone for weeks at a time."
"She's all alone too." The Young Man laughs. "What do they do? They go shopping, what else, and charge the poor guy into the ground. You're screwed once you let them have a credit card. That's what my dad says."
Edie breathes heavily,
"Boseman," she says. "Go check on the wash. Is it done?"
"It's stopped."
"Okay, find a dryer. Here's some quarters. No whining. Go."
Edie looks at the Young Man. "I'm no golddigger, but if I had to get a divorce, I'd do the best I could for my kids, and if that meant getting a lawyer, and sinking my claws into my husband, well then..."
"Maybe. " says Pat. "The team itself should teach these players, since they are making so much money, how to targets these golddiggers. Maybe they have some responsibility to watch over them?"
"Kobe'd never go for that, somebody else telling him what to do with his money. You kidding."
"I could never do that to my husband," says Pat. "I'd certainly try to make it work. Unless he did something really bad."
"Like cheat on you. Kobe and that broad in Colorado." The Young Man waves his hand. "They told him to do something, for the fans, for his career, so he has to buys this huge diamond ring for her. He really got screwed,. That's what my dad says."
The boys come up. "Mom, can we get something at the 7-11. It's just right there." He points. Edie pulls out a dollar, hesitates, then pulls out a five. "Bring back the change, and no junk."
"Deon Sanders, he's another one on the chopping block. He's getting divorced too. They'll probably screw him out of about $100 million. He's gotta be worth a lot.
"And Michael Jordan, they got him for $450 million. My dad says Kobe's one smart dude. Sure he got screwed, but $75 million? He got off cheap. He'll make that back in endorsements, easy. We know he's got money stashed nobody knows about."
He laughs.
The two ladies look away from the Young Man.
"My husband's in construction," say Pat.
"My husband sells insurance, and is thinking about going to law school."
"Don't you worry about him being there at night, co-eds on campus? "
"Tiger is another." says the Young Man. He flips through the magazine. "I'm never getting married, unless, Dude, I got me an iron clad pre-nup."
"Pre-nup." says Pat. "They're only for people who have a ton of money."
"Hey, I got a lot of valuable stuff." He waves to another young man who stands at the front door.
"Hold on, Dude," he says. He lunges toward the washer, opens it, pulls the entire load out and stuffs it into an empty dryer. He feeds quarters. "We got time."
The boys are back. They hold Cokes. "Here," says Billings.
"That was fast." Edie looks at it. "All of it, Mister."
"Oh, they must have short changed me?"
She looks stern.
"I need this money. For later." He twists. "Oh, all right, already." He pulls out thirty cents more, pours it into her hand, and runs off toward their washing machine. "It's stopped, " he yells.
"Find another dryer," she says. "Kids." and smiles. Her voice is loud. "Yeah, I'd do what it took to give my family the best I could. My husband crossed the line. I'm no golddigger. If I could get $75 million, that's what I'd do."
"The girls, they're waiting. Come on," says the young man at the front door.
"Five minutes, I'm there." He sits back down, then,
"Charlotte's waiting for you, Dude."
The Young Man says, "Crap," darts back to the dryer, pulls out his wet load, stuffs it into a pillow case, and waves wildly as he rushes after the Metro leaving from the corner.
"Wow," says Pat.
"That kids father must be a real piece of work." says Edie.
They both watch out the window as the Young Man chase after Charlotte.
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Help comes from: Wikipedia, USA Today, Sporting News, Euroweb.com, and TMZ.
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