When Perfection Fails by Tyora Moody

daughter?”
    Charmayne stared coolly at Lenora. “Really? Not funny. You, of all people, know how desperately I would like to not live in my daddy’s shadow.” Charmayne walked over to the bar in the corner of her living room. Lenora was pretty sure the bar was a part of the add-ons to the house. It wasn’t there when they were younger.
    She followed Charmayne over to the bar and set her purse down. “Seriously, Charmayne, people respect that you stand on your own merit.”
    Charmayne picked up an expensive-looking bottle of wine from behind the counter. As she poured, most of the liquid spilled over the side of the glass. “Oh my!” She placed the bottle down and reached down again. This time she had a roll of paper towels in her hand. She snatched several towels from the roll and began wiping the counter.
    â€œMy stuffy, religious, fire-breathing daddy wanted to make sure his agenda or whoever he had in his pocket had their agenda satisfied. Not everyone liked him.” She stopped wiping the counter and added under her breath, “Including me.”
    Charmayne picked up the dripping red-soaked towels and slammed them into the nearby trash can. She pointed to Lenora, and then back at herself. “Now me and you, I know we don’t stay in touch like we could, but I never thought you would become my enemy. How can you come up here and lie in my face anyway?”
    An old angry feeling shot through Lenora’s body. She grabbed her bag off the counter and stared at Charmayne. She kept her voice low. “Excuse me. What are you accusing me of this time? I don’t have time for whatever paranoid thoughts you have going on in your head. I need to be with my family.”
    Charmayne marched around the bar and jabbed her finger toward Lenora. “Your husband is going to ruin my career goals. This council seat is mine. It’s a steppingstone to me being mayor of Charlotte. I’ve worked too hard for this opportunity for someone to just stand in my way, especially with no political experience.”
    Lenora blinked. “You have always been ambitious, but why would you accuse Jonathan of standing in your way?”
    Charmayne huffed and placed her hands on her hips and stared at Lenora. “Don’t pretend to me like you don’t know.”
    Lenora gripped her bag tighter. She had a vision of swinging it to knock some sense into Charmayne’s rant.
    Charmayne stepped back, and then she threw her head back and laughed. She shook her head, and then cupped her hands over her mouth. “You don’t know?”
    Lenora hated Charmayne’s laugh. She sounded like a witch cackling.
    â€œI’m leaving. I can’t believe I came over for this nonsense. You need to stop drinking. You want someone to support you? It won’t be me anymore. This is the last time you reach out to me. I’m through with you.” Lenora turned to walk away.
    Charmayne traipsed behind her as she headed to the door. Like a little child, she sang. “There must be trouble in paradise. The darling couple of Victory Gospel Church has secrets. Who knew?”
    Lenora whirled and shouted, “What are you babbling about?”
    No one made her crazier than Charmayne. Why did she continuously get sucked into this relationship? She didn’t owe this woman a thing, but in the strangest way, Lenora had always felt sorry for Charmayne.
    Right now, Charmayne stood a tad bit too close for Lenora’s taste. Lenora wasn’t wearing heels, but she still had two inches of height over her friend. “Back up, Charmayne.”
    Charmayne took a step back. “I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you, but your husband is in cahoots with the mayor. He’s thinking about running against me for the District 2 seat. Apparently he doesn’t share everything with you, or maybe he was waiting for the right time. I don’t really care, but I would like you to