“Why do you think we found our way back to each other?”
“You grew up.”
All Maurice could do was laugh.
Chapter 27
Two weeks after Kenya had returned from Atlanta, she still hadn’t spoken to her mother. It was as if the women were locked in a battle of wills to see who would call whom first.
Kenya and Maurice were planning a simple and low-key wedding, and they were going to get married after the month-long training camp ended in late July. There would be no cameras; there would be no ESPN news flashes about this wedding. Kenya wanted the day to be about her and Maurice.
“Miss Taylor,” Talisha said over the intercom, “you have a visitor in the lobby.”
“Who is it?” asked Kenya.
“Angela Taylor.”
Hearing her mother’s name shocked her. What was she doing here? Was she going to throw her support behind her union with Maurice, or was she here to restate her objections?
“I’ll go down and meet her,” Kenya said, suddenly feeling a sense of dread wash over her. She rose to her feet and smoothed her cream slacks and tugged at her pink tunic. Maybe she should’ve worn a designer suit instead. Kenya shook those thoughts out of her mind. Her mother had never cared about how her daughter looked, and they had rarely argued. So, maybe her mother’s visit wasn’t going to be another argument.
By the time she reached the lobby, Kenya had gone over in her mind every reason why her mother was there, from the absurd to the benign. Coming face-to-face with Angela, she returned the warm smile her mother greeted her with. “Mom, what a surprise.”
“Yes, well, I would’ve called but I wasn’t sure if you’d answer,” Angela said. “I went to an editorial conference here at the Charlotte Observer, and I couldn’t come to this city without coming to see you.”
Kenya hugged her mother tightly. “Thanks for coming. Let me take you to my office.”
“Yes, let’s see how the other half lives. This is a nice building,” Angela said. “And I see it’s right across from the football stadium.”
“I was wondering how long it was going to take . . .”
Angela shook her head as they stepped on the elevator.
“I’m not here for an argument,” she said. “I still think you’re making a mistake, but this isn’t about me.”
“What?”
“I don’t like this decision of yours, but it is your decision. How can I respect you as an adult if I don’t respect your choices? You’re a smart woman, and obviously, there is something you see in Maurice that I never will.”
“So, are you coming to my wedding?” Kenya asked.
“You think I would miss it? And, no, I’m not going to object.”
The elevator doors opened, and the ladies stepped off and then walked into Kenya’s office. Angela nodded in wonderment as she looked around her daughter’s space. “Impressive.”
Kenya offered her mother a cup of coffee. “So, what accounts for your change of heart?” she asked Angela.
“Because when you left a few weeks ago, I thought I’d pushed you away. That’s something I never want to do. We’ve always had a great relationship. When your friends were driving their parents crazy as teenagers, you were a little angel. We never had that mother-daughter drama. Sure, you and Maurice were doing whatever teenagers do, but you did what I asked of you. Never broke curfew, came to me with your problems, and you never lied to me. The older you got, the more I came to respect you and realize that your father and I did a great job of raising you.
“The whole thing with Maurice hurt me because it hurt you so badly, and I tried to stay out of it. I even stopped speaking to Maryann, even though it wasn’t her fault. I didn’t even get my sticky buns for Saturday morning breakfast for a long time, because seeing you in so much pain made me angry. Your father told me to let you work through it, and when I was about to let it all go, I found out that you’d lost Maurice’s baby.”
“We’ve gone over this,” Kenya said.
“I know, but the point I’m trying to make is, your life is your life, and I’m going to have to support your decision, even if I don’t agree with it,” Angela said. “Besides, I don’t want to become my mother.”
“What does Grandma have to do with this?” Kenya asked, furrowing her brows in confusion.
As a little girl, Kenya didn’t see her maternal grandmother often, and when Louise Johnson died, Kenya felt like she didn’t know her grandmother enough to be really sad about it.
“There’s a reason why my mother didn’t come over for family dinners and during the holidays. It wasn’t because she was jet-setting around the globe, either. She never liked your father. She thought Henry was too country, not sophisticated enough to be a part of our family.”
“Why would she think something silly like that? It’s not like Atlanta has always been some big metropolis,” Kenya said. “Besides, Daddy has always been a good provider and . . .”
“That didn’t matter to her. It was always about appearances and what made her and our family look good or bad. With her, it wasn’t about what I wanted. It was what she wanted,” Angela said, with a far-off look in her eye. “I hate that our relationship was destroyed because I loved your father. I love Henry, and I loved my mother. She wanted me to choose, and I did. That’s a position that I never want to put you in. I felt like that’s just what I was doing. When we had our argument, I had a flashback to that night my mother disowned me.”
Kenya touched her mother on the shoulder. “Mom, I love you, and I don’t think that we’re going to end up like you and Grandma.”
“I’m not going to let it happen,” Angela said. “Even if that means I have to be Maurice Goings’s mother-in-law.”
Kenya hugged her mother tightly. “If you get to know him and let go of the past, you’ll see what I see.”
Angela wiped the tear that slid down her cheek. “I doubt I’ll ever see him as you do, but I’m going to try.”
Maurice stood in the Brothers Reality office, waiting for his brother to come in. It had been months since he’d checked on their projects or visited the work space. But the rift between him and his brother was his main concern as he sat down at James’s desk. Maurice realized that he’d taken advantage of his brother over the years. He had allowed James to be his cleanup man; he had allowed him to step in and take the hits that he, Maurice, should have taken. He owed James an apology, and he was going to give him one.
Angela’s words rang in his head as he waited for James. You say all the right things, Maurice. Your silver tongue has always been your secret weapon, but I’m not one of your little fans. You’re a liar, and you will always be one in my book.
“What are you doing here?” James asked when he walked into the office and dropped his briefcase on his desk.
“I came to talk to you,” Maurice said. “How’s business?”
“You should know. You own the place. Mind if I get my seat, or are you here to take over?”
Maurice rose to his feet and walked away from his brother’s chair. “I’m here because I want to apologize to you for all of this stuff that’s been going on and how I’ve been treating you. Even when we were kids, I used you to get me out of trouble. I know it was wrong.”
“What? You must need a blood donation or something,” James said as he started up the computer.
“No, I don’t. I’ve taken advantage of you, I made you take the heat for some things that I should’ve been a man about and stood up to, and I accused you trying to be with Kenya when I knew that you two were just friends,” Maurice said as he sat on the edge of the desk. “I don’t want us to have any bad blood between us. We’re brothers, and that means more to me than anything else.”
James folded his arms across his chest and looked at his brother. “Yeah, all right,” he said.
“Come on, man. I’m pouring my heart out here.”
“And I’ve heard this song and dance before, too,” James said. “Do you mea
n it this time?”
“This time?” Maurice asked.
“Yes, Mo, this time. I’ve heard you apologize to me so many times over the years that I’ve lost count. ‘James, I’m sorry I don’t spend more time with the business,’ or ‘James, I’m sorry I asked you to sneak that freak out of the house for me.’ I’m sick of being your wingman, and I don’t appreciate how you accused me of trying to move in on Kenya when I spent the night with her, trying to convince her to give you another shot.”
Maurice nodded. “And I . . .” James cut him off.
“How do you thank me? By being an asshole. You’re my brother, and I love you, but it’s going to take more than words. Maybe you need to start pulling your weight around here so I can have a life that doesn’t involve cleaning up your messes.”
Maurice looked at his brother thoughtfully. “Is it really that bad? I mean, I’ve done some things, and I’ve asked you to do some things for me that I shouldn’t have, but we’re brothers.”
James folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair, then laughed. “It hasn’t been that bad, but it’s been bad enough.”
“The only thing I need you to do for me is to be my best man,” Maurice said.
James rose to his feet and crossed over to his brother.
“You think you’re going to actually make it through the ceremony this time?”
“Aw, I see. You got jokes,” Maurice said as he pulled his brother into his arms and hugged him. “I should’ve never gone down the aisle with anyone other than Kenya.”
“That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say in years.” James stepped back from Maurice. “Come on and buy me breakfast.”
They headed to the Coffee Cup, and once they sat down, the tension between them floated away like butterflies in the summer sun. They laughed about Maurice’s upcoming wedding and how different it would be from the media circus Lauryn had planned.
“You know Momma was thrilled when I told her that you and Kenya were getting back together. I could see her smile all the way from Atlanta.”
“I wish Kenya’s mother was just as happy,” Maurice said.
“She doesn’t look too sad to me.” James nodded toward the door.
Maurice turned and saw Kenya and Angela walking into the restaurant, smiling and laughing. Kenya’s eyes met his; then she tapped her mother on the shoulder. Angela glanced over at Maurice and James, then smiled thinly.
Maurice, against his better judgment, motioned for them to join him and his brother. Lord, please don’t let this woman come over here tripping today, he told himself.
James and Angela embraced when she reached the table. “Look at you, little James Goings. You look great. So tall. I remember when you were just knee high.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Taylor,” said James. He pulled a chair out for Angela as Maurice and Kenya kissed.
“I didn’t expect to see you here this morning,” Kenya said. “Hi, James.”
“Hey, Kenya,” James said, flashing her a big smile.
Angela looked around the quaint restaurant, surprised to see such a diverse crowd of business people in fancy suits; construction workers in dusty jeans, holding hard hats and safety glasses; and a few people with ear, nose, and eye piercings and tattoos, who were not workers in the corporate world.
“This is an interesting place,” Angela said. “It reminds me of some of the greasy spoons in Atlanta.”
Kenya and James nodded, while Maurice looked down at the dog-eared menu. He didn’t know what to say to Angela or what she was going to say to him.
“What’s good here?” Angela asked, looking pointedly at Maurice.
“Just about everything. I like the cheese omelet and a side of bacon,” Maurice said as he looked up at Angela.
Angela drummed her fingers on the table. “All right, let’s cut the bull,” she said. “For my daughter’s sake, I’m going to try and be nicer to you. It’s going to be hard, because I still think this marriage is a—”
“Mom,” Kenya warned, raising her eyebrows.
“Listen,” Angela said. “I’ll never see you through the same eyes that my daughter does. But I’ll respect her decision, and if being your wife is what she wants, then I’ll have to live with it. One day, maybe you and I will be friends.”
Maurice smiled at Angela. “Thank you, Mrs. Taylor. I know that I did some things in the past that . . .”
Angela waved her hand. “The past is the past, and I want to believe that you’ve learned your lesson. I won’t make the same mistake that my parents made. I don’t have to live with you, and I promise, I won’t carve you instead of the turkey at Thanksgiving.”
Everyone at the table laughed, and Maurice felt like he and Angela would get along one day, though he wasn’t ready to reach across the table and hug her just yet.
“All right,” James said. “This is all touching and what not, but I’m hungry. Hand me that menu, and somebody get the waitress.”
Kenya hugged her mother, and they proceeded to order a down-home breakfast.
Chapter 28
Kenya and her mother decided to take a walk after stuffing themselves with fried eggs, bacon, and homemade biscuits. “That was a really nice thing you did in there,” Kenya said after they’d walked a few blocks in silence.
“I meant it, in case you were wondering,” Angela replied.
“I know.”
“Have you two set a date?”
“We’re going to get married soon, before training camp starts.”
“That’s not too far away. How are you going to plan a wedding in that short amount of time?”
Kenya smiled. “With your help. I can’t do this without you and Daddy.”
“Your father stands behind you, too. He came around a lot quicker than I had expected. That’s probably because he doesn’t know about the baby, and I’m not going to tell him.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“I guess you and Maurice have the right idea, starting over and letting the past go. People talk about doing that all the time, but you’re living it. Maybe I can learn from you,” Angela said.
“Learn what?”
“How to be a better person. I’ve never been a very forgiving person. Your father and I split up when I was pregnant with you because I thought that he was cheating on me.”
Kenya’s eyes stretched to the size of quarters. “What?”
“He wasn’t, but I thought he was. That’s what men do, or at least that’s what I thought.”
“Do I really need to hear this?” Kenya said. The last thing she wanted to know was that her parents were human and had dealt with some of the same issues that she’d faced.
“Just listen. I went home to my parents for a few months, and your grandmother was too happy. She was ready to pay for my divorce, and she was introducing me to men that she thought were socially acceptable, and I hadn’t even decided that I was done with my marriage. She made my life a living hell, so I had to face my problems on my own and save my family. It took a lot for me to go back to my husband and forgive him. But in the end, I had to ask him for forgiveness, because I’d been wrong, not him. All the time I thought Henry was cheating on me, you know what he was doing?”
Kenya shook her head.
“Planning a baby shower for me with the help of one of the secretaries who worked with him,” Angela said. “That’s why he’d hang up the phone when I’d come in the room. That’s why he’d go out to lunch with her and not tell me about it. I’d ruined my own surprise because I got in my own way. You would think that I had learned my lesson. But here I am, doing it again, passing judgment and not knowing all the facts.”
“Mom,” Kenya said, fumbling for the right words to say.
“I’m sorry,” Angela said. “I shouldn’t have been so adamant about your relationship with Maurice. This is your business, and there’s no reason for me to stand between you and true love. But I’ll be watching him, and if he hurts you again, there’ll be hell to pay.
”
“You won’t have to worry about that. Maurice loves me, and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt me again.”
Angela smiled. “He’d better not.”
Maurice was stunned at how well breakfast had gone with Angela and Kenya. As he sat in his condo, he wondered if Angela was telling the truth, and if she’d really give him a chance.
The phone rang, breaking into his thoughts. “Hello?” he said.
“Maurice, it’s Lauryn.”
He hung up the phone. Seconds later it rang again.
“What the hell do you want?” he demanded.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” Lauryn said. “Listen, I know that I’ve done a lot of things that I shouldn’t have, and the first thing I should’ve done before we planned our wedding was told you that I was having a relationship with Mya.”
“So. What do you want now? And don’t tell me that it’s a second chance, because that’s not going to happen.”
“I know that you and Kenya are getting married. I guess I just need some help. You know I haven’t worked in a while, and I want to start over, outside of Charlotte. So, if you could find it in your heart to—”
“You’re calling me to ask for money? I can’t believe you have the gall.”
“I’m trying to do this the nice way, but if I have to go to the tabloids about you, then I will.”
“Do what you have to do, but no one will believe anything you have to say. You’ve already proven yourself to be a liar. So, why don’t you find a buck and buy a clue?” Maurice slammed the phone down and threw the handset across the room. The last thing he needed was for Lauryn to rear her head again when everything was going so well. She reminded him of a fungus: every time you thought you’d killed it, it came back.
He stood and paced back and forth. If he gave Lauryn money, he’d be opening a Pandora’s box that he might never be able to close. But he didn’t want Kenya to pick up a newspaper and read Lauryn’s lies, or whatever she was going to say to reporters. I’m not going to worry about her, Maurice thought.
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