by Tracy Gray
“The brothers need to go shopping. We need to have them start picking out finishes, so I can have Trinity start placing orders, or we’ll never be done in 12 weeks.” She stated.
I nodded, snatching the pad off of my desk that I had been writing in the day before to jot down some notes.
“So, you’re going shopping…”
“I can’t go shopping. I have to run an errand first.”
She scrunched up her nose. “An errand?”
“I need to go by the Back-to School Bash.”
“Oh, I heard you told Daddy that you were quitting Works of Faith.” She chuckled.
“You heard that, huh?”
“You know your mother can’t hold water. She told me you came over and had it out with daddy. She said that daddy must’ve torn his drawers with you, because you ran outta the house and burned rubber pulling outta the driveway.”
I could not stop laughing. “Your mother stays exaggerating, but she’s kinda accurate about what happened when I tried to talk to daddy. I tried to tell him that he didn’t want this smoke.”
“Seriously, Reign. You told him that? You are so ghetto.” She joined in on my laughter.
“Sometimes.” I agreed, still laughing a little. I whipped my phone from my purse, took a screenshot of the notes from the day before, and sent them off to Trinity in a text. “Anyway, I need to go see him. Uhm, in the meantime, send Xavier and Trinity shopping for light fixtures and plumbing fixtures. I’ll meet up with them as soon as I can.”
It was still early when I arrived at Works of Faith. The Back-to-School Bash wasn’t scheduled to start until 10:00, and it was about ten minutes to 9:00. I wasn’t early enough to park in the parking lot, though. That was in the process of being transformed. I parked on the street and exited my car, waving at some of the men I had known since I was a little girl, as they set up tables and chairs for the event. There was a crew blowing up the inflatables, and church mothers were pointing as they gave instructions to the teenagers from youth church, whose parents had probably volunteered them to be up so early on a Saturday, and down at the church, no less. I didn’t stop to chat, but I greeted everybody I walked past, as I made my way to the front door.
I pulled it open, moving swiftly past the sanctuary, not slowing down until I was right outside of my father’s office. His assistant wasn’t at her desk, since it was Saturday morning, so I moved through her space, too. The office door was open, and I could hear his voice as he spoke moderately softly to whoever was inside with him. I knocked lightly on the door frame, then brought myself into view.
“Good morning.” I said cheerily, trying my hardest to disguise the nerves and anxiety that were gripping me.
My father, and my mother looked up at the same time.
“Reign.” My mother said, her face breaking into a wide smile as she closed the distance between us. I folded into her arms when she took me into an embrace. “I thought you told your father that you weren’t coming today.”
“I wasn’t, but...here I am.”
“Look at God.” My father said in a tone that let me know he was joking.
My father took issue with religious platitudes. He couldn’t stand them, believing that they did more to separate the church from regular folks than they did to bridge any gaps.
My mother released me.
“Hey Daddy.” I said, and even I had to admit that it came out somewhat shyly, although that wasn’t my intention.
“Good morning, Reign.” He offered me a friendly smile.
I looked at my mom. “I came to talk to daddy.”
For a nanosecond, her eyes clouded over with confusion, but she quickly regained control of her facial features and gave me another wide smile. “Come see me before you leave today, Daughter.”
“I won’t be here long. I’m supposed to meet some clients, help them pick out lighting and plumbing fixtures.” I paused briefly. “Actually, it’s the Mayhew brothers. They’re redoing Miss Vera’s house so they can put it on the market...maybe.”
“The Mayhew brothers?” She questioned, her eyes bright with surprise.
“Yeah.” I chuckled, nodding. “River and I couldn’t know they were thinking about something like that and not help them.”
“No, I guess you couldn’t, Sweetie. You spent a lot of time at Miss Vera’s house when you were...younger.”
“Yeah.” I repeated.
“Well, text me before you leave, and I’ll tell you where I am. I wanna see you before you head off to meet the Mayhews. I need my hugs, and since I never see you…” She let her thought trail off.
“Okay.” I agreed.
She made eye contact with my father as she grabbed the doorknob. “Open or closed?”
“Closed.” My daddy and I said at the same time.
I saw my mother grin at us as the door closed with a click.
I moved into the chair across from his desk before he even had a chance to offer it to me. “Daddy.” I said.
“Reign drop.” He said with a mourning and longing in his voice that I had never heard. “Thank you for coming here. Thank you for coming back. I feel like I keep squandering these opportunities with you. The other day, when you left the house, I told the Lord that clearly your name was revelatory, because you keep slipping through my fingers like a raindrop. I can’t keep doing that.” He took a deep breath. “I love you, Reign. I love you to life, Sweetheart. I feel like you don’t know that. Like you need to hear that. Like I haven’t said it enough, or in a way that you could receive it. I love you.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, but I blinked rapidly, fighting with all of my might to hold them off. “I love you, too, Daddy.” I said, as strongly as my breaking voice would allow. “Last night, I had a long conversation with Xavier, and he shared with me that you reached out to him a while ago. That you apologized to him.”
He nodded. “I did.” He sighed, then looked up at the ceiling while his right hand twisted the wedding band on his left hand over and over again. “When Xavier left for training camp his rookie year, it was a relief. At first. Finally, you would get to experience everything life had for you. I couldn’t even imagine the adventures you would have finding yourself, and getting to know yourself as an individual. Not as one half of a larger-than-life teenage power couple. I envisioned you and River traveling, getting your passports stamped all over the world, and having experiences that would influence you for the rest of your lives. But that didn’t happen, and for the longest time I didn’t get it. I didn’t get...you. I think I was determined not to get it.” He shook his head in disgust. “I was fully committed to not getting it, not getting you. I wondered where I had gone so wrong that the only thing you would crave, the only thing you would desire in life was the boy from across the street who was good at catching and holding on to a football.”
I sighed. Why can’t I ever talk to this man without him infuriating me? I thought to myself.
“Wait, Reign.” he said, obviously reading my face. “Let me finish, Baby. One day, a scripture took hold of me, and it wouldn’t let me go. While I was driving, while I brushed my teeth in the morning, while I was in the middle of meetings, this scripture would run through my mind.”
“What scripture, Daddy?” I deadpanned.
“Colossians 3:21.”
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” I recited.
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” He repeated. “Reign drop, I apologize for embittering you towards me.” He gave a short laugh and shook his head back and forth. “I must’ve sounded like a broken record to you during your teenage years.”
I couldn’t hold back the little smile that was cresting on my face.
“By the time Xavier left for training camp every time I spoke to you, I must’ve sounded like…”
“Blah, blah, blah?” I offered.
He laughed out loud. “Exactly, Little Mama. Blah, blah, blah. I apologize tha
t I didn’t know how to father a teenage girl who was so obviously in love with a teenage boy that it practically drove me insane. I wasn’t prepared for that. One minute you were my baby girl, and the next minute you were wrapped up in this very adult-seeming relationship. I wish I would’ve led with love. I wish I would’ve parented you through it, or at least pastored you through it...shepherded you through it. Instead, I dictated to you, and embarrassed you, and humiliated you, all in the name of...I don’t even know anymore - appearances?”
“Daddy, it wasn’t okay. What you did, what Miss Vera did, it wasn’t okay, but I need you to know that I’m trying to move past it. I’m forgiving, but it’s taking as long as it’s taking. It's not an overnight thing. I have like, real hurts - real pain when I think about my teenage years and when I think about our relationship. I probably need like, another decade in therapy to work through it all. I just came today to say thank you. Thank you for apologizing to Xavier about the way things went down. I could tell just from talking to him yesterday that...he needed that. He needed to know that it wasn’t him. I think he had a lot of guilt about me. Like, he was responsible for ruining my relationship with you. Like, if he’d just backed off of me, my life would’ve been way easier, and in some instances it would’ve. I mean, with you, with the congregation, but I personally, would’ve been miserable. X’s love taught me how to love myself. It gave me confidence, and courage. He taught me what love should look like. And when I started trying to date other guys, my expectations were always measured against what Xavier gave to me, what he brought to that relationship. The...reverence that he had for me.”
“Then not only did I owe him an apology, I owe him my thanks.”
“Me too. I owe him my thanks, too.”
I sat there watching him for a moment.
“What?” He asked finally.
“I always thought you didn’t love me, because your mother doesn’t love me.”
He gave me the screw face. “First of all, how could I ever not love you when you’re one of the two most lovable daughters that I have? Second of all,” he leaned towards me and whispered conspiratorially, “my momma don’t like nobody, not even me.”
“Daddy, stop it. You know that lady loves you.”
“She loves Pastor Champion, and the influence and cachet that he has. Joseph Champion, the man?” He shrugged his suited shoulders. “She could take him or leave him, and that’s bible.”
I gave him a sad pout, and half-jokingly asked, “awwww Daddy, do you need a hug?”
“Yeah, Reign drop. I definitely need a hug.”
Xavier
My brothers and I met the River Reign Exclusive Design team, minus the Reign at my grandmother’s house. I was disappointed that she wasn’t with them, but River told me that she had a pressing errand to run, so I didn’t trip. She handed Busy and me off to Trinity, while she took Brandon inside with her to talk numbers for the seventeenth time.
“Where Bae at?” I asked Trinity the second I slid into the back of the Range Rover Busy rented to get around Chicago.
“I heard she went by the church.”
“Works of Faith?” Didn’t know why I asked that, what other church would she be going by?
“Yeah. They’re having the annual Back-to-School Bash today.”
“They still have that?” Busy asked, surprised.
“Uh yeah. The kids are still going back to school. That didn’t stop when you left elementary.”
“You always had that slick mouth, didn’t you?” Busy joked her. “Ever since you were little.”
Trinity grinned. “Anyway, I heard she’s supposed to meet us out here on the grind. She’s supposed to give you all some guidance about the look you’re going for.” Trinity turned around in her seat to face me, as I chilled in the backseat. “So, I heard that you didn't make it back to the Airbnb last night. Did you spend the whole night hashtag, caught in the Reign?”
“Little mama is wild.” Busy said, in a stage whisper, that made me chuckle and made Trinity cackle loudly.
“Where you hear that from?” I asked, not bothering to address her dig or look up from where I was scrolling through my phone.
“Uh Mecca…”
I cut her off. “Mecca?” I repeated. “How the hell would Mecca know where I was last night?”
“You wanna field this one, Busy?” She offered.
“Toss me under the bus, okay. Got it.” He said, shaking his head as we headed north on Lake Shore Drive.
“You talking to Mecca about me?” I questioned, even though I knew that was highly unlikely.
“Be serious, Little Dude. Me and my woman have way more pressing shit to discuss than you. She was with me when I stopped through the spot last night to grab some clothes. I noticed that neither you nor Brandon were there. Where the intel about your whereabouts came from is beyond me.”
“Mecca mentioned to River that you weren’t home, and River texted Brandon. And this morning, Reign confirmed that y’all were together.”
“So, you know me and Reign were together, Trinity. What’re you trying to confirm? If we banged out?”
“Uh yeah.” She said with no shame. “Hell, I ain’t getting none. I need to live vicariously through somebody, and let’s be honest, X. You look like the type that just...slays in the bedroom.” She paused. “Uh, you do, too, Busy. But you look like you got that old school…”
“I’mma pull the truck over.” Busy interrupted her. “And I’mma need you to get out. You’re doing entirely too much, Trinity.”
“You’re right. You’re right.” She admitted. “I’m supposed to be on my professionalism today. Let me pull it together, but I really think it’s the testosterone.”
I finally looked up from my phone, staring into the back of Trinity’s head as she chilled in the front seat of the Range Rover. “You’ve convinced me, Trin. I’mma introduce you to somebody. You need like, a special friend. Somebody to take the edge off. Break ya back, and ruin your life for a minute. Calm you the hell down.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” She agreed, and I couldn’t help laughing at her.
It was semi-stereotypical, but I didn’t like shopping, and the type of shopping we were doing, and the place that we were doing it definitely wasn’t a vibe. Frowning, I ducked my head to avoid banging it against a light fixture. Everywhere I looked, light fixtures - and I would be damned if they all didn’t look almost exactly alike to me. Trinity was talking to the sales rep, then looking back at Busy and me and sharing information with us. Plus she was pointing at items that I could only assume she was suggesting to us. I didn't know what the hell was going on. Keeping it one hundred, I wasn’t interested in what was going on. I spent the better part of an hour following her and Busy around the showroom, engrossed in my phone. Finally, Trinity decided that she wasn’t with the shits.
Wrapping her hand around my bicep as well as she could, she led me away from the saleswoman and Busy, into a quiet corner.
“Look, I realize that this isn’t your thing. I get that, and I’ve tried to be both patient and professional with you, X. However, at the end of the day, you and your brothers are the ones with the 12 week timeline. What we’re doing today isn’t frivolous. We aren’t just hanging out. Kicking it. You mighta hired us in an effort to get next to Reign, but we signed on to do this job. Made your grandmother’s house a priority. Put your project in front of other projects. Let me do my job...Nigga.”
“Aw, that right there wasn’t professional at all, Trinity. I’mma have to report you to management.”
She gave me the finger, as she walked away from me. “Help Busy pick some light fixtures, X or I’m beating your ass.” She called, without turning around.
Busy and I did the best we could with Trinity’s guidance, and picked out a chandelier for the dining room, as well as a few light fixtures for other places in the house. Trinity placed the orders, and was acting like we’d actually gotten something accomplished. We were on a little b
it of a high as we left the store and stood in the middle of Clark Street, trying to decide the best way to get to the next showroom, so we could select the plumbing fixtures and presumably meet up with Reign.
“Hey Maddox.” Came the seductive voice.
She and her two homegirls walked up on us so fast that for a second all I saw was the blur of bright colors from their dresses and of brown from their skin. But slowly, Meeyah and her girls came into focus, and even though she’d spoken to Busy in the “come fuck me” voice, her eyes were drilling a hole into me.
Busy was used to being approached by attractive women. It came with the territory of being in the league. I was almost positive that he didn’t know who the hell she was. It wasn’t like I’d ever introduced them, so the only way he would recognize her would be from having seen her on my Instagram.
He took her in slowly, in the way that I knew made women feel special, but was really just a long-practiced move that had more to do with presenting an approachable image than it did actual interest. “Hey. What’s up?”
She gave him the same look right back, only longer and more intense. Then she stuck the tip of her pink fingernail between her pink lips and stared up at him from under her eyelashes. Something that I also knew didn’t mean shit, and was just a long-practiced move. “You tell me.”
Busy graced her with a smirk. I didn’t say anything, or even react. I was lowkey wondering if Meeyah was stalking me. I’d taken a few pictures in the lighting store and posted them to my social media with the caption: “How I’m spending my next to last Saturday before training camp. Wyd?”
The lighting showroom was in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Meeyah lived in Lincoln Park. Had she really peeped my IG post, shimmied into the brightly colored bodycon number she was currently sporting, jumped into full hair and makeup, rounded up two of her homegirls and hustled on down to the lighting store for an “impromptu” run in with me? That sounded totally arrogant on my part, but it was a bit of a coincidence that she was standing in front of me. Ignoring me, like she was hurting my feelings.
