Chapter Thirty-One #2
I couldn’t believe this conversation between Macy and me.
What kind of California dreaming lifestyle were we living?
My late mom and aunties would ask what kind of Shirley Brown “Woman to Woman” situation was going on with me and Macy talking about Brent, her handing him over to me, and relationships.
“I have dipped my toes into the dating pool here and there,” Macy said with a laugh.
“Even tried going out with a few women, but that’s not my ministry.
It’s a whole lotta young ninjas out there looking for a come up, though.
Comes with the territory when you’re an attractive Black woman with the last name DuPree, with some money and status.
If it’s meant to be, I’ll find my happy with another person.
My kids, my mental wellness, and my businesses are my top priority now, however. ”
“Makes sense.”
Macy started tearing up again.
“I hope Brent is making some headway with Bracee upstairs. It’s awfully quiet. She’s lost so much in the past few years. She pretends to be strong, but I still see the same little girl qualities in her since she was born.”
“Before you got here, it was quite heated,” I said. “At the rate they’re going, I think we’ll miss the doctor and dentist appointments Brent made for later this morning.”
“It’s a holiday weekend, fuck those appointments,” Macy said, wiping her face and letting out a little giggle.
“Bracee is headstrong, like her parents. Brent’s a good man.
He really is. A feminist gentle giant, I like to call him.
My dad calls him soft. That’s a whole ’nother story. No love lost between them.”
“I’ve heard Brent and your dad are not the closest.”
“At first they were,” Macy said, sipping coffee.
“Over the years, that waned. Especially when Brent got injured in college out here and figured out he didn’t have what it took to make it to the NBA.
My dad never hesitated to say he invested in the wrong man.
He was downright mean about it to Brent.
But Brent being Brent, and it’s really because of you, he turned to his love of reading, studying, and grew to have aspirations beyond playing sports.
He ended up going back for his master’s degree and decided college athletics leadership was his calling.
That’s all you and what you saw in him during college.
It’s given the King-DuPrees a good quality of life.
Thank you, Renny. I still want to call you Larenz, the hot gay nerd, by the way. ”
“Call me what you’re comfortable with, Macy,” I said. “I cannot take credit for Brent’s life choices after you and he got married.”
Macy got up, retrieved the turkey bacon from the skillet, put the slices on a plate, and returned to the table. She picked up a piece and took a bite.
“I owe you an apology.”
“What for?”
She paused for a minute before speaking. “Bracee’s lost and gained a lot in the past couple years or so,” Macy said. “Some of it related to you.”
“What do you mean? I just met her. I don’t have any kind of relationship with her. Yet, anyway.”
“But you will,” Macy said. “Bracee will come around to appreciate you because you’ll love the man who raised her. And you’ll be part of helping us build her back up after what she’s lost and what she’s in the process of gaining.”
“You’re talking in circles, Macy. What are you talking about?”
Macy took a long sip of coffee before speaking. “Not only has Bracee lost her father after his coming out, the separation, and the divorce,” Macy said. The tears formed in her eyes again. “Macy lost Brent as her father father.”
“I’m confused. He left college in Missouri to be with you and the baby out here in California.”
“Hear me out. We’ve been in couple and family therapy not just because of Brent coming out and starting his new life.
But a few years ago, Bracee had an accident and needed urgent, life-saving medical care and procedures.
She’s fine now, thank goodness. However, during that ordeal, we discovered that Brent wasn’t Bracee’s biological father.
He wasn’t compatible or able to help her medically. ”
“But I thought he left Missouri to be with you and the baby.”
“Yes, Brent did what he thought was the right thing back then,” Macy said.
“That was shortly after I told him to get back with you because of his fear of being outed due to someone finding and leaking that class assignment to his coach,” I said, remembering those months in college like yesterday.
“His three-pointers and free throws in double overtime got the team to the Elite Eight.”
“And Brent and I got back together, as you suggested, while I was being a cheerleader and groupie on the road during March Madness.”
“I’m glad he got to play. It was his dream,” I said.
“I lost the debate after I told him to go back to you, if that’s what he wanted.
My nerves were wrecked. Lost the election, too, thanks to my opponent whose janitor dad found the paper in a recycling bin outside Dr. Darder’s office.
In a way, I guess the attempted blackmail unnerved me. It worked.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you lost the election.”
“Water under the bridge, as Brent likes to say,” I said.
“Silly me thought he’d come back to me when the gay rumors stopped and things got better with his coach after he got them to the Elite Eight.
But then you and he disappeared from campus that summer, and then I got the text from him that I’ve forgiven him for but won’t ever forget. ”