Chapter 10
Chapter 10
I t was Thanksgiving break. James knew when he returned to school it was going to be all about finals. He was looking forward to connecting with his family, especially Taylor. She had been through a lot with law school, the revamping of her singing career, and of course there was Jason. His hope was that the two had worked their differences out. He liked Jason and thought he was a good fit for Taylor and really cared about her. He hoped to have a chance to catch up with her during the family dinner. But right now, as he walked into the house, he was simply looking forward to hearing about all the craziness with his younger brothers and sister. That did not happen. In fact, by the end of the evening he was wondering if it would have been better if he had spent Thanksgiving with his mother.
His siblings did not greet him at the door. No one was around to jump into his arms and make him feel warm and wanted. In fact, as the first hour of him being home progressed, he had gotten into a small confrontation with his youngest brother Anthony, who took it upon himself to bite into a sandwich James had just made. That turned into the woman who had been a part of his life since he was born, Clair, their house manager, glowering at him. He had never experienced as much as a frown from her before then. The next thing to throw him into an alternate universe was discovering his step‐ mother Ashley had moved all of his things from his bedroom and put them in the storage facility out back. Why in the hell would she do that! He wasn’t out of the house yet and they were putting his things in storage. He had his place at school, but that wasn’t permanent. This was home, at least it was the last time he was here. Now, as he followed his father to the storage area, he was feeling a little pissed at the thought of his things being put out as if it was nothing but trash and he was just about to say that when his father opened the door.
“Surprise!”
James jumped back with his fists ready to swing. Then he looked into the faces of his family. Balloons filled the area and the banner dropping down from the loft that read Welcome Home . His little sister Jayda ran into his arms, as did her twin, Jayden and of course his little brother Anthony.
“Did we surprise you?” Jayda asked as she sat next to him on his sofa.
“Yes, Jaybird, you sure did.”
“I helped them move your furniture,” Jayden advised as he nodded. “One day, this place is going to be mine.”
James laughed. “Man, you have to give me time to live in it before you try to claim it.”
“Just make sure you keep it clean for me,” Jayden advised. “How do you know it will not go to me,” Jayda asked. “You are too scared to live by yourself,” Jayden teased.
“She is not scared to live by herself,” James interceded. “It’s just better to live in the house where Claire can help keep things clean. Right Jayda?”
“I’m not scared,” Jayda huffed then stomped off.
James frowned at Jayden. “You know your sister is very sensitive about what happened to her. You shouldn’t make her feel worse by teasing her about it. Since you hurt her feelings, you have to be man enough to soothe them over.”
“I was just joking,” Jayden sighed.
“I know you were. But there are some things we can joke about and some we can’t. That particular fear is not a good one to joke about.” He glanced over at his sister then back to his brother. “Now, if you want to joke about something, you can joke about those braids she has in her hair.”
“They do look kind of funky, don’t they?” Jayden asked as he looked at his sister.
“Yeah, they do,” James smiled. “But before you can tease her about them, you have to apologize for what you said before.”
Jayden walked over to his sister and within a minute Jayda was pushing him away for talking about her braids. Ahh…all is well, James thought as he looked around at his family.
“So,” his mother sat beside him. “Have you had that talk with your father?”
James exhaled. “No, but I will talk with him when everyone leaves.”
“Good, don’t leave him out of this, okay.” Katherine advised.
James nodded and the homecoming party was on.
Once everyone left it gave him and his father an opportunity to sit down and talk. All the love and warmth that was in his new place all dissipated within a matter of minutes. It all began to fall apart when he advised his father he was going to be attending Georgetown University. That brought a smile to his father’s face. However, in the next moment James was wondering what in the hell happened. As soon as he began to share his plans for his future and mentioned marrying ZsaZsa, his father seemed to lose all of his composure. One moment, James believed his family recognized he was becoming an independent man by giving him a great place he could call his own, and in the next moment, he and his father were at each other’s throats. It was an experience he never thought would happen between them. But here they were, talking, but not listening to each other. While he did not want his father to think he was ungrateful, because he really was thankful for the apartment and the gifts, in his mind it did not give his father the right to dictate his life. It was best to end the conversation before something was said that could not be taken back. So, he opened the door and politely asked his father to leave.