Chapter 11
Chapter 11
A s James closed the door behind his father, he exhaled. That was not how the conversation with his dad was supposed to go. This was their moment and it ended on a bad note. Looking around the place that was now his space, he knew his father loved and wanted the best for him. However, this was his life, his future, that they were talking about. He could not make decisions based on what happened to someone else, even if it was his father. His first inclination was to call ZsaZsa, to discuss what had happened with her. Since the argument was about her, he decided that was not wise. Besides, the last thing he ever wanted to do was cause animosity between her and his family. He was a man now. He should know how to handle a simple disagreement with his father. Taking a seat on the new sofa, he laid his head back thinking, this was the first time in his entire life that he and his father were at odds with each other. He did not like it. For a moment he felt as if he had lost a major connection in his life. It was not a good feeling. It was important not to let this fester long. He had to find a way to clear the air between them before the night was out. With a family filled with attorneys, there was one who was considered the cream of the crop when it came to litigation. Picking up his cell phone he dialed a number, then waited.
“Hi, Pop.” James greeted when his grandfather answered.
“James Jr., how are you, son?” Avery Brooks replied.
“I need your advice.” James began.
“I’m always here for a good talk. What is it about?”
“Dad.”
“Your father? All right, what do you need help with?”
“Pop, I came home to everyone surprising me with my own place. Bedroom, kitchen, study, everything I need to live on my own. And get this, my mom and my dad gave me vehicles, a sedan and an SUV. The SUV is so sweet.”
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
James exhaled. “I mentioned my plans for ZsaZsa, and my dad went ballistic. We have never had harsh words, but I had to ask him to leave.”
“You put your father out of the place he just gave you?”
James thought about that, then nodded. “Yes. Pretty ungrateful, right?”
“I don’t believe that. Tell me, who is ZsaZsa?”
“Whew, Pop,” James exhaled. “ZsaZsa is everything,” he chuckled allowing the anger he was feeling to subside as he spoke. “She is Prince LaVeré’s sister.”
“Ahh, your father’s friend.”
“Yes,” James replied. “There is nothing I do not like about her. She is as beautiful as she is intelligent. There is this innocence about her, yet she is very conscientious and thoughtful about the people in her country. You would never know from being around her that she is a princess. When we talk, I can speak without thinking about what I’m about to say or who is around. I feel free to just be me when I’m with her. I was explaining this to my dad and how I felt ZsaZsa was the woman I plan to marry.”
“Danger Will Robinson,” his grandfather called out.
“Who is Will Robinson?” James chuckled.
“It is what the robot used to say when his boy Will was about to step onto a minefield,” Avery explained. “That’s what you stepped into with your father.”
“I gathered that. And I know it’s because of the divorce. What I don’t understand is why Dad took that so hard. What happened was on Mom. She told me that. It wasn’t anything that Dad did directly.”
“You have to know the history of the Brooks men to understand why your father reacted the way he did.”
“Will you explain it all to me? I really want to understand.” James inquired.
“Do you have time? This story may take a while.”
“I’ll make the time. I don’t like being at odds with my dad, so I need to understand why my relationship with ZsaZsa is upsetting to him.”
“It’s not the relationship. It’s the thought of you getting married young and the possibility of divorce,” Avery stated. “Unfortunately, it’s a Brooks family trait that began long before you, your father, or I were even thought up. You see, back in the late 1800s, about seven generations back, the Brooks family was into making moonshine.”
“Moonshine, the liquor?” James asked.
“Yes,” Avery chuckled. “It was the way the Brooks became wealthy, until we all became lawyers.”
“That was a leap,” James laughed. “We went from breaking the law, to protecting the law.”
“In a way,” Avery stated. “Once we became a family of lawyers, we found ourselves protecting our people in many ways. That was how we got into the area of civil rights. There was a huge need for us back then.”
“We are sliding back in that direction,” James advised.
“How well I know,” Avery replied. “That is a discussion for another time. Let me explain your father, then we will get back to where this country is heading. Back in the 1800s before our people were free, we worked on plantations as slaves. One of the leading crops in Georgia was corn. Back then corn was the main ingredient used to make moonshine. The owners used it to feed pigs, our ancestors used it to make moonshine and they were very good at it. The product was above average in strength and taste. As the story goes, your great-grandfather, seven times removed was named William. He worked on a plantation and learned to make moonshine. For the most part it was for his people. Well, he met a woman by the name of Betty. It is said the moment he placed eyes on Betty he knew she was the one. They married ten days later. Now, back during that time marriages between slaves were not recognized by the legal system because they were considered property. Also, during that time, it was illegal for slaves to learn to read or write. It was said Betty who was a freed slave, did know how to do both. No one asked how but kept it a secret for fear she would be killed. When Betty learned of William’s skills, she developed a system to distribute the moonshine.”
“Wait, Pop, how could she do that? Didn’t the owners know she was a slave?” James questioned.
“No, the White slave owners had no idea they were buying moonshine from slaves. Betty selected the trusted slaves from plantations around the area and set up a routine for them to deliver the moonshine whenever their owners sent them on an errand. The White people didn’t care where the moonshine was coming from. They wanted the good stuff, and they kept buying. William and Betty made a nice little piece of coins back then and kept it from their owners. Those coins placed them in a pretty good position once they became free, which happened around 1865. William and Betty did three remarkable things during the time that set our path to where and who we are today. First, the moment they were free they bought a little piece of property, built a home, and settled there. They did not want to take the last name of their owner as many freed slaves did. What they did instead was take on the last name of Brooks because their property was near a brook. They renewed their wedding vows again to be legal under the eyes of the law, and that’s when they became William and Betty Brooks. Betty insisted that all of her children be educated, the boys and the girls. As soon as their boys were of age, William and Betty used their money earned from selling moonshine to send them to Augusta Institute, which you now know as Morehouse. Those that were not old enough to attend took on the trade taught to them by their father. When prohibition hit Georgia, producing moonshine became dangerous for Black people, however, it was also very prosperous if you didn’t get caught. Somewhere along the line, Betty, in all her wisdom, named her youngest son Avery. The meaning of the name literally translated to ‘self-counsel’. She gave him that name with the intent of him living up to it by becoming a legal counsel so that if and when any of them were caught selling moonshine, they would have counsel to speak for them in court. Avery met a young girl named Sarah. Like his father, the moment he put eyes on her, he knew she was the one. He married her two weeks later. The next generation, every son of Avery and Sarah, became lawyers, mostly dealing with civil rights issues. William and Betty instilled the importance of education in their children. Their children followed their parents’ lead and educated their boys. Once Atlanta Baptist Seminary, what you now know as Spelman, was established, the girls were educated as well.”
“How does that explain the situation with Dad?”
“Here is where the situation with your father comes into play. Each of those sons met their wives and married within a month or two of meeting them. In every generation since, the Brooks men knew two things. They recognized the love of their life the moment they met that woman who would become their wife. And two, most, if not all of the men in the Brooks family became attorneys. Around the fifth generation, the Brooks family stopped breaking the law, to a certain extent. They had become so prominent as attorneys, legal income outweighed the income from making moonshine. Every one of us, through our history who carried the name Avery, knew the minute they met the woman they were to marry. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, and I did the same. The minute I met your grandmother I knew I was going to marry her. As you learned during Vernon’s trial, there were challenges. It did not matter to me. I knew Gwendolyn was going to be my wife. Where this history impacts your father is this. In the generations of men who carried the name of Avery in the Brooks family, marriages lasted through the test of time. Your father was the first to ever break that tradition. He was the first to get a divorce and that hit him hard. In fact, he agonized over it for almost a year. He moved out of the house within a matter of days after the incident between your mother and your uncle. Not much longer after that we found out your mother was carrying you. For months I would talk with your father daily as he tried to handle Katherine’s infidelity and the question of your paternity. But there was no way he was going to leave her pregnant and alone. At the time, he had no way of knowing if you were his child. It did not matter to him. The moment you were born he declared you were his son, and no one dared to question him about it. You became a bridge between your parents. It was very clear they both loved you. However, there was no love between them. Your father was a firsthand witness to the loveless marriage between Vernon and Constance. He did not want you raised in that type of environment. But the weight of our history of finding true love was heavier than he could bear. When he decided to divorce your mother, his pride was injured in a way he never thought could be repaired. Your father believed he had broken the tradition that had been passed down through generations. He made a promise to himself, that he would do all he could to guide you away from making the mistakes he made. I believe it was his hope that you would be the Avery who would eventually restore what he broke. The moment you mentioned marrying ZsaZsa, I am certain that is what hit him. You are about the same age he was when he declared he was going to marry Katherine.”
“That is a heavy burden he was carrying, and I can see where he would be concerned.” James stated. “You’ve shared a lot of our history and I have so many questions. But let’s stay with Dad for a moment. I’m not talking about marrying ZsaZsa today or tomorrow. I’m just getting to know her. However, in my heart I know she is the one. That was really all I was trying to share with Dad. However, I felt his reaction was over the top. I get that he was the first Avery to get a divorce, but Pop look at what he has now. Ashley is great for him. I honestly believe she is the love of his life. He has shown me how to recognize and accept love.”
“He has been a good role model.” Avery agreed. “You may want to share that with him. I am certain he would appreciate hearing that from you.”
“I don’t think I can talk to him right now, Pop. Even though I understand his position a little better, Dad needs to respect my decisions and trust that he has instilled the knowledge I need to live my life. The days of him demanding I do anything are gone. I will always respect and seek out his guidance in everything that I do. It all comes down to this. Whatever I decide about my life he has to learn to accept it. If it is a mistake, it will be a lesson I learn. I will pick myself up and move on.”
“You are your father’s son,” Avery laughed. “Both of you are wise beyond your years and I know you two will work this situation out. All I ask is that you be open to your father’s concerns.”
“I can do that.” James acknowledged feeling somewhat better about the situation. “Now, tell me more about the illegal activities that made the Brooks wealthy.”
Avery laughed. “That would be the part of the story you are the most interested in.”
“It’s an intriguing story,” James exclaimed. “I can only imagine the civil rights violations that took place during that time.”
“The laws that prohibited the owning of homes for our people were the worst back then. Some of them still remain on the books. People do not realize the way to wealth began with the owning of property. Black people, for years, have been denied the opportunity to get loans for home purchases the same as White people received. Therefore, to purchase property they had to have hard earned cash. Not many of us did.”
“It seems like the predatory loans are now the way the law continues to hold us back,” James Jr. stated. “Just look at the majority of student loans. It is the only way some of our people were able to attend college, and now those very loans are so staggering, once they receive their degrees to get better paying jobs, they still can’t purchase homes. They are saddled with student loan debts that are as high as some mortgages.”
“That is true. It will take some young legal minds like yours to help our people change that course of history.”
James Jr.’s mind then turned to ways his grandfather’s advice could be put into action. The words, change the course of history seemed to have struck a chord with him. He was about to become a young legal mind. He wondered if he could be a vessel to that change.
“How would you go about making that change, Pop?”