Chapter 12
Chapter 12
T hanksgiving weekend at the Brooks estate was always an event. This year more than any other. It started with an arrest, climaxed to a snowball fight, and ended with a wedding. Who would expect anything less from the Brooks family, especially when they were all together.
The shenanigans started Wednesday with James getting a call from his cousin Taylor stating she had been detained at the police station in McLean, located in Fairfax County, VA. For clarity, the police station appeared to be a modern-day college campus building. It was designed for the residents of the area that it serviced, which included members of Congress, diplomats, and high-ranking government officials. It was not your typical jail and anyone who was detained there would feel as if they were in a country club. However, when his uncle Vernon, his father, grandfather and uncle Nick heard the word detained , they pretty much lost their minds. The circus became much worse when Jason Whitfield, Taylor’s boyfriend, showed up. It seemed Taylor had a run-in with Jason’s ex-girlfriend. The girl swung and Taylor knocked her out. To James, the precinct commander was very accommodating with the arguing between Jason and Taylor and the threats of his uncle Vernon. Once Taylor was released, she was not pleased to discover Jason had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving dinner was going to be interesting if something wasn’t done to ease the tension. Hell, he was already anxious about ZsaZsa coming to dinner before the incident with his father. Now, the situation with Jason and Taylor was on the table. To his way of thinking something had to give. There wasn’t much he could do about the situation with his dad right now, both of them needed to take a breath before having another conversation. But just maybe there was something he could do to help Jason and Taylor out.
James walked to the kitchen of his grandparents’ home. Once there he found Ava and Clair laughing and yes, still cooking. “Do you want something, Junior?” Clair called to him.
“I was thinking about taking some cake over to Jason. He’s been by himself in the guest house for a while,” James replied.
“Well, I can’t give him what he really wants but,” Ava said as she wiped her hands and walked over to the refrigerator. “This will bring joy into anyone’s life.” She pulled out a banana pudding with vanilla wafers and whipped cream on top.
“You’ve been holding out on us, Ava,” James smiled. “I have to or there will be no food for tomorrow.”
“Here are two containers,” Clair offered. “One for you and one for that young man.”
James took the containers and walked out the back door that led to the guest house. He kicked on the door because his hands were full. “Hey, Jason, it’s James Jr. Let me in.”
The door opened to a sullen looking Jason Whitfield, NBA’s newest superstar.
“Hey man.”
“You look like you lost your best friend,” James chuckled.
“Man, your cousin is trippin’,” Jason said as he fell across the couch and picked up the remote control.
“Yes, she is. But can you blame her?”
Jason stared at him for a long time. “No, I can’t. But I don’t know how to fix it.”
“You know all that talk the OG’s gave us today about women?” James asked as he set the containers on the island.
“Yeah. What about it?” Jason asked as he stood.
James smiled as he opened one of the containers. “It all goes down better with banana pudding.”
“Man, that smells good.” Jason grabbed a spoon from the kitchen drawer.
“It’s nice and fresh,” James replied.
Jason took a container and sat on one of the bar stools. James sat next to him with the other container.
“So…you took my cousin’s virginity then threw her aside?”
Jason took a moment and stared at him. “That’s not what happened. Yes, we made love and yes it was her first time. But she was the one who said she needed time to get her life together.”
“Reasonable request, Jason. Her mother had been murdered, her father was on trial for murder, and her sex life was the highlight of the public hearing. There is a bunch of shit happening in her life that she will have to work through. It would be great to know she has someone in her life who has her back,” James exclaimed. “I think you are that man. Am I wrong? If so, I have a brand new car out back. I can take you to your place or the arena and you can move on with your life.”
“Man, I don’t want that. I want Taylor,” Jason huffed. “I knew the moment I saw her she was the one.”
James smiled. “Then break through all the noise and stake your claim.”
“How?” Jason asked.
James had to take a moment to think about that question. It was the same question he was asking when it came to his dad. “Talk and listen.” He replied. “I just went through this whole situation with my dad. He and I got into a thing, and it just occurred to me that the only reason it happened is because neither of us was listening to the other. We were so busy trying to get our own point across, we simply forgot to listen.”
“Taylor and I were so busy yelling, we never really did sit down and talk,” Jason sighed.
“It’s important in any relationship between two people,” James stated. “Even more so, between you and the person you want to spend your life with. I take it since you took her virginity, you do plan on spending your life with her.” He raised an eyebrow at the man his cousin was in love with.
“Man, you really should go to law school. You have a smooth way of cross-examining people.”
James smiled. “I found out something interesting today.”
“What?” Jason asked as he ran his finger around the bowl that once held the banana pudding.
“I discovered how our family became attorneys,” he chuckled. “It all came down to land ownership.”
“Really?” Jason sat back. “My cousins always talk about owning property as the way to get rich in this country.”
“According to my grandfather, that’s how we did it, way back in the 1800s.” James shrugged.
“For real?” Jason asked. “All this time I thought Demarcus was talking out the side of his mouth.”
“Demarcus, is that the cousin Taylor doesn’t like?” James asked.
“No,” Jason laughed. “That is Ruler. We don’t hang with him too tight anymore. When I’m home I hang with my other cousins, Demarcus, Ulysses, and Kingston. Now, those three are about the business of community and the wealth of our people.”
“Sounds like good people,” James replied as he put more banana pudding in his bowl.
“They are.” Jason agreed and then pointed towards the container holding the banana pudding. “You going to finish up the rest of that?”
James looked at the container. “No, you go for it. You’re going to need something sweet for the night. I got my girl. You don’t.”
“Ha-Ha,” Jason smirked.
James laughed as Jason took the container, picked up his spoon then hit the pudding like it was his last meal.