Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109608 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 548(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
At learning this news, I experienced a buzzing in my head so strong, I thought it might explode.
Although I understood why they made that decision, I was furious they felt forced to make it, and in so doing, they did not have the ones they loved close at hand to celebrate something so beautiful and important in their lives.
Allegra wasn’t done.
“This came about because she can pretty much rattle off the name of any NFL, NBA or MLB player who’s been accused of raping a woman, can go on about how cities pay for arenas when team owners are billionaires, and I could continue. Val told me she practically went stalker with how many articles she sent him about those hockey guys who got busted for what they did to that poor woman. In the end, he had to block her. All this, like Archie having a job taping a game means he’s directly responsible for everything wrong with professional sports. Archie is so freaking over it, it isn’t funny. He almost didn’t come to lunch that Sunday when he found out she was going to be there.”
Oh dear.
I understood it was bad, I was learning it was very bad, but with that, I realized it was far worse than I thought.
“Just to say, I’m not a big sports person, and a lot of it has to do with all those things,” Allegra kept on. “But Darryn is really into football and basketball, and her yammering on about all that stuff ticks him off too. I mean, it’s like she doesn’t know, you know, of course Darryn isn’t down with sexual assault. But they’re just games, they’re entertainment, and how the players and the owners behave, and all that shit isn’t a reflection of fans of the game, but the individual owners or players. You know?”
“I know,” I murmured conciliatorily.
“And I don’t want to get into telling you how she lectured Darryn about how he should turn his back on the NFL because of that taking a knee thing. It’s none of her damned business how he feels about that, though, obviously, he felt a man should be free to express himself by taking a knee or any way he wishes. Bottom line, though, frankly, she’s in no place to lecture a Black man about how he feels about anything. Or, really, lecturing anybody.”
“No, she isn’t,” I stated flatly.
“You have to talk to Nico, Mom.”
I blinked at the pavement. “For goodness sakes, why?”
“Because, even if he doesn’t scrape her off, she has to stop this crap with, I don’t know, everything.”
“Allegra, you and your sister are grown women, and I’ll add, your men are grown men. You can speak up for yourselves.”
“You get in his shit about how she is with Alyona,” she pointed out.
“Yes, because that’s mine to ‘get in his shit’ about, as you put it. Now consider how you’d feel if I came to you with complaints from Nico and Valentina, Felice and Archie about Darryn’s behavior.”
First, she made a scoffing sound before she declared, “Darryn is a god.”
He might not expect anyone to treat him as such, but my daughter did it all the same.
It was adorable.
“Yes, Darryn is perfect.” He wasn’t, but it was close. “I said that as a for instance,” I explained.
I heard her heavy sigh.
“Though, I don’t think now is the time for either of you to confront Nico about his wife,” I advised.
“If he’s thinking of ending things with her, maybe now is the perfect time,” she replied.
“I can’t tell you what to do, I can only advise. Now, you can phone him, and he can get defensive, and dig in, which could delay him making an important choice about his future, which will shorten the time he has to find happiness after she’s gone. Or you and Darryn and Valentina and Archie can support him through this tough time. Perhaps, if he confides in you, gracefully share how her behavior upsets you. But otherwise, let your grown-ass brother make his own way through this morass.”
“Did you just say ‘grown-ass?’” she teased.
“Is he not that?” I asked archly.
“He is. But I’m loving how Jamie is wearing off on you.”
That wasn’t Jamie.
I wasn’t sure, but I thought it was Mika.
Or Cadence.
“To end, my dearest, we need to rally around your brother.”
“Yeah,” she muttered. Then she asked, “You okay about what Dad pulled?”
After that Sunday, she and I had a short conversation about it, during which, as I suspected, she’d admitted she let slip to her father we were having a blend-the-families lunch. After that day, I’d spoken to all my children to take their pulse and allow them to take mine.
I moved away from the building and continued walking while I assured, “As I’ve said. I’m fine.”
I wasn’t, knowing Roland was up to no good with Paloma and AJ, but if I could help it, none of my children would know about that.