The People in the Park (21 page)

Dad lifted my chin with his hand. “I know it’s all my fault. If the firm hadn’t imploded in such a public way things might be different. I’ll talk to your mother. I think it is great that you’ve gotten your own job. What will you be doing?”

“Dr. Smithfield is converting his patient files to digital files. I’ll be helping his office manager input data into the computer.”

“That’s good,” Dad said, pausing as if searching for words. “You didn’t want a newspaper internship?”

“Newspapers are declining. Nobody from a newspaper offered me a job.”

Dad kissed my forehead. “At least you can come visit me in Atlanta some weekends, especially Fourth of July weekend. We’ll explore Atlanta and get to know our new city.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Even though he didn’t agree with everything I wanted to do, he respected my right to do them.

48

At three thirty Monday afternoon, I went for a drive.

Not the long weary drive I took earlier this year when I’d driven down to Columbia. This drive had the potential to be good, a healing of sorts. Still, butterflies churned in my stomach, not knowing what sort of reception I would receive. I didn’t want to call ahead because I might lose courage and not go. So the best thing to do was just get in the car and drive.

In half an hour I’d reached my destination, a leafy tree lined neighborhood in south Kansas City. It looked different than it did the last time I was here. Then again, I hadn’t been noticing my surroundings. I was just looking for acceptance, which I found.

Today it looked just like any other middle-class neighborhood, children out riding their scooters, boys in the street pitching a baseball complete with catcher’s mitts, girls playing hopscotch. A neighborhood like I remembered before we moved to Fairfield.

I rang the doorbell. Aunt Ira came to the door. She wrapped me in her arms.

“Lauren! Come in!”

She led me into the kitchen where she was fixing dinner. Spaghetti and meat sauce.

“Your mother called me this morning and asked me if you could stay here your senior year and go to Lincoln Prep.”

I was too late. “I wanted to ask you myself.”

“Of course, you can. We’d love to have you. Tiffany is going to be so excited. As am I”

After she had the meat sauce simmering, Aunt Ira sat next to me at the table.

“Welcome to your new home,” she said, placing her arm around me. “I’m so happy about this. I’ve wanted you and Tiffany to spend more time together, to get to know each other, you know what I mean?”

“I do.” I nodded. “You understand.”

“Indeed.”

“Mom and I are going to Lincoln Prep next week to register. She already has an appointment for next Monday.”

“Your Uncle Bob went to Lincoln Prep,” Aunt Ira said. “He thinks it’s the best school in the city.”

“How did you and Mom get to Kansas City since you’re both from Memphis?”

“Your mom and I are a year apart in age. We went to college at a small HBCU in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Rust College. I met Bob there. I always knew he wanted to move back home. When we graduated from college, we only looked for jobs here in the Kansas City area.”

“Mom and Dad. How did they get here?”

“Your mom met your dad at Rust College, too. Your dad got accepted at law school at UMKC. So, your mom got a job here.

“Your dad kept moving up in his career. We’re so proud of him and happy that this unpleasantness is over. Nobody who really knows your dad believed those reports about him.”

I felt great knowing that our family thought well of Dad.

“Stay for dinner,” said Aunt Ira. “You and Tiffany can compare prom notes. Your mom tells me you had a wonderful time at two proms.”

I blushed.

“Is there a special young man?”

More blushing on my part. “No, we’re just friends.”

“I’ve heard more ‘we are just friends’ than I care to. The next thing you know, there are wedding bells.”

I laughed. “This is nothing like that. We’re going to separate colleges. He has his whole life planned even before he met me. I’m just trying to figure things out.”

“I know your mother wants you to date someone like your father. I told her that love has no color.”

I blushed again. Aunt Ira knew more than I thought she did.

Aunt Ira gave me a tight squeeze. “I know this has been a difficult year for you. What you’re doing is good. Some people go through life and never know who they are or what they want out of life. It’s good to get back in touch with family. When all else fails, your family should be the one constant in your life. Someone who will provide love and strength while you rest from the journey.”

Despite myself, I felt tears form in my eyes. But I couldn’t let them fall. This was supposed to be a happy time. Aunt Ira welcomed me with total understanding. This was another decision that I’d made that felt so right.

This decision-making thing was nerve-racking. First I made a decision. Then I worried if I had made the right decision. And then everything seemed to indicate that I had. I needed to be more confident in the decisions I made.

“I just want to get to know my family. I remember when I was a little girl we spent a lot of time at each other’s houses. I played with Tiffany every week. Now I barely know her. I don’t know you that well either.”

Aunt Ira nodded. “This will be a good year for you, for all of us.”

“Thanks for letting me stay here. Mom and Dad want me to go to Atlanta for the summer, but I have a job.”

“Really? Where?”

“A doctor’s office. I’ll be helping him convert to a digital file system.”

“Marvelous! It’s about time you learned the value of a dollar.”

I laughed in spite of myself. Aunt Ira didn’t bite her tongue. She said whatever was on her mind. I remembered that characteristic of hers from years past.

“I think so, too,” I murmured in agreement.

“Do you want to stay here this summer?”

“Thanks, but Mom will be here with me until the house sells.”

“She’ll be back and forth to Atlanta getting the new house ready. Your mom hopes you’ll spend some weekends in Atlanta.”

“I’ll try.”

“Your Mom has been through a rough time too. She might need some mother-daughter time, if you know what I mean.”

I smiled. Aunt Ira had a way of getting her point across. Mom had been saying the same thing. I actually heard it when Aunt Ira said it.

“My offer to stay here anytime this summer stands. Your mom also needs to spend time alone with your father. If you want to get away for a few days, I’m here.”

“Maybe a couple of days. I can’t do rush hour every day. Too stressful.”

Aunt Ira knew something was going on with Mom and Dad. I dared not ask her details.

She checked the meat sauce. “Come help me cut up veggies for the salad.”

I rose immediately. I sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots. Aunt Ira cut up the green peppers, mushrooms, and red onions. I slipped easily into this new role of cook’s helper even though Mom prepared our meals without any help.

Aunt Ira seemed to sense that this was what I needed, to feel part of a family. We were still cutting and chopping when Tiffany arrived home from school.

49

Tiffany kissed Aunt Ira lightly on the cheek while Aunt Ira lovingly embraced her.

“Hi, Mommy.”

“Look who’s here,” Aunt Ira said.

“Hi, Lauren.” Tiffany gave me a quick hug. “What are you doing here?”

“Lauren will be staying with us senior year and going to Lincoln Prep with you.”

“Cool!” Tiffany grabbed an apple and headed out the door. “Let’s go to my room.”

I had just finished slicing the last carrot.

“I’ll call you girls for dinner when Bob gets home.”

I followed Tiffany upstairs to her room. She flopped on the bed. I joined her.

“So tell me about your prom. I hear you went to two. And who is this dude you went with? Did you meet him after you asked me if I knew anybody? I heard he’s a white boy.”

She was full of questions. I was surprised that she had kept up with my life. I felt good that she had. I guess it was what being part of a family meant. Everybody knew everybody’s business.

I told her about Patrick and how I met him and about his prom and about my prom weekend with my friends. She, in turn, told me about her prom and about her boyfriend and about her friends and all the fun they had. We talked and talked, finishing each other’s sentences, which caused us to break out into deep belly laughs. We slipped easily into being cousin friends.

Even though I hadn’t spent much time around Tiffany the past few years, you never would’ve known it. We acted like we talked all the time and saw each other often. I was amazed at all the things we had in common. We loved reading the same books and liked watching old black and white movies. But there were differences, too. I loved to write. She liked acting in plays and singing. She didn’t even seem to mind at all that I would be living with her and going to Lincoln Prep senior year.

If the situation were reversed and Tiffany was coming to live with me, I probably wouldn’t be as welcoming.

After we reached a lull in the conversation and we both were lying on her bed looking at the ceiling, she said, “I’m glad you’ll be staying here. Mommy has been trying to get me to call you, but I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if you wanted to be bothered with me.”

I laughed. “I probably didn’t.”

She laughed, too.

“But since the thing with Dad I’ve been thinking a lot about my life. I realized I didn’t really know you. And that is not right. I want to know you better, Tiffany.”

She turned on her side facing me. “I want to know you, too. We had fun when you stayed here that weekend.”

I’m glad she thought so, too.

“You know what I really want to do? I want to visit Meré and Granddad when you go. I want to go with you this summer.”

“No, you can’t go with me,” she said, quickly. “I’m not trying to be mean or anything, but you have to go by yourself. When I’m there, I feel like the most special person in the world. They give me all their attention. They take me places. They spend time talking to me. They want to know what I think about lots of things. And of course, they take me shopping.

“You have to go alone so you can experience that feeling of specialness. You’ll be so glad you did.”

“But I don’t really know them that well, only through brief phone calls. I wouldn’t know what to talk to them about.”

“Yes, you will. You’ll see. Everything will come naturally. Just be yourself.”

“I’m not sure who that is anymore.”

Tiffany threw a pillow at me.

“You are a Moffit. And a Cole. Just like I am a Monroe and a Cole. You can’t run from who you are.”

“I’m not trying to run.” I struggled for words. “I just want to know who I really am.”

“Then visit your Cole grandparents. And your Moffit grandparents. You already have a special relationship with Mama Cole. You call her ‘Grand Meré. That’s special. I call her ‘Mama Cole’. That’s special. She doesn’t prefer one over the other. She likes being called both.”

“But she loves the girls who call her ‘Meré and ‘Mama Cole’ more than anything,” Aunt Ira said from the doorway. “Dinner is ready.” She turned and went back downstairs.

I hadn’t realized she’d been standing there. Tiffany and I washed up for dinner and went downstairs where Uncle Bob kissed both of us.

“There are my girls!” he said.

I was glad to be included as one of his girls. This thing called family was strange. The family key unlocks everything. Without question you are gathered into the fold and made to feel as if you are one of them.

Whatever happened senior year, I had a feeling I was going to like living here.

50

Six days later, Patrick drove up to my house.

I saw him arrive from the window in my room. We were going to a movie with Callie and Brian. I quickly grabbed a sweater and my purse. It’s always cold in movie theaters so I keep a light sweater with me. I hoped I wouldn’t need it. I wanted to snuggle with Patrick if the theater was too cold. But I couldn’t count on it. I knew he really liked me, and we had fun going to our proms, but this was our first date since then.

I raced downstairs when I realized I hadn’t heard the doorbell ring. There was nobody in the living room or in the kitchen. I went through the mudroom into the garage and heard voices coming from outside. I stopped in my tracks when I heard Patrick talking to Dad.

“I really like Lauren and would like to see more of her this summer,” Patrick said. “I have a job, so I won’t be able to see her until the weekend.”

“Absolutely,” Dad said. “You’re always welcome around here. You seem to be a nice young man.”

I knew Dad was chuckling deep down inside because I would be traveling practically every weekend this summer, either going to Atlanta or taking short family weekend trips.

“Tell me, Patrick,” Dad continued. “What type of job do you have this summer?”

“I have a job in the research lab at Children’s Hospital.”

“You interested in science or medicine?”

“I want to be a scientist. I also found out that I got accepted into a summer program at MIT. I’m hoping I can go to college there.”

“So how are you going to work and go to MIT this summer?”

“Well, the internship doesn’t start until July. Until then I can work in the research lab. I already talked it over with my supervisor. She says it’s a great opportunity that I shouldn’t miss.”

“Son, you should make the most of this summer program. You never know where it can lead.”

“I plan to, sir.”

“I see you know what you want out of life.”

“Yeah, I pretty much have it planned out. My parents want me to have a better life than they did.”

“Good! Good! I’m glad to hear that. Most fellows your age haven’t got a clue.”

“I’ve always had to work summer jobs. My parents are doing OK, but I wasn’t born with everything handed to me. They’ve always stressed that I should work for the extras I want other than food, clothing, and shelter.”