his New York Yankee pajamas and he still had on his socks.
“Cade, did you tell your uncle what you’re wearing for Halloween?”
Cade smiled and shook his head and said, “Naw.” I looked at Campbell and then at Cade and asked, “What? Stone Cold Steve Austin?”
“It’s a surprise,” Cade said.
“It’s okay. You can tell him since it’s only a couple weeks away and Uncle Basil might not be in town. He has to go out of town for work.”
Cade jumped up and down, pointed at me, and said, “I’m going as you. I’m going to be a New Jersey Warrior.” I couldn’t do anything but smile as I again looked at Cade and then Campbell.
“We found a place on the Internet where we can buy a kid’s uniform with your number on it,” Campbell said. Cade had a pleased smile on his face.
“If I’m out of town, will you take pictures for me, Cade?”
“Yep!”
“You gonna miss me while I’m gone?” I asked Cade.
“I want to go with you,” Cade said, his face full of a child’s tenderness and vulnerability.
“I wish I could take you with me, but you’ve got school.”
“Mommy could write me a note and say I was helping you with your work,” he said.
“But who’s gonna stay here with me?” Campbell asked.
“Daddy will be back soon,” he replied.
I bent down so that I was at eye level with Cade, whose gray eyes were almost identical to my own. “You know I wish I could take you with me, but you got to be the man and stay here and take care of Mommy, okay?” I palmed his head playfully.
“Okay,” he said with the mournful face he often used to get his way.
“Give me a hug,” I said, and we squeezed each other tightly for over a minute. As I held him, I was thinking how much I loved this little boy and of the day when I would have children of my own. I almost lost it when Cade whispered, “I love you a whole lot, Uncle Basil.” It didn’t matter how many times I’d heard him say the words, they always touched my heart in a way it had never been touched.
I rubbed his head gently and said, “And I love you a whole lot too.”
10
IT WAS Sunday evening. Windsor was at church and Yancey was snuggled up on her sofa eating fried rice with chopsticks, watching her favorite television show,
Sex and
the City.
One moment she was laughing, and the next she thought,
These skinny white bitches need a black girlfriend.
Yancey removed the sky-blue cashmere blanket covering her naked legs, put the rice and chopsticks on the coffee table, and picked up her cordless phone. After she had dialed the number, she put the sound on mute, then took a small sip of her now warm white wine.
“Drew residence,” a young child answered.
“Is Lois in?” Yancey asked.
“You mean my mommy?”
“Yes, is she in? Tell her it’s Yancey Braxton.”
A few moments later Yancey heard her agent, Lois Drew, on the other line.
“Yancey, is everything alright?”
“Not really,” Yancey said coolly. She knew Lois didn’t like to be called at home and had only given her the number when Yancey made it a condition of doing business. Lois was her third agent in a year. Yancey had recently left the prestigious William Morris Agency after they signed Nicole Springer, a Broadway actress whom Yancey considered her archrival. Yancey despised Nicole so much that she had spiked her coffee with a laxative when the two were doing
Dreamgirls
. It was classic
All About
Eve
drama. Yancey still had nightmares sometimes, in which Nicole slapped her in a theater full of people, right after she had beaten out Yancey for the Tony Award, while a beautiful little girl pointed and laughed at Yancey’s crimson face.
“What’s the matter? I was just getting ready to read my daughter a story before I put her to bed.”
“I want to be on
Sex and the City,
” Yancey said in a matter-of-fact voice.
“What? You want to be on who?”
Yancey pulled the phone from her ear and gave it a
what’s wrong with this bitch
look, then put it
“Cade, did you tell your uncle what you’re wearing for Halloween?”
Cade smiled and shook his head and said, “Naw.” I looked at Campbell and then at Cade and asked, “What? Stone Cold Steve Austin?”
“It’s a surprise,” Cade said.
“It’s okay. You can tell him since it’s only a couple weeks away and Uncle Basil might not be in town. He has to go out of town for work.”
Cade jumped up and down, pointed at me, and said, “I’m going as you. I’m going to be a New Jersey Warrior.” I couldn’t do anything but smile as I again looked at Cade and then Campbell.
“We found a place on the Internet where we can buy a kid’s uniform with your number on it,” Campbell said. Cade had a pleased smile on his face.
“If I’m out of town, will you take pictures for me, Cade?”
“Yep!”
“You gonna miss me while I’m gone?” I asked Cade.
“I want to go with you,” Cade said, his face full of a child’s tenderness and vulnerability.
“I wish I could take you with me, but you’ve got school.”
“Mommy could write me a note and say I was helping you with your work,” he said.
“But who’s gonna stay here with me?” Campbell asked.
“Daddy will be back soon,” he replied.
I bent down so that I was at eye level with Cade, whose gray eyes were almost identical to my own. “You know I wish I could take you with me, but you got to be the man and stay here and take care of Mommy, okay?” I palmed his head playfully.
“Okay,” he said with the mournful face he often used to get his way.
“Give me a hug,” I said, and we squeezed each other tightly for over a minute. As I held him, I was thinking how much I loved this little boy and of the day when I would have children of my own. I almost lost it when Cade whispered, “I love you a whole lot, Uncle Basil.” It didn’t matter how many times I’d heard him say the words, they always touched my heart in a way it had never been touched.
I rubbed his head gently and said, “And I love you a whole lot too.”
10
IT WAS Sunday evening. Windsor was at church and Yancey was snuggled up on her sofa eating fried rice with chopsticks, watching her favorite television show,
Sex and
the City.
One moment she was laughing, and the next she thought,
These skinny white bitches need a black girlfriend.
Yancey removed the sky-blue cashmere blanket covering her naked legs, put the rice and chopsticks on the coffee table, and picked up her cordless phone. After she had dialed the number, she put the sound on mute, then took a small sip of her now warm white wine.
“Drew residence,” a young child answered.
“Is Lois in?” Yancey asked.
“You mean my mommy?”
“Yes, is she in? Tell her it’s Yancey Braxton.”
A few moments later Yancey heard her agent, Lois Drew, on the other line.
“Yancey, is everything alright?”
“Not really,” Yancey said coolly. She knew Lois didn’t like to be called at home and had only given her the number when Yancey made it a condition of doing business. Lois was her third agent in a year. Yancey had recently left the prestigious William Morris Agency after they signed Nicole Springer, a Broadway actress whom Yancey considered her archrival. Yancey despised Nicole so much that she had spiked her coffee with a laxative when the two were doing
Dreamgirls
. It was classic
All About
Eve
drama. Yancey still had nightmares sometimes, in which Nicole slapped her in a theater full of people, right after she had beaten out Yancey for the Tony Award, while a beautiful little girl pointed and laughed at Yancey’s crimson face.
“What’s the matter? I was just getting ready to read my daughter a story before I put her to bed.”
“I want to be on
Sex and the City,
” Yancey said in a matter-of-fact voice.
“What? You want to be on who?”
Yancey pulled the phone from her ear and gave it a
what’s wrong with this bitch
look, then put it
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