The Better Half(75)
Dad chuckles. He loves a good Kobe Bryant reference. “How do the boys look on paper? Can they keep up with the schoolwork? If they can, other than a long commute, I don’t see a problem. But, no point discussing it if they can’t play in the classroom as well as they can on the court.” I’ve always been jealous of how clear life is through Fitzroy Morgan’s lens. You’re qualified for a school, for a job, for a team—or you’re not. If you play by the rules of a fair society, you’ll be rewarded. Coloring outside the lines is not something Fitzroy has ever done, even when others were busy scribbling away.
Unsure if it’s worth my effort to explain the predicament Winn and Jared have unwittingly put me in and why it’s more complicated than what the boys look like on paper, I forge ahead because I need to get someone’s take, other than Roan’s, so here goes.
“They don’t look like much on paper, though I can’t even say there’s much of a paper trail by which to judge. Winn wrote the essays and half assed the financial aid forms. And then, I don’t know how, he got the application pushed through the WeeScholars software after the deadline. No grades, no teacher recommendations, no test scores.”
“The mother didn’t do the work to apply her sons to school? She let someone else do it for her and do it poorly at that. Is that what you’re telling me?” Dad asks, getting his facts straight before dispensing his opinion.
“Yes, but Winn’s very persuasive, so I’m not sure how much say she had in the matter. Anyway, I called the boys’ middle school principal after Roan dropped me back at school. To say he was shocked by my news of Dontrelle and Marcus applying to Royal-Hawkins would be an understatement. I think his exact words were, ‘Those boys have tried to crack many a backboard, but as far as I know they’ve never tried to crack a book.’”
“He sounds like a man who doesn’t care a lick about the kids in his charge. Maybe he’s lost his way when it comes to motivating young ones to do right by their education.” Dad digs his shovel into the garden bed with force. He has no tolerance for adults who don’t believe in the academic potential of every child. I like to believe I share the same conviction, but faced with this dilemma, my resolve is being challenged.
“I don’t know about that, but I do know his account of the boys’ efforts in the classroom aligns with what Carmel said during our meeting.” I let out an enormous exhale. Carmel did not hold back on the truth of her boys’ school experience. From what she said, it sounds like some of their teachers let them skip class to shoot hoops in the school gym. “She said the boys tolerate school so they can play ball, but she hopes Royal-Hawkins can flip that dynamic. She’s a smart woman. She knows the odds of her boys ever playing professional ball are slim, so if they can go to a school where their chances of going on to college are far improved, well, she’s going to grab that opportunity and not let go.”
“Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” Fitzroy is digging and thinking awfully hard.
“I’m not that different than Carmel. If Xandra were struggling in her current school, I’d be looking around for a better solution.” Truth is, Xandra is struggling in her school right now. Her struggles may not be academic, but they’re struggles, nonetheless. Should I be talking to Graham about alternative choices for her?
“This mom sounds like she’s trying her best in a difficult situation,” Dad concludes.
“I think so, too, but when I asked her if Dontrelle and Marcus took the SSAT test, which is a required piece of the application package, she looked at me like I was speaking in tongues at Sunday service.”
Dad gives me a chin raise. His childhood Christianity was peppered with hints of the devout, and he remembers what it looks like when people catch the spirit. “Do Winn and Jared know that you know about their plan?”
“Not yet. I’ve got a little time to figure out what I’m going to do with those two.” No need to bury Fitzroy under the absurd added layer of Courtney Dunn. There are only so many outrageous work antics I can lay on him at one time.
“Meanwhile, what are you going to do about these boys, boss lady?”
My heart gives my chest a fist bump. Leo calls me boss lady. Or he used too.
“I was hoping you would jump at the chance to tell me what to do when it comes to this mother and her boys. She’s doing her best with not a lot of resources and wants to do right by her family, just like you and Mom did by us.”
Dad takes off his gardening gloves and wipes his sweaty hands on his pants. He rolls off his knees with an exaggerated breath to set himself down on the ground and then pats the space next to him for me to sit. This is no small feat for a seventy-year-old man and his seven-months-pregnant daughter. “The seed of something better has been planted. We both know the current school situation is no longer going to satisfy this mother.”
“I know, Dad. So, what do I do now?” I ask, elbowing my dad to spit out his honest thoughts. Given our history of heart-to-hearts, I know Fitzroy’s patience for this topic is going to time out in about three minutes.
“Carmel’s situation is not so different than when your mother met that young man from Princeton in church all those years ago. He put a sweet taste in her mouth that she went chasing after for you and your brother. Carmel’s now expecting better for her boys, and she thinks, because of what this Winn character promised her, you’re going to deliver.” Dad nailed it. Time to reveal the final absurd fact to this convoluted story.