Generation Gap

© 2011 by Raquel Eldridge & Shawnte’ Henderson-Foster. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

First published by AuthorHouse 09/01/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3309-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-3308-6 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1

My Super Sweet Sixteen

Chapter 2

Me and My Crew

Chapter 3

Polar Opposites

Chapter 4

A Playa in the Making

Chapter 5

Savvy’s Spectacular Soiree

Chapter 6

My Chick Bad…

Chapter 7

Boys to Men

Chapter 8

Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy… Or Is It?

Chapter 9

Never Knew Love Like This

Chapter 10

Team Player

Chapter 11

Showing a Lot Less Love… While Striving for Passion

Chapter 12

Getting It In

Chapter 13

And the Walls Come Tumbling Down

Chapter 14

My Goodies

Chapter 15

Truth or Consequences

Chapter 16

Nobody’s Man

Chapter 17

Blessings in Disguise

Chapter 18

It Is What It Is

Chapter 19

Where’s the Beef?

Chapter 20

Doing My Thang

Chapter 21

My Future’s Calling

Chapter 22

Heart to Heart

Chapter 23

If It Ain’t One Thing… It’s Another

Chapter 24

A Lover Like No Other

Epilogue

SHOUT-OUTS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Previous Series by These Authors

Where Friendship Lies

A Lover’s Deceit

The Best Revenge

******

Also by Raquel Y. Eldridge

Mixed Emotions

Girls’ Night In: The Passion Party

Tainted Relations

View From the Back Pew

(w/Sha Murdock-Lognion)

******

Coming Soon by Shawnte’ Henderson

Love Gone Wrong

Acknowledgements

Shawnte’

Ladies and gentlemen… the dynamic duo is back! It has been such a pleasure, as always, to work with not just my partner and teammate, but my actual friend, Raquel Eldridge. I love you so much, Sis! We do GREAT work together and I look forward to what the future has in store for us. To all of my friends, family and fans who have continuously asked about the Shaw and the Lewis families, your love and support is appreciated beyond measure.

The character portrayal of Isaac Shaw was written in honor of my deceased nephew, Joseph DeShawn Moses, who journeyed to Heaven at the tender age of twelve. I know in my heart Joe would have been the same little handsome devil as his literary personification. I love and miss you.

To my children, Taylor and Daryl III, thanks for being who you are… shining stars! Thanks to my husband, TJ, for allowing me to brainstorm with you when I’m having one of those days! I love you all!

Until the next book…

Raquel

Dream it! Believe it! Conceive it! It’s the tried and true formula we’ve employed since series one, book one… and now, here we are giving birth to the first book of a second series. I have so enjoyed intertwining my life, my passion for writing, my dreams and creating these books with you, Shawnte. Ours is more than a friendship and a partnership, but a kinship. I’m thankful to have been blessed with you in my life.

To the family, friends, and readers, I send a hearty and heartfelt, THANK YOU! I truly appreciate those of you who continually show love and support to my work through purchase and promotion.

To the most awesome parents, ever: When you tell me you’re proud of me, my heart swells so much it makes my eyes leak tears of happiness. It’s always been my goal to honor you and just know I’ve always been and will always BE so very proud of you. Thanks for everything.

To the sibs (that handsomely beautiful tribe of underlings I am blessed to call my brothers and sisters), Jonathan (my love), and all my close, wonderful family members and friends (crawling out of the Creativity Cave wouldn’t be nearly as fun, or as meaningful, without you people around) . . . THANKS FOR ADDING SO MUCH FLAVOR TO MY LIFE AND COMPLETING MY HAPPINESS CIRCLE!

On to the next one…

Prologue

The Lewis’s

Keith and Cheyenne

Keith was lacing up his golf shoes. Darius, along with his son, Isaac, and Keith with his sons, Etienne and Bryce, were about to go to the Annual Father/Son, Mother/Daughter Golf Tournament being thrown by their neighborhood country club.

The boys, who they’d adopted eleven years earlier, were close to turning eighteen. They both liked spending time with their father, but only one of them was ever truly eager to attend the golf tournament and that one was Bryce. Etienne was a pretty good golfer, but he found the country club atmosphere to be far too pompous and pretentious.

Bryce stuck his head in the door and said, Hey, Dad… the truck’s loaded. Are you about ready?

Keith replied, Sure, son, I’ll be right out. Ask your brother to grab a few extra bottles of water from the garage fridge.

Their son left, leaving Cheyenne an opportunity to discuss their daughter, Savannah’s, upcoming birthday and the car they intended to buy her as a gift.

So, I talked to the man at Audi and he said he’d be glad to have a couple of their most popular models delivered here the weekend she’s scheduled to go to New York to visit NYU. We can look them over and then let him know which one we like and would want to give to Vannah. Are you on the boards that weekend?

No, but you know I already know what kind of car I want to get for her.

Keith, let’s not start. You know I think she should drive something reasonable. We can get her a nicer car when she graduates.

I have an appointment scheduled for Saturday to go pick out a car. The salesman is a friend of one of our golf buddies. He assures me he will work with me to get a very good deal on a very nice car.

When were you going to tell me about this appointment?

I just did, Keith said. He knew Cheyenne’s tone of voice was an indicator she was about to get irate.

I don’t remember us agreeing that a high-end automobile was a smart thing to give a sixteen-year old, Cheyenne replied.

I never said I was getting her a super high-end model. But, I think getting her a Hyundai just to prove she can have ‘regular’ stuff is going a bit overboard. Plus, you don’t have to get it for her. I make a paycheck, also. I’ll just buy it myself if I have to.

Oh, here we go, making me the bad guy again. I disapprove and you’ll just get it yourself. Then what am I supposed to give her, a key fob?

You’re the one basing this all on how much the car costs.

Keith, you know it doesn’t have anything to do with how much it costs. I’m fine with us using our joint account. It’s just that for her first car, we could just as easily get a mid-range model like an Audi or even a Lexus. Everybody has a Lexus.

She’s not going to want something that everybody has. What’s special about that?

And why did you make the appointment to go alone? Don’t I have any say so here?

Of course you do, sweetheart, Keith said as he went to hug his wife around her waist and kiss her on her forehead. I just knew you wouldn’t want to go because I wasn’t going to the Audi dealership. The same way your mind is set on keeping her car simple is the same way my mind is set on giving her something grand.

But if I let you go alone, you’re going to come back with the best thing on the lot. That’s too much for her.

Why is it too much for her, baby? She’s a straight-A student, she’s well-behaved for the most part… and always has been. She’s into a lot of positive things at school and she even does a lot of community service. If she wasn’t as good as she is I wouldn’t even consider getting her a car at all, never mind a Benz.

Whatever, Keith; I already see there’s no working with you. Just promise me you won’t go over sixty thousand dollars. They have nice Benzes for forty-five and fifty grand. Deal?

Sure. I’ll even take Darius along if you just must send me with a supervisor.

Oh, yeah, like that’s going to do a lot of good! As wide open as he is behind Olivia, I wouldn’t be surprised if Darius bought her a car, too, though she’s still five years away from being able to drive. You two are a set of puppets and those little girls pull the strings.

I just want her to have everything I couldn’t have. My parents gave me more than what they’d had growing up, even though they had to struggle to do it. The only difference is we don’t have to struggle. We’ve worked our butts off to be successful to be able to afford whatever it is in life we want and I want to give my daughter the best!

Trust me, honey; I want all of our children to have their heart’s desires in this world. It’s just that I want them to earn some of those desires the old fashioned way. We’ll never marry that girl off if you keep making her an over-privileged princess.

You’re my queen, she’s my princess, and those boys are my princes. I said it before and I will say it again, I came up struggling and now that all my hard work has made me a wealthy man, I don’t see the point in making my children suffer just for the fun of making them know what it’s like to be without.

That girl will live with an Audi just as happily as she’d live with a Benz. I’m concerned about the woman she’ll become beyond the moment she turns sixteen.

"She and her siblings will never be broke, not if I can help it, so stop trying to bring them suffrage. We’ve suffered so they don’t have to. And if my baby wants a Benz, then a Benz she will have. You weren’t crying and trying to make a martyr of yourself when I bought you that Maybach last year for your birthday."

I go to work every day and so do you.

And so does she, Cheyenne. Her job is to do well in school, help around the house when asked, help with her little cousins if necessary, and behave. She does that. Even I didn’t make all A’s and I didn’t have nearly as hard a curriculum as she does back when I was in high school.

I’m done with this conversation. You’re going to do what you want to do no matter what I say, because as it’s been since the second she was born, can’t nobody tell you anything about Savannah. Just please do the little thing I asked and be reasonable.

Yes, dear; I promise.

Four days later, Keith went to the Mercedes Benz dealership on North Clark Street to order a SL550 Roadster, his daughter’s dream car.

He’d gone in her room last year to hang up some of her clothes and upon opening her closet, he saw pinned to the door, a colorful board filled with cutouts of words and pictures. Situated at the top were the words DREAM BOARD. He never mentioned the discovery to Cheyenne or Savannah, but it stuck with him.

Later that week, while at the clinic, he asked one of the nurses on staff that had a couple daughters, What’s a dream board?

The nurse replied, Well, it’s something that someone, girls mostly, design as a way of putting in the universe all the wishes they have for their future.

Oh, so is that something new girls are just getting into?

Yes and no, she said, Little girls have been dreaming since the beginning of time. Only now, the boundaries of their field for reference are so vast, you can’t hold it all in your head, so the new thing is to make a dream board. It’s a way to apply ‘The Secret’ to your life. Girls like to put on their boards stuff like the kind of job they’d like to have, the kind of man they’d like to marry, the kind of house they’d like to live in, their favorite kinds of clothing… whatever.

Ever since, he’d been making it his business to bring the things he’d seen on his only daughter’s dream board to fruition. And that included her SL550 Roadster. If she was dreaming about it, he wanted it to become her reality.

He knows Savannah is big on customization. She and her friends liked to get the same things, like the same cell phone or iPod, but his daughter would always get hers embellished to show her dazzling personality. She loved crystals and rhinestones to make her items shine. So, he had a pretty good idea of how to make this gift stand out and be unquestionably Savannah!

At the dealership, he ordered a custom paint job to include the metallic diamond white that would later be pearlized. The interior was black premium leather with Burl walnut wood trim. On the headrests and floor mats, he’d asked for custom cursive embroidery to read, Savvy, which was the nickname her friends had been calling her the last few years.

The wheels, twenty-inch chrome and the sound system, top notch. He also insisted on the turn by turn GPS system.

He did manage to work out one hell of a deal with the manager. He’d pay sixty-seven thousand dollars of the over one-hundred thousand dollar cost on his and Cheyenne’s joint account. The remaining fifty thousand, he’d put on his business American Express and pay the bill with his personal checking account.

He knew Cheyenne would have a glorified fit when she found out he went slightly over his sixty thousand dollar limit by seven thousand dollars, but not nearly as ballistic as she’d be if she found out how much the car really cost. In order to combat that from happening, the manager, also a father of an only daughter, understood Keith’s dilemma, and agreed to only disclose the fake amount as the full sale price. It’ll make it seem as if he pulled off the bargaining coupe of the century, but whatever; if it was for Savannah, for Keith, it was worth all the trouble.

When Cheyenne got home, Keith was up-front. He told his wife everything about what he’d done at the dealership, aside from the fact he’d paid nearly fifty additional thousand dollars for the car than he’d admitted to spending. Keith knew he was pushing it because Cheyenne owned a SL500 back when Ramona and Darius moved to Chicago, so he knew she’d be unlikely to believe he paid bottom basement prices for one of the company’s most upscale vehicles, but once she saw the paperwork, Cheyenne seemed convinced, which was good enough for Keith.

The car was the only part of the party that would be a secret to Savannah. The rest of it was going to be by his daughter’s design.

Cheyenne and her daughter were close. She can remember bringing her home and hoping she would be a good mother. She had no delusions of being her daughter’s friend at the time, but the older she got, the more her feelings on that changed. She knew her time as nurturer was coming to a close and that in the next few years, her daughter would be her own woman.

She resented Keith’s inability to try to meet her half way in the raising of their child. She never wanted her children, and that included her adopted sons, to have it too hard in life. But, she wanted them to have to either earn, or do without, some conveniences because without lack you never develop the desire to reach for and strive to get what you want. She was afraid they’ll come to think the world will be just like their father and feed their whims to them on silver platters. The real world was far crueler and a whole lot less giving.

And speaking of the boys, ever since the day she brought those two, bright-eyed, seven-year olds into her heart and into her home; her family has been blessed beyond belief. They were good young men, and it was her and her husband’s belief that they’d become far better men than they’d have likely become if left in the foster care system.

It had been a lot of work to get them acclimated, most especially with Etienne, but within about a year, they’d become Lewis children in more than just name. They received the love, took on the responsibilities, and they both began to allow the layers of their previous life to fall to the wayside and be replaced by layers of family love and devotion.

They were handsome young men and though they were identical replications of one another on the outside, on the inside, they were total opposites. It was only slightly apparent when they were boys, but as the years passed by, it grew more and more obvious.

Bryce was Keith’s mini-me. The boy would have been shocked to find out Keith could not walk on water. He walked like his father, talked like his father, and shared his father’s fascination with medicine. Bryce dressed like his father, loved playing golf with Keith and was always seeking his dad’s approval in everything he did—from school to the young ladies he dated.

Etienne was the anti-Keith. He had a distinct personality and was more expressive than his brother. He was boisterous in his walk, his style, his speech and his general outlook on life. Don’t get it twisted, Etienne loved both Keith and Cheyenne and was so happy to have such wonderful people raise him and his brother. He knew Keith wished both boys would have taken an interest in medicine, but that just wasn’t something Etienne saw himself involved in after high school. Etienne wanted to be an artist, more specifically a rapper, but getting started was taking longer than he’d anticipated.

The only thing the brothers agreed one-hundred percent on was their love of being big brothers to their sister, Savannah. She was five when they came to live with the Lewis’s, but she took to them immediately. She loved having the two boys to play with, which surprised everyone considering how spoiled Savannah had always been by their father.

Cheyenne was convinced it was because her daughter looked at the boys merely as smaller versions of her father—two more people who would go out of their way to do what she wanted, when she wanted, and who would make it their business to make sure she was protected. Savannah couldn’t have been more correct because those two boys were bookends of protection who were ever-watchful of the way others treated her. They did the same thing for Cheyenne as sons, but with them all attending the same schools from day one, they really took to being their little sister’s caretakers. And everyone at school knew it!

Even though eleven years had passed, the Lewis family was still as solid and loving as they were when their family was young and blooming.

Keith and Cheyenne were both still successful in business, but Cheyenne had completely removed herself from the running of TLC By Design, her multi-million dollar interior design company. She kept her input restricted to being partial decision maker as a member of the Board of Directors. Anthony, her former assistant-turned-partner, took over the reins after Cheyenne and Keith adopted the boys. She wanted to be at home more and everything worked according to plan, but once the kids got to be old enough to be self-sufficient or have other activities, she grew bored with being home all the time, and opened a new business.

She decided to be a business consultant. Take the things she’d learned along the way and teach the young and eager who were about to embark in business in this tough economy how to still make their businesses thrive.

It wasn’t nearly as time-consuming, so it left her with a lot of time on her hands, but after so many years of being constantly on the move, on the grind, and buried in paperwork, swatches and deadlines; she was happy for the reprieve.

Allyson was still Cheyenne’s personal assistant. She didn’t necessarily use her that often, but she did need her to take care of scheduling her speaking engagements. It evened out because Allyson got married and had a new baby herself.

Yes, things had changed, all of which had certainly been for the better, but the most important thing had remained the same… Ramona Shaw was still her best friend in the world!

The Shaw’s

Darius and Ramona

It was dinnertime in the Shaw household. And just as any other typical evening for the Shaw’s, the foursome had been spread out in various places within the family room.

The space had been opulently decorated in shades of olive green and eggplant. There was a large sectional couch that could easily seat up to fifteen people. On either side, there was a reclining end piece, which is where you were most likely to find Darius at any given moment when he was home. When not in reclining position, he’d typically prop his feet up on the large and elegant center ottoman, while his eyes would be trained on their huge, retractable, wall screen that accompanied their projection TV system. Darius would not be satisfied with merely a large plasma television; he had to have the equivalent of a theater because he said it made it seem like he was sitting in floor seats at a perpetual fifty-yard line when he was watching his games.

On the other side of the room, a more reasonably sized round, art-deco design dining room table was nestled in close proximity to the buffet style, bi-level island counter top with matching barstools. Olivia and Isaac usually sat there to eat or do homework while having after-school snacks.

Adjacent to this dining area was a set of glass and brushed nickel patio doors that led out to an indoor/outdoor lounge deck. This was where Darius loved to throw grand barbeque parties or where Ramona could entertain her friends for Ladies’ Socials. The side walls were made of thick, ornately designed plate-glass windows that allowed for uninterrupted views of the gardens that surrounded it, but the back wall was made of sliding doors that nuzzled into recessed pockets, allowing the wall to all but disappear. This opened up the expanse to the pool and Jacuzzi area. Inside the lounge, there was another huge sectional seating group, cocktail tables, and a bar area, which Darius kept well-stocked. Right outside and to the left was his grill area, which more closely resembled an outside kitchen complete with mini fridge, a sink, and a state-of-the art grill system.

They’d opted against sitting at the dining room table and had instead spread out around the room in their favorite spots.

Darius sat in his recliner at the end of the sectional. He leaned back comfortably, his feet on the recliner’s foot rest, clad only in white socks. His dinner plate of marinated chicken breast, herb-roasted redskin potatoes, and steamed vegetables, draped in his wife’s homemade garlic butter sauce, sat situated on his lap. On the side table to his left, an ice-cold can of Pepsi, a tall glass of ice water, and a huge slice of brownie cheesecake.

Even though Darius and Keith had obtained adequate staff at the medical center, both men continued to work hard on the business they built from the ground up to ensure that their medical center would remain successful. Darius wanted the center to be looked upon as a positive improvement to the community.

With the help of his wife, Darius watched as the medical center thrived in many aspects including creating outreach programs for the poor and disenfranchised, as well as having Mona continue her various projects to help senior citizens in the area. On most days, he spent more time in business meetings overseeing an assortment of ventures than he did seeing actual patients, but Darius didn’t mind. He knew it all was part of his grand scheme to help the community by initiating plans that would benefit the center and the people who relied on its services.

He set his plate down on the side table and reached for the can of Pepsi. He felt the familiar buzz of his Blackberry Bold in the pocket of his pants. He looked down and realized he hadn’t taken off any of his work clothes even though he’d been home a couple hours. Gulping down a few swallows of soda, he scanned the room and took special note of each member of his beautiful family.

Isaac, too, still had on his outfit for the day, his school uniform of khaki colored Dockers pants and a light blue oxford shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned and his coordinated tie had been loosened and hung haphazardly around his neck. Isaac’s naked feet dug deep into the plush eggplant colored carpet as he stared at the television.

Darius whisked his head around to glance at his gorgeous daughter, Olivia, who naturally had her iPod headphones stuck in her ears as usual. Her head and body were simultaneously moving to whatever she was listening to at the time. That girl had a love for music ever since he could remember. He noticed she was also still wearing her uniform: a heather grey polo top with the Robinson Primary School logo embroidered on the front. Instead of the required bluish green plaid skort, she’d added a pair of navy colored sweatpants with the word ‘Aeropostale’ written down the side of one leg. He knew that meant she’d had dance practice earlier.

Behind him, a symphony of clanking accompanied his wife’s movements in the kitchen as she made her way to and fro tidying up the mess she made while cooking dinner. She never sat down until the place was tidy. She did the big work, but the kids typically finished up by cleaning the things they ate or drank out of during the meal.

Remembering the fact he’d gotten a text, he pulled the phone from his pocket and began to press the buttons on his silver phone that would activate his text messages. He smiled deeply when he saw it was from his wife: "I need a massage; do u know any good rubbers?"

With glee he quickly typed his response: "Yeah, Darius Michael Shaw, M.D. I think he’s pretty good . . . real good, in fact."

He sat the phone down on the side table awaiting his wife’s reply. Though both of the kids were old enough to know and understand about sex, Darius and Mona thought it was more respectful, but also more naughty and sexy, to send each other sexages, or sex messages, whenever the children were around. They both had PDA smart phones with Qwerty keyboards so typing was easy for them. They didn’t often use text code and chose to mostly use Standard English. Their daughter, however, was bilingual in that way. She often texted in that youthful code of communication young people liked to use, even though Ramona often discouraged it, to no avail.

Neither Darius nor Mona were the spring chickens they used to be, though they both were relatively healthy and in great shape. Their marriage had been visited by a few health issues over the last ten years. Mona had been diagnosed with Graves Disease, a hyperthyroid disorder. And, Darius had been affected by the life-altering, but controllable, affliction called Legionnaire’s Disease.

Both of these illnesses, in their earlier stages, had taken a toll on their sex life, but, over time, once they had gotten on a cycle of medicines that kept their symptoms at bay, they were getting back into the swing of frequent lovemaking. Changing their eating habits further increased their stamina levels, so despite their over-full schedules, they managed to squeeze in time for sex, or at least some sort of version of it, several times a week. Darius received his response on his phone at the same time the show he was watching took a commercial break.

She simply said: "Only 1 way 2 find out . . .

."

Breaking into their private exchange, Isaac asked, What you smiling about, Dad?

Not breaking his smile, he glanced up at his son whose facial expression matched his words that said he was trying to decipher his father’s random display of amusement.

Just thinking, son; that’s all, Darius replied as he glanced back at his beautiful wife in the kitchen. When their eyes met, she winked. Darius looked back to find his son moving his eyes back and forth from his father to his step-mom, and instantly Isaac knew what time it was. He rolled his eyes then turned his attention back to the screen.

Darius’s first born and only son, Isaac, was sitting in one of the chairs from the dining room table. The father and son team laughed at the antics being played out in front of them on their favorite reality show, Operation Repo, on the TruTV cable network.

Isaac enjoyed watching TV with his dad. They were both feverish about sports and on game days, Isaac and Darius would sit for hours on end where they’d scream at levels easily heard from just about any other room in the house. Although Isaac had become a fan of all sports, football was his passion. He was signed up for the Pop Warner League at seven years old, and was quickly known as what some would call a gunner. Isaac had unequivocal talents and skills on the football field as a quarterback, and he knew, with time and conditioning he would be a force to be reckoned with.

He was such a dedicated young man; he’d wake up every morning before anyone else in the household just to get a running start in the gym in the Shaw’s basement. His forming masculine physique made Isaac a popular young man at his school. Many of the prepubescent girls of Morris Middle School often stared at Isaac for the duration of class, and loudly cheered his name during games from the stands. There had been many days when Isaac would get to his locker and find several love notes from different girls all asking him to be their boyfriend.

Though he loved the attention from all the girls, his heart was set on Jada Price. Simply put, to Isaac, she was a goddess. He loved everything about Jada from her auburn-colored braided hair that she often kept swept up in a dangling ponytail, to her sparkling pink nail polish and shiny Mac lip gloss. He loved that her parents traveled abroad so much that Jada had learned to speak French and would drop a few French lines in a conversation here or there. When she spoke, Isaac hung on to her every word as if the girl would never speak again. But he had never approached her or gave her any sort of inkling that he was interested in being anything other than just friends. Nor did he dare mention a word of his growing affection to her, or anyone else for that matter.

He knew if he had, the revelation would cause a war between him and his best friend of three years, Tyson Davis. Jada had been dating Tyson since the school year began, almost eight months ago. No matter how much Isaac secretly loved Jada, he would never intentionally ruin his friendship with Tyson. His cousin, Etienne, always warned him, ‘bros before hoes,’ and if Etienne said it, then it had to be true and it would be advice Isaac would live by.

Olivia Shaw had been in her own world over in her seat at the marble-topped counter. She was flipping through her latest issue of Girls’ Life magazine. Since it was dancing season, she was actively watching her carb intake so she skipped the night’s potato offering and opted instead to double her vegetable portion and ate the chicken without sauce. She did plan on having a slice of cheesecake, so she had to choose between the two. Little Olivia wasn’t as self-conscious about her body image as her big cousin, Savannah, but she was a dancer and knew that too much weight gain would inhibit just how good of a dancer she could be.

On her purple, bedazzled iPod she blasted Esther’s Drop It Low in her ears. Her feet were moving and her body was swaying along to the beat atop her stool perch. Her mother frowned upon singing and dancing at the dinner table, but since they were not eating at the dinner table that night, she could take advantage of her location. She began to rock her hips and arch her back, and unable to stop herself; she would pop her arms and shoulders every time she heard the words, "drop it, drop it low, girl; drop it, drop it low, girl."

In her head, she practiced the steps as she saw herself visually doing the dance moves. The dance group she belonged to, Divas & Dons, practiced at a nearby dance studio inside their neighborhood’s community center twice a week, though Olivia often longed to practice more. She couldn’t wait to get to rehearsal the next day to show her team the new turn flip she saw someone do on a YouTube video. She had the video clip saved to her phone and had practiced the move so much in her room, she had it down pat! She was stoked and wanted to quickly finish her dinner so she could practice it more before rehearsal the following day.

For a child of such a tender age, Olivia had an old soul and didn’t like to feel deficient in any area of her life. She put as much emphasis on her studies as she did her dance group, book club and the volunteering she helped her mom with. With Darius still watching, Olivia closed the magazine, finished the food on her plate, then, placed her dirty dish and glass in the sink. She glanced at her mother, who was loading the dishwasher. Olivia gave her mom a kiss on the cheek before saying, Just leave everything else, mama. I’ll finish cleaning when I’m done with my science homework.

Thanks, baby, Ramona replied.

Her mother folded the dish towel and placed it on the counter, but she still went about gathering together the few remaining pots and pans and placed them in the sink. There had been no need for her to fix herself a plate because she tended to sample while she cooked. She usually got pretty full that way. Pulling out a series of Tupperware dishes, she packed the leftovers away in the refrigerator.

To Olivia, she said, Before you do all that, get out of your school clothes and make sure you put them in the hamper with the rest of the stuff so I can do laundry.

No need, mama. I already washed me and Isaac some school clothes last night, so we’re good for the rest of the week.

Wow! Thanks, dear. I don’t know what I would do without my little helper.

Olivia put her ear nubs back in place and boogied away to her bedroom.

Ramona had had a tiresome day. She taught a medical terminology class at the Women’s Medical College of Chicago three days a week and each class was four hours long. After teaching, and also on the days she didn’t have classes, she’d head over to the medical center to assist in the Social Services department. With the center becoming more and more successful, and there being many more ideas for the center in the works, Ramona still lived a busy life.

Darius was still the main breadwinner of the household, so she had more downtime than he did to attend the kid’s school activities, as well as be a cheerleader from the stands during Isaac’s football games or stage mom at Olivia’s dance competitions and contests. Furthermore, she loved giving back and being involved in a variety of programs, so she was the PTO vice-president of Olivia’s elementary school and volunteered on a lot of boards. The part of her schedule that wore her out the most was commuting back and forth from the college and the medical center, but she had to do what she had to do.

Though, in reality, just like her girl, Cheyenne, Mona truly didn’t have to work at all. But she soon found out that being the typical stay-at-home mom was something she could only take for so long. The children were five and six years old when the itch to return to the workforce came rearing its ugly head in her mind. With the dramatic downfall of the economy, even though the Shaw’s didn’t necessarily need to rely on a two-parent income to maintain the comfortable lifestyle they had, she didn’t think it wise to just sit back and spend without replenishing the account.

As a solid unit, the Shaw’s and the Lewis’s were by far two of the most affluent and well-appointed Black families in the state of Illinois and they had all the trappings such a status had to offer. The two families lived lavishly and shared similarly fine tastes in all the best things in life. They each went on glamorous and expensive vacations, both separately and together. Their homes were showpieces well suited for the pages of any home décor or architectural magazine. Cheyenne’s business savvy made such extravagance affordable. They had high-priced automobiles and the ladies often took time out to go on shopping sprees with Savannah and Olivia. All of the men, Darius, Isaac, Keith and the twins, Bryce and Etienne, took off on men’s expeditions when time permitted. And the families spared no expense when it came to the children’s educations. They had all lived charmed lives over the course of the last decade and things were only bound to go up for them all!

Both Darius and Mona took pride in the fact they had accomplished so much in such a short time span and even prouder of the fact they had not one, but two beautiful children who excelled in extra curriculum activities as well as in the classrooms.

Smiling to herself, Mona reached inside the refrigerator door and pulled out two glass bottles: a bottle of Bud Light for her husband and a mini bottle of Moscato for herself.

Do you want a beer, Honey? Mona asked.

Sure, Darius responded without even looking up. He’d returned his attention to that repo show and in his mind; he imagined the beer would be delivered to his hand. But, when she didn’t head in his direction or say anything else, he gathered his wife had other plans. She cleared her throat which forced him to look her way.

When Darius looked back and met eyes with the beautiful woman in the kitchen, he instantly stood up. He looked down at Isaac and while pointing at his dinner plate said, "Put this