Page 39 of The Marriage Rebound

His greetings always had a way of making me feel like he actually missed me and was excited to see me again. I used to fall for it when I was younger until I witnessed him giving everyone that same level of jovial welcome and realized it was simply the politician in him.

Mom held me at arm’s length as she looked over my outfit, and I tried not to fidget under her scrutiny. She was impeccable as always. Her hair was up in her signature French roll and her makeup was always done to give a “natural” look. In comparison to my dress, which looked like an oversized knit sweater, hung off one shoulder, and stopped mid-thigh, Mom wore a burnt-orange turtleneck that complemented her dark skin wonderfully and gray wool slacks. I waited for the inevitable negative comment that I was showing too much skin and question about why I couldn’t find something more appropriate to wear, but to my surprise she simply smiled before pulling me into a brief hug.

She turned her attention to Mya. “Glad you could join us again. Mya, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You still keeping up with your studies?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Good. Because education is important, and shouldn’t be taken for granted.”

And there it was. I bit down on my tongue and forced a breath out through my nose.

Mom had already moved on from her subtle dig and set her sights on Courtney. She held her arms out expectantly. “Courtney, it’s been a while. I almost forgot I had a daughter-in-law.”

Courtney laughed quietly as she stood to give my mother the embrace she’d requested. “Good to see you again, Beverly.” It was quick and awkward, then she turned and extended a hand toward my father. “Quincy.”

He responded with the quick, politician shake and a tight smile. The relationship between my wife and my parents was cordial at best. It’s not that they had anything against Courtney directly because on one hand they were happy—mostly—that I’d settled down. But they disapproved of how the “settling down” had happened. They thought the marriage was just another example of my irresponsibility, immaturity, and impulsiveness. Some of our less-than-stellar public moments only fed into their narrative. Nothing I said made a difference despite the fact Courtney and I were three years in and had created a very nice life together. I thought they’d be proud of me; instead, Mom did her subtle passive-aggressiveness and Dad remained standoffish.

“Well, g’on and fix y’all somethin’ to eat,” Big Mama said, breaking up the tension.

I tried to go back to my relaxed state from before they walked in. But the nervous unease I could never shake when in the same room as my parents had taken hold. The initial reception had been cordial enough, but I braced for what I knew would be coming. Mainly the questions about what I was doing with my life, and digs at how I was still not living up to my potential by not finding any “direction,” as if being a homemaker wasn’t enough. That’s all Mom was.

After they fixed their plates, we all shifted at the table to make space for them to join. The conversations started back up with talk about the upcoming football games, and deals my cousin had gotten for Black Friday. That turned into a whole thing with my other cousin about how it’s a conspiracy and the deals aren’t really any good because the stores raise the prices beforehand.

“Where is your family today?” Mom asked, cutting into the chatter.

The two sisters shared a look, and I realized I hadn’t bothered to ask Court if she’d talked with her folks or not. They were sporadic at best with communicating with her, and it was usually if they were trying to reach Mya after she went too long without speaking to them.

In the three years we’d been married, I’d yet to meet my in-laws.

“They are visiting with our grandmother in Houston for the holidays, and then I think they were heading to Miami for a cruise,” Mya answered.

“Houston. Is that where you’re from?” This time Mom leveled her gaze at Courtney.

“Momma, what’s with all the questions?”

She let out a slow sigh. “Well, Sasha, we haven’t exactly gotten to spend a lot of time with our daughter-in-law. This seems like as good a time as any to get to know more about her.”

“Momma!”

An uncomfortable hush settled over the table. I knew my folks would be putting someone under the microscope, I’d just expected it to be me. Courtney and Mya shared another look before my wife cut her eyes over at me with a strained half smile on her face.

“She’s not wrong,” Dad said, wiping his mouth. “You up and got married out the blue, and in the years following we’ve not had much time with Courtney because she’s always . . . busy.”

“Working,” Courtney corrected, the smile gone. “The season keeps me pretty occupied and then right after I’m overseas to play. I spend a lot of time working to provide for my wife and take care of my sister.”

“Be that as it may, how can you be building a meaningful relationship if you’re always ‘working’ as you’ve claimed?” Dad pressed.

“I would think it would be easy for you to comprehend, taking into account your own professional ambitions.”

Oh fuck . . .

“Excuse me?” I knew the tone Dad was taking with those two words and nothing good was going to come out of this if they kept on. Dad hated to be challenged, and Courtney wasn’t one to back down if she felt she’d been insulted or disrespected.

“Quincy, now why are you and Beverly tryin’ to give Courtney the third degree? Let the girl ’lone,” Big Mama cut in. “This is a day of thanks, and we are thankful we have family and we all together. That is enough.”