Wisdom Seeds by Patrice Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

followed except your dad. He never looked up at them, but held tightly to his grandmother’s hand as he watched their feet walk away. Grandpa Tim left Emmanuel Baptist Church and returned to the Bronx fifteen years later to bury his mother.”
    â€œOh Alicia!” Andrea rolled her eyes before putting the glasses of iced tea on the table. “It’s just family gossip.” She stood behind Alicia with her hand on her hip.
    â€œIt’s not family gossip, it’s the truth.” Aliciaresponded, looking over her shoulder at Andrea and then turning back to face me.
    â€œDoes your dad get along with Grandpa Tim?” Since Alicia was discussing family business, I needed to know.
    â€œI wouldn’t say my dad doesn’t get along with him, I would say he didn’t agree with what went on.”
    â€œIt was wrong and he went along with it,” Andrea added sitting down next to me.
    I was on the edge of my seat. “What happened?”
    Alicia crossed her legs, letting her right foot swing. “My dad liked getting attention from the girls in the congregation and he went out with just about all of them.”
    â€œUntil this girl he really liked turned up pregnant and said my dad was the father,” Andrea finished sarcastically. “Grandpa Tim wanted my dad to marry her, but he knew the baby wasn’t his. She was the one girl he didn’t have sex with.”
    â€œWhat? Get outta here!” My mind was working hard to process this family history.
    â€œIt was a life lesson for my dad. It wasn’t the attention of all the girls he really wanted. The sad part is, it took my dad years to admit he really wanted his mother’s attention. Grandma Rita was too busy being the first lady and trying to keep Grandpa Tim.” Andrea seemed sympathetic.
    I sat there enthralled. This was better than a soap opera.
    Alicia sipped her tea. “Girl, remember Uncle Matt?”
    â€œAlicia!” Andrea’s tone was chastising.
    â€œThis is family talk, she needs to know.” Alicia was flippant with Andrea.
    â€œMy dad says he prefers to be called Matty. He never speaks of him unless he’s talking about damnation,” I stated finally having information to add.
    â€œGirl you know he started spending his summers touring the country when he was sixteen. My dad said the following summer he stopped talking to girls and a year later he developed a lisp.” Alicia laughed and it took me a few minutes to understand the implication.
    â€œActually,” Andrea added, “I agree with my dad. Uncle Matt always had a lot of unresolved issues.”
    â€œI haven’t seen him since I was about seven,” I added still feeling the need to share some family history. “He came to visit us and my dad wouldn’t let him play the piano in church. He never came back. I don’t even see Grandpa Tim and Grandma Rita that often even though they live in New York.”
    Alicia continued her saga defining our grandmother, Mrs. Rita Allen, as the best-dressed woman in the church. Grandma Rita strategically removed herself from the gossip about her husband by creating a fashion world of her own and becoming a socialite who supported every well-known community cause. Alicia said that our grandmother defined pretentious and, in her quest for fashion fame, she emotionally neglected her children.
    Andrea joined in the conversation and relayed how Grandpa Tim made Matthew the minister of music when he was only fourteen-years-old. It wasn’t long before music became Matthew’s god. There was nothing more important to him than being able to bring people to their feet with his music. The gospel message in the music became secondary to the emotionalism. Andrea said Uncle Matt has been chasing fame and fortune for most his life. She said her dad refers to Matthew as a gifted musician who can make a piano talk.
    Alicia concluded the family history lesson with how her