Taking her hands, Lamar led her over to the bench at the foot of her bed and sat. “Sit down, Kendra.” He waited for her to sit beside him and laced their fingers together. “There will always be boys and girls who won’t like you for reasons that are completely asinine. It could be they’re jealous because they feel you’re prettier, smarter, or they’re jealous of the way you dress.”
“It can’t be clothes, because everyone in school wears the same uniform.”
“Okay, we’ll cross clothes off the list,” Lamar conceded. “For now.”
Kendra rested her head on her father’s shoulder. “Why for now?”
“You won’t wear a uniform when you go out on a date.”
Kendra sat straight. “That’s not going to be for a long time. Didn’t you say I couldn’t date until I was seventeen?”
“Yes, I did.”
“All my friends’ parents say they can start dating at sixteen.”
“I’m not your friends’ parents, Kendra.”
“What if I’m super grown-up at sixteen?”
Lamar tugged on one of the thick plaits falling over Kendra’s shoulder. “You won’t be super grown-up at sixteen. It’s not until you’re an adult and accept all of the responsibilities that go along with it that you’ll become what you say is super grown-up.”
“What responsibilities?”
“Securing employment to earn enough money to pay rent or a mortgage so you don’t join the ranks of homeless people living on the street. You’ll also have to buy or lease a car so you don’t have to depend on public transportation to get around. Then, there’s food and clothes. And what if you have a family? Your kids are going to need new shoes every six months, and what if you have teenage boys who will eat and drink you out of house and home?”
“That’s not going to happen, Daddy.”
“Because you say so?”
“Yes, because by that time my husband will help me.”
“I want you to finish college and establish a career before you think about getting married.”
“But I’ll be too old,” Kendra whined.
“Sweetie, you won’t be too old. If you graduate college at twenty-one or two, and then get a job and work for three or four years to get established, you won’t be too old.”
“How old were you when you married Mom?”
“Twenty-six. And speaking of husbands and marriage, what happened to boys are stupid?”
“By the time they are as old as you they won’t be so stupid.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“I’m serious, Daddy. I know you want the best for me, and I’m trying. But you have to understand that I’m just a kid and—”
“I know that,” Lamar said, cutting her off. “I know sometimes I put a lot of pressure on you to get good grades—”
“Sometimes, Daddy?” Kendra interrupted. “You do it all the time. And just because you do, I deliberately mark the wrong answers on tests.”
Lamar did not want to believe what he was hearing. His daughter had decided to rebel knowing how he felt about her doing well in school. Why hadn’t she come to him before she’d barely passed two of her classes?
“What is it you want, Kendra?”
“I want you to stop threatening to ground me if I don’t make the honor roll.”
Lamar was momentarily speechless, his mind in tumult. He hadn’t realized the pressure he’d put on his daughter to succeed. His parents had impressed upon him at an early age the importance of getting an education, and he’d continued the practice with Kendra. Learning had come easy for him because everything he read he retained, so his parents hadn’t had to issue threats of reprisals.
