The Right to Be: A Christopher Family Novel

Copyright © 2021 W.D. Foster-Graham. 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.

Published by AuthorHouse  04/06/2021

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2120-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-2119-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021906630

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

The Christopher Family Tree

Chapter 1    December 31, 2005

Chapter 2    January 2006

Chapter 3    January 2006

Chapter 4    Spring 2006

Chapter 5    Spring 2006

Chapter 6    Summer 2006

Chapter 7    Spring 2007

Chapter 8    Summer 2007

Chapter 9    Fall 2008

Chapter 10    Spring 2010

Chapter 11    Summer 2010

Chapter 12    Fall 2010

Chapter 13    2011

Chapter 14    July 2011

Chapter 15    March 2012

Chapter 16    September 2013

Epilogue

About The Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the following: Arthur and Shelly Foster; Patricia Knight; my fellow Sounds of Blackness alumni; my Central High classmates; my Luther College Black alumni; Kevin Moore; All God’s Children MCC; my St. Peter’s AME family; Rhonda Byrne, Lisa Nichols; LaTonia Williams; Frederick Smith; Terrance Dean; Cheryl Barton; Wyatt O’Brian Evans; Chase Connor; Blair Denholm; Kelvin Rodrigues; Evie Drae; James Earl Hardy; Queer in Color; Al McFarlane; DeWayne Davis; Jacki Renee; Georgina (Gigi) Kiersten; Jayce Ellis; Rayceen Pendarvis; my writer community on VSS365; Sharita Lira; Nhojj; Kevin E. Taylor; and to my Higher Power, who helped me find my authentic voice.

And to all my readers out there who believe in dreams and never give up. Representation matters.

This book is

dedicated to Walter and to Edward Lee, and in

memory of Dad, who encouraged me to be a storyteller.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

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

THE CHRISTOPHER FAMILY TREE

Allan Beckley Christopher (Maureen Moore)(married 1947)

Martin Christopher (Terrence Williamson)(married 1975)

Crystal Christopher (Janice Taylor)(married 1988)

Martin Christopher, Jr. (Kareem Brown)(married 1988)

Dennis Christopher, II (Juniece Thompson)(married 1989)

Daphne Christopher (Tevin Marshall)(married 1998)

Valentine Christopher (Carlos Rivera)(married 1988)

Kelley Christopher (Rashid McNair)(married 1994)

Joshua Christopher (Penelope Strand)(married 1969)

Ruby Christopher (Alejandro Perez)(married 1994)

Sadie Christopher (Sydney Browne)(married 2004)

Lorraine Christopher

Adele Christopher

Marshall Christopher (Leroy Terrell)(married 1971)

Katie Christopher (Raymond Sterling, Jr.)(married 1969)(Russell Johnson)(m. 1972)

Raymond Johnson (DeAndre Washington)(married 1990)

Harriet Johnson (Owen Boyd)(married 1997)

Alexander Johnson (Lakia Fuentes)(married 1996)

Tanya Christopher (Teresa Johnson)(married 1973)

Tanisha Johnson-Christopher (Adrienne Boyd)(married 2000)

Imani Johnson-Christopher

Victoria Christopher (Travis Mitchell)(married 1996)

Travis

Traci

Allison Christopher (Michael Davis, Sr.)(married 1983)

Michael Davis, Jr.

Allan Davis

Bernard Christopher (Sherman Butterfield)(married 1988)

Jesse

Bruce

Samuel

Chapter 1

December 31, 2005

The ocean breezes of a tropical evening caressed and cooled Allan Christopher Davis’ body as he trudged along the road to his car, which was hidden by the foliage. He was reluctant to go home, at least so soon, and his identical twin brother Mickey had promised to give him a cover story about his whereabouts before he left the house. He reached the Range Rover in almost no time at all, sliding his muscular, 6'5" frame into it with ease. New Year’s Eve was OK, but it could have been much better.

He let out a wistful sigh. No doubt Mickey had found a honey, and he was having a great time at one of the New Year’s Eve parties in town. Not that he was jealous of his brother, he simply wanted that kind of fun for himself. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the way things worked.

Lowering the windows and starting the vehicle, he headed up the road, with the wind blowing through his dreadlocks and no particular place to go. He found himself stopping at a deserted stretch of Viewpoint Beach. Maybe it was because his astrological sign was Pisces, but the water had always been a place where he could go, sit, and work things out in his mind. Although 2005 had been an active hurricane season that included Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, the Bahamas weren’t as hard hit as other parts of the Caribbean and the U.S.; for that, he was grateful. He grabbed a beach towel, locking his car before he strolled down to the sand, ready for a skinny dip in the ocean.

The water soothed him, the gibbous moon in the sky reflected by the shimmering waves. Later, his body refreshed, Allan stretched out on his beach towel, his Beckley eyes drinking in the night scene before him, the calming sound of the water relaxing his mind…somewhat. He and his boyfriend, Thomas Hamilton, had had the same old argument an hour earlier before Allan left the no-tell motel in sheer frustration. They always had to meet in places way below the radar. Tonight, Thomas had been under him for nearly two hours and loved every minute of it, sharing passionate kisses and sweet nothings filled with desire and heat. However, he absolutely refused to be seen in public with Allan, much less entertain the notion of coming out. And Allan sincerely wanted a boyfriend who loved him, someone who wasn’t afraid or ashamed to stand by him, the kind his cousins had.

Why, why did he have to get involved with a cop? That was one item on the laundry list of reasons Thomas gave him for keeping their relationship secret. Another one was Allan’s age, since he was two months shy of his 18th birthday and Thomas was 25. Then there was Thomas’ family and friends, his position in the community, and so on, and so on, and so on. After hearing them so often, they sounded more and more like excuses.

Topping the list was Allan’s own lineage. He was the son of Michael and Lissa Davis of the internationally acclaimed jazz ensemble Sunrise, winners of multiple Grammys and numerous other music awards with enough gold and platinum records to give them legendary status in the music industry. He was named after his grandfather, self-made business mogul Allan Beckley Christopher, the founder of Christopher Electronics and the third African American billionaire in the U.S. His aunt, Victoria Christopher Mitchell, was the company’s current CEO, and she made it a Fortune 100 company. Elijah Edwards, his first cousin twice removed, was an electronics whiz and instrumental in the expansion of the company back in the 1970s. Elijah’s wife, Donna Gray Edwards—affectionately known in the family as Madear—was the queen of Twin Cities society, but she could easily reach across oceans to make things happen.

Although they retained their U.S. citizenship, his parents had made Nassau their home for many years. Having their level of fame, they said, was often a mixed blessing. Allan had been openly gay as long as he could remember, with the unconditional support of his family. No one on the islands dared to give him a hard time because of this celebrity status. Unfortunately, Thomas threw that fact in his face lately when they argued.

Not only did their status guarantee attention and stories but, like their parents, Allan and Mickey’s looks never failed to turn heads. They had the sultry Beckley eyes they inherited from their grandfather, the aged ivory complexion, nose, and gap-toothed smile from their father, and the height from their mother. Sandy-brown dreadlocks reached to their waists, gracing bodies by Peterbilt with phat bubble butts supported by size 14 feet. In school, they led the pack as honors students. Their parents instilled in them from an early age that their looks were a gift and to treat them as such, but it didn’t stop the overt female attention Mickey received and the covert male attention given to Allan.

During summer break mere months ago, Allan captured Thomas’ attention. Thomas had attended a benefit concert given by Sunrise, all professional and police business—at first. The hot specimen of Bahamas’ finest fell under the spell of Allan’s Beckley eyes and subtly asked him out. One thing led to another, and a few dates later, Thomas was begging to be taken by Allan. The glow of passion and the desire to be together was good…to a point. The culture and environment surrounding them, however, was like a nimbus cloud tainted with fear, one that refused to go away.

Allan’s eyes saddened as he lay there in solitude. He thought it would be different this time, different from the guys in his high school. Thomas may have been older than them, but he was still another in a line of boyfriends looking for monsters under the bed. Mom and Dad were concerned about his state of mind, as was Mickey. Will things ever change here? He’d made previous attempts in speaking up about the state of affairs for LGBTQ people on the islands along with the very few men and women who were out. Despite being born and raised in Nassau, his concerns were dismissed as those of an outsider. I want what Mom and Dad have, but I’ll never find that here. And if I leave, Thomas won’t come with me.

With the remnants of Thomas’ scent washed off by the Atlantic and the reality of life in the Bahamas staring him in the face, a quote from an article he read online came to him: If he won’t come out, get out.

I have to get out, Allan said to himself, lifting his eyes toward the clear night sky as 2006 rolled in. I can’t stay here any longer…

Chapter 2

January 2006

Allison Christopher Davis knew something was different about her son when he came downstairs the following morning. Allan, like Mickey, was outstanding in school and considered a well-adjusted 17-year-old, but he had been brooding for the past two months. She suspected his mood was connected to his mysterious boyfriend. She and her husband Michael had approached the subject with him on previous occasions only to get nowhere. Today, however, there was a look of resolution about him. I wonder if it’s related to our own decisions about this place. Her musings were interrupted when Ms. Bond, their housekeeper, brought their Sunday breakfast to the dining room table.

Things were different when she and Michael moved there nearly 20 years ago after Sunrise broke onto the music scene with their now classic hits of Afro Mystic and Indies Blues. She had fallen in love with the villa they made their home just outside of Nassau and the beauty of New Providence Island, not to mention Eleuthra, Bimini, and Grand Bahama; Sunrise had performed in all of the Bahama Islands and most of the Caribbean.

Their home and their lives were blessed with a double portion on February 29, 1988, when Michael Kennedy Davis, Jr. and Allan Christopher Davis were born 12 minutes apart, thanks to a history of multiple births on Lissa’s side of the family. They weathered the joys and unique challenges of being in the entertainment industry on an international level of fame plus raising a family during their 22 years of marriage. The mere mention of the name Sunrise guaranteed sold-out concerts, like their last tour across the African continent and recent benefit concerts in Nassau and Freeport. However, the welcoming atmosphere of the islands back then was no longer as welcoming in her eyes now.

It had been fairly recent when the islanders showed inhospitality with a rather vocal protest against the LGBT family cruise hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, when the cruise liner came into port. For a nation whose primary industry was tourism, the incident made the islands look bad. She and Michael had shared many a conversation lately about their children’s current situation, and they knew that matters had reached a crossroads. Mickey was regarded as a crown prince with all the bells and whistles, while Allan was merely tolerated because his parents’ status protected him. Over time, Lissa realized that people may mutter things under their breath and gossip among themselves, but they wouldn’t dare badmouth Allan in public, and her twins always had each other’s backs. As for Michael and herself, their attitude was polite yet detached and guarded toward those islanders who weren’t part of their inner circle.

While the family dined and the men engaged in small talk about the new year, Lissa’s mind went back 18 years, when Michael had written the song, The Right to Be. Their manager loved its reggae style, but he was strongly against producing the song because of the content. It was inspired by her younger brother Bernie’s desire to take his Jamaican-born boyfriend Sherman to his high school prom in Evanston, Illinois. Many people considered it way ahead of its time, urging them not to do it. For Lissa and Michael, the decision was a no-brainer—they needed to look no further than their respective LGBTQ siblings, nieces, and nephews. Against all the odds, the song became a hit and won Sunrise their second Grammy award, after which they fired their manager. As for Bernie and Sherman, their dream manifested after Lissa’s sister, Tanya Johnson-Christopher, filed a class-action lawsuit against the school district.

Right, right to be

Right, right to be

Who I am is who I am

I have the right to be…

The catchy refrain of the song stirred Lissa’s spirits, yet she returned to the present upon hearing the words, I can’t stay here any longer.

What do you mean, Allan? Michael asked.

It’s this place. There’s no future here for me.

I think I know what you’re getting at, but why don’t you tell us?

Her son took a deep breath and