In a previous post, I interviewed a character from one of my novels, Kayla Dane from The Favorite, and asked her about her life after the events of the story. I liked the exercise, and it was fun to revisit old characters. You spend years in the world that you create, sometimes it’s good to take a peek from time to time and see how the characters have been doing.

Today, I’m interviewing Rob Bishop, the narrator from my first novel, The Fab 5, and one of the central characters from my newly posted short story, Father Figures. (What? Haven't you read that? Check it out here.) We’ll get an insight into what happened in the ten years between the novel and the short story and what’s going on right now.

Oh, fair warning, there are spoilers for The Fab 5 and its follow-up Father Figures.

So, ten years ago you married your college sweetheart, Lauren, and you moved back to the old neighborhood to be closer to your son, Jordan. Fast forward to now, and it seems you’re divorced. What happened? Well, let’s start by saying I love my ex-wife. She was an amazing partner and friend and is still an amazing human being. What happened with our relationship, though, was that Jordan became a huge issue. We talked about starting a family, her and I, but she wanted to wait until I told Jordan the truth—that he was my son, and not my best friend Jamal’s. I wanted to wait until the time was right, when he got into high school, or when Jamal’s mother was better able to let go, but that time never quite came. She got tired of waiting, and we got a divorce. It was one of the most painful things to happen to me, but I get why it did.

Let’s talk about Jordan. He’s 19 now, and he’s lost everyone he thought of as family, outside of you and your friends. He knows now that Jamal Prince wasn’t his father. How does your relationship with him change? To be honest, I don’t know think it does, not all that much at least. I’m gonna be there for him now, the same way I’ve been there for him since Jamal died. He’s gone through a rough time, and he’s lost more than anyone his age should ever lose. But he always had me and the other guys and Mrs. P. to keep him grounded. He’s smart, and he’s tough. Will our relationship change? (Sighs) When Jamal died, I asked his mother, Mercedes, if he was my son, and she said: “Yes, but that man (Jamal) was his father.” I didn’t understand it right away, but I figured it out along the way. I think if we had a real father/son relationship at this point, it would be incredibly awkward because we were never that before. So, no, the relationship won’t change.

The woman that Jordan knew as his grandmother just passed away from cancer. She was significant in your life and your friends’ lives, as well as a pillar of the neighborhood. What impact does her passing have to Flatbush? Amelia Prince was more of a parent to me than my own mother. That’s not a knock on my mom; she did the best she could under the circumstances. But Mrs. P. kept me and four other teenagers from doing stupid stuff, and I bet I’m not the only one in this neighborhood who would say that. She looked after everyone’s kids, especially after her son died. When she found out Jordan wasn’t her biological grandchild, she took him in anyway. She didn’t have to do that; she didn’t owe him, or his late mother, anything. The kind of love that a person has to have inside to do something like that, it affects the world around you, and when it goes away, it changes the world around you. The neighborhood is a different place now, and not just because of the Starbucks on Flatbush and Church, or the Baskin-Robbins on Regent Place. We lost Mrs. P. We lost so much love.

Let’s talk about the neighborhood for a moment. On the whole, Brooklyn is getting progressively more “hip.” 20 years ago, Bed-Stuy, Flatbush, Brownsville, and Bushwick were considered the ghetto, shouted out by name on rap tracks. They were undesirable places to live, visit, work, or own a business unless you were low-income minorities. Now, thanks to the exodus from an overpriced Manhattan, these neighborhoods that were once derided in the news as a blight on the city as a whole have become destinations for those new to the city as featured on television shows like HBO’s Girls. You’ve been back in Flatbush for the last ten years. How is it different from when you grew up there? Besides the Starbucks? (laughs) The Barclays Center kick-started development down Flatbush Avenue, and once there was something central to do, it became more of a viable line for different types of business. There’s stuff here now that I never dreamed of as a kid. The Caribbean take-out joints are being replaced by sit-down restaurants, and there are places now that do brunch. I didn’t know what brunch was until I left for college. Hotels, chain stores, businesses that 15 or 20 years ago, wouldn’t have touched this borough with a ten-foot pole, much less this neighborhood, they’re now springing up all over like weeds. And once they renovated the Kings’ Theater on Flatbush near Beverley? All of a sudden new people—white people—moved in and the rents got jacked up. There’s an apartment around the corner that I know, for a fact, had crackheads living there for years. It was renovated from a decent sized studio to a little three bedroom, and the rent jumped up to $2200 a month. For a crack house. Ridiculous. It’s okay though, a bunch of us are still here and holding on to what we got. It’ll be hard to get rid of all of us.

So what happens next, Rob? Will we ever see you on the court again? (Laughs) Maybe, maybe, anything’s possible. It’s been a while since I played. You never really stop playing, though. I may not be able to run with the young bucks anymore, but I know the game better than they do. My old point guard is a coach these days. (Laughs) I might even give Jordan and his little friends a run for their money. Now wouldn’t that be something?

Check out Father Figures in the Extras section. Check out The Fab 5 in the Books section.

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