Looking Past My Upbringing

My second season had my team in uncharted territory. We were in position to make the league playoffs, for the first time in years. We were giving every opponent a run for their money, and winning against teams we hadn't beaten in recent memory.

I should add, that the young man who defied his father was leading the league in assists, and was our team's second leading scorer.

While my wife's belly grew, so did our number of wins. V got so big, she stopped coming to games, as I found out just how excited she can get.

High school kids didn't need to see our second daughter born in the gym. Yes, daughter number two was only about 6 or 7 weeks away.

Finishing our second season with 21 wins and 11 losses, it was our school's most successful season in nearly 20 years. I actually was voted Coach of the Year. Not too shabby.

This all paled in comparison to my wife giving birth to our second daughter. Tamara Susan Dunlap. 7 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches long. We had an idea by the time she and her sister started school, Tammy would be bigger.

Getting back home, now with four children all under nine years of age, we had the serious discussion of our limit being reached.

With Liz walking all over the place, and Tammy growing by leaps and bounds, I was almost surprised when my father in law called, telling me we had a court date, in two weeks.

At our court date, I could tell by their body language, they weren't going to budge. And they didn't, not one nickle over the $2 million already offered. The judge set a trial date three months down the line.

Vanessa and I made the decision that four children were our limit. Two boys and two girls seemed to us to be perfect.

During the following summer, my sister, brother in law and their two girls came to Seattle for a visit, we all were in our back yard with the six children all playing like families should. Both Ellen and I got the same text from our parents, which left us both staring at our screens.

The texts were from our parents asking if there was any chance they could see their grandchildren.

Ellen and I just couldn't believe our eyes. I replied asking if they were positive? They both said they were, because it was about time. With Vanessa and Ray agreeing, we put my phone on record and had all six of the kids line up, except Tammy wasn't standing on her own, yet, and say their names and ages for their grandparents they had never seen in their lives.

Kenyon and Kevin held Tammy's hands, and said her name and age. By the time all six introduced themselves, we could hear the sniffles coming from both our parents.

Did this mean they changed entirely? Most likely not. But this was a time in their lives when they finally had to admit to having 6 grandkids, no matter what the skin color was.

With me getting 'fixed' and further kids off the table, our sex life was in high gear. V only worked one or two days a week, and led our personal cheering section at the games where I coached.

Our third season, we actually made the state tournament. We even had cheer leading outfits for our daughters, that got quite a great deal of attention, in our media. I do had to admit that when I asked Vanessa to wear one, too, she put her foot down! Don't any of you guys reading this tell me it hasn't been a dream of every high school or college boy to fuck the cute cheer leader. Well, Vanessa wouldn't even consider it.

Who knows how long it will take to settle my lawsuit, but I'm not in any hurry. Their company is getting so much negative publicity, a settlement might be in the works.

As Vanessa and I approach our fifth anniversary, what might have seemed an impossible match, the skinny, white kid from Alabama, and his black physical therapist from Seattle, turned out to be quite a couple.

As previously stated, a settlement of any kind is still down the road. But with the money I earned playing the game I love, and very wise investments, we aren't hurting.

Epilogue: It took another 18 months to reach a settlement, which was $25 million, spread over 5 years. With the first payment, we started the Dunlap Family Foundation, devoted to helping the children in our area excel in every phase of life.

We also made sure Vanessa's parents both retired, comfortably.

Each year, we added additional scholarships for students in all areas, both academic and athletic.

Now, all I had to do is wait a few more years until our boys started playing basketball at the school I was coaching.