Ten Years Later Read Online Free PDF Page B

ever meet.” She starts to cry. “Because they
     are strong and they are kind. My kids and I have a very special relationship. I want
     them to be proud of me and they want me to be proud of them. And Allen has been a
     strong male role model for them now for four years.”
    From the start, Amy told Allen she wanted him to influence her sons in a positive
     way and to be involved in disciplining them. As you might imagine, that took some
     finesse.
    “There were a few times when Marcus would come to protect his brother because he thought
     that I was going to do something to him,” says Allen, “that I was going to hurt him
     because I was yelling at him about his grades. It just took a while for them to realize
     that I was in a position that I wanted them to be great, just like their mom. Once
     we got to the understanding that I wasn’t gonna put my hands on them and hurt them,
     we were great. It wasn’t hard, we just needed time.”
    Marcus and Terrell watched closely how Allen treated Amy.
    “Marcus would do the same thing with his mom; he’d come check on her. Once they were
     able to see that we could have a disagreement and still be okay, and no one was physically
     harmed, and that we could have disagreements as adults, then they could trust me.”
    By 2010, work and home life for Amy were busy and productive, but it was time for
     another move. The D.C. area was too expensive and warm days were too rare. Amy, her
     sons, and Allen headed for the sunny South.
TEN YEARS LATER
    In July 2011, with fifteen hundred miles and ten years between Amy and the day she
     met Robert, a new chapter began for her in Orlando, Florida. Marcus and Terrell, fifteen
     and thirteen, settled into school and joined the track and football teams. Allen found
     work similar to his role at the Pentagon, but in the private sector. Amy took a job
     at a women’s fitness studio as a weight-loss consultant and manager but decided a
     year later to work fewer hours and for herself. In March 2012, she started a new venture,
     creating custom weight-loss programs for clients.
    At thirty-eight, Amy is tanned and pretty. All totaled, she wears five rings on her
     fingers, which are tipped with a French manicure. Her built arms are a testament to
     her dedication in the gym. Amy’s shoulder-length hair is dark, her eyes are hazel,
     and she is open, funny, and straightforward. A typical day for her begins before sunrise.
    “Our alarm goes off every morning at four thirty, we both start with a protein shake,
     and we share a cup of coffee on the way to the gym,” she says, referring to Allen.
     “We work out at the gym upwards of an hour and a half to two hours. We lift a particular
     body part, we usually do some kind of boxing circuit, and then we’ll do cardio for
     thirty or forty-five minutes. Then, I come home and I eat breakfast, which usually
     consists of egg whites and oatmeal, and then my day starts.”
    Amy prepacks her lunch, usually lean protein and veggies, nothingwith enriched white flour. She eats every two to three hours—perhaps brown rice or
     a sweet potato, sometimes vegetables. In the middle of the day, she fixes another
     protein shake. Some days she works as a consultant at doctors’ offices, other days
     she spends time answering e-mails, marketing her company, or writing articles for
     two fitness magazines.
    “My days usually end at four o’clock, because I go and pick up my kids from school.”
     She adds, “I have to say, as old as they are, could they walk home? Sure.”
    But Amy says that’s why she started her own business. The flexibility adds to her
     quality of life.
    “I get to pick them up from school, and I get to go to their track meets and their
     football games, and to me, that’s more important than having to work seventy hours
     a week just to pay the bills.”
    The brothers are close. Marcus is a junior in high school, is a European history buff,
     and plays center on the varsity