In celebration of Fathers’ Day, I decided that the next blog post of Behind the Book would feature Harold Davenport/ Lotus Pagua. As an avid reader, most urban fiction titles that I read either had an absentee father or a father that was a drug dealer, pimp, alcoholic, etc. I did not want this in my novel although it is revealed later on in Diamonds in the Rough (DITR) that Carmen’s father was a former drug dealer. While he does have a past, Lotus is presented in the novel to be somewhat of a “Cosby” dad. To be honest, this part of the story is somewhat inspired by Delroy Lindo’s character, Isaak O’Day, in the movie, Romeo Must Die. Lindo’s character was heavily involved in various illegal operations, but was still viewed as a family man.

Much of what is known about Lotus can be found in DITR. His past is further explored in the Ace of Diamonds, however, I will not reveal that information since the book has not been published. To start, Lotus was born in the Bahamas to a rather large family. I never went into detail regarding his family aside from the fact that his parents disowned him when he entered the drug trade in his late teens. It is because of this that Lotus found solace in Hector Santiago, a young drug dealer who made a name for himself in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Lotus was introduced to Hector through a local drug dealer in the Bahamas and soon started to work for him thus becoming a part of the Santiago cartel. Lotus never moved to Puerto Rico to work alongside Hector, but the two of them did migrate to the United States together (Lady, Hector’s wife and mother to Jay, also moved with them to Brookstone, New York at this time).

In the states, Lotus helped Hector to build the Santiago cartel until his late twenties. During this time, his main role aside from handling the day-to-day operations of the cartel was to oversee the construction of the cartel’s various businesses. One of these businesses was Sapphire, which was originally an elite gentleman’s club before Jay took over. Other businesses include laundromats and restaurants, which were closed after the demise of the cartel.

Once Lotus decided to settle down with Patricia (Carmen’s mother) and she got pregnant, he began to want a different life for himself and his family. Lotus broke away from the cartel and even changed his identity to completely disassociate himself from all things Santiago. This decision stemmed from the numerous investigations that Hector was under. Lotus feared for his freedom and did not want to be taken down if the government got enough evidence to indict Hector. He changed his name to Harold Davenport and started Davenport Realty, Inc. with the earnings he made from his time with the cartel. His departure created strife in his friendship with Hector though there was never any retaliation on Hector’s part.

In the end, Lotus found success with his real estate business and even opened up a second office in Dallas, Texas. As for his relationship with Patricia, the two remained together despite a brief separation in DITR. At the conclusion of Diamonds are Forever (DAF), the two have been married for almost forty years.

What else would you like to know? Feel free to leave a comment!

Tidbits about Lotus

– He is dark-skinned, bald, and approximately 6’2

-He loves to play golf.

– He owned two houses throughout the series (one in Brookstone that is sold to Kane and a house in Dallas, Texas)

– He is not an only child and has lots of siblings (I don’t have an exact number because I never went into much detail regarding his immediate family)

-He only has one child, which is Carmen (This will not change either.)