Back home, Naasson knew plenty of people, and he came from a pretty large family. Being in London with no one but Deen was starting to get the best of him. Naasson wasn’t sure he really had it in him to stay in London forever. Or anywhere that he didn’t know anyone for that matter. He also knew what it was time to do. Each time the thought crossed his mind, he shrugged it off, but Naasson was tired of putting it off.
He grabbed his phone and called his mother as he walked around the hotel room grabbing his wallet, room key, etc.
“Hello?” his mother answered the phone in a confused tone.
“Hey ma.”
Silence. Then, “Oh my God, baby where are you?”
“Laying low. What’s going on around there?” He almost didn’t want to know the answer.
“Brandon is still in the hospital, but he’s not dead. He’s in pretty bad shape though. His mother took the kids up there to see him once, but Kamryn doesn’t want them to go back and see him like that. He has tubes all down his throat. He can’t really talk, so the police can’t question him just yet. At the house that day, his cousin pulled up just as the ambulance was arriving, and he began yelling to anyone that would listen that it was you. I wish I had never sent you over there that day. This is all my fault,” Naasson’s mother started to sob.
He blew out a small breath. That was one of the very reasons that he hadn’t called. “Ma, it’s all good. You didn’t make me do anything.” Naasson did feel a slight sense of relief that Brandon wasn’t dead, but how much better was an attempted murder charge versus a murder charge? He could still get a lot of time if he went back home and got caught.
“How is Kamryn doing?”
“She’s fine. Stressed. She’s moving out of the house, and she’s going to move back in with me for a little while to get on her feet. It’s sad it had to go this way, but now that she doesn’t have to worry about Brandon bothering her for a while, she just wants to work and move the kids to a better place to live.”
His mother’s words offered him even more relief. Naasson couldn’t know for sure if Kamryn would ever go back to Brandon, but at least she wasn’t by his bed side nursing him back to health. Naasson generally didn’t care what anyone did but after all the trouble his run in with Brandon had caused, he would definitely feel some kind of way if she got back with him.
“I can’t stay on the phone long. I just wanted to know how everyone was doing.”
His mother sighed. She wanted to say so much, but what could she say? Encourage him to come home and turn himself in? Not seeing him or knowing where he was, was hard, but she didn’t want to see him behind bars either.
“I’m glad to know that you’re okay. Please keep in touch.”
“I will. I love you.”
Naasson ended the call with a heavy heart. Every day, he had an internal battle with himself. He almost felt like a pussy for running from a charge, but he didn’t want to spend the next few years in prison and if that made him a pussy, then so be it. With so much on his mind, Naasson decided to walk to the restaurant that he was meeting A’ja at. The weather was comfortably warm, and he knew he wouldn’t break a sweat. As Naasson thoughtabout how his life had changed in the blink of an eye, his preoccupied mind made the fifteen-minute walk seem extremely short. As Naasson approached the restaurant, a taxi pulled up, and A’ja got out of it.
Naasson took her in. Dressed in black leggings and a black, sleeveless, bodysuit, her body screamed grown ass woman. The braids she was rocking made her look youthful and stylish yet mature and fly.
“I see I have perfect timing,” he approached her with a smile.
“That you do,” she smiled back.
Naasson held the door open for A’ja, and his eyes zeroed in on her behind as she walked through the door. He knew he had to handle her with kid gloves. She said herself that she was in the middle of a divorce and still going through the grieving process. Even if she wasn’t looking for anything serious, Naasson could tell there were times when she was vulnerable. He didn’t want to confuse her, mislead her, or play games with her. His own future was uncertain, so there was no way he could begin to think about where he wanted things with A’ja to go past a good time.
The hostess led them to their seats, and the pair began to look over the menu. After a few moments of silence, A’ja spoke. “So do you mostly spend your days on the set?”
“It just depends on if I feel like going. I’m a silent investor. I don’t have specific jobs I do on the set. I just sit back and watch when I’m there. It’s an interesting process, but I don’t feel the need to be involved every day. I spend a lot of time just being a tourist. I got some painting done today though.”
Naasson didn’t miss the flicker of interest in A’ja’s eyes. “What kind of painting do you do?”
“I paint pictures of anything and everything. Whatever comes to mind.”
Naasson removed his phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and went to his page that was dedicated to his paintings on socialmedia. He passed A’ja the phone, and his heart swelled with pride when her jaw slacked.
“You did these?” she swiped through his photos.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Do you have a website? Where can I buy one?”
Naasson’s brows snapped together. “Website? Nah. I don’t sell them. I just paint as a stress reliever.”
“Are you against selling your art for money? I know there are some creatives that feel they can’t put a price tag on their hard work.”