Naasson agreed with that for sure. At this point, he was running off fumes. He finally felt safe. He grabbed his bag and walked over to the door. After finding his own room, Naasson went straight to the shower. Once his body was clean, he tossed back another shot of Jack from the minibar, brushed his teeth, and got in the bed. His mind and body were so drained that as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.
Naasson was so exhausted that he slept for almost nine hours. When his lids peeled apart, it was one in the afternoon. The first thing he noticed was the rumbling in his stomach. Then, he eyed his strange surroundings, and it dawned on him where he was. In the blink of an eye, Naasson had to leave behind everything that he knew. He had a three-bedroom home that he was renting in Diamond Cove, North Carolina, and he drove a white Lexus truck and a black Audi truck. He’d been hustling for damn near twelve years, and he was living quite comfortably. After he killed Brandon, all he had time to grab were his fake documents, his money, and enough clothes to last him maybe three weeks. Heeven had to leave behind the sentimental things that meant the world to him like his paintings. Naasson had been able to draw since he could hold a pencil. It wasn’t until he hit third grade that he grew to love painting.
Anyone that saw anything that Naasson created was always impressed. Various art teachers throughout his life had suggested that he take painting seriously, but Naasson brushed it off. He was from the hood and where he was from, niggas didn’t invest in art. Even if he never made a dollar off them, Naasson had countless paintings on the walls of his home and in his garage, that he would be hurt to never see again. He sat up and stared at the wall.
“Fuck,” he mumbled. His mother used to always tell him that his quick temper was gon’ write a check one day that his ass couldn’t cash.
Had he simply ignored Brandon, he wouldn’t be here but nah. Naasson didn’t know how to ignore people. If a person disrespected him, they were going to get disrespected back, or their ass whooped, or maybe even murdered.
“Fuck!” Naasson repeated a tad bit louder this time.
Brandon wasn’t just a disrespectful nigga. He was Naasson’s sister’s boyfriend and the father of her two children. They’d been together for nine years, and Naasson had been cool with Brandon despite the fact that over the years they’d had a few disagreements. Brandon and Kamryn could be the average toxic couple, and there were plenty times that Naasson tried to mind his business. He used to tell himself that Kamryn was grown, and she could handle her own shit but this time, things had gone too far.
Naasson stood up because he had to get food. He hadn’t eaten in twenty-four hours, and the last thing he needed was another headache. He ordered room service then got in the shower, brushed his teeth, and got dressed for the day. Afterdressing in dark denim jeans, a white tank top, and white sneakers, Naasson eyed his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His chestnut brown skin, low cut full of curls, broad nose, and thick beard all got him called handsome by the majority of the women that he came into contact with. Naasson was 6’2 and only a few pounds shy of two hundred pounds. He got lost in his reflection wondering what in the hell was going to come of his life. At this point, nothing was certain, and that was a damn shame. Who would cut his hair in London? Where would he get his weed from?
Naasson knew that there were plenty of people more than likely going crazy looking for him back in Diamond Cove, but he knew the person that he needed to speak to the most was, Disha. Disha had been in his life for the past three years. Everything started out great, but it didn’t take long for his lifestyle to get in the way. The honeymoon phase had worn off, and Disha was tired of coming second to the streets. It had been the cause of one too many arguments, and Naasson wasn’t sure what to do. Running the streets was putting money in his pockets. Love didn’t pay the rent or put food in his belly. Disha was privileged. She came from money and had a support system. She didn’t have to get it out the mud like he had, so she’d never understand.
Naasson sighed when he thought about the fact that him murdering someone and leaving the country was the reason that he missed her celebration dinner. Disha had graduated from college at the top of her class and got a job offer from Diamond Cove’s most prestigious law firm. Disha passed the bar, and she had so much to celebrate that she put together an extravagant dinner slash party that ran her parents more than $15,000, and Naasson had missed it.
He nourished his body then made his way to find a cheap cell phone. He didn’t want a smart phone. Not for what he was about to do. He doubted that anyone had gone as far as to tap Disha’sphone. He was hesitant to call his sister or his mother, but he felt Disha should be cool. Naasson sat in a small coffee shop as he dialed her number and waited for her to answer.
“Hello?” she answered sounding unsure. When she saw an out of the country number, she probably thought it was a scammer or some shit.
“Disha.” He spoke in a low, deep voice that he knew she would recognize right away.
“Where are you?” Disha was green to the streets but as someone that had graduated from law school, she was smart enough not to call his name even though she had no clue what was going on.
“Some shit went down between me and my sister’s boyfriend. I had to hop on a flight. I’m not sure when or if I’ll be back,” he told her with a heart full of regret.
Silence. It was what he expected, so he waited. Naasson waited patiently for Disha to form the words that she wanted to say. “You don’t know if you’ll be back. What am I supposed to do, huh? Wait? You missed my graduation. You missed my celebration dinner. You’ve made it clear to me many times that you have no desire to stop what it is that you’re doing to appease me. What am I supposed to do? Please tell me.”
“You’re supposed to go live your life and not let me or anyone else get in the way of that,” he spoke in a low tone.
“Just like that, huh? Three years of my life wasted.” Her voice cracked, and he knew she was on the verge of tears.
“I would hope you wouldn’t look at it as time wasted, but I can’t tell you how to feel. I was trying, Disha. I was trying to transition out of this shit, but it didn’t happen fast enough. You knew what it was when I met you. Things can’t always change overnight. What happened was some shit that wasn’t planned. All I can do is say I’m sorry.”
“Right,” Disha chuckled. “I don’t even know what to say. I wish you well. I honestly do. I guess we just weren’t meant to be in this lifetime.”
Naasson could hear the pain in her voice, and he hated being the cause of it. He hadn’t just woken up one day with murder on his mind. Everything happened so fast. It was the only thing in Naasson’s life that if he could take back, he would.
“Bye, Disha.”
No response. Naasson pulled the phone away from his ear and saw that she had ended the call. He knew from the moment he met Disha, that she was from the other side of the tracks. That didn’t stop him from trying to holla, and that didn’t stop her from falling for him. Her parents would never approve of her dating a thug, but Disha kept Naasson tucked away. She didn’t care about the approval of her family or friends. She loved everything about fine ass Naasson from the moment she lay eyes on him, and all she wanted was him. Until he had to miss important events, and he couldn’t spend as much time with her as she wanted him to spend. The longer they stayed together, the more Disha was faced with the reality that they might not work.
She knew plenty of men that were hardly ever home because they worked a lot. Her father was one of those men. But Disha couldn’t ignore the facts. She was getting older. She wanted kids in the next few years. She wanted to get married, and how would a lawyer look being married to a dope boy? Three years in, and she hadn’t even introduced Naa to her parents. She kept waiting for him to walk a straight and narrow path. She longed for the day that he would be done with the streets and go legit. Her biological clock was ticking. Disha was itching to plan a wedding, and she couldn’t plan a wedding with a man that her parents didn’t even know about.
Perhaps they both knew they were doomed, but they were just hanging on. Naasson stood up and grabbed his room keybefore walking out of the door. Back home, he woke up every day with hustling on his mind, but that was dead here. Naasson could either spend the money that he had, or he could try and get a job, so he could have something to do every day. It would be hard starting a new life as Sadiq. All he’d ever been was Naasson, but this was necessary. Becoming a new person and adopting new habits would keep him out of prison. He didn’t have much work experience, and he had no clue what he wanted to do with his life, but the fact of the matter was that things were different. Life as he knew it was over. Naasson knew that no matter how foreign things seemed to him, he had to adapt to his new environment. He could either make London work, or he could go back home where he was facing a shit load of years in prison. The latter didn’t sound like a good idea, so Naasson was off to explore his newfound life in a new country.
chapter
two
“Benson!”Coach James called out to A’ja as the players for the London Lions filed out of the gym towards the locker room.
A’ja Benson pivoted and turned to face her coach. A forty-something mixed woman that could have passed for white if she didn’t wear her hair in more ethnic styles, like the faux locs she was currently rocking.
Coach James neared A’ja with a smile on her face. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but these last couple of practices, you have been killing it. You know I don’t have favorites, but whatever you’re doing keep doing it. Keep this up, you’ll be able to negotiate a very nice contract next season.”
