Spectrum

Chapter 15

" We need ta talk, " I looked up from my phone to the stranger at the gate.

I looked past him to see Azariah who was keenly watching her surroundings.

" Do I know you? " I asked narrowing my eyes a bit at the unfamiliar face.

" No, but I know you and we need to talk. " I looked past him to see Azariah giving me a signal to ensure that this was safe.

 I got up from my position on the porch and made my way to the gate where they were both standing.

" Where are we going? " I asked Azariah as soon as we began walking a bit away from my mother's house.

" My house, " She answered pushing me a bit to ensure that I was walking In between the both of them as if for protection.

After a little bit of walking, we ended up at a one storey house which was in a less densely populated area of the community as they houses were scattered leaving a large amount of land space for each plot.

The house was painted in the standard colour which in this community was a type of pale blue, the yard was well-groomed and such couldn't be said about the surrounding lots as the grass had reached a new hight.

As we walked up the steps of the house towards the porch, the man, who I assumed to be Azariah's father pulled out a set of keys opening the two locks on the door before opening the door wide for Azariah and me to step in which after he surveyed the area before closing the door.

Azariah invited me to sit on the couch with her while her father went to turn on the lights which were too bright for my likings.

After the lights were turned on he came again to sit on the main chair in the living room.

" In case you don't know me, I'm Ashton Williams, Azariah's father and also a friend of your father, " He said which had me side-eyeing him a bit.

A friend of my father? surely a friend that I hadn't met.

" He was, well still is a good friend of mine, " He said noticing my confused face.

" But that's not what we need ta talk about, it's ya brother, I know you've been in contact with yo father on the daily but he fears for your safety in that house, there are things happening there that he doesn't want you to be webbed into, " He said leaning towards me a bit.

Then why send me there was my main question, if my brother was that dangerous, why rule out the possibility that he would hurt me because he had made it perfectly clear how much he thought of me.

" There are things bigger than what you think going on in that house, " He said seriously.

" Bigger than being a kingpin? " I responded sassily which was not my intention, leaving Azariah and her father a bit taken back.

But how I saw it, he had no right to talk about illegalities when he was running the whole area, drugs, guns, you name it, what could my brother and his posse be doing that is worse than that? It made close to no sense to me, sure, I had my suspicions, but that's all they were for the moment, suspicions.

" Mhm, fair enough, " He smiled a bit on me before turning to Azariah, " You never told me she had one piece of a mouth on her? " Azariah looking at me answered back " I didn't know either. "

" So, how do we eliminate this problem? " I asked.

" Eliminate? We? " He answered with his eyebrows raised.

" We wait for it to play out, just stay out of their way and let them do what they're doing. " Aston said again.

" Stay out of it? this is my brother we're talking about, " I said narrowing my eyes a bit.

" Understandable, but he is much more than what you think, " He replied.

" How much more different, you're talking about someone I grew up with, shared memories with and from what everyone is telling me and allowing me to infer, that's a totally different person, "

It hurt, it really hurt, being told that the person I grew up with, shared memories with, did almost everything with, confided in, was someone completely different. It was a lot to take in, but I could handle it, I had been handling it the best way I could, keeping it locked up in the deepest parts of my mnd.

" Because to us, he is somewhat a different person, he tried to kill me and Ace Milan, " Azariah made direct eye contact with me and for a brief moment, I could feel her pain.

It was the fact that I really had not taken into consideration the fact that Mason had shot at them and it didn't matter why it was just the fact that he shot at them and I knew for a fact that he would have recognized one of them because I had been hanging around them for a while.

The most surprising part of it all to me was that Jamal and Azariah had stuck around and had not quickly unfriended me, I didn't know why, but I was thankful that they didn't.

" I just want you to stay safe Milan, I know he's ya brotha but from da way that he's moving, family ain't seem like something he cares about, " Azariah said to me genuinely.

I was thankful, thankful that I had someone like Azariah as my friend, she genuinely cared for my welfare and safety and that was something I know a lot of people did not have and to have just not too long ago have met Azariah and she already cared this much for me really told me the kind of person she was despite her cold exterior, she really did care for us.

" But, what is my father doing about all of this, this is far past some petty g**g beef, this is much bigger and I don't want to be caught up in it, " I said.

" He's doing his best- " Though I didn't mean to, I cut Aston off.

" Doing his best? I'm in a house fill with criminals and the only person I probably even trust the slightest bit in that house is Julian and I barely even see or talk to him, " I said gritting my teeth a bit.

All I've been hearing is that my father is doing his best, he's working out something, he's doing this and that but I'm not seeing any of it, the only thing my father is doing is putting me in a dangerous situation which could get me trafficked or even worse, killed.

Though I'd hate to admit it, I trusted Julian a bit, I could just tell that he did not want to be apart of what was going on in that house and he was really the only one, that I knew of, in the house with a legal job. Julian was hardly ever at the house due to him taking every overtime opportunity he could get, which was the basis of almost every argument with my mother. In a way, Julian was the most wholesome, though he never talked, his point always got across whether they were listening to him or not and I had gained a bit of respect for him the night he stopped my egg donor from hitting me.

" That's interesting, " Aston muttered leaning back into his chair, " I'll tell you one thing, you can trust him the most out of everyone there, "

Those were the last words from Azariah's father to me before they both had walked me back to the house and that evening, the house had been the tensest I've ever witnessed it. We were all currently at the dinner table and it was completely silent which was weird, to say the least as my mother would usually be complaining about Julius not being home which he was also weirdly home today.

" So, Milan, do you want to tell me who was that you were talking to earlier, " Julia turned to me before asking.

" What are you talking about? " I asked cluelessly while using my fork to push my food around in my plate.

" You know what I'm talking about honey, that man and that young girl, who were they? " She asked getting a bit annoyed.

" Why? " I asked my eyes narrowing towards her.

" Why what Milan? " She retorted.

" Why do you want to know? "

I knew exactly why she wanted to know, I just wanted to hear her say it. She didn't care about who I was around or who I hung out with, she only cared about how it would affect her, she just wanted to know so she could eliminate the problem and I was sure that she knew that I had an idea of why she wanted to know.

" So, can I not ask about the people in my daughter's life? you are my child before everything you know, " The lies were slipping off of her tongue like water running from a faucet. I huffed rolling my eyes before answering.

" No one you need to worry about Mother."