Finding

Questions.

Briceon had a ton of questions that needed answers.

He thought he'd found the women he would spend the rest of his life with but boy was he mistaken.

The blazing sun beamed down on the pavement. Some kids played in the grass with their water guns while others floated in the complex pool yelling 'Marco Polo'. The fumes of barbecue on the grill ripped through the air. It filled the pedestrians' nostrils, making their stomachs rumble at the beautiful aromas.

"Alright, I think this is the last box." Briceon sat the brown box labeled 'Brice' down by the front door before closing it.

"That's good. Can I use your credit card?" Farrah said as she made her way from the back of the apartment. Briceon reached into his back pocket for his wallet, he pulled out his credit card-handing it to her. Farrah rarely asked for money, so he wasn't opposed to give it to her.

"What do you need mine for? Where's yours?" His eyebrows furrowed as he watched her stuff the card in her wallet.

"My new one hasn't come in the mail yet and the girls invited me out." She stepped over the stacked boxes and towards the door.

"Invited you out? You're just going to leave me here by myself when we just got here? We're supposed to be unpacking and waiting for the furniture to come." Briceon's parents also came down to make sure he had everything he needed and was settled in before school started.

"I'll only be gone for a few hours." The gathering was made in the heat of the moment.

Making her way towards Briceon, she stood in front of him. Standing on her tippy toes, Farrah placed a kiss on his lips before making her way out of the apartment.

Farrah was, I guess you can say, Briceon's 'high school sweetheart'. They've been together since their junior year in high school and were currently attending their sophomore year of college.

Briceon always tried to make time for her but between football, work and school, it was hard. Even though majority of their time together was spent during school, and after football activities, Farrah still felt like they didn't have enough time together.

So, he came up with a schedule where he would plan a date for them to go on every weekend and after school, sometimes they'd go out on little adventures and explore a new part of the city.

Everything was all rainbows and glitter in the beginning but just a few weeks after their one year anniversary, something in Farrah changed.

She would start to make excuses. She could no longer attend his games or his well thought out dates. She was tired, had to finish an assignment or she picked up an extra shift at work. Farrah would sometimes just blatantly ignore his calls or texts. Briceon didn't know what was going on, he tried to talk to her about it but she would just brush him off as if it was nothing, so he let it go.

Her attitude started to change, she became more controlling. If Briceon was on his phone for more than five minutes, she'd accuse him of talking to another female and this would cause arguments between the two.

It was like everything he did was wrong.

Farrah started to take her anger out on him. First it started off emotionally and verbally, she would get mad over the smallest things. She'd talk down on him, make him feel like less of a man, try to intimidate him, even embarrass him in front of his friends and tell him that his thoughts and dreams didn't matter-he was going nowhere in life.

The emotional abuse then germinated into physical abuse. First it was little slaps. Then,

the slaps turned into full blown punches.

Growing up, Briceon's stepfather told him that a man should never put his hands on a woman so, instead of fighting back, he allowed it.

The physical abuse only happened a handful of times but it caused a rift in their relationship, nothing was ever the same. Briceon didn't know what was going on with her but he wanted everything to go back to normal.

He thought moving in together would fix all their problems and they'd be happy again. He would soon come to a realization that nothing could fix them and that the relationship he was in wasn't healthy for either of them.

Sighing, he rubbed his hands down his waves before resting it on his chin, caressing it. Briceon looked around the living room that was filled with large brown cardboard boxes labeled with different things. He began to take them to their rightful places making room for the movers to place down the furniture.

Seeing as he had about two hours until the movers came, Briceon felt like now was the perfect time to go to a shopping center to find decorations for the apartment and other houses essentials. Locking up, he made his way down the pavement starting his walk seeing as he didn't have a car yet. When needed Briceon and Farrah would take turns sharing her car.

His parents offered to buy him one for his 16th birthday but he turned it down. He didn't want his parents buying him a car when they had bills to pay and five other kids to look after.

Briceon also didn't want his parents handing him things anymore. He was becoming an adult and he wanted to learn the values of working for everything he'd once have and not take handouts.

Taking his phone out, he followed the directions to the shopping center, it was about a fifteen minute walk. Finally making it, he made his way into the store, grabbing a cart he began to look around.

Finding the home section, he pushed the cart to the side of the aisle and began to look.

"This would go good with the couch." He picked up a black and white shelf block that read 'home sweet home'. Even though the lived in an apartment, he still thought it be a nice touch. He placed it in the cart and continued to look. After about thirty minutes of looking around, Briceon had a cart full of items. They all had a color theme of black or white to match the color scheme throughout their apartment. He also added a few pops of color like grey and navy blue.

He picked up a doormat, a mat for guests to put their shoes on, pictures frames, wall art/decor, towels, wash clothes, kitchen utensils, blankets, comforters and a few decorative accents. Briceon headed to self checkout to make the process easier. Grabbing all the bags he made his way out of the store and back to the apartment.

Kicking off his shoes, he placed the bags on the kitchen counter. Briceon figured he'd leave them there until Farrah came back so she could at least be apart of putting the final decorations up-if she wanted to be.

The door bell sounded throughout the apartment making Briceon averted his attention from the bags to the door. Trotting his way to the door, he opened it to be faced with his parents and siblings.

"Hey baby." Brandy, his mother came forward to greet her son with a hug.

"Hey mama." Briceon greeted her back with a kiss on her cheek.

"What's up boy?" His brother Prince came forward for a hug. "What's up Sam?" Briceon reached his hand out to him trying not to laugh. This was an ongoing joke he would do with his brother's. Seeing as they looked exactly alike, Brice would purposely call them different names. Prince and Samuel where the real twins but they all looked like they could be triplets.

"Man gone with that shit." Prince pushed his hand away from him and walked into the apartment.

"Briceon stop messing with my baby!" Brandy scolded him from inside even though she too would mess up their names. If she needed something, she'd just call them 'you'.

"Sorry ma," He continued to laugh, turning around to greet the rest of his family.

"Brice, my boy!" Michael came forward with his arms open wide.

"What's up with you?

"Shit nothing. I'm just glad to be away from Imani ass. This was a well needed trip." Mike shook his head.

"I'm telling my girl you're talking about her." Bridgett, Briceon's sister came forward into the doorway and into their conversation.

"Man, chill out. You know she always listening to your ass." Micheal shook his head. Bridgett would always run to Imani with information and she would just eat it right up.

"I wish y'all would get from in front of the door. Got me out in the heat like it's not ninety degrees out." Samuel pushed his way through their bodies and into the air conditioned room. "Y'all letting all the cool air out," He scolded them as if he was Brandy himself.

"It's not like your paying for it." Briceon stepped aside and let the rest of his siblings in, he was now faced with his stepfather. The small smile that was stretched into his face found it's way onto Briceon's.

"I'm so proud of you man." Andrew stood in the doorway with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Even though Briceon wasn't Andrew's biological son, he still treated him like he was his because that's what he'd want the next man to do to his children.

At first Andrew was hesitant to let Briceon explore the world on his own. But, after he constantly came home to visit and called, his uneasiness subsided. He had been in his life since he took his first steps so of course he built a very strong bond with him.

"Thank you pops, I appreciate it." Coming forward Briceon engulfed Andrew in a hug. They rocked side to side before they let one another go. Once Briceon noticed his eyes started to water, he let out a laugh.

"I know your ass is not crying."

"Man, I'm not crying." Andrew waved him off. "Your cologne is too strong, it burned my eyes." He lifted the hem of his shirt to his face and wiped his eyes.

"Yeah, better not let mama see you. You know she'll clown your ass." Andrew laughed knowing he was indeed correct. Brandy was the tougher one of the two. Whenever Briceon needed something, he knew to go to Andrew first because he was more likely to say yes.

Finally everyone made their way into the apartment and packed into the kitchen.

"What's all this stuff?" Bridgett asked, pointing to all the Target bags on the kitchen counter.

"That's some stuff I grabbed from Target."

"Why didn't you put it up? That's less stuff you have to do later." Bridgett made her way towards the bag and started to go through it.

"I was waiting for Farrah to come back." As the rest of the sentence left his mouth, Briceon mentally cursed himself out.

"Where is Farrah? I didn't see her car in the parking lot." Brandy took a look around the kitchen for her but came up empty handed.

"Yeah, she's not here." Briceon leaned back on the counter.

"Not here? What do you mean she's not here?" Brandy crossed her arms across her chest. Her face held a look of confusion. Her usually wide eyes were now squinted.

"I mean that she's not here. She went out with her friends." Briceon watched as his mother's face changed from being confused to becoming angry.

"She went out with her friends and left you here to deal with all this shit by yourself? How did you even get to Target?" As she went on her voice began to raise, dripping with venom.

"I walked but it's alright Mom, I told her she can go out. She's been with only me for a few months, I thought it would be good for her to at least go see her friends for a couple of hours."

Even though it totally wasn't Briceon's idea for Farrah to go out, he wouldn't tell his mom that. Brandy thought she was a decent young lady and Briceon didn't want to alter her thoughts about her.

The family knew nothing of the abuse Briceon endured, if they did hell would surely break loose.

"I don't give a fuck if you told her ass to go! Her priorities today are here in this house, helping you set it up, not going to see her friends! She knew the movers were coming so why-you know what? I don't care, you're not about to raise my blood pressure. Just know when she gets here, we're going to have a talk."

Before Briceon could object, the door bell rung. Sighing, he made his way towards the door to let in the movers. A guy stood at the door with a blue shirt with the company's logo on it and cargo shorts. Since it was almost ninety degrees out, his shirt had sweat stains imprinted into it. His face had a few droplets of sweat sliding down it. You can see the tan that was present on his forearms, face and neck.

"Are you Briceon Brown?" The slightly older man asked as he looked up from a paper that was clipped to a clipboard.

"Yes I am."

"Okay I just need you to sign a few papers for me." The man handed Briceon a clipboard and pen. After skimming over the papers Brice' signed his name on the dotted lines at the bottom.

"Okay we'll get your furniture for you." Briceon nodded his head and waited for him to come back.

After a couple of minutes, they started to bring in the furniture, asking where Briceon wanted them to put everything.

"You can just put that right here." Briceon appointed the man where to put the glass coffee table.

"We can help y'all out if you want," Andrew spoke, not liking that they were just sitting around watching them do all the heavy lifting.

"It's okay, I think we've got it handled. Thank you though."

"All right. There's a few water bottles in the kitchen just help yourself. Okay?" Brandy found herself offering Brice's waters that he had just purchased.

"Alright, thank you ma'am."

In the midst of the moving Farrah had finally returned. Three hours later. She made her way into the apartment with her hands full of shopping bags. Sitting the bags by the door, she took a look around.

Luckily, Brandy was currently in the bedroom appointing the men where she wanted the bed frame like it was her apartment.

"I see everything is coming together." Farrah clasped her hands together before tapping the tips together, letting a smile linger on her face.

"Yeah, without your help." Bridgett said, making Briceon snap his head towards her with squinted eyes.

She shrugged before averting her attention back to her phone. It was no secret that Bridgett didn't like Farrah, neither did the rest of the siblings but they kept it cordial for Briceon. Bridgett wasn't the type of person to hold her tongue. If she felt a type of way about you, you would most definitely know.

"I had to be somewhere if you must know." Farrah snapped back, making Bridgett look at her like she'd lost her mind.

"So you just had to go out with your friends and leave my brother here to deal with all of this shit by himself?."

"No, I didn't have to but I did. Why are you so concerned about what's going on between me and your brother anyway?" Farrah asked, making Bridgett move closer to the end of the couch.

As the two continued to go back and forth, the movers passed them with wide eyes at the language they were using.

"Bitch what do you mean? That's my brother! What you need to be concerned about is me beating your ass." Bridgett raised her voice, catching the attention of her mother in the back.

Even though Bridgett was smaller than Farrah that didn't stop her from standing her ground. Her brothers taught her to always stand on what she believed in and that's what she's doing.

"Y'all need to chill out." Briceon finally came into the conversation, tired of the back and forth.

"No! What you need to do is get this bitch out of my apartment!" Farrah yelled out.

"What did I just say? Watch your mouth!" Briceon looked at Farrah as if she was crazy.

Before any of the triplets could say anything Andrew said, "Exactly young lady. You're not about to disrespect my daughter in front of me. That's not what we're about to do." Andrew shook his head as he sat on a love seat that was next to the front door.

"Um sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to tell you that we moved in everything." The man nervously stepped up.

"Thank you." Reaching into his pocket, Briceon pulled out three twenty dollar bills and handed it to the man. "Have a good day."

"Thank you, you too." Taking the money, he scurried his way through the front door. Briceon followed after him and closed the door, making sure to lock it.

"Why is there so much yelling?!" Brandy walked from the back and towards the living room. One look at Farrah standing stiff by the door gave her the answer."Oh."

"Come take a seat sweetie. We have something to talk about." She motioned for Farrah to take a seat on the couch.

"Oh Ms. Washington, I'm tired. I-." Brandy cut her off with a look that sent a chill down her spine.

"I wasn't asking, now sit." Brandy said sternly. Taking a seat on the opposite coach, Farrah waited for her to start talking. Seeing as they had an audience, Brandy asked for them to leave.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Samuel asked who was all for the drama.

"I don't know. Go get some ice cream. There was a shop a couple of minutes down the road." Brandy waved them off as Kehlin happily made her way to the door first.

Sucking their teeth, they all took a step out of the apartment one by one, taking a quick glance at Farrah. She looked like a child who was about to get scolded by their parents for getting a bad grade on their report card. She sat on the edge of the couch with her hands folded in her lap and feet crossed at the ankles.

Finally, everyone left, leaving just Farrah and Brandy.

"So how was your day sweetie." Brandy saw that she was nervous. She wanted to loosen her up, make her feel comfortable.

"Um, it was fun. I got to see my friends for the first time in a couple of months so that was cool." Farrah had been so consumed with her school life that she had no time for her social life.

Farrah spent the summer with Briceon's family a few city's away. She hadn't spent any time with her friends in almost a year and her family in three months-which was completely her choice.

"So, is that why you weren't here?"

"Yes. My friends planned the lunch at the last minute and I wanted to go so bad."

"You wanted to go to lunch. You needed to be here with Brice." Brandy put emphasis on 'wanted' and 'needed'. This made Farrah put her head down.

"You see what I'm trying to get at?" Brandy asked making Farrah slowly nod her head.

"What am I trying to say?" Farrah's eyes went wide.

Truth be told, she didn't see any wrong in her actions. The world thought women were supposed to stay at home and be a housewife but Farrah was raised differently. Her parents raised her to think that men were supposed to do all the house duties such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and taking care and providing for the family.

"You're trying to say that I should've stayed here with Briceon." Farrah nodded her head as if she hit it on the head.

"No. What I'm trying to say is that you need to know your priorities from things that are inconsequential. Going out with your friends right then and there wasn't important. You could've waited until the weekend or even tomorrow." Brandy spoke softly to her, making the conversation more easing.

"What was more important was staying here and helping Briceon. Even though he hides it well, I know he's hurt. Shit, I would to if Andrew left me high and dry to deal with the pressure of moving." She tried to make light of the situation, which worked. The ladies both shared a light laugh.

Growing up Ralph, Briceon's biological father lectured him on how a man 'should' be. He taught him that a man wasn't allowed to cry or show any other emotions than anger-it was feminine. But while he was with his mother and Andrew, he was told that it was okay for a man to show emotions and cry. He was told that it was okay to talk about how he felt. So, being told two different things growing up had him confused on how he should express his emotions and thoughts.

"I'm sorry," Farrah voiced.

"Don't say sorry to me. Say sorry to Brice'."

"Got it." Farrah nodded her head as she took in everything that was said to her. A few minutes later, everyone finally made their way back. Andrew made his way to Brandy with two ice cream cones in hand.

"What's this?" Brandy asked as he held one out to her.

"This is swirl covered in the hard chocolate stuff you like, with chocolate sprinkles." Brandy took it from him with a bright smile on her face.

"Thank you baby." Gently grabbing her chin, Andrew lifted her head up and planted a kiss on her lips. This made all the kids break out in groans.

"Can y'all not do that in front of us please?" Micheal said, covering his eyes with the palm of his hand. They loved that their parents were still in love after all of these years but they hated when they showed any public display of affection.

"How do you think y'all got here?"

"I don't know and I don't care to find out." Samuel shook his head in disgust.

"I hope it was adoption." Prince said while his face was screwed up in disgust. While Brandy tried to school them on how they were created, Briceon made his way over to Farrah.

"Um, I got you some ice cream." Extending his hand out, he waited for her to take it, which she did.

"Thank you." Farrah said softly, taking a lick at the vanilla swirled ice cream.

"Okay well we'll get out of your guys' hair." Brandy said standing up from the couch.

"Alright, mama I'll call you later." They came forward and embraced one another in a hug.

"Oh B, I heard that there's a meet later tomorrow. We can go if you want." Andrew suggested.

Andrew knew that Briceon had a love for cars growing up, so when he had the chance he would take him to car meets or to the street races. After a while he started to grow a liking to the racing environment and started to take all of the kids, which they happened to love.

"Oh, it's about to go down." Bridgett said, rubbing her hands together. Being the only girl in the family, Bridgett tended to hang out with her brothers most of the time and took a liking to their hobbies, which included car shows.

"No, y'all are not going to no damn race! We are supposed to leave in the morning." Brandy folded her arms and looked at Andrew. Bridgett was set to start her sophomore of college in a week also and she has yet to get settled in. The move in dates were tomorrow and the day after.

Walking towards her, he uncrossed her arms before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "One day couldn't hurt right?" He asked as he peered down at her.

"Yes, it would."

"If you let us go, I'll drive all the way back." Andrew tried to reason with her. After a few moments of staring, Brandy sighed.

"Fine." Brand said making all of the children scream 'thank you's' and attacked her with hugs.

"I'll call you later." Andrew said as he stood in the doorway.

"Alright." After saying their goodbyes, Briceon closed the door behind his family. Turning around he was faced with an empty living room. He could hear the slight creak in the hardwood floor as Farrah walked around. Sighing, he made his way to the bedroom.

⚠️⚠️TW⚠️⚠️

SIGNS OF PHYSICAL & MENTAL AB*SE

Please not tonight. Was the only thought that clouded his mind. He didn't want to deal with Farrah's craziness. She was a ticking time bomb. It was like walking on eggshells with her.

Farrah stood at the dresser taking off her jewelry. Making his way to the bed, he took a seat at the edge eying her. After she finished taking off her earrings, she turned to meet Briceon's gaze.

"Can we talk?" Briceon motioned with his hands for her to come to him.

"I'd rather not," Farrah turned back to the mirror, analyzing her flawless features. She fluffed out her 4b hair that seemed to lose its straightness throughout the day due to the high temperature and humidity outside.

Her hickory skin was blemish free. Very thick eyebrows sat above her dark brown eyes.

"Please?" Farrah could hear the desperation in his voice, which made her roll her eyes. Twirling around, she faced him. She leaned against the dresser with her arms folded against her chest.

"What is there to talk about Briceon?" Farah threw her hands in the air before letting them smack down onto her thighs.

"I don't know...you just seem upset." Briceon ran a hand down the side of his face.

"You wanna know why I'm upset?" She made small strides closer to the bed. "You're airing out our business like it's theirs! I feel like you're trying to turn them against me," Farrah had now started to pace around the room.

"Yo, what are you talking about? I would never do that!" Briceon's face was contorted, he was truly confused. He never tried to alter anyone's view on Farrah. They each had their own thoughts and feelings about her, that he had no choice but to respect.

"Yeah, right!" Farrah stopped her movements as another reason as to why she was mad came about. "Then-then you let that bitch sit here in my fuckin' apartment and disrespect me! In front of your whole family at that! But, then when I say something back, I'm in the wrong, right?" She now stood in front of Briceon.

"I didn't let her do anything. I addressed both of you because y'all were both in the wrong. Calling each other bitches and shit is not okay. Seriously though, you need to watch your mouth when you're talking about my sister. You're being real disrespectful right now."

"It's always me! You never want to admit her or your wrong-doings!" As she lashed out, her pointer finger found it's way to his forehead and pushed it back. Out of reflex, Briceon reached his hand up and smacked hers down. This set Farrah off. Her once brown eyes now turned into an endless pit of black.

Her left hand turned into a u-shape and she pushed it against Briceon's neck, making him fall back onto the bed. Her hands, which still happened to have rings on them, balled up into a fist. The first punch landed on his check then she let punches off hitting him anywhere she could. The only thing Briceon could do was ball up in the center of the bed.

It felt like it went on for eternity before Farrah finally stopped her maltreatment. Breathing heavily, no words were said as she flexed her red and aching hands. Hearing her footsteps fade away, Briceon finally unraveled himself from the protective position. Hearing the water cut on, he knew she was about to take a shower.

Moving so that he now laid on his back, his eyes trailed over the ceiling, marking the indents permanently into his mind. The stinging sensations in his face, chest, arms and back didn't faze him one bit. It was a feeling he had grown accustomed to. He was pretty sure he would have bruises on his body and scratches on his face later on but it was another thing he'd grown familiar with.

Hearing the shower shut off, his eyes trailed to the bathroom door and watched as Farrah strutted out. He watched as she applied lotion to her body. The moonlight shined into the window and seemed to find it's way onto her skin and radiate it. She slid a pair of panties and an oversized t-shirt over her slim frame. Putting everything back into its place, Farrah made her way to the bed.

Pulling the covers back, she made herself comfortable underneath them with her back facing him. Not wanting to be in her presence at the moment, Briceon decided he was going to sleep on the couch.

Getting up from the bed, he made his way to one of the many bags on the floor and pulled out a clean wife beater and shorts. He was definitely feeling the effects as he slowly put on the clothes. Briceon made his way to the front of the apartment and plopped down on the couch. He laid across it and adjusted the plush pillow behind his head. Grabbing the other one, he held it close to his chest. Feeling something wet hit his hand, he looked down.

A tear.

Hearing footsteps approaching him, Briceon rubbed his face harshly-trying to get rid of any tears but sadly they kept coming, making the few scratches on his face sting.

Seeing two toned legs being planted in front of him, he looked up-there stood Farrah.

"I'm sorry, Briceon. Come back to bed." Farrah crouched down so they were face-to-face. She paused once she saw the tear streaks on his cheeks.

"Are you really out here crying?" Farrah chuckled as she watched another tear trickle down his face.

"You cannot be serious!" Her chuckles turned into full blown laughter. Briceon watched as she stood up from her squatting position and made her way over to the end table. Grabbing a few tissues, she made her way back over to the couch.

Throwing the tissues at him, Farrah shook her head. "You really need to man up. Clean yourself up and when you're done, come back to bed." Farrah bent down and gave him a pat to the cheek.

"Fucking pathetic." Briceon heard Farrah mumble as she made her way to the bedroom.

Useless.

use·less

adjective

not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome.

Unworthy.

un·wor·thy

adjective

not deserving effort, attention, or respect.

Impotent

im·po·tent

adjective

helpless or powerless

Useless, unworthy and impotent were three words Farrah made Briceon feel. She made him feel like the scum of the earth. Like his thoughts and feelings didn't matter and that they never would. Farrah made him feel like he didn't deserve to be respected, loved, or cared for and Briceon knew that's not how you treated someone you were supposed to love.

Briceon knew he was worthy of being loved the correct way. Worthy of being encouraged when he told someone his dreams and aspirations. Worthy of being pushed to achieve those dreams. Worthy of being loved wholeheartedly and being able to be trusted.

Briceon just wanted to be loved.

Loved unconditionally.

The sound of bells chimed as Briceon made his way into the store. Already knowing his route, he made his way to the back. Going through another set of double doors, he made his way to the front desk. No one was present so Briceon tapped the small metal bell, which sounded throughout the small room.

An older woman came from the back. Her salted hair was pulled back in a low bun while her white framed glasses took over her whole face.

"Hi, you're here for Dyson right?"

Briceon nodded. "Yes."

"Alright, give me one second and I'll go to the back and grab him." Briceon nodded his head and watched the lady walk to the back. After a few seconds, she came back to the front with Dyson in tow. When he spotted Briceon standing behind the desk, he put more peep in his step. Now running full speed, Dyson jumped onto Briceon's legs. Picking him up, Briceon delivered a few scratches to Dyson's head.

Dyson was a chocolate lab, his original owner abandoned him at just a few weeks old. Briceon found him in a box on the side of a main road. He took him to a vet to be checked out and they've been hooked to the hip ever since.

"He was very good today. We practiced some tricks and commands, isn't that right?" The woman delivered her own scratches.

"He's getting better with commands but you should still work with him on some at home." She said, making Briceon nod his head.

"I'll make sure I do that. Have a nice day."

"You too."

Walking back into the main part area of the store, Briceon headed to the toy section with Dyson in tow.

"Which one do you want?" Crouching down, Briceon held up a plush bear and a toss and tug tire. Looking between the two, Dyson sniffed the bear before grabbing it with his mouth.

"Of course you'd pick that one." He decided to buy both toys. Heading to the checkout, the cashier rang them out.

Outside, Briceon's blacked-out Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Trail Boss stood tall on custom wheels. Adding another two inch lift to the pre-existing two inches, it now stood four inches tall. The red calibers, tow hooks and badges brought it all together.

He fixed Dyson's blanket in the passenger seat before assisting him into the truck since he wasn't able to climb in himself. Climbing into his own seat, he started the truck making it roar to life. Pulling out of the parking lot, Briceon made his way to his mother's house.

Pulling into the long driveway behind the brown Toyota Sequoia, he shut off the engine and aided Dyson out of the truck. Continuing his way to the front door, he applied a gentle knock on the door. Taking a step back, Briceon waited for his mother to answer the door.

"Hi baby." Brandy opened the door and greeted her son with a hug.

"Hey mama." As she released him from the hug, Briceon placed a gentle kiss on her cheek making Brandy's smile widen.

Dyson gained Brandy's attention. "Oh, I'm sorry baby. I didn't see you," swooping down to his level, she picked him up and showed him some affection. "Oh, you're getting big."

"Come in." She stepped aside and allowed Briceon to enter the home.

"I see you added some more decorations." Briceon said as he took a look around the living room. It still looked a little empty due to the lack of furniture but Brandy still hung a few pictures and paintings on the wall.

"Yeah after what seemed like months. You know Andrew can never decide on anything."

About six months ago, Briceon helped renovate his childhood home. Brandy had a lot of dreams and ideas for the home, he was just the one who helped bring them to life.

"Yeah I know. Where pops at anyway?" Briceon noticed Andrew's car outside but the house was more quiet than usual.

"He's out back trying to figure out how to work the lawnmower. He's been at it for like an hour. I don't know why he doesn't just call someone and have them do it." He let out a laugh. Andrew was the type to struggle on his own before he'd ask anyone for help.

Brandy made her way back into the kitchen. She laid Dyson down on his bed that was next to the island. She loved and treated Dyson like he was her first grandchild. He had his own bed in her home along with a toy tote in the living room. Following behind her, Briceon noticed Kehlin sitting at the island.

"What's up scrub?" Briceon said jokingly as he ruffled the tight curls that sat on top of her head nicely.

"Stop! Mommy, Brice is messing with me!" Kehlin screamed out as if Brandy wasn't standing just five feet away from them.

"Briceon leave her alone please. She's trying to do her homework." Brandy said as she continued to cook the meat in the pan. She was preparing dinner which consisted of homemade lasagna with Italian cheese bread and a nice side salad.

"You need help?" Briceon watched as Kehlin tapped her pencil against the counter. She looked at the worksheet with a frown on her face.

"Yes please." Sliding the paper towards Briceon, Kehlin got up from her chair and took a seat in Briceon's lap. This made him laugh, she reminded him so much of Bridgett.

"What's this multiplication?" Briceon asked as he took a look at the worksheet.

"Yes, I don't understand any of it." Kehlin sighed dramatically, making Briceon let out a chuckle.

As Briceon helped Kehlin with her homework, Brandy couldn't help but smile. Growing up, Briceon was a tremendous help with his siblings. He'd help with homework and diner, anything to take the load off of his parents. Brandy knew when he had kids, he'd be an amazing father.

"Finally." Kehlin dragged out as she placed her homework folder back into her book bag.

"Go put your bag away and get washed up for dinner." Brandy said as she placed the pan of lasagna in the oven.

"Okay. Thank you Brice!" Kehlin gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking off upstairs to her room.

Taking the seat next to Briceon, Brandy placed her attention on Briceon who scrolled through his emails. Placing his phone down, he turned to his mother to see her focus was on him, she had a small smile on her face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Briceon asked as a smile made it's way onto his face.

"I'm just so proud of you." Brandy said, making Briceon shake his head. Somehow she always found a way to show and tell her kids how much they made her proud. "You went from a small boy-always in trouble, skipping school, and now look at you. You went through college and now you have your own business doing what you've always loved, my babies an architect. I can't believe it. Do you know how big that is?"

"Yes, I do. I did it all for you." Briceon said truthfully. Throughout his younger years, Briceon noticed his mother struggling financially even with the help from Andrew. Taking care of five kids was a hard and expensive task.

Hanging out with the wrong crowd of friends-Briceon was prone to make horrible decisions. He realized skipping school wasn't going to get him or his family anywhere, so he decided to do his own thing. He dropped his 'friends' and started to focus on his school work-he did a full 180.

"And I really thank you for that." She placed a hand on his arm. "I can't wait until you have kids." Brandy said, making Briceon shake his head. She always brought up him having children.

"Here you go again," Briceon remarked as he looked off to the side.

"What!? I'm only getting older and you're not getting any younger. I would like some grandkids in five years." She said, making Briceon look at her with wide eyes.

"Five years?! I would at least like to be married before I have children. That time frame doesn't allow me to do that." Briceon shook his head.

"There's no timeline on love." for a more natural flow. A person in three months can make you feel what a person in 3 years couldn't. Time means nothing, character does." Brandy pointed out. "If you would put yourself out there, you'd already have someone on your arm." She gave him a light smack on the arm.

"And if I put myself out there-that's how you attract unwanted attention." Briceon said, referring to women that had the wrong intentions.

"You still have to be open to options. All you do is work twenty-five-eight. Right after work you come over here and stay until it's time for you to go to the site," Brandy said referring to the construction sites. Since Briceon had a minor in construction engineering, he was able to partake in the building and construction process of all of his projects. He loved putting personal labor into each of his projects.

"I know why you got Dyson too, because you don't have anyone to go home to at night. You're lonely." Brandy let that set in as she got up to check on the food. Briceon stared off as he thought about what she said. She was completely right. Of course he had his family and friends that fed him happiness but that one aspect in his life was empty.

For the past two years Briceon has been more focused on building his company and for the past six, he has been working on his mental and emotional health because after putting up with Farrah it was definitely in shambles. He allowed himself to deal with her for another year and a half before he called it quits.

His breaking point was when Farrah started an insignificant argument about him FaceTiming a woman. It was strictly to finish an assignment in class that he'd missed due to having to undergo surgery for a 3 degree tear in his knee.

Escalating the situation, Farrah ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. She began to wave it in the air and in Briceon's face. As he tried to grab the knife to diffuse the situation, she flipped it so the blade was pointing towards him and stabbed him in his palm, which he still had the scar from.

Briceon realized that he didn't need someone to make him feel worthy or important. As long as he knew himself that he was an important figure, he was fine.

He tapped more into his feminine side. He was no longer afraid to show his emotions. A part of his 'healing' was to erase the dreadful memories and trauma caused by Farrah. He acted like it never happened.

Briceon built up a wall to protect himself. Protect himself from the harsh realities of the world. Protect himself from the people that tried to interfere with his growth, but little did he know that wall would soon come down.