Chapter Sixteen
Chris Brown
Tarzana, California
Sitting on the hood of my car, I stared at the picture of my kids that was painted on the side of my old house. I've been here for a couple hours trying to figure out what I should I do. Mya wants this house gone and I understand why but I'm not sure if that's what I want. I know I fucked up by hiding the fact that I still owned it and all the shit that went down here but still I just don't think I can't give this up. All my art, my studio, how am I supposed to just walk away from that?
Marriage is all about compromise but lately it's been feeling like I've been giving up more than she has. The last big change she made for me was moving back to LA after Landon was born. I told her to chill with being violent and all that shit, it still takes nothing for Mya to snap. I know a lot of my shit outweighs hers but if she can request changes and get what she wants, why can't I?
The sound of a car coming up the driveway made me turn around. My moms car pulled around and she parked not too far from me. Smiling I stood up and walked over to her door opening it. I needed to talk to somebody about all of this.
"Hey sweetie." My mom said while hugging me.
"Hi mommy." I held onto her tight. I feel like I see her less and less now. And it's not even on my end. My OG out enjoying her life now and I ain't mad at her. She got her little crew of friends and she got her clothing line, she can't really focus on her big baby no more.
"What's going on?"
"I just needed somebody to talk to." I said while grabbing her hand as we walked to the backyard.
"Well I'm all ears, what's up?"
Sighing, I sat down on one of my couches then looked up at her. "I don't think I wanna sell my house."
My mom sat across from me. "Why?"
"I just don't. Like look at all the hard work I put into it. The was my place of freedom and as much as I love being at home with my wife and kids, I don't have that there."
"Okay I need you to explain that further."
"Everybody knows my creativity and mind needs more than just a canvas and I feel like that's what it'll be confined to if I give this place up. My studio is here, how do I just walk away from all of this?"
"Okay, I understand. But Chris you know you probably would've been able to keep the house if you were honest with Mya from the beginning."
"Yeah."
"And you made matters worse with the drugs and parties."
"I know but I just can't let this place go ma."
She sighed while sitting back. "The only advice I can give you is talk to your wife, about everything."
"There's no talking to Mya, everybody knows that."
"It won't hurt to try though. If you don't talk to her, what are you going to do? Keep lying about what you did with the house? That's just going to make things worse. Sit her down and tell her how you feel. Matter of fact have her come here and see what you're giving up. But if you're going to keep this house Chris make sure that it's for work purposes and painting only. This is not a hotel, it's not a club and it's not a drug house. You want to step up to your wife about keeping the house, make sure you step up to your friends and set some boundaries."
I nodded. "I will."
"You sure? Sometimes it feels like you're more comfortable with being at odds with Mya then you are with them."
"Ima handle it, I promise."
"Okay. Well call Mya and have her to come over. Is there food inside?"
"Yeah there is."
"I'll go throw something together." She got up from her seat then headed inside.
Pulling my phone out my pocket, I exhaled while unlocking it and bringing up Mya's contact. I hit the Call button then put it on speaker. Honestly, I didn't want her to answer but she did.
"Hello." From the way she sounded she was in the car.
"Hey baby."
"Hey."
"You busy?"
"No, I was actually about to go grab something to eat. Wassup?"
"Can you pull up in Tarzana real quick? Mama cooking so you ain't gotta worry about food."
"..........Uum......sure, I guess."
"Alright, I'll see you when you get here."
"Okay." She ended the call before I could say anything else. Groaning I tossed my phone down on the couch and laid back. I didn't have the energy to argue with her over this house. I don't know how ima convince her to be cool with me keeping it. Let's hope Mya has an open mind today.
•••
The sound of a car door shutting caused me to sit up. I stood up from my seat and fixed my clothes then hurried to the front. "Hey baby." I said while approaching Mya.
"Hey boo." Her arm went around my neck.
I kissed her lips before pulling her into a hug then rubbed her stomach. We got a few weeks left before our baby girl gets here. I can't wait to see her.
"What you doing over here?" She asked.
"Uuum, working."
"Oh, did you meet with the realtor?"
Stepping back, I put my hands in my pockets and looked at her.
Mya rolled her eyes and leaned against the car. "What is it Chris?"
"Look I don't wanna argue or anything but I want you to hear me out."
"I'm listening."
"I don't wanna sell the house."
Her face dropped. "Why?"
"Look at all the hard work that I put into this place Mya. My art, my studio. I don't wanna give that up. If I sell the house, where ima paint? Where can I record? Do you want people in and out our house all hours of the night? You not about to let me spray nothing on the side of the house and I'm not about to just use a small canvas, you and I both know I need more than that."
"Chris you wanna talk about just the painting and recording music like that's the only thing that goes on here. If it was, I wouldn't have a problem with this house. You lied about selling it years ago, the wild ass parties, the drugs, letting any and everybody stay here. And the list goes on and on."
"I know I fucked up, but I'm not on any of that anymore and I just need you to trust me."
"You made that hard for me to do Chris."
"Well tell me what I gotta do for you to be cool with me keeping the house. I don't wanna argue about this, I just wanna come to an understanding with my wife."
She sighed while folding her arms across her chest. "Honestly I don't know. Everything you promised you wouldn't do you was still doing here. The parties, the drugs."
"So you think I went through rehab and all the suffering just to go back to what the fuck I was doing?"
"People do it all the time. You get around your friends Chris and it's just like you left your brain at home."
"You ain't gotta worry about me leaving my brain at home anymore. So what you want? You want cameras everywhere that you have access to? Do you wanna be with me every time I'm here? Let me know."
"I don't wanna have to babysit my husband. I have kids that I'm busy doing that with."
"Well Mya you're just going to have to be okay with me keeping this house. Ain't no parties gone be here or none of that it's just for my painting and my studio."
"Well Chris what did you even call me here for if you feel like you can make the decision for me? I don't want you to have this house because you act like you can't control yourself if I'm not around you. But no matter what I say, you're keeping it right?"
I didn't say anything, just turned my head.
"Okay then." She said while standing up straight. "Enjoy your house." Mya came and dug in my pocket and took out the money I had. "This is for making me waste gas coming up here. This should be enough to fill my tank back up."
"That's 5,000 dollars Mya."
"Who walks around with this much money? I hate rich people." She shook her head while opening her car door.
"I'm sure if I went in your purse it's probably more than that in there."
"Whatever."
Before she could close the door I grabbed it. "Look, I don't want you getting mad about this house. I'm tired of us being beefed out over anything that comes our way. I promise you Mya, I'm not going to mess up again. I put in too much work to fix my problem to double back. None of it is worth it. Like I said this house is just for painting and my studio. That's all. You can trust me baby."
She just stared at me. "I'll see you when you get home."
Sighing, I leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Okay." I closed her door then stepped back so she could pull off. Once she was gone, I headed inside.
My momma looked up from the stove. "Where's Mya?"
"She just left."
"So how does she feel about you keeping the house?"
"She doesn't want me to keep it but she didn't protest too much about me keeping it and that makes me nervous for some reason."
My mom laughed. "You seem to have your mind made up about what you want to do so she probably felt like there was no need to protest."
"I'm nervous."
"Don't be. You're very adamant about keeping your house so stand on that. She just probably wants to avoid arguing just like you do."
That sounds good and all but I know my wife, Mya's got something up her sleeve. She probably about to do something to piss me off and use this house against. Or maybe she not, maybe she knew I'd end up running a guilt trip on myself and now my mind is about to be fucked up over what I should really do.
Dammit man!
Either way ima end up tripping.
Is this house really worth it?