I have never been to the UK so please just let me know if any locations are wrong.
Saturday morning, the LAX airport was crowded with travelers traveling since summer was near. Ember wheeled a suitcase as she followed closely behind Adonis. She helped him pack three bags, one held his shoes, another held his clothing and the last one held his toiletries. Even though he told her that she didn't have to be extra, she made sure everything was organized and packed neatly in those bags. It grinds her gears when things aren't neatly organized.
"Are your parents here yet?" Ember asks.
"Yeah, we got about thirty minutes before the flight leaves." Adonis placed his bags down near the seating area where he was meeting his parents. He turned to her catching the forced smile on her face, "You can always change your mind and come with me."
Ember shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his neck, caressing the back of his head with her hands, "As much as I want to, I can't. I don't want to be a distraction. Besides, I have a campus tour, and my aunt and mom would probably have a heart attack if I even tried to go anywhere out of the country without them around."
Ember's mother already disapproved of her staying nights with him alone. When Ember first told her, she looked a little upset about it. There wasn't much that her mother could say because Ember was almost legal. She promised her mother that she was being careful this time. There would be no more pregnancies until they were older and actually ready to start a family.
He snaked his arms around her body and pulled her closer, "I'm sorry that I won't be there for your tour. I promised..."
"Adonis, it is okay, I understand. I just want you to promise me that you'll call me as soon as you land or when you're settled in."
"All right you two love birds, we got a flight to catch." Ricky interrupted.
Ember hadn't noticed his parents and Paisley approaching. Glancing over towards them, she smiles, "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. McKnight."
"Good morning, Ember." Ricky spoke as he patted Adonis on the shoulder.
"Morning you two." Katrina says with cheerfulness.
Last night at the dinner, Katrina gave her the most sincerest apology. Ember was shocked because she never expected that to happen. Paisley on the other hand, didn't speak. She never spoke to Ember and Ember never spoke to her. When they were in a room together it was always some tension and death stares being thrown. She bypassed the two of them without a word.
"Your mother sounds extremely happy this morning."
"She's just excited about getting out of California for a while."
"Who wouldn't? It get's boring when you've lived here all your life, seeing the same scenery every single day. Summertime is great with all the events we have but it's nothing like exploring new places, learning new cultures."
Adonis smiles at her, "If you were to travel, where would you go?"
"Anywhere other than California."
"It's time to go, Adonis." Ricky says.
"All right. I promise, I'll FaceTime you as soon as I land."
"I love you."
He passionately kisses her lips, "I love you more. See you soon."
A wave of sadness washed over Ember while she watched him collect his bags and follow his family towards the flight. Once he was out of sight, Ember turned on her heel and exited the crowded airport. Once outside, she traveled towards her car.
"It's just one month. I can do this." Ember repeatedly tried convincing herself. It was going to take some time to get used to Adonis not being around all the time.
When she was inside of her car, her phone began to ring. It was her mother.
"Ember, where the hell are you? I've been waiting for thirty minutes." Sahara spoke into the phone once she answered.
"Sorry mom, I'm on the way now."
"Hurry up before I order breakfast without you."
The line went dead right after. Ember sighed and started up her car. She promised to meet her mother for breakfast. There was a lot to catch up on and Ember just wanted bonding time with her mother, like they used to have before everything fell apart.
When she arrived to the Blu Jam cafe, she spotted her mother sitting at a table studying the menu, closely. She wore shades on her face and her hair was pulled back into a low sleek bun. Sahara was looking younger and happier.
"Everything on this menu looks good. I'm going to order some food to go too. What you think?" Sahara finally looked up at Ember. "Aw, my poor baby. A month will go by faster than you think."
"Not when it's going to be boring. I have nothing to occupy my time. Work does not count."
"So you haven't made any new friends since those two other girls?"
Ember shook her head, "Nope. I don't trust no one enough to ever call them my friend again."
"Well, looks like you're spending the month with me, and your aunt."
"What about Justin?"
"Justin is going to camp with his friends."
"You're letting Justin go away for that long?"
"Relax. It's a camp for autistic children and your aunt Toryn is one of the chaperones. It'll be good for him."
She was a bit relieved when her mother mentioned aunt Toryn as one of the chaperone's. The waitress interrupted their conversation for a few minutes to take their order. Ember settled with the California omelette, crunchy French toast and orange juice while her mother got salmon hash, breakfast pasta, and a lemonade. She also ordered a Cobb salad to go.
"Order the whole menu at this point." Ember says once the waitress walked away.
"Mind your business. I've been in jail eating some stale ass food and sleeping on concrete for a bed."
"Speaking of..."
"What do you want to know, Ember?"
"I don't really want to talk about it, honestly. I'm over it. It's just that, Avery mentioned that uncle Ian was planning a funeral..."
Sahara snickered and pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, "Oh, we need to talk about it because there are a lot of things you need to know so that you can protect yourself. I'm not keeping you in the blind any longer. More than likely your uncle is planning X's escape plan. That nigga ain't dead, should've been but the only thing he got is loss of vision in one eye. Faking his own death was something your father always talked about if he ever got caught. It's pointless. I doubt they'll lock him up for anything when he has people on the inside that are willing to cover up everything for him."
Ember was in disbelief. She could not believe that her father was trying to cover up all his dirt and get out of a punishment that he deserved.
"What about you, mom? Are you really free? What about your charges?"
Sahara nodded, "It was ruled as self defense."
"What about the drug charges?"
"Dropped."
"I'm not understanding how that's possible. Didn't they have evidence?"
"My lawyer and I provided evidence of the bruises after he beat me. The judge ruled it as self defense. As for the drug charges, they were dropped. I had nothing to do with whatever X had going on."
Ember studied her mother for a moment. She didn't say a word for a while until the thought of her mother being the one that snatched crossed her mind, "You were the one that..."
Sahara sighed, deeply, "I did what I had to do for my children. I couldn't sit in prison all my life knowing that you and Justin needed me. I know that this is a lot on you, Ember and I'm so sorry about everything and how all of this has affected you and Justin. It hurts that it came to this."
There were tears in her eyes now. Seeing her mother cry, made her tear up too. Ember understood the decision she made. It felt good to have her mother back, and she was hoping to build their bond again.
"I'm happy you're out, I love you mom."
"I love you too, sweetie." Sahara took a napkin and wiped her tears away.
"Can we stop talking about the depressing stuff now?"
"Yes, I'm sorry. How are you Ember? Fill me in on everything that I've been missing. How was prom? I missed that. Where are the pictures?"
"For starters, I didn't go to prom."
"Why not?"
"No date, no friends."
"Adonis? Why? This was your last year of high school and you missed prom?"
"Me and Adonis were broken up at the time because of what dad made me do. I wasn't in the prom spirit either. And you were supposed to be there to help me pick out my dress, and take millions of pictures. I was even ready to hear your lectures about being safe that night and coming home on curfew. I didn't have a group of friends to dance with either. It's not that big of a deal."
"To me it is. Do you know I've been waiting to get your prom pictures blown up just to hang them on the wall in my living room. I'm so disappointed. No way I'm letting you not get the experience of prom."
"Mom, I already missed it."
"Then we'll make our own."
"That's not necessary, I promise it's not." Ember says.
"Whenever Adonis gets back, we're doing this."
"Oh, God."
"You'll love it, it'll be fun. At least let me plan this."
Ember figured that her mother was only trying to make it up to her. "Okay. My college tour is tomorrow. Are you coming?"
"Most definitely. Are you planning to stay on campus?"
"Yes. I want the full four year college experience. I have an even longer journey after that."
The waitress placed their food on the table in front of them. "Can I get you anything else?"
"No thank you." Sahara says with a smile. Once the waitress walked away, she put her attention back on Ember, "Promise me that you'll never quit chasing your dreams because you're on the right path."
"Who's child am I? Or did you forget? We're not quitters."
Sahara shakes her head once she caught on, "Girl, eat your food."
Ember laughs. There was a brief silence between the two while they started eating. "Can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Did you go through depression after you had a miscarriage? How did you get through it?"
There was a look of sorrow, worry and confusion on her mother's face now, "I was fifteen when I had a miscarriage with my first boyfriend. Do you know what he did when I told him that I lost the baby? He blamed me, told me that it was my fault. Being my vulnerable self, I thought that it was my fault too. After that I slipped into a deep dark depression. I just felt so alone. I started sitting in the bathtub every night, cutting myself, crying, and avoiding help when I know that I needed it. I pushed everyone away, my friends, and family. My mom was the one to help me get through it, she supported me, and my decision to get therapy."
This was the first time Ember has heard about how her mother's miscarriage affected her.
"Ember, is this about your abortion?"
"I can't stop thinking about it. It still hurts, you know? The way it all happened. I feel so guilty about it. And it doesn't help with everything else that's going on either. I have this feeling that something bad is going to happen. I can't even sleep at night." Ember says.
Sahara reaches across the table to place her hand on Ember's, "Do you want to go through with therapy?"
Ember nodded, "I think that's best for me. I was wondering if you would come to?"
"Of course, I'm going to support you and help you get through this no matter what it takes. We can start looking for a therapist right after we finish eating."
"Thank you, mom for being here for me."
"I just want what's best for you, Ember."
Ember smiles a little. She was more than happy to have her mother around, supporting and helping her. The only one who would understand her when she vented about girl problems and needed advice.
She continued to eat and chat with her mother about everything that has happened in her life since she had been gone. It wasn't much but she did have a few stories to tell.
~~~~
Twelve long hours and Adonis's flight landed at three in the morning, just an hour ago. Adonis was still amazed by being in the UK. There were plenty of times that he's traveled yet he had never been out of the United States. Standing inside the room of Intercontinental London: the O2 hotel, he peered out the window at the view of the water and the tall buildings. The view from the hotel was immaculate.
Adonis could get used to this. It made him think about moving from Los Angeles in the future. Ember's words crossed his mind about traveling and seeing the world because there was so much more to discover.
She was right.
He stepped away from the window to retrieve his phone from the table. He was supposed to call her as as the flight landed but once he got to the hotel room, he had to get settled in. Since there was a time difference, he figured she'd probably still be up since it was eight p.m. in Los Angeles. Knowing her she was always taking naps throughout the day. Reaching her contact, he tapped the FaceTime logo. Her answering on the first ring never failed. It made him smile once he seen her face pop up in the screen.
"You know I was starting to think you forgot to call me."
"Nah, I'll never forget about you, love, you know that." He says, causing her to blush through the screen.
"It hasn't even been that long and I already miss you."
From the way that she had the phone propped, he could see that she was using her teddy bear for a pillow and had gotten comfy in her night clothes. She wasn't at his house though. She's inside of her old room at her aunts house.
"We ain't never been apart this long."
"We have to get used to it. You'll be traveling a lot and I'll be in college."
By the sad tone in her voice, Adonis figured that she was worried that they wouldn't have time for one another. "Yeah, but you know that I'll always make time for you, right?"
Ember smiles, "I'll always do the same for you, no matter where I'm at or what I'm doing."
A tap on the door caught Adonis's attention, "Hold up, that's probably my pops."
"Okay."
Climbing to his feet, Adonis traveled over to the door. Once he pulled it open, he was met with a woman that was dressed in her work uniform.
"Yeah?"
"Delivery for McKnight." The woman says cheerfully as she held up a bag of food.
"Thanks." Once she left, Adonis examined the receipt attached to the bag. At the top next to the order number read his mother's name. Letting out a sigh of relief, he placed the food on the table before retrieving his phone from the bed. Ember was still on the other line waiting for his return.
"Is everything okay?" She asks.
"Yeah, my parents ordered food for me."
"What you got? Let me see."
Adonis chuckles as he props his phone up, "You nosy as hell."
"So what." She kissed her teeth.
Adonis searched through the bag, "I got some chicken wings, French fries with a lemonade."
"What kind of wings?"
"Hot."
"You're lucky I'm not there to eat all your food this time."
"What you ate today?"
"I had breakfast with my mama and a fruit bowl a few hours ago."
"What you want? I got you."
"Nothing."
"Are you at your aunts house?"
"Yep."
"All right. I'm about to get you something."
"Adonis..."
"You know you want to eat."
Ember rolled her eyes but laughed, "You right though. What time is it there?"
"Five."
"In the morning? You should be getting some rest. I know you're tired from getting up so early and being on that flight for so long."
"I should. It's going to take me a while to get used to the time difference. But I don't have a fight or nothing later today. It's just a tour of the boxing arenas."
"When is your first match out there and did you ever get those sponsorships you were talking about?"
"In three weeks. I got those sponsorship deals and if everything goes right, when I get back to the states, I'll have a longtime deal with Nike."
His father pulled some strings. If there were no sponsorships, then there was no money being made. The deals that were offered were between five hundred thousand and one million dollars a deal. The Nike deal was worth much more than those. He was just praying that he got the offer.
"Bae that's so good. I'm proud of you and how far you've come. You deserve it. I'm so upset that I can't be there to see your match with Demetrius. And it's not even worth trying to convince my mom. She's still going to say no." Ember pouts.
Adonis chuckles, "It's a live fight."
Ember sighs, "It's not the same as attending the event and having front row seats."
"You right, it's not, but we'll have our whole summer together."
"And I can't wait to spend the summer with you. I'll be back, my mom's calling me."
"All right."
Adonis listened from the other line as Ember maneuvered around the room before it became completely silent. Within a few seconds she returned to the bedroom. Once her face was in the camera, she smiled, widely.
Adonis chuckled, "I ain't never seen nobody get that happy about some food."
"You know I love shake shack. And you got me a root beer float. It's bringing back memories. My mom always made these for me and Justin on family movie night."
"I still don't see how you drink that nasty shit."
"One day, I'm going to make you try it because you said the same thing about my raspberry flavored cake. Now you can't stop eating it."
Adonis smirks, "I know what else I can't stop eating."
She looks away from the camera as she blushes, "Adonis, my mother can hear you. She's always eavesdropping."
"This is why she's not coming to the UK with you now." Sahara stood inside Ember's room with her hands on her hips. "I'm a thirty-five year old woman and I am not trying to be called grandma right now."
"Come on Mrs. Young. You can come too. Both of you can use a vacation. You'll love the view."
"Bae, show her the view." Ember says. She tapped the spot beside her on the bed so that her mother could sit. Once Sahara was seated beside her, Ember turned the camera so that she could see the view from Adonis's hotel room. For a moment, she was quiet with a look of sadness on her face.
Before Ember could ask her what was wrong, she spoke up, "It's so breathtaking, but you two aren't slick, trying to convince me to travel out of the country."
"Please mom." Ember begged.
"That face might work with Adonis but not me."
Adonis chuckled because she didn't lie. He could never say no to Ember. In fact he loved spoiling her with everything she wanted.
"Please. We can get a room of our own and aunt Draya can come since Justin is at camp with aunt Toryn for the summer."
Her mother was quiet again before she sighed and stood to her feet, "I'll think about it. And you young lady better get some sleep and not stay up all night. We have a tour in the morning. Goodnight Adonis."
"Goodnight Mrs. Young."
"And stop calling me Mrs. Young. Just Sahara."
"Yes ma'am." Adonis says before she left the room. "Think it worked?"
Ember shrugs, "Hard to say. My mother isn't easy to persuade. We'll just have to wait and see."
Adonis wanted her there as much as she wanted to be there. He face chatted with her for hours, until she fell asleep on him. By the time she fell asleep it was nine in the morning. He hasn't slept all night and only had two hours to nap before he would be leaving out for the tour.
~
Two hours felt like two minutes. The sound of his mother's voice woke him from his nap. He sits up in the bed and sighs, "What time is it?"
"It's eleven and your father is waiting for you downstairs in the car. Hurry and get dressed before you're late. Me and your sister will be out sightseeing until you two get back."
"All right."
Once his mother left the room, Adonis stands to his feet, traveling over to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. Afterwards, he got dressed and met his father downstairs where he stood leaning against a black Bentley.
"This is our ride for today?" Adonis asks as he walks around the car admiring the body style.
"Your chauffeur for the month. Let's go."
Adonis became excited like a little kid in a candy store. Aside from boxing he found cars to be fascinating. Climbing in the backseat of the car, he politely greets the driver. He's an older man with a salt and pepper beard. His father and the driver sparked up a conversation as if they've known one another for years.
Adonis remained quiet as he stared out the window, taking in the beautiful sight of London. The 02 Arena was just two minutes away, within walking distance from the hotel. Instead of stopping there, the driver bypassed the arena.
Adonis turns to his father, "I thought we were stopping at the 02 first?"
"That'll be the last tour spot tonight. We're meeting up with Lorenzo. He'll be helping train you and a few other's. We're touring with them."
"Who is that?"
"An old friend."
_
Once they arrived to the peacock gym, the driver parked behind an empty tour bus. Climbing out, he examines his surroundings. The name of the gym was written in big blue letters with a white outline. Above in smaller words it read, boxing, weight training, and keep fit.
Adonis follows behind his father as they entered the gym. He looks around in amazement. The gym was about the same size as his fathers back in L.A.. There were two boxing rings sitting in the middle of the floor. On one side were the exercise equipment where tons of pictures were hanging on the wall. On the other side were punching bags.
An elderly man, and a young black boy were in the ring. A group of young boys and one girl with red hair were surrounded by the ring watching the two practice. The second the elderly man looked in their direction, he stops the fight.
"Ricky, is that you?" He asks as he climbs out of the ring to greet Ricky with a hug.
"If I knew you were in the ring I would have brought my boxing gloves." Ricky says as they greet one another with a hug.
"It's always some spare gloves in the back."
"Careful uncle Renzo, we know those old bones are fragile." The red haired girl says as she sashay's over to where they stood.
"Just because I'm old don't mean I ain't got it."
Ricky chuckles, "Lorenzo, this is my son, Adonis."
"Man, you've grown up so fast. How are you doing?" He holds his hand out for Adonis to shake.
Adonis accepts his handshake, "Good. Pops been telling me a lot about you."
Lorenzo nodded his head, "Good things I hope."
"When he told me about a Lorenzo, I had no clue he was talking about LK, the Lorenzo King. I watched your fights. Learned some of the best techniques from you."
"I can't take all the credit. Some of those techniques belonged to Ricky and judging by all those wins, I see that he's taught you well."
"Got the best trainer in the game."
"You damn right."
His father and Lorenzo sparked up another conversation, eventually leaving Adonis to mingle with the others. He'd almost forgotten about the red haired girl standing just a couple steps away from them until she spoke up.
"Adonis McKnight, ten fights, nine won by KO. You defeated Brayden Clinton, one of the best fighters out. I'm Mya, nice to meet you."
"You're training too?" Adonis asks as he finally looks up at her freckled face and brown eyes. She wore gym attire with her curly hair half up half down.
"I'm interested but my mom would never let me. So, I'm just here with my uncle and friends. That you should meet by the way or they'll never stop staring like weirdos. Come on." Mya motions for him to follow.
Adonis follows behind her towards the three boys that stood by the ring, watching them closely.
"Bubby, Damson, Mark, this is Adonis. He'll be touring with us today." Mya introduces.
"We know who this nigga is." Mark mumbles.
"What's up man? It's nice to see some new faces around here." Bubby slaps hands with Adonis. Damson did as well.
"Who's your match with?" Damson asks.
"Demetrius Evans."
"Looks like your boy about to lose his second fight, Mya." Mark says.
"The fuck is your problem?" Adonis asks. He was trying to keep the peace but Mark was pushing it. That was his last straw.
Mark steps to Adonis, "I'll tell you what..."
"Mark don't get in a paddy. Uncle Renzo don't want you starting any trouble. Remember?" Mya asks as she tugs at his arm.
"Get off me." Mark snatched away from her and stepped outside of the gym.
"Don't worry about Mark. He's just in a bad mood. I'll go check on him." Mya says.
"Mark thinks you're trying to steal his girl." Bubby tells him.
"Who? Mya?"
Damson nods, "Yeah. I wouldn't—."
Adonis snickers, "I don't want his girl."
Before Adonis received a response from Damson, Lorenzo and his father were telling them that it was time for the tour.