DREAM SEQUENCE

Blood.

Thick, red liquid covers my hands as the body of Derrick lies on the floor with his body bruised and full of knife and gunshot wounds.

I stare in horror as his face is unrecognizable yet so ethereal. Eyes full of unshed tears for the people who wanted him out of their lives, sores covering his cheeks as his neck was slashed. His lips were swollen and his nose broken.

But despite all this, he still smiles as his eyes begins to lose their sparkle. "Don't...don't forget the love we shared..." he manages to say as he struggles to breathe. "You're not...at fault, Jamal. I...love you..."

That was the last he says before he finally closes his eyes for the last time, him looking so peaceful after all the hell that his family did to him.

And then, Gerald and his wife comes to my side with Melina following suit, the trio dressed in white. "You did this," Melina said, her smile wicked as her father pulls out a gun and aims it at my head. "We're finally free from the bastard. But we no longer need you."

"Your time on Earth is no more," the older man said before he took the safety off the gun. "At least you and Jamal can be together in hell."

I only closed my eyes, letting the tears fall as I felt nothing but emptiness. "I'm coming, Derrick," I said.

BANG!

"Jamal!"

I snapped my eyes open to see the concerned ones of Tyler as he stands over me. "Sorry," I grunted, stifling a yawn as I stood up from the chaise lounge sofa that I was sitting on. I stretched my limbs before noticing a to-go plate in Tyler's hand. "Late lunch?"

"Courtesy of Verano's Bistro," he replied. "I got the job as a server. Part-time with weekends off, but it's still something."

I grinned. "Congratulations. I knew it wouldn't be long until you finally got something. When do you start?"

"Tomorrow, and get this. Verano's is owned by Franklin's parents who also own a investment firm."

I hummed. "Fancy that," I mused. "At least we can say that we're finally on our way to becoming natives in Solstice Hearts."

"I'll bet. Hey, can we talk?"

"Sure," I replied, "but I'll need to change into something more comfortable. I've been on my feet for the most part today, and I had a day off."

"I'll have your plate warmed up," Tyler offered.

"Thanks."

*****************

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting on the back porch patio as we took in the sights and sounds of the late afternoon. "So, what's on your mind?" I asked after a couple minutes of small talk.

"You know everyone in town knows about our story, right? More so in regards to you, given your situation," Tyler began. "Anyway, Mr. and Mrs. Romero wanted to know if you've been doing okay since coming here and hopes that you're going to see Naomi's uncle, the therapist."

I let out a deep sigh. "I've been meaning to set up an appointment," I replied, sitting back in my chair. "I've been so busy with the job-hunting and all that that it totally slipped my mind. But now that the nightmares are starting to return, I guess it's time to stop putting it off."

"Wait, what nightmares?" Tyler wanted to know.

"Mainly how I can still see Derrick in his last moments with his body bloody and beaten by me as my hands were covered in his blood," I explained. "He kept telling me that it wasn't my fault and to not forget the love that we once shared. Then after he died, his parents and sister told me that I was useless to them before Gerald pulled the trigger."

"Damn. That's...gory."

"Tell me about it. And I had that same dream before you woke me up from my nap. I can still see his bruised face that's still etched in my brain. I need to get my shit together because I know that I'm only running a game on myself the longer that I don't see someone."

"Probably for the best that you do," Tyler remarked. "And you know? I bet that Derrick still doesn't blame you because his family was known to be cruel monsters with their sadistic nightclubbing and all that, not to mention Melina's kids-for-cash scheme with using some of the male juvies as her love slaves. I'm still not over that when we found that out during the reading of the will."

"Me neither," I commented, deciding to return to my food. "It's disgusting to know that Gerald and his family were nothing but poisonous snakes in the grass waiting to use and abuse anyone for their pleasures. I'm glad that Jana decided to rebel when she had the chance and not marry the asshole who was allowed to sleep around with anyone and everyone he pleases. She and Jamal were the only good people in that family, even though they weren't really part of the family no thanks to Gerald's inability to keep it in his pants."

"Back to the matter at hand, people in this town are understanding where you come from," Tyler said as he paused to sip on his glass of lemonade. "They want you and me to finally break free from the painful memories back in Atlanta. If anything, they're going to be on our behinds unless we make the move to do something about it. I dunno about what my next move is since I was prepared to be ousted from my family, but I hope you can start loving yourself despite the flaws, Jamal. So I gotta ask: what now?"

No words were truly spoken than from a young man who already had it rough for being gay. "For the most part, I'm going to see Dr. Boatwright the day after tomorrow," I stated, taking a small bite of my pasta. "I've set up an appointment with the older man and I'll be seeing him once or twice a week during my lunch break, depending on the schedule. You're right when you said that this town sees the best in us even when others only see the worst. They say that Black men don't need to go to therapy, that we can only grit through the pain and keep everything bottled up. But you and I know that it only does more harm than good. If we wanna move forward, we gotta learn to speak out and be real. I've let Naomi and La'Shawn know about my appointments and they're going to make sure that I'm being held accountable, especially when it comes to my mental health."

Tyler nodded. "Seems like you're already getting the jumpstart to reclaim your life," he said bemusedly. "Maybe I need to do the same."

"More than you know, Tyler," I agreed as we took in the sounds of the birds singing their afternoon songs as the sky began changing its color to a serene light-pink/gold combination. "For what it's worth, I should've opened up more to my designated therapist back when I was in protective custody. It might've made a huge difference."

"You're going to be okay, Jamal," Tyler assured me. "All it takes is one small step at a time and a little bit of faith that can do wonders. A little faith."

And that's the real tea and shade, folks. Our boys are going to need all the emotional and mental support if they were going to be free from their pasts.

But coming up next, we'll see Cameron and his friends plan for Fashion Week in New York City when an idea to include Tyler and Jamal crosses someone's mind. But will Cameron agree to it? We'll find out in the next chapter, so don't miss a beat!

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