Man on a Mission

Chapter 1

April 2021

"I love you, Ma. See you soon," Liam said to his mom Pamela Winston-Meyers.

"I love you too. I'm so excited!" she squealed.

Liam smiled as she hung up. He was just as excited as her. He stretched his six-foot-four frame, and looked around at his apartment. Boxes, boxes, and more boxes. Some stuff, like his furniture, were going to be donated. Everything else was going back to Phoenix with him.

After two years in New York, his decision to move back home came easy. He missed his family, his boys Khalil, Samir, Kyrie, and Tariq, and just the familiarity of his hometown. He loved New York, but he felt a need to be back home.

He unpaused his playlist, a mixture of 90s and modern Hip-Hop, rap, and R&B, and reached for the final empty box. Dior by Pop Smoke played through his Bluetooth Speaker as he put the remaining items in the box.

He closed the box, taped it, and brought it and the rest of the boxes out to his black 2018 Jeep Wrangler. He then moved his furniture into the back of the U-Haul truck he'd rented.

After bringing his furniture to the Salvation Army, he returned the U-Haul truck and took a cab home. By the time he arrived at his apartment, it was late afternoon.

He took one last look at his apartment, the first place he ever rented and lived alone, and smiled.

"It was fun. But I gotta go home," he said to himself.

He had made a lot of memories over the past couple of years. At almost 25 years old, he had a thriving career in engineering. His job in New York had nearly doubled his salary, but money wasn't the most important thing in his life, which was another reason why his decision to move back home came easy. Besides, he still had the opportunity to make a great salary in Phoenix.

He exited through the front door, locked it with the key, removed the key from his keychain, and brought it to the front office.

He shook hands with the landlord Mr. Wallace, and exited the building. As he walked to his car, plenty of thoughts ran through his mind.

He was excited to see his parents, and his siblings Paris and Warren who had no idea he was coming home. He was going to arrive just a few days before Paris' 21st birthday. Paris was planning a birthday party, which he'd told her he wouldn't be able to attend due to work.

He started up his car and headed to the gas station to fuel up for the beginning of the 39 hour drive. After filling his tank, he exited the gas station and turned right to start the journey.

As he came to a stoplight, he looked to his left and did a double-take at the cutie sitting in a Toyota next to him. She resembled Kayla Summers, the girl who had stolen his heart in high school. He thought about rolling his window down to ask her for her number, but the light turned green and she drove off.

The woman's resemblance to Kayla made him think back to their relationship. He turned the music up a notch in his car to distract himself, but his mind kept drifting back to Kayla.

They'd dated for four years. One of his biggest regrets was how their relationship ended. Her trust issues and his lack of thorough communication ruined it. He missed her and for a while now, he felt like their relationship was unfinished.

He finally let go of the thoughts and focused on the music playing. We Belong Together by Mariah Carey, Kayla's favorite song when they were in high school. Wow, he thought to himself. Maybe the radio was trying to tell him something.