One Wild Night

"I\'m not sure I follow what you\'re saying," Candy said in confusion as she looked at him, waiting for him to explain himself.

They were alone in the house since Jamal had left for school that school and Brandy had left the house as usual in their bid to act like everything was normal so that no one would notice that anything was out of place. They had agreed that Matt would send someone to pick Jamal up before the close of school without revealing their identity, and Jamal was simply to tell his teachers that the person was his relative once the person mentioned Matt\'s name.

"Your plan with Jade about Jamal..."

"Seriously? It\'s now my plan with Jade? Weren\'t you the one that walked in here last night with the grand idea? What else would you have me do? Do you think making this decision is easy for me? It\'s not, but I don\'t have a fucking choice!" Candy snapped at him and then drew in a deep breath to calm herself when she realized that she was yelling, "I\'m sorry. I shouldn\'t be yelling at you when you\'re only trying to help," she quickly apologized.

Matt looked at her with a slight frown, "I understand. Still, I don\'t think you should be separated from your son. I know you don\'t want to run anymore..."

"So what do you expect me to do, Matt? Tell me, what should I do? Stay here with Jamal until Jero finds us? And then what? You think it\'s going to end in a happily ever after family reunion?" Candy cut in sarcastically, her worry evident in her tone as she resumed pacing around the house.

"That\'s not what I\'m saying. No matter how much I think about it, I think it\'s best you get out of the country," Matt suggested as he got off the couch and approached her.

"Get out of the country?" Candy asked with a peal of humorless laughter, "And you think they won\'t find me? Okay, let\'s say they don\'t find me, what happens to Jero? What about Jade\'s case?" Candy asked, looking at Matt while waiting for him to come up with a reasonable answer.

"I\'m sure the police will find him sooner or later. And I know that with or without your help, Jade is going to take care of the case, so why not just leave?" Matt asked as he went to stand in front of her.

"I\'m tired of running! I don\'t want to run anymore, Matt. I\'m tired," Candy whispered the last part of her sentence with tears in her eyes as she gazed up at him.

"You won\'t be running this time, trust me. Have you been out of the country before?" He asked, and Jade shook her head.

"Good. Then take this as a family trip. You\'re just going to stay outside the country until the case is over, and then you can return to your home," Matt assured her softly as he placed both hands on her arm in a comforting gesture.

"I already promised to help Jade," Candy reminded him.

"Then you can do so from the distance. You won\'t be of any help to Jade if you\'re constantly worried about the wellbeing of your son or looking over your shoulder," Matt said as he led her to the closest seat to them and made her sit on it before squatting in front of her.

"Listen to me. Your safety is my priority, not Jade\'s case. I know that just yesterday I asked you to stop running, but that was before I realized the enormity of what was ahead of you. Allow me to send you out of the country to somewhere they wouldn\'t easily find you, while Jade tries to wrap up the case," Matt said as he patted her hand.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Candy asked in a small voice.

When he walked out of her apartment the previous day she had thought that was the last time she was going to be setting her eyes on him but seeing how he was here and trying so hard to help her, she couldn\'t help feeling bad.

"Because I meant it when I said I like you. And although I don\'t want to get involved with you after..." He shrugged as he couldn\'t bring himself to tell her that she had killed the teenage boys, "... I just want to help you as a friend."

Candy bit her lower lips to stop herself from shedding any tear, "You\'ll be in danger," Candy reminded him.

"I know I\'m in danger already, but my father didn\'t raise me to be a coward, and neither did my mother raise me to turn away when a lady needs my help," Matt said with a shrug.

"Andy doesn\'t want to leave."

"I know. I spoke with her already."

"So you want me to leave with just Jamal? I can\'t leave Andy behind," Candy protested.

"But you can leave your son behind?" Matt snapped at her irritably.

"He will be safe wherever he is, as long as it\'s not here," Candy said defensively.

"The safest place for any child is in his mother\'s arms. If you really care about your son and you want to protect him, I don\'t think you should send him off as you plan to do. Fine, if you don\'t want to leave the country, at least we can make it seem like you did, while you go over to Jade\'s brother\'s house with your son as planned. You will definitely be safe there," Matt suggested instead.

"Don\'t worry, Andy will be safe," Matt assured her.