Sam comes home to Yemi watching Netflix in the living room. She sits up on the couch to make space for him as he walks towards her. "How did it go?"

"He didn't show up."

She furrows her eyebrows.

"Jasmine came without him."

Yemi curls her lip at the thought of Jasmine being there alone with him. Sam plops down on the couch right next to her and looks into her eyes.

"She said he wasn't ready to see me, yet."

Yemi shakes her head at the information. Sam studies her expression, knowing she's feeling some type of way about it. He rubs her thigh, never taking his eyes off of her.

"As soon as I meet him, I'm going to have him take that test."

"What if she isn't lying? What would that mean for us?"

"What do you mean, what would that mean for us?"

"Well, you're going to be busy building a relationship with him. So you won't have time for me."

"I will always make time for you. No matter what happens in my life."

Yemi nods, trying to believe his words. Sam grabs her chin and kisses her lips.

"We don't have to talk about that right now. We'll handle that when the time comes."

"...Okay."

Sam lays his head down on Yemi's lap, looking straight to the TV. "What is this?"

"The Baker and the Beauty. You wanna watch something else?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Yemi takes off his cap, and starts to rub his head. "You haven't found a barber, yet?"

Sam chuckles. "What're you trying to say?"

She giggles before kissing his neck. "You still look good."

"Yeah, yeah. How about you tell V to come back and cut my hair?"

"Have you spoken to her?"

"No. All she's gonna do is talk shit. I'm not trying to hear that. Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah. She called us dysfunctional."

Sam chuckles. "I start counseling tomorrow."

Yemi smiles. "I was starting to think you weren't going to go."

"I told you I would. I called P that next day. He was just waiting for me to tell him when I was ready. I just had a lot of shit to take care of last week with the new gym. And I was busy trying to convince you to spend the night with me, too."

Yemi looks at the TV, and Sam looks up at her, realizing she's trying to avoid the conversation.

"Your silence is loud, Ma. What's up?"

She looks back at him and hesitates. "I don't think I should stay the night just yet. I don't want another incident to happen."

He sighs. "So that's why you've been avoiding coming over the whole week?"

She nods. "I've been missing you though," she says sincerely.

They stare at each for a moment before Sam stands up. "You're hungry?" He asks, diverting the conversation.

"...No," Yemi answers, shaking her head as Sam walks to the kitchen.

___

NEW YORK

There's a long line outside of Nathan's tattoo shop. Sam's friends, Monty and Russ, walk up to the guard at the entrance. "Yo, we're here for Nate."

"Names?"

"Monty"

"Russ"

The guard opens the door and speaks low to another guard standing inside. That guard walks further inside the shop as the other one closes the door.

"He'll be out."

Monty turns to Russ. "They have better bouncers here than at the damn strip clubs."

Russ laughs. "Hell yeah."

The door opens and Nate appears at the door. "Wud up!"

"What's up, G?!" Both Monty and Russ respond, dapping Nate up.

"Come in."

The guys follow Nate inside, where they see Stephen, two other guys, and another guard sitting and vibing to some music. They look further down and see Veronica cutting someone's hair in a barber chair.

"Yo, what's up?!" Monty shouts out to everyone.

Everyone but Veronica looks up at him. "Yurrr," Stephen greets back while the other guys nod.

"I can't believe y'all got V in here blessing muthafuckas," Russ calls out.

Veronica finally looks up. "Russsss! What's up, son?!" She stops cutting hair and hugs Russ.

"Am I chopped liver or some shit?" Monty interjects, making everyone laugh.

"What's up, you big 'ol baby?"

Monty cheeses like a little kid. "That's more like it." He hugs Veronica before joining Russ on a nearby couch.

"So you're not gonna do nails anymore?" Russ asks.

"I am. I'm just gonna do this once a month until I get my shop," Veronica responds, getting back to her work.

"I know SC mad you're gone."

"I tried to hook him up with some barbers I went to school with, but Sam's ass is picky."

"Hell yeah he is," Russ adds. "But this is cool what you're doing for the neighborhood. You gon' have a bunch of barbers pissed though," Monty adds, chuckling at the thought.

"Oh well," Veronica shrugs with a smirk on her face.

"So how many heads you've done already? You got mad people outside."

"About 15. It's going by fast though. You know how I do."

"Man. I have never seen someone cut as fast as you," Monty mentions.

"And be precise than a muthafucka, too," Russ adds.

Veronica smiles proudly.

"So what's the promo? I heard you got one."

"Yep. If they bring a friend, they get a discount on any cut."

"That's what's up."

Veronica finishes her client and then takes the cape off him. "All done."

The guy looks into the wall mirror and then nods in approval. "Thanks." He pulls his wallet out and pays her.

Veronica takes the money, and puts it into her apron. "Thanks for coming." The guy leaves as Veronica shakes the hair off the cape. "Next!" She yells out to the guard.

A group of teens enter the front door, followed by Darrell. Veronica does a double take at him, and then scowls at Stephen. Stephen catches her stare before he stands up to fist pound Darrell.

"Give me one second," he tells Darrell. He walks over to Veronica with a smirk, gently pulling her to the side.

"That shit's not funny. Why would you invite him after I told you what happened? You're the fuckin' worst. I swear."

"V, everything is not about you. He has a bunch of boys he coaches out here, and I thought it would be good for them to come get some haircuts that their mothers can't afford."

Veronica looks around Stephen, glancing at all the boys' heads. "Damn. They do need haircuts. He's paying for all of them?"

"Yes. He does a lot for them. He even pays for their uniforms. He's a good guy, if you took the time to get to know him."

"Oh, so now you're okay with me talking to him?" She asks sarcastically.

"I never had a problem with you talking to him. I just know how you are, and that's not gonna fly with him."

"Whatever. Let's just get this done, so he can leave." Veronica walks back to her chair, and dusts it off before the first teen sits in it. Darrell approaches, standing right next to her as she drapes the cape over the client. "Hey, what's your name?" She asks the teen, disregarding Darrell.

"Mike."

"Nice to meet you, Mike. I'm Veronica."

"Nice to meet you, too."

"So what do you want done today?"

"You can just give all of them low fades," Darrell chimes in.

Veronica nods, making sure not to look over at him.

Darrell smirks at her being standoffish. "How are you Veronica?"

"I'm good." She says, dismissively, as she cleans the clippers.

"I'm good, too. Thanks for asking," he tells her jokingly.

Veronica finally looks up at him and squints. "Honestly, you can go hang out over there with the guys."

Mike chuckles and Darrell puts his hand over his chest, feigning a look of hurt. "Damn that's cold. I can't talk to you?"

She rolls her eyes before turning to her client.

"Rolling your eyes is only going to make me want to get to know you more."

"I can't give you what you want. So, don't waste your time."

"We'll see about that."

___

BACK IN CALI

Sam is on the couch eating a sandwich while Yemi is watching both him and the TV.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asks with his mouth full.

She turns her whole body around to face him with her hands on her lap. "Can I have a hug?"

Sam immediately stops chewing. "... You can always hug me, you know that."

"But I want you to hug me back."

He contemplates for a moment before placing his plate on the coffee table. "... Come here."

With no hesitation, Yemi climbs on top of him and sits on his lap with her legs wrapped around his waist. "You're really going to hug me back?" She asks hopeful but still in disbelief.

He nods.

She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. A few seconds go by, and he still hasn't hugged her back. Yemi kisses her teeth in disappointment and starts to release her embrace. She's about to remove herself from his lap when Sam suddenly grabs her waist and pulls her back on top of him.

"Sam..." she protests. Before she can say anything else, Sam wraps his arms around her waist and closes his eyes as he starts to tighten the hug. Yemi is in a state of shock, but is so happy to finally feel his arms around her. She closes her eyes and melts into his embrace.