All the Time in the World

By Tracey A. Samuels

Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .
Nathaniel Collins knew the streets like the back of his hands. Ever since the death of his father, he had been hustling to keep his mother and his twin brother housed, fed, and educated. Following in the footsteps of drug lord Carlos Santana, Nathaniel had it allrespect, money, and any girl he wanted. Too bad, the only girl for him was his best friend, Danielle, his brothers girl.

With things heating up on the streets between rival gangs, time was slowly running out.

Danielle Anderson had finally found her place at Marshall Augustine. With her best friend, Nathaniel, and her boyfriend, Nicholas, life was good. She lacked nothing. So what if her spiritual life suffered a little bit and her heart longed for something . . . someone else? It wasnt as if she didnt have all the time in the world!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 9, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524507190

Tracey A. Samuels

Residing in the city of Toronto, Tracey Samuels is a fun, adventurous, basketball fan studying social work at a local college. As a child, she aspired to turn the short stories she wrote into something everyone could enjoy. With motivation from her loved ones, friends, and even her teachers, Tracey followed those goals and created the story All the Time in the World.

Book preview

© 2016 by Tracey A. Samuels.

ISBN:        Softcover       978-1-5245-0720-6

                 eBook            978-1-5245-0719-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 06/03/2016

Xlibris

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Acknowledgments

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

Through God all things are possible, and in writing this story those words became more than real to me. Therefore, I would first like to thank the one above.

I know this dream would not be a reality today without the individuals who inspired and motivated me. I would like to thank my parents, Maxine and Paul Samuels, for their constant push and encouraging words. I can still hear my mother frequently checking in and sitting next to me as I typed up every word of this story. Alongside my father who was determined to one day be my manager.

I would like to thank my siblings; Tadia-Ann who did most of my planning and organizing. Stacy-Ann, who edited and spent so much time working next to me to get this project done. Hiron, who encouraged and believed in the idea the moment I brought it to them. Every single one of them had such a huge impact and played a huge part in getting this done. I would like to acknowledge my nephews and only niece; Jonathan, Joshua and Lashanda.

A special thank you to my Bishop and First Lady Thomas. As well as the loving church family.

Millicent Robinson who I look to as an aunty. I want to thank her for pushing me from I was a little girl, up until today. I would also like to thank the Robinson family; Elysia, Lachane, Shaquille and Uncle Ramon for their constant motivation in every event in my life.

I want to also thank The Peart Family, The Coxs, The Granges, The Johnsons and The Myries.

To my friends who have supported me; Johanna, Raeshon, Fafa, Javon, Tatyana, Christopher, Jordan, Jahliyah, Victoria, Abigail, Jeniesha and Kamille. I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. Words cannot express how thankful I am that you believed in the vision before it even seemed possible. Every single word of encouragement meant the world to me, and for that I thank you.

A special thank you to Vaughn Williams, for his help with the photography. Even though I was indecisive, you made it work and I appreciate every effort you put into this. Thank you to my hand model; Andrew, I appreciate all your participation.

Thank you to all, for reading. Without you, none of this would be what it is today.

Chapter 1

Nathaniel’s POV

The power of beauty! I sat in my last period computer science class distracted by everything about her. The way her curls fell around her face, the soft melanin in her skin, the glossy pink of her lips and the deep brown of her eyes. I knew they were brown because I had been staring at them for what seemed like an eternity. Breathtaking was an understatement when it came to describing someone like her. Danielle Anderson was everything I dreamed about… and more.

Mr. Collins! my teacher snapped at me from the front of the class are you going to answer the question or just day dream all morning? I jumped in my seat, and cleared my throat reading the question on the board one more time. I went over the calculation again and again in my head, but I couldn’t find the answer.

Mr. Tanner, the answer is 4, Danielle said, saving me from more embarrassment. It was bad enough I had been caught staring.

Thank you Danielle. Next time, please allow the person I ask to answer the question. Mr. Tanner’s eyes pierced me once more. As for you Mr. Collins; pay attention! I nodded, agreeing to what my teacher was saying. When he turned around I looked over at Danielle, thanking her silently; she flashed her perfect smile at me before returning back to doing her work.

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You owe me your life! Danielle said teasingly as everyone was gathering their things together after class.

I really do. But I know you just wanted to steal my shine; I could’ve answered that

Oh please she scoffed you and I both know you didn’t know the answer to that.

I pulled my bag over my shoulder and looked down at her like I said, I could have answered it. Show-off, I teased. We walked out into the overcrowded hallway where everyone was chilling and hanging out by the lockers. After a whole day in this hell hole you would think that everyone would be rushing to get out; but no, things were different at Marshall Augustine. Hi Nathaniel I heard constantly as I brushed through the hot bodies as I made my escape. I nodded and waved at the ones that I could see and yelled a see ya later to the crowd at large.

Can we do something today? I don’t want to go home so fast Dani said as we finally got out of the crowd.

What would you like us to do?

I don’t know? Maybe we could go watch a movie or something.

Danielle, I don’t know… you know how your mom feels about you hanging out with me as it is. I don’t want any problems with her.

Okay, you have to get over that now plus my mom isn’t going to find out. I nodded and made my way through the exit, walking towards my car. I opened the passenger side for her to get in before walking over to the driver’s side.

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Dani and I had been friends since the 3rd grade; she was new to the city and to Laurel Public School. The others didn’t like her because they thought she dressed weird and everything she said had something to do with religion; but in spite of all that, I didn’t care what anyone had to say, we bonded over trading Yu-Gi-Oh cards and built a friendship from there. Of course things changed as we grew up; I got caught up with the wrong company and she wasn’t interested in sticking too close. The way her mother raised her in church restricted her from getting too close to me.

Things changed when Dani went away on vacation and came back; we were in the 10th grade and trust me she was a beautiful girl before but now everything changed. I barely recognized her when she came back and apparently, I wasn’t the only one. She was no longer funny looking. Dani grew into her ears, and now had everyone’s attention. I could hear a pin drop as she walked into the room. With her new found beauty I decided that I couldn’t stay too far away from her. It was like she attracted me in every way, shape or form. I hated the way other guys looked at her and the way she allowed them to. I don’t know what made me feel this way but I felt as if I had an attachment.

I knew the feelings I had for Danielle are feelings she would never allow; I was bad news. Despite how I was feeling I would never allow my lifestyle to corrupt the future she had ahead of her.

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I turned my radio up in the car and joined the line of traffic making their way out of the school’s parking lot. I took her to the mall just to grab a bite to eat, and do a little shopping. Something to pass the time before she had to go home. I enjoyed her company more than anything and even if she didn’t know how I felt, I’d rather keep her around as my friend.

Nicholas! Dani said as she ran from my side through the mall to hug him. I followed behind her and walked over to the guys that sat in front of Footlocker. I greeted Hakeem and the rest of them before taking a seat. I watched as Dani sat on Nicholas’ lap showing him the things we had bought today.

Who was Nicholas? Nicholas was not only a close and personal friend, but he was also my fraternal twin brother and the boyfriend of the love of my life.

I sat back on the bench trying my best not to look over at what she was doing. Nicholas was good news, not a bad guy at all. Out of the two of us, he had it together; he took his life serious. When we were younger my father forced us to play basketball until every bone in our bodies ache. We worked day and night, non-stop without a complaint. Complaining is for suckers I remembered my dad saying to us every time we would whine from the agonizing pain. Basketball was our life until my father passed away a few years ago. I had to set my priorities straight, and since I was the oldest, I did what I had to in order to make ends meet in my home. Hakeem hooked me up and got me into the drug hustle easily, he had been pushing for as long as I could remember and he understood completely. I eventually took money more serious than I took my love for the game of ball and decided not to put as much time into it.

I know my mother didn’t want to see me on the streets but I did this for her, I wanted to hustle until my mom didn’t have to work another day in her life. I saw how tired she was when she came from work everyday, but she pushed through constantly. I didn’t want that for my mom, she worked hard enough and now it was time for me to work for her. Nicholas could play the game and make us both proud, I knew that it was more than over for me. I don’t even think I would know how to play anymore if I was ever put on the court.

Are you coming to the party this weekend? Hakeem asked, helping to distract me.

I plan on it. You know who’s going to be there?

Not exactly, but Johanna told me that Lilly wants you to be there.

Of course she does, I said through my cheeky smile.

She’s in love now. I don’t know what you did.

I didn’t do anything. I just treated her the way a woman should be treated I said as I reached into my pocket for my phone. You guys don’t know the magic of respect yet. That’s your problem.

"Oh whatever. Look who’s talking, you probably have the most girls out of all of us and