excuse any errors.
" ... Mm, I may as well get this." Karlae says to herself, examining all the fine print words on the small box she held in her hand. It was a bluetooth tripod that caught her eye in a small shop in Mykonos Town.
Once she and Ermias finally got out to see what Mykonos had to offer, they decided to do a little sight seeing and shopping in 'downtown' Mykonos. On the way back to their villa, they stopped by a small stylish shop that caught their eye.
"Bae should I— where the fuck did this nigga go now?" She asks herself, huffing and puffing because this would be probably the hundredth time she's lost track of Ermias today. He's like a little kid in a store everywhere they go, he'll suddenly walk off and get distracted with something else.
Karlae knew he was somewhere in the store, she just didn't know where. There's no way in hell Hussle would completely leave her alone, especially in a place they're both not too familiar with. Karlae literally overlooked him each time she looked around the store to see if he was all good.
Ermias stood off to the side quietly by the book shelf he was looking at, texting different people back and forth on his personal cell phone. Sending a response to his mom's message, he assured her that he and Karlae had made it safely and that they'd be back on Thursday as planned.
his thick eyebrows furrowed together in confusion by the next incoming message he read from an unknown number. If the unknown number wasn't enough to have Ermias confused, the message they sent kind of threw him for a loop.
So he decided not to text back. He was sure that whatever it was he needed to know about Karlae would come to the light naturally, he didn't need anyone trying to tell him anything about his girl; especially some random he didn't know.
"You really need to stop doing that Hussle," Karlae says, finally approaching him after making her purchase. "do I need to make you hold my hand the whole time we shop? 'Cause you can't be walkin' off from me like that homie."
"My bad, I won't do it again." He says through a slight chuckle, peeking inside of her bag. "Oh you went 'head and got that tripod thing?"
"Yea. I wanna' try it out," She says with a smile. "I can't believe I forgot my camera like that, even after you reminded me to."
"C'mon now baby, you know you forgetful." He says, throwing his arm over her shoulder and pulling her close to him as they headed for the exit. "I told yo' ass like three times 'don't forget yo' camera Boog. Boog, don't forget yo' camera.' didn't I?"
"You did. I need to start listenin' to you huh?" With a playful smirk on his face, he nodded his head while Karlae kept going. "Cause Hussle knows everything?"
"Naw not everything love." He says, making her giggle because she thought he was just going along with what she was saying as a joke, but that random message was still in the back of his mind and something was telling him it's some things he really doesn't know about his girlfriend. He had that intuition feeling and he didn't like it. "I know everything except the things I'm ignorant to. We all ignorant to somethin' until we become educated on it."
"Hm, that's true. Are we about to go back to our— okay," She cut her own self off when Ermias started to nod his head, already knowing what she was about to ask. Yawning, Karlae covered her mouth. "Good, 'cause I'm sleepy and I wanna' take another shower."
"Yo' sleepin' ass, you always taking a nap."
"One thing about me, I'm gone get a nap in some where, some way, some how."
"I already know cuhs," He says before yawning and covering his mouth also. He chuckled when his yawn ended,"look at you, got me yawnin' and shit too."
"Hm," Karlae giggled. Finally meeting back up with the photographer Hussle hired, they got a ride back to their villa. On the way there, Karlae called her family just to check on them before locking her phone and putting it away.
Hussle sat next to her with his phone's brightness down on low per usual, reading more messages from this very same unknown number that seemed to be obsessed to say the least.
Seeing the flustered look on his face, Karlae slightly tilted her head and placed her small hand on top of his,"What's wrong Hussle? You okay?"
"Oh yea, yea." He tried to sound convincing while locking and putting his phone away in his pocket. "I'm A–one baby."
She eyed him for a few more seconds to see if she could tell if he was lying or not before turning away,"Okay." Reaching their villa, the couple headed straight inside. Karlae didn't waste any time stripping out of her sundress, pulling her hair up, and jumping inside of the shower to clean her day off.
She spent atleast thirty minutes showering and in those thirty minutes, Ermias found out and seen a few things he didn't like at all. With just a towel wrapped around her body, Karlae walked into the bedroom towards her luggage to put on some lounge clothes.
As of lately she's been feeling really comfy in Ermias' clothes, so she's been wearing his clothes to chill around the house in ever since he gave her the greenlight to take whatever clothes of his she liked. It's something about feeling comfortable in his clothes and the scent of his cologne being stuck in all of his shirts that Karlae loved.
"Are you good my nigga? You keep goin' into deep thought, looks like." Karlae says, asking him from behind. She was rummaging through her luggage at the head of the bed while Ermias sat at the foot of the bed staring straight ahead.
Quietly, he nodded his head. "I'm straight."
Squinting her eyes, she shook her head at how quick he lied to her like that. Zipping her large duffle bag closed, she sat it on the floor where she initially had it then crawled up behind Ermias. She began to rub both of his shoulders delicately before letting her arms snake around his neck and down his bare chest.
He continued,"... Just got alot on my mind baby, that's all."
She kissed his neck below his ear. "Mm, well .. you wanna' talk about it?" He shook his head quietly, unlocking his phone to go look at the messages again. Over his shoulder, Karlae tried to see what it was that had him acting off but couldn't quite get it out of him.
"Well..." She began to leave more kisses on his neck as her hand creeped down his chest towards the waistband of his shorts. "a mind is a terrible thing to waste baby. Let me ease it for y—"
He couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore,"So thas' what you used to tell yo' customers Karlae?" The tone in his voice, the fact that he used her government name, and the audacity he had to even ask her that made Karlae stop mid-neck kiss and reared her head back with a frown on her face.
"What the fuck did you just say to me Ermias?"
"You deaf now Karlae? I said is that what you used to tell yo' customers? Yo' old customers at King of Diamond, you used to ease they mind too?"
"And just what the fuck does that have to do with anything we got goin' on right now?"
"Cause obviously I'on know you like I thought I did." He tossed her his phone, unlocked and already open to the messages he was receiving from the last person Karlae thought would do her that way. "Yo' weird ass homegirl hit my line wit' that shit not too long ago."
Karlae eyed Hussle for a long second before picking up his phone and reading everything. Every message Summer sent, Karlae read all the way through.
Every picture and video Summer, Karlae looked at and watched; her heart falling to the pit of her stomach whilst doing so.
"Here, get this." Karlae tossed the phone back over to Ermias, never making eye contact with him. He could tell by how she sounded and her sudden change in demeanor that she was upset, but he was too. How could she not tell him something like that?
"Yeen' got nothin' to say?"
"Ermias, don't do that." She warned him knowing how horrible her temper is. Her fuse is short and she isn't to be played with. Looking around for her cell phone, Karlae prepared to isolate herself and get away from him as quick as she could. "Just.. just give me a minute."
'Before I go fucking ballistic in here' She thought to herself, standing up from the bed and heading for the exit door. Ermias reached out a hand to grab her arm but she quickly snatched away from him.
"Don't touch me." He could hear her voice crack and he actually felt bad for even bringing it up in the first place. Ermias didn't have a problem with her past, hell half of the things Summer told him were lies simply out of spite— he just wanted to touch base on the situation.
"Boog, c'mon now." He stood to his feet and followed after her, just to see she was just walking down the hall to be alone in the other room. He even attempted to stand in the doorway of the room she went inside but she slammed the door in his face and made sure to lock it. It broke his heart to hear her break down in tears on the other side of the door; they went from having the time of their lives together earlier today .. to this.
Karlae cried her eyes out until she cried herself to sleep and had the best nap ever. When she woke up, she still didn't come out of the room because she wasn't ready to face Ermias yet. Not only was she completely and utterly embarrassed, she was infuriated with Summer for going as low as she did and even adding a few lies to smut her rep and make Ermias look at her differently. All this just so Ermias could stop dating Karlae and Summer could bait him in to be her man.
Out of all the people Karlae could call to vent to and have her calm down, she decided to call her big brother since he will be completely understanding and give her the God honest truth need be.
Once Cortney picked up the phone, Karlae gave him the whole run down of what had occured just hours before and listened to what her big brother had to say,"..Man, fuck that bitch cuhs. On hood I been told you she was weird as hell, she gave me weird vibes from the jump when you introduced her a couple years ago. Who the fuck just goes and find old shit about somebody they supposed to be bestfriends with? And she lame as hell for bringin' yo mama up too cuhs, on hood she lame for that."
"Exactly, and it's even crazier because I'aint done shit to that girl Co," Karlae says, still laying down with her head resting against the pillow. "like.. okay, maybe within the first two weeks of me and Hussle hangin' out she told me I was acting funny but never told me how, you know? Then after that it was just little slick shit she said that I just kinda', you know, let roll off my shoulder."
"Excuse me," Co says to someone in his background before responsing to Karlae,"and word Boog? Like what?"
"Like," Sighing heavily, she sat up and rested her back against the headboard. "okay so, her birthday's coming up in like a week or two right? She asked me to make her a dress, so I did, and had her come over to try it on and see how she liked it. How 'bout this bitch said it was cheap lookin' and she hated it?"
"You fuckin' serious?"
"Co, I'm deadass cuhs." Karlae says, dropping her head and laughing. "I'm so mad I wanna' snap that bitch in half, I swear to God I wanna' stomp that bitch's face in."
"You on vacation with yo' boyfriend Boog, enjoy yo'self and handle that bitch later when y'all get back. You shoulda' been cut her ass off though, she's not a supportive friend at all. That's basically what she told you when you took the time to make her a birthday outfit."
"You right," She sighs softly, thinking about this whole altercation and shaking her head. For some reason she wasn't at all suprised because of how shady Summer can be but for her to go as far as she did deserves a big consequence. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that she said and did all that. Like, what was the fucking reason?"
"Jealousy, that's all. She jealous of you Boog, mad 'cause you're more successful than she'll probably ever be. Why? Cause when you got hate in yo' heart that you can't propser. You run a successful business, you're a beautiful young lady inside and out, you about to graduate college in a few months, you're in relationship with somebody she sees make you happy so she wants that, I mean I could go on and on but I'm sure you get the point by now yea?"
"Yea, I hear you." She quieted down, thinking she heard Ermias' footsteps getting closer to the room she isolated herself in. Realizing she was just trippin', she resumed the conversation. "I'on even know what to say to Hussle."
"Tell him the truth Karlae," Cortney tells her. "don't leave my nigga hangin' like that. He just as confused as you are, afterall he the one that got hit with that bullshit first you feel me?"
"I'm just kinda', I guess you could say, scared to talk to him about everything." Huffing, she thought about how she'd approach the situation. "I don't know what he gon' say, what he gon' think, I just—"
"Man is this my Boog talkin'?" Co asks, laughing. "When has my lil' sister ever cared about what somebody thought of her?"
"Co we talkin' about some hatin' motha'fuckas at home and a man I really love and really wanna' be with," Karlae giggled. "this is different!"
"Y'all still in Greece right? That nigga still outside that room waitin' for you to talk to him right? Obviously he love yo' big head ass too, when niggas love they girl they don't care what they past look like. Don't focus too much on the past, focus on right now love. Holdin' onto old shit won't lead to new doors babygirl."
"You soundin' a whole lot like Maverick right now."
Co laughed,"I do sound like that nigga huh? Cuhs always preachin' to us."
"Mhm." She hummed, picking at her nails. Finally deciding to just go ahead and get this talk with Ermias over with just to get past the hard part, Karlae prepared herself to end her phone call with Cortney. "But aye check this out, I'm about to go holla' at Hussle real quick. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Aight, tap in with me later lil' sis." Before Karlae could hang up, Cortney yelled to get her attention. "Aye! You talked to Camille and Chris today?"
"I talked to Chris earlier, he was about to go on a date with his lil' girlfriend. I haven't talked to Camille today though, why?"
"Just askin', they was on my mind."
"Aw okay, cool. But I'll call you later though."
"Aight, I love you."
"I love you too Co." Ending their call, Karlae dropped her head in her hands and blew out a heavy breath. Getting herself together, she joined Ermias in the same bedroom she left him in. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he sprinkled grinded up weed inside of his backwood while humming a made up tune to himself.
"Hey," She says quietly, getting his attention. Quietly, he watched her walk around him and climb into bed. He licked his lips before speaking back,"Wassup?"
Sitting criss cross applesauce, she waited for him to face her so she could say what needed to be said. She had a bit of explaining to do, but she wasn't gonna' speak until he gave her his attention.
"Oh I guess you waitin' on me to say somethin' huh? My fault," He apologised, licking his backwood to seal it and put it away for the moment. Standing to his feet, he dusted his clothes off and joined Karlae at the head of the bed. "Aight, I'm all ears baby."
The fact that he didn't seem upset at all and was actually wanting to listen to her made Karlae smile softly before speaking. She started from the very beginning of the story she had to tell him,"..My dad was sentenced to fifteen years in prison when I was five, my mom died a week after my thirteenth birthday. Her dad was jewish, so when she and my dad got secretly got married her family disowned her, so other than my dad's family, her kids was all she had. But," She sighed heavily, continuing. "a couple years after my dad went in, she met this guy from Long Beach, his name was Tony and I hated him."
"Why?"
She shrugged her shoulders,"He was physically and emotionally abusive, and manipulating. Before my mom met him we used to always keep in touch with my dad's parents, his brother and my auntie Louie but after she met Tony, he isolated her— well us from everybody my mom was consistently in contact with.
And for a long time we weren't able to talk our dad either, he was blocked from calling and Tony moved us away from where we living at the time so our address changed too. We weren't able to get letters from him anymore; almost like we were on lockdown you know?" Ermias nodded quietly. "Finally, like maybe a month before my birthday my mom finally ran away from him and was successful this time. She found us in place those Jordan Downs projects in Watts, know what I'm talkin' 'bout?"
He nodded again,"Yea."
"Yea, so, we were over there for about a month before he randomly showed up to our door. He managed to trick my mom into letting him back in and not even three days later, they got into a huge argument about my mom casually talkin' to our next door neighbor and Tony shot and killed her in front us."
"Oh wow," Ermias says quietly in shock. "I'm sorry y'all had to go through that Boog."
"Yea.." She mumbled, twisting her lips to the side. "After that, we went into the system. I made sure they never split me and siblings up, I was scared I'd never see them again if they did. We ended up with this couple in Compton, their name's were Jennifer and Michael. Michael didn't even like children, he was basically just using us as a check from the state and Jennifer never said anything because he was abusive too. He was just as evil as Tony was to us, if not worse."
She continued,"Jennifer was too though, not because she physically did things to us like Michael did but she allowed certain things to go on and acted blind to the fact. She was fine with him sexually abusing my sister and I as long as it meant he left her alone for a while. By my sixteenth birthday I got Camille and Chris and we ran away. I somehow convinced this lady that worked for CPS at the time to take us outta' the system and from there we were homeless for a while, just us three. I didn't bother asking for my grandma or Louie's address because our foster parents told us they died."
"So," She says, blowing air into her cheeks then exhaling heavily. "We bounced around from shelter to shelter, slept pillar to post, stayed with Karrigan and her mom for a little while then I started dancin' at the club. I was seventeen at this point, damn near grown. I never had to fuck anybody to get put on, I never had to fuck anybody for money either 'cause I've always made my own; so I'm kinda' offended you came at me like that— not saying I'm not wrong for not saying anything but .. you get what I'm sayin'?"
Thinking back on what he said that caused this whole thing, Ermias held himself accountable and realized that what he asked was out of line,"You right, I was wrong for what I said and I apologize for that."
Karlae's face softened,"I forgive you. As far as doing drugs I've only smoked weed, and I get way too high doin' that sometimes so no, I've never done coke and neither did my mom. You should know Né's never done it either. Summer pulled that lie right outta' her ass. I didn't know Rico– well Game, was your friend, but I did date him for a while, and I did get pregnant by him. I didn't abort the baby, I miscarried and eventually left him because he was physically abusive too. So when I told you that I appreciate you and I thanked you just for being you, I really meant that. Everytime I would try to doubt this, you gave me a reason not to. You've given me every reason to wanna' embrace this and feel like this forever— I'm sorry I'm not trynna' cry—"
"All good baby," He assured her that she could stop wearing her cool mask around him now. Reaching over, he wiped her tears away as she continued to pour her heart out to him.
"I told you how we bounced around alot before and after my mama died, I've never felt at home anywhere and I know it hasn't been long but with you I feel at home. I'm happy," She sniffles as tears continuously fall from her eyes. "I'm at peace."
Ermias even let a few tears fall; just hearing how she talked to him about how he made her feel, made him feel like the luckiest man alive.
"After I left my last situation I said it was only one thing I wanted from the next man I'd be with," As he wiped a single tear that fell from her right eye, she grabbed his hand and held it in hers. "I said I wanted somebody that was gonna' hold my hand while I nurse my scars myself, and cherish the bruises they leave behind. And I feel like I've found that in you."
"Hm," He giggled as she slowly cracked a smile, showing her teeth. "I ain't neeeever had nobody say that to me Boog.. ever. Let alone make the crip shed a couple tears like that."
"It's 'cause you loooove me," She says with a giggle, getting all in his face and stealing a quick kiss from him.
"I do," He said truthfully with a smile. "I remember you tellin' me what you wanted, you remember me tellin' you what I wanted?"
"Yea and your ratchet ass just said 'I want a ride or die'," She tried her best to mock his voice making him laugh. "and that was it. Just a ride or die, like what do you even mean by that?"
"I mean, I just always wanted somebody that's always gonna' love me no matter what. Somebody that's gon' hold my hand and never let it go. She had to be special though, 'cause she gone be my legacy." He slowly turned his head to face her. "Long as my lady remembers me fondly, that's all I need."
"I'll never let go of your hand," She smiled and squeezed it gently. "as long as you don't let go of mine."
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well yea, i tried with this chapter lol. I hope u guys enjoyed it ! Here's a collage of Karlae's family.
left side from top to bottom: Maverick Cheaves & Karlae's younger siblings Camille Cheaves and her twin brother Christopher Cheaves.
middle: Karlae's Grandparents / Grandma Stella Cheaves and her abuelo Emilio Cheaves.
right side top to bottom: Uncle Mike Cheaves, auntie Luella 'Louie' Cheaves, and Maverick's oldest child, Cortney Cheaves.