Ethic 3

by Ashley Antoinette

“I am woman and woman is beautiful. We are expected to be beautiful, so I will be what people don’t expect. They don’t expect intelligence, they don’t expect grace. I am strong, and even when others have the ability to physically overpower me, mentally, I am stronger. I am a queen on a throne, and a place next to me must be earned.

When I find my king, his power doesn’t erase my own. My crown is not a man’s to repossess. I was born in regality. I am kind, but naivety does not dwell within me. I am woman. I am the origin. Everything begins and ends with me. No man is worthy of my worth. I cannot be bought. I will not sell myself short. I do not give discounts. I am woman. I demand respect. I respect my dignity. My presence is a revocable gift, rented with effort and good intention. I am woman.”

God always had a plan…one too grand in scheme for human comprehension.

One simply couldn’t peek at the blueprint for understanding, you had to walk the path, step by step…often, not gaining clarity until after you’ve already maneuvered through the confusion.

“You know I don’t think you can say you love someone until you love the darkest parts of them,” Ethic said. “It’s easy to love when everything is good, when everything feels easy. It’s the darkness that tests true love.”

A woman multiplied what a man gave her. He had given one brick of discord, of mistrust, and she had built the wall of China around herself. A defense mechanism.

A woman didn’t nectar for a man that wasn’t meant to pick her fruit.

I made the mistake of loving a man more than I loved myself and thinking that the measure of love he had for me would be more than enough. It never is. Self-love is the greatest love of all, Morgan.”

“I am in love with her. In love, YaYa. In. Submerged in. Dissolved in. Parts of her have melted into me so I couldn’t separate the sentiment from her on the darkest day. She’s in me. That means you and everybody else that was inside my heart before her had to get out,” Ethic explained. “The way I love her doesn’t leave room for anyone else.”

It hit him all in an instant. Alani had come from God. That was why she was so magnificent. Maybe she’s what He gave me after all that praying. Maybe all the suffering prepared me to love her.