Butterfly

by Ashley Antoinette

People didn’t understand her, so she had stopped trying to be heard.

corralling

You can’t keep promises to a ghost,”

He was a walking god in a black suit.

Morgan had always been a selfish type of girl. Everything had always revolved around her. Not until she became a mother did she truly invest into someone else. Their needs, their wants, their everything trumped her. She was ready to say fuck this entire charity to be there for her baby.

her. “See, a nigga know how to boss his shit up for the right one,” he said.

here on

here in

She loved that part of him. He was hard, but not cold. Gangster, but not cruel.

Now he knew that her refuge was in his arms. That the comfort she felt even after removing herself from his life for two years was overwhelming.

reticence

demure,

“Fuck was we gon’ do? When the queen come through to burn shit down, you just let the queen burn shit down,”

She knew the exact type of man it took to make a girl go crazy.

“I don’t be gaming women, Mo. They do what they want. I don’t ask for shit like this.

“If you were my girl, I’d give you the passcode, the safe code, the social security number, the ATM pin, all’at,” he replied.

I ain’t with the gossiping.

My woman,” he corrected. “I prefer the private type.”

Loving one woman more than anything else in the world. Having someone you would kill for … die for … without thinking twice.”

Let another nigga touch my whip and I’m airing shit out.”

I want you.” She held up his phone and then tossed it to him. “Not all of them. I don’t want their energy infecting me.”

He had been her man, and a man took care of his.

Her entire stomach disappeared when he marked her with that stare.

She wanted a hood nigga. A gangster that could tame her mouth and ignite her body.

Before Mo, random pussy would do just fine. After her, it wasn’t even an option.

lathered

One day you’re hosting charity events, the next you’re talking big shit over cards. You were always able to turn your hood on around us.”

dainty

he had learned to let a woman cry until she couldn’t anymore. To empty her soul into exhaustion.

“I would be lying if I said I’m not afraid of you,

“All that big-girl talk, and this shit brand new?”

girth

“And I don’t share well with others.”

“Rule number one … know who you’re addressing,

The BMW was nice and spotless. She could tell a lot about a man by the way he kept his car. It told her that Meek was meticulous and that he had never had nice things coming up, because once he got them, he never forgot their worth.

Morgan, on the other hand, had gum stuck in the bottom of Birkin bags. She had been spoiled all her life,

taciturnity

Saying nothing spoke volumes. Morgan would rather let stillness fill the space between herself and another person to see if they could handle it … to see if it unnerved them.

Fucking pulling out your money when you’re with me…” He said it like he was disgusted, like he was offended.

how could he have wanted to hurt me when all I wanted to do was love him? I was such a fool.

and that smile. White teeth. Chocolate skin. The kindest eyes she’d ever seen.

she got lost in a fake world.

A friend who accepted who she was. A friend who didn’t try to change her.

She rode it differently.

This was not included.

The energy was already spilling into the air, but he needed the words to come from her mouth. To tell him that the attraction was mutual. That his presence was wanted.

“I told you a long time ago, no woman has ever asked me to do more. If that’s what you want, that’s what I’ll give, Mo. But do you want it? Do you want it with me?

before you were his girl, you were the girl that every nigga in the hood wanted. You were the one niggas used to try to get in position for

just so he could have his paper right when he came at you. You thought niggas didn’t speak to you because you couldn’t hear. Nah, niggas couldn’t speak because they weren’t ready.

She couldn’t lose herself trying to find love. She refused to.

melee

“I just don’t want to hurt you, Ali,” he whispered. Forehead to hers, he closed his eyes. “The shit I want to do to you … I can’t, so I keep one around. She don’t mean shit, she can just take it.” “Take what?” Aria asked, confused, squinting, tears forming. “Pain,” he answered simply.