The Cartel - Ashley Antoinette Snell [31]
“You’ll see,” he replied as he led her down the steps of the pier.
She followed him, but before stepping her feet into the sand, she removed her Louis Vuitton stilettos and placed them in her hands.
He chuckled at her as he watched her shrink before him.
“Shut up.” She hit him softly on the arm. “These are a three-hundred-dollar pair of shoes. Where are we going anyway?”
“You’ll see,” he replied as he led her to a secluded area on the beach.
Miamor followed him behind a row of huge boulders that sectioned off a small piece of sand and smiled when she saw the intimate midnight picnic that Carter had set up.
“What is all this?” she asked in delight as she sat down on the blanket. There were fruits, champagne, melted chocolate, and white rose petals everywhere. Carter had even gotten jarred candles and set them up around the sight. No man had ever gone through so much trouble to impress her, and she was taken aback by Carter’s effort. He was definitely a different type of man, and she looked forward to the night ahead.
“I want to get to know you. I don’t want there to be people around, or for you to feel like you got to put up an act in front of me,” he replied. “I see your tough-girl demeanor, but I’m not buying it.”
Carter pulled the champagne out of the ice bucket and poured two flutes. He handed one to her, and she gratefully accepted the drink as she lifted the flute to her lips.
“Why is it so hard for you to believe that this is me?”
“Because I see through you,” Carter replied. “I’m trying to get to know the real Miamor.”
“Okay, so tell me what you want to know?” Miamor folded her legs behind her and grabbed some grapes.
“Whatever you want to tell me.”
“There isn’t a whole lot to tell. What you see is really what you get.” Miamor didn’t really know what Carter wanted to hear. How could she sum her entire existence up in a couple words?
“No offense, ma, but I don’t see a whole lot,” Carter stated.
Miamor cut her eyes at him and stood to her feet. I don’t know who the fuck this nigga think he is. “Then what the fuck am I here for?”
She began to walk away. She didn’t know why, but tears came to her eyes as she stormed off. It wasn’t that she cared about what Carter thought of her. He wasn’t the be-all and end-all , but she was offended by the fact that she appeared shallow at first glance.
This nigga don’t know shit about me. He doesn’t know that I caught my first body when I was just ten years old. It wasn’t because I’m a killer or murderer, but because I mistakenly shot him while he was on top of my sister raping her. He doesn’t know that after that Anisa and I were on our own because my mother was so enraged by the fact that we killed the man who kept a roof over our head. He sitting over there talking about he don’t see much. Fuck him! She cursed him silently as she wiped her eyes and fled down the sandy beach.
Miamor was pissed off that Carter felt that he could pass judgment on her. Only God can judge me, she thought. She was so upset that her anger turned to sadness and regret as she thought about all of the negative things that she had been through. The average chick couldn’t have survived her life’s circumstances, but under pressure Miamor was forced to evolve into a woman who never wore her heart on her sleeve. She had become just as conniving, manipulative, and hardened as any man in the streets. He really don’t know who I am. He got me all the way fucked up.
“Aye, hold up.” Carter grabbed her arm.
“Let me go!” she yelled as she snatched her arm away from him and continued to walk away.
Carter could see that his words had hurt her, and he immediately regretted being so forward with her. He grabbed her again, and hugged her tightly from behind as she fought to free herself from his hold. She was crying and visibly upset.
Carter felt like an asshole, but he had no clue that her tears were from the many demons that she had battled throughout the years. Her sudden breakdown had nothing to do with him. She had learned to suppress her emotions well. In her