𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐊𝐇𝐈

13. | B U T T E R F L I E S

C H A P T E R | THIRTEEN
BUTTERFLIES

𝚂 𝚃 𝙾 𝙽 𝙸  𝙵 𝙻 𝙾 𝚁 𝙴 𝚂

       SHE laid on her stomach, thumbing through the thin pages of the huge dancer's theory and appreciation book that she had to purchase for one of her classes at Julliard. Stoni couldn't have been happier - - she passed the audition with flying colors, she paid the tuition for fall semester - - thanks to Carter, and now she was getting into the groove of things at school. For once in her life she felt like things were going her way and something that she set out to do was coming to fruition without so much as a hitch and she didn't have to sell her body or her soul to do it.

She often thought about the ramifications of accepting the money from Carter and somewhere in her thoughts was the notion that perhaps Carter did it to get her panties from her but then that quickly dissipated when she realized that every time they talked after the fact he never made a move on her. In fact, she hadn't even been out with him since the day he gave her the money at Starbucks - - she'd only talked to him via the phone and sometimes when he had a moment they would facetime, but it was never in person as it was that first day.

He had been away on business a lot in the past month which prevented him from having time to hang out with her but he assured her that the second he got a minute he would come and do his regularly scheduled checking up on her in person instead of through social networking devices, phone calls, or texts. Seeing him was much different than simply hearing from him although when she heard his voice over the phone she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach and remember when she'd first met him.

The thing she remembered most about Carter were his deep, demanding, penetratingly forceful and powerful green eyes. Sometimes they were dark like forest green and other times they were light like a pale apple green but they were always green and they were the most memorable thing about him and to her the most attractive.

Allison had warned her about him before she even got involved and honestly Ally wasn't too thrilled about the arrangement. Although Stoni and Carter weren't really seeing each other, she knew they communicated verbally and she knew that her younger, naïve, friend could possibly get her heart broken. This wasn't to say that Ally didn't like Carter because she did - - she thought he was a good guy at heart but she knew that his situation was tricky. For one, Ally knew that Carter couldn't stay faithful to save his life and for two she had even known a few girls both from El Tigre's and even some that she was acquainted with that had been with Carter and broken their hearts.

He was the hood's one and only Casanova and although women knew he was a heart thief they gave their love to him anyway. Allison had never been with Carter in any kind of intimate way but she'd seen the damage that he was capable of and she just didn't want that for Stoni because she was so young and so misguided. She was what was a dying breed - - Stoni was the last of the pure and genuinely nice and caring.

However, Allison didn't want to take Stoni's happiness either so she encouraged her to focus on school, be careful and cordial with Carter and what he ultimately might want - - the pussy. Because she knew that at the end of the day no matter what he told Stoni, Carter was still very much a married man with a ring on his finger, children with his last name, and promises that he had vowed whether he broke them or not.

He'd have to deal with his God on that breech of covenant when his judgment day came. Allison felt she needed to look out for Stoni because Stoni had no real family to look out for her and she knew how hard it was to grow up like that especially being a girl in the middle of a wicked city filled with wicked people.