#mayans mc s4

[cloveroctobers]

DECEMBER DRABBLE — 2. Angel Reyes 🌨️

A/N: gif belongs to [user: @pedropcl] now it seems like it’s next to impossible to find decent gifs through the gif search up here especially when it comes to this man. S/o to google this time around! Anyways here I am writing for another angel but the main angel? That I usually write for lol. For once it’s nothing too serious—well kinda…and might actually fit into the drabble category. Let’s pat myself on the back…maybe. I write my AN’s before I actually write the content 😬

S/N: decided to add Dante Torres from Chicago PD into the mix because I have a crush on Benjamin levy Aguilar and loved him in that Netflix series with Veronica mars (she’ll always be Veronica mars sorry y’all lol) and there’s no content on him. He’s only mentioned in this so don’t attack me too much if you read this and I’m new to the Chicago PD series and his character which is why I didn’t write any scenes specifically with him.

Prompt: #24. “Lift me up so I can put the star on the tree.” + #16. “We can’t put this photo in our Christmas card.”

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ . ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙

　　

Angel didn’t like what he was seeing when he pulled up to his house that weekend. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions but he recognized the car that passed him by before he parked his bike next to your car in the driveway. He wasn’t late so he didn’t know why someone else was pulling up to his house uninvited.

And he had something to say about it.

“Yo!” Angel called into the house as he dropped his keys into the dish by the front door.

He stepped into the living room to see you swaying in front of the Christmas tree, joint attached to your full lips. Angel almost got distracted by the way your ass filled out those gym pants but he was on a mission. Then he picked up on the music full of Afro-Beats, which meant you were in a good mood and something inside of him provoked him to disrupt that.

Angel licked his bottom lip, getting one last look before he lightly touched your upper back to get your attention. And what did he do that for? You slightly jumped and spun to aim a high kick at your attacker, who you didnt recognize as Angel at the start.

Thankfully he dodged your long leg and called out to you, “whoa! Aye, querida. Relax! It’s just me.”

“Angel?! What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” You muttered around the joint as you exhaled.

Angel sucked his teeth, “I called out to you as soon as walked in the door.”

“I’m having a jam session right now, you know I don’t hear nothing when I’m dancing.” You wiggled your hips and held out the joint to the man who plucked it from your hands.

He took a hit and deeply exhaled as you carried on, spinning around him while he lightly shook his head.

It was time to get down to business.

“Whatchu do all day? Have anybody over?”

“Mmm nope. Spent the day doing a wash and go, listening to music, and putting the tree up. Now I get to relax.” You told your boyfriend while you continued dancing.

Angel called out to alexa to stop the music, shutting it off much to your annoyance. You held your hands out silently asking what he did that for and awaited a response from the party crasher.

“I saw a car on my way coming in. The same car that pulled up to the club once before…you know anything about that?”

Why would you? Your poked your head out in confusion and rolled your hands, “just spit it out already Angel, you’re getting on my nerves trying to play the accusing game.”

“Are you cheating on me with that egghead oink oink motherfucker? D’Angelo?”

A laugh couldn’t help but to burst out at Angel’s description but the look on his face was anything but humor.

“You mean Dante?” You asked, turning back to the couch in search of the remote.

Angel waved his hand around, still holding onto your joint, “whatever his name is. Are you sleeping with him?”

“I don’t cheat on people I claim to love. I don’t move like that and you know it so stop insulting me.” A heated stare went his way and Angel felt himself having to take a deep breath.

Of course he knew that. That was his own insecurities and previous actions getting in the way. He knew you were solid and would never, you already warned him if that’s something he did or even thought about when it came to your relationship then it was automatically a wrap. You had such power about you, like it seemed like nothing could hurt you, like you were invincible and it was incredible to watch. Angel didn’t want to be the one to fuck with that, not purposely.

And he really did care for you, which is why he didn’t want to believe that you could cheat on him. However he knew that you could just get up and leave whenever you wanted and that thought alone scared him. He never felt that way more than once before.

You didn’t need him and he knew that. Yet you still showed him love in a way that he wasn’t used to. You were patient but firm, which is why you weren’t raising your voice at his foolish accusations.

“I—I’m sorry but he was here right? I’m not completely bugging, I know that much.”

Plopping down on the edge of the couch you waved the remote around as you briefly thought about it, “…yeah he was. He stopped by for a minute, he didn’t come in out of respect for me.”

Angel huffed, “respect for you? What about me? He don’t pay no bills around here, he should be asking my permission to be anywhere near you.”

Sighing you said, “he doesn’t need your ‘permission’ to be around me. He’s my friend and been my friend since we were teens. Also you don’t know if he was here because of whatever case he’s working on and before you get paranoid it has nothing to do with you or the club. I would let you know that. Do you see me on your dick about the bartenders you used to mess around with? Now no. So stop your bitching and lift me up so I can put the star on the tree.”

Angel took a long drag from the joint at your words. He didn’t know who you thought you were talking to but he liked it.

“Why don’t you call the egghead back over here and he could do the work,” Angel mocked, “you already put the tree up without me.”

“You told me it was fine! Every time we planned to do it during the weekend you got called into the club. I asked you not once but thrice so don’t start, angel.” You scowled, getting to your feet and pulling your gym pants further up your waist.

Sighing Angel leaned over you, placing the joint into the dish to hold for him. He stood in front of you who peered up at him with raised brows. His hands massaged the sides of your neck before trailing up to rest against your cheeks, his hands were always rough but cool thanks to the rings that decorated his fingers.

“Love you lots you know,” he started, making you roll your eyes, “no for real, listen I do. It’s just that im fully aware I got the full package here and I don’t want nobody getting in between that. Especially no fed that your friends with…I dunno what it is with you and my fucken brother being friends with the opps.”

You sent a jab to the man’s abdomen who winced as you said, “don’t talk about franky like that, you know that’s family.”

“Oh shit, I keep forgetting.”

“Yeah, I don’t see why after everything he’s done.”

Angel made a chirping movement with his hand and stepped back before you could fight him some more, “don’t expect me to be friendly with egghead Da Vinci either.”

“I don’t think he wants to be your friend anyways.” You answered, making Angel furrow his brows as he began removing his vest.

He tossed it on the couch as he exasperates, “why? What his ass say? I’ll fuck him up.”

Laughing to yourself you shook your head, not instigating anything further. You knew Dante scooped Angel out because he cared about your well-being and didn’t think the man was good enough for you. It was always like that when you started dating but Dante also knew you would do whatever you felt like doing no matter what someone had to say.

You always had a mind of your own.

Yet Dante Torres was diligent and rebellious and and that didn’t change when it came to you, his best friend.

Dante also knew the boundaries he had to respect out of the sake your relationship but that didn’t mean he had to like Angel Reyes. At the end of the day he had a job to do and when he was ready he could take down the whole club if he really wanted to. However he was leaving to Chicago for a couple of weeks and he just knew something would go down without him even prying.

“And then you’ll be in jail for assaulting a cop and that’s a hard charge to get out of.” You let out a low-whistle, remembering a family member who took that route in his early twenties and just got out at the age of thirty-four last year.

Angel scoffed but said nothing more not wanting to waste anymore breath on some guy that didn’t matter to him. Instead he searched the empty box for the crown that was your star for the tree and held it in between his teeth. While he did that you decided to turn the music back on, just in time for Angel to grip you by the waist to face him. He then pulled you around to be in front of him, you glancing back at him in question as he motioned for you.

“You know what to do, spread ‘em.”

“Ask nicely.”

Angel gave you a look making you laugh as you got into a jumping Jack pose without the jumping. Angel fixed the crown back between his lips before he crouched down in between your legs. Once his neck was in between your legs, he kept a tight grip on your legs before he lifted you up into the air.

“So this is what it’s like being seven feet tall?” You asked as Angel carried you over to the tree.

Reaching downwards you gently took the crown from his mouth and reached upwards. Angel’s hands tightened on your upper thighs as he leaned towards the tree more, eyeing as you slipped the crown right on top of the very decorative tree.

“Tree looks nice as fuck, Querida. How long it take you?” Angel used one hand to touch one the rose gold ribbons you had wrapped in it.

“Thank you, baby.” You beamed, knuckles now pressed into your hips as you admired your work, “I actually started on Friday, getting everything from the basement, mom came over on Saturday then she pissed me off trying to dictate how it should look as if she didn’t decorate her tree and my sister’s tree already. And I just finished today. It’s perfect.”

Angel chuckled to himself. He knew how your mom could be, she was a interior decorator herself so it only made since that she wanted to take over the whole process. Now angel was really kicking himself from missing out on this, you lost your cool whenever it came to your mom despite the love you had for her. Yet your mother is very stubborn and sensitive wrapped into one. He tried to question how your dad handled a woman like her but he knew your dad wasn’t rocking with him like that.

“Ah it is.” Angel began to crouch, making you grip for something as he began to do some squats.

“This what we doing?”

“I missed the entire weekend to work out, let me have this. Count for me?” Angel encouraged while you held on tighter.

The man slowly took working out seriously through persuasion of you. Also working as a phlebotomist encouraged you to take not only your health but others around you seriously. You always found health class and physiology interesting so it was no surprise to your family and friends that you got into this field.

And so you did, getting to fifty before Angel decided to call it quits.

“You did great,” you mentioned as Angel took the time to focus on slowing his breathing.

Once he did, he lowered you down to the ground with a nice slap to your ass of course.

“Thanks for being my weight and letting me in between those thighs.”

“Oh, shut up.” You playfully shoved the man, who laughed yanking you to his slightly sweaty frame to pepper your face with kisses.

Later…Angel sat at the kitchen table, eating the Sunday dinner you prepared while your eyes went over a series of photos on your laptop.

“Angel, what is this?”

Angel stopped chewing the lamb and peered over at you, “what?”

“Why did you move these into the possible Christmas card options?” You spun the laptop around to face the dark haired man who smirked at the image.

Angel continued eating, “What’s wrong with it?”

“Angel…” you exhaled and rested your fingertips against your forehead, “Our reenactment of Janet Jackson’s rolling stone cover and her ex husband with your hands on my breasts and you in a Santa hat is not appropriate to send to my granny or my parents. We can’t put this photo in our Christmas card.”

Angel shrugged his shoulders, “why not, it’s art? It’s Christmas, it’s supposed to be happy.”

“Would you like me sending this to pop?” You quizzed.

Angel pretended to think about it, “he wouldn’t keep it anyways and would probably call me up to yell at me about it. I’d love to see the look on his face though. We look sexy, what’s the problem?”

“These were for our eyes only. For fun.”

“Which is what Christmas is all about.”

“I thought it was about celebrating the birth of Jesus?”

“Fuck if I know, I was raised catholic.”

Your eyes instantly went to Angel’s who met your stare. He laughed to himself, “I know how that sounds, be quiet.”

Grabbing the computer back you shook your head at the unbelievable man. Scrunching up your nose, you lifted your glasses further up the bridge of your nose as you clicked onto the next set of photos.

Angel licked his fingers, finishing off his food before he patted his belly. “Here’s an idea, why don’t you send that one to your old homeboy? Maybe he’ll get the message to stop coming around when I’m not here.”

“I’m not doing that to feed your ego.” You easily responded, eyes trained on your screen.

Angel got up from the table to place his items into the sink. He actually took the time to wash them to place into the rack. Once finished he walked over to you, leaning over to see what other photos you were looking at. You took a good thirty photos together so there had to be something in there that was satisfactory in your eyes.

He didn’t really care to be honest, “Whatever you pick will be cute as shit that your granny will keep pushing for us to give her a great-grand baby.”

Almost gagging you shuddered at the thought. Being pregnant terrified you, sure babies were cute and everything but the whole process of carrying and actually giving birth did not sound like a 10/10. You’ve watched enough horror stories and heard enough horror stories to know that’s not exactly what you wanted right now. Or ever? Of course that could always change but the full discussion of children with Angel made you uneasy.

He already had a son and previously lost a son, which didn’t sit right with you, however it was none of your business. Although, you didn’t exactly enjoy the idea of possibly raising a child with a man that was hardly there…but that was not a conversation that you wanted to have tonight.

If Angel picked up on this, he chose not to say anything about it when you know he could have. Instead he just placed a kiss on your temple, his beard briefly scratching at your skin before he left your side, saying he was off to take a shower and leave you alone with your final decisions.

·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ . ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙

Continue along with my anthology December prompts here.

[thedestructionofgrace]

Just finished s4 of Mayans MC. EZ is ripping my heart into pieces, gaby?! Jay-jay?! Freya?! Making himself president?! The second half of this show (s3-4) has gotten so dark so quickly, it’s killing me man 😫😭

[callsign-fangirl]

Unwell over this honestly

So you mean to tell me this next season of Mayans M.C. is gonna be the last one?!😭

[thegirlwhowritesfics]

I posted 3,919 times in 2022

That's 1,750 more posts than 2021!

1,176 posts created (30%)

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

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I tagged 1,172 of my posts in 2022

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Longest Tag: 114 characters

#if you made it this far i was a teen pregnancy so my parents only played top 40 or punk rock when i was growing up

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Frankie looks gorgeous as ever! A man in a well fitted suit is 👌🏻 I also adore the rings.

These two look like they are going to prom. They are also not complementary to each other.

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53 notes - Posted April 19, 2022

#4

The Two Summers You Loved Me, and The Winter You Weren’t Around

Part One 

Summary: Pennys niece is passing through town and just happens to meet a handsome mechanic when her car breaks down, Summer romance brews but everything isn't quite what it seems.

Authors note: This part contains smut, R18+ scenes, please do not engage if you are not over the age of 18. thank you! This is also turning out to be much longer than I had originally planned so thanks for sticking around. 

Summer arrived somewhere between midnight kisses and days spent on what you had come to think of your own private beach. You don’t know why you were sneaking around, but you knew eventually summer would end and you would have to go back to the real world. And as for now, all you wanted was to keep Bradley all to yourself, locked away deep within your heart. 

When you weren’t with him, you were with Penny and Amelia, relaxing on the beach, sailing, and eating your way through the ice cream parlours 78 flavours. It felt comfortable, it felt like home, well at least as close to home as you had ever felt. 

you were lost in thought as you helped Amelia do the dishes after dinner one night. “Eliza” Penny says with a smirk on her face waving her hand in front of your eyes. 

“Shit” you jump “sorry, lost in thought” 

“What's their name?” Penny says with a wink. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about '' you reply, swatting her with the tea towel. 

Waggling her eyebrows at you she just smirks “so as I was saying, Amelia and I are heading up to San Diego this weekend, do some shopping, check out the museums. Want to join us?” 

Your heart drops, you would love to spend the weekend with your aunt but your time with Bradley is so short and weekends were the only time he wasn’t working. 

Penny watches you closely, her smile widening “do you know what? Why don’t you stay here, enjoy the peace and quiet” she winks as she takes the tea towel out of your hands. 

“It's not that” you start. 

“I get it kiddo, I do, enjoy it” she tells you turning to lean against the kitchen counter “alright, the dishes can wait, who wants ice cream?” 

“Me” Amelia exclaims racing off to her room to grab her shoes. 

Laughing, you and Penny shake your heads watching her leave. 

…

You straighten the table setting for what seems like the hundredth time, checking the clock again. It's still five minutes until Bradley said he would arrive. You check the pasta you cooked and pace around Penny’s living room trying to shake off your nerves. 

A knock at the door startles you, as you race open to open it. 

“Hey” you say casually leaning against the door frame, your heart racing. 

“hey beautiful” Bradley says stepping inside “something smells really great” 

“Thank you” you reply beaming up at him, you shut the door following him inside, watching him as he takes in Penny’s living space, the setting sun drifting in from the open curtains giving him a soft glow. 

“You’ve outdone yourself” he says walking over and wrapping his arms around your waist, his face dipping in and nuzzling into your neck. 

“Why thank you” you say wiggling out of his grip “why don’t you go take a seat while I grab everything” you quickly serve up the lasagne and salad that you prepared earlier and pull the garlic bread out of the oven and place everything on the table. Bradley pulls out your chair and you take a seat 

“why thank you” you say smiling at him as he takes the seat next to you. 

you both fall into conversation about your days, you telling him about Amelia‘s last minute attempt to kidnap you to take you to San Diego with them. and him telling you about work at the mechanic shop. After dinner Bradley helps you clean up the kitchen and stacks the dishwasher. 

You nervously fidget with your rings sitting at the breakfast nook watching him, as he wouldn’t let you help clean up. 

“Do you want to come back to the guest house and watch a movie?” you stammer, trying to calm your nerves. ‘Eliza pull it together, it’s not like this is your first time’ you think to yourself. 

“I would love to” he walks around the counter slipping his hand into yours, helping you out of the chair, dipping his head and pressing a soft kiss to your lips. 

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58 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

#3

Masterlist

A/N: Anything with a ** is smut or can contain smut.

The Two Summers You Loved Me, and The Winter You Weren’t Around

The Coldest Summer on Record: Part One || Part Two || Part Three  The Winter of Discontent: coming soon 

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66 notes - Posted July 4, 2022

#2

The Two Summers You Loved Me, and The Winter You Weren’t Around

Part One

Summary: Pennys niece is passing through town and just happens to meet a handsome mechanic when her car breaks down, Summer romance brews but everything isn't quite what it seems.

You’re surprised to see how packed Hard Deck is on a Friday at 4pm, you quickly grab a drink and locate a small table in the back, making yourself comfortable you watch as various naval staff mingle with the locals, there is a warmth to the bar that is comforting, it gives you a sense of belonging.

“Aunt Penny!” A grin spreads out over your face as your aunt manoeuvres towards you across the crowded bar.

“Kiddo your mother is going to kill you for being here” she says as she takes the drink out of your hand placing it on the table behind her “but I sure am glad to see you” pulling you into a tight hug, you breathe in her familiar scent of salt water and honey.

“I’m twenty-eight, she’ll get over it” you laugh off her remark, knowing deep down next time you see your mom she’s definitely going to lecture you for your spontaneous road trip.

Releasing you and pulling you to your feet, Penny loops her arm through yours guiding you out onto the deck, the crisp May air hitting you square in the chest.

“You know why your mom hates you coming to visit” Penny says softly “she’s told me to send you home”

You roll your eyes “actually I don’t know why she doesn’t like me coming to town, all I’ve got are fragments of whispers behind closed doors, so unless you’re going to fill in the blanks” I say looking over at Penny. Her lips are pursued but she doesn’t say anything.

“That’s what I thought” I mutter “I’m not going to be in town long anyway, I’m heading up to Washington, I just made a small detour”

“Alright, I guess you can stay a couple of days” she replies playfully “Go home, Amelia’s already made a bed up for you” her gorgeous smile lighting up her face.

“Thanks Aunt Penny, you’re the best” kissing her on the cheek you turn towards the car park.

“Oh and kiddo” she says, turning your heel she looks you dead in the eye “stay out of trouble”

“I’ll try my best” you sing out, your voice drowned out by the bar door opening and music spilling out.

Your soft laugh fills the quiet evening night as you duck around the corner colliding with a solid body.

“Oh crap” you exclaim “I am so sorry” you fluster as you look up into the deepest brown eyes you’ve ever seen. They are framed by long eyelashes and a gorgeous tan face, his delicate pink lips framed with the dumbest 80s moustache you’ve ever seen.

“Are you okay?” he asks, smiling down at you, his hands gently resting on your shoulders, steading you.

“Yeah I am fine, are you okay?” you ask stupidly like you could have done any damage to his frame.

“I’m good,” he says with a goofy smile on his face.

“Good, we are both good” you could kick yourself for how stupid you sound “ah, anyway goodnight” you say as you step around him heading towards your car.

“Night” he calls after you.

Fumbling in your bag for your keys you curse yourself, it's not like you’ve never seen a good looking man before, your body still trembling at the feeling of his warm hands on your shoulders.

“Ah-ha” you exclaim as you pull your keys from the bottom of your bag, unlocking your car you throw your bag on the passenger seat and put the keys in the ignition. Your car lets out a groan but doesn’t start.

“Seriously” you mutter trying again, you keep trying your car for at least 10 minutes before calling it quits and heading back into the bar.

Walking back in you hear the familiar tune coming through the doors

“I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs, I'm real nervous but it sure is fun, Come on, baby, You're driving me crazy”

the whole bar is singing along, you shake your head laughing at the drunken karaoke session, waving down Penny.

“My car wont start” you say sheepishly as you slide up to the bar.

Penny laughs reaching into her pockets pulling out her keys “I’ll organise someone to come look at it in the morning” tossing you the keys “now scram”

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75 notes - Posted July 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My Rooster shirt arrived today and honestly I can’t wait to wear this everywhere.

170 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mistressvera]

[michaelirby]

Mayans MC Series Watch/Download

Hello friends! Below are all the links to seasons 1-4, all of which can be watched on the platform (google drive) or downloaded. This won't give you any viruses, I'm the one who did the illegal activities so everything will be good on your end!

And if you feel inclined, consider donating to help me pay for my vpn.

Mayans MC season 1 watch/download

Mayans MC season 2 watch/download

Mayans MC season 3 watch/download

Mayans MC season 4 watch/download (ongoing, will update every wednesday/thursday)

And if you would like to be updated whenever I upload the new episodes, just let me know! Happy watching🤍🤍

[mayansmcsblog]

Okay but???? The sunglasses. The goatee. The adorable kitten. WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS

[thesandbeneathmytoes]

Mayans Trailer: Let’s Talk About It

Come to my inbox! Please!

Was that Nails kissing EZ!?! (looked like it! Kinda messy but as long as it’s not Emily...) That definitely was Coco kissing Hope...which like.....no thank you. Angel looks good. Didn’t see the pretzel lol.

most importantly: WHERE TF IS MIGUEL??!!??!!

[cloveroctobers]

DECEMBER DRABBLES — 3. Ez Reyes 🌨️

A|N: Although it’s looking like a rough start for my winter prompts this year…I’m still at it and I have to be if I’m inspired to before the energy runs out! Anyways…this may count as a drabble? I love writing fluff for EZ although that man is clearly on a dark path in this point in time. Regardless I instantly saw this one on the prompt list that I’m following and thought, “Ezekiel MFKIN Reyes!”

S/N: + GIF belongs to its rightful owner, I couldn’t exactly pinpoint who created it on google 💚 + touching on the problem of hair in the black community.

PROMPT: #17. “Have you seen my gloves? Seriously? Take them off the dog.”

◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣

You were not off to a good start this morning.

This could be blamed on many aspects that occurred last night…the main one being binge-watching Abbott Elementary (and Sweet Life) was part of it but if anybody asked you, you’d deny it.

It was easy for you to sleep through your ten alarms but having a husband like Ezekiel Lorenzo Reyes, who enjoyed being up at the crack of ass! wouldn’t let you sleep through the fifth alarm.

He was the morning person in the marriage and you were the late-morning person, which is why you slightly thought about changing your hours. You had a successful hair salon business that you shared with your god-brother about half a hour outside of Santo Padre. The work was time-consuming but you enjoyed the idea of perfecting people’s crowns.

You happened to be one of the few accommodating hair stylists out there, having a gentle approach to the tender headed, coming in early and staying late for certain clients if needed. Being pretty fair you did not over-charge for hairstyles like these new hair stylists on the scene often did and took the time to perfect your craft. Doing hair started young for you; the love for hair and tending to your own was the beginning of a eye-opening journey once many salons made you feel demeaned  about your texture.

From begging your mom to not drag you to the salons at the age of six to learning what best works for your texture at ten was a whole new awakening for you. Your mother couldn’t do a thing with your hair and wanted it to be relaxed (just like her own) since she wouldn’t take the time or knew how to best manage it. The moment she relaxed your hair, your grandfather let her have it, shockingly. Normally most men stayed out of women’s business (if they knew what was good for them) especially when it came to hair. Your grandfather became a single father having to raise your mother all on his own, after your grandmother passed with kidney disease when your mother was fifteen.

You learned that your grandfather knew how to tend to your mother’s hair—this was something your mother did not want to share. He told you that he tried his best to encourage your mother to love what grew from her scalp just like his wife did. You’ve seen many pictures of your grandmother who always sported a gorgeous fro in every photo.

The photo you adored the most was a picture of her in her wedding dress, looking over her shoulder, light in her eyes, and a forget me not tucked into her fro.

It was beautiful how carefree she seemed, a smile always on her lips and a twinkle in her eye. That’s how you wanted to be, not only in life but with the hair on your head as well.

There were many times that you wished you got the chance to meet your grandmother. Both of your grandparents were also involved in the civil rights movement and your grandfather seemed to be the only person that didn’t mind sharing his story. You were thankful since it seemed like any conversation that you wanted to have was deemed as you talking back—words by your mother, which was a issue.

It was evident that there were deep-rooted problems with your mother that she wasn’t ready to address yet. You tried your hardest to be empathetic but also realized, thanks to your therapist, that it isn’t only your job to connect with your mother. You were healing from your own childhood trauma that she was part of and you didn’t hate her but distance was needed. Love shouldn’t be heavy, especially when it came to the woman that once held you in her womb.

And so you dealt with her verbal abuse as a kid until spending summers in Georgia with your grandfather gave you purpose. You had the idea with your grandfather at just eleven years old to cut your damaged hair off. Your grandfather did the honors of buzzing the rest off for you in the pink tile bathroom and the twinkle that appeared in your eye afterwards…matched his late wife’s.

That moment was kept a secret during your two month stay and you actually did some heads for the very first time for kids on the cul- de-sac. Your grandfather witnessed this with pride and even took you to a salon where you met a woman named Carlotta. She was welcoming and encouraging after learning that you worked on two kid’s heads that came to see her occasionally. Carlotta even let you work in the shop twice a week during your stay and once you started working on a few adults heads (a choice you did on your own after she was dealing with her own personal issues) at eleven years old? She told you had a gift and you knew your purpose.

Now you were running late to the shop, knowing you were pushing it by the time you were fumbling with your hair in the bathroom. The change in weather was making your hair dry and it was time that you did a hair mask soon. You knew your god-brother would give you a mouth-full if you didn’t take care of it before he did your first wig-install in two weeks.

Adding the right amount of oil to your hair and scalp, you combed, brushed, and decided to slick your hair into a Sade braid for the day, adding some elastics to sections of the braid to make it more fun. Once satisfied, you checked the time again as you got back into the bedroom, thankful that EZ made the bed for you and scrambled to grab your earmuffs and bag.

Your first appointment was at 8:45am and you already knew you were going to be somewhat late. Thankfully this appointment was a simple rod-set and wouldn’t take too much time to get your client done. Thudding down the steps of your bungalow, you heard your stomach rumbling and figured you’d just have to UberEATS breakfast to the shop.

Sitting on the bench, you shoved your feet into your trainers then reached for your black trench coat to place over your clothes for the workday.

“Hey. I know you’re not leaving without this.” Ez called out to you, most likely from the dining room.

Sending out a text to your god-brother, you slipped your bag onto your shoulder slightly jogging back to the dining room where your husband sat comfortably at the head of the table. Of course he looked amazing so early in the morning, snug long sleeve white-thermal shirt on, decorated with his tags and grey sweats on and his skin? We loved a moisturized king! He most likely got his pre-workout done already if he was having tea and oatmeal. Usually he only sat down for breakfast if he worked out already and didn’t need to be at the club until later that morning.

EZ looked up from his phone, his hand already held out your YETI which was filled with orange juice. “No coffee and heavy breakfast while you’re on the road. We both know how that doesn’t agree with your system. I already slipped a protein bar into your bag while you were in the shower and the real breakfast should be there by the time you get to the shop.”

“You’re a good man,” you cooed gripping Ez’s chin, his facial hair pricking your fingertips as you connected your lips.

Ez laughed into the kiss after a couple of pecks, “eh, depends who you ask mi amor.”

“I’m not asking anybody anything,” you replied with a shrug of your shoulders, “I know my man.”

“Period, uh.” Ez slipped his hands beneath your trench coat to give your backside in your cozy sweats a nice squeeze.

Pointing at the man you said, “don’t ever do that again.”

Ez smiled up at you, “i promise I won’t. Have a good day sweetheart, let me know when you get there.”

“Yeah, yeah.” You kissed his lips again which made him lick his own.

“Mm, is that a brown sugar chapstick?”

“I have no idea. I just snatched whatever was in the night stand.” You breathed, stepping back from the man who simply nodded his head in understanding, “you heading to the club soon?”

“‘Round eleven or after. Gonna take Sally for a walk, nap and then head out,” EZ answered as he picked up his mug, “it’s your late day right?”

“Yes,” you sighed, “last client is coming in at five. Pray for me.”

“Always do.” Ez grinned, “I love when you do the braid by the way, allows me to see that prettiness in full.”

Having a good gulp of OJ you held out your hand to EZ, your wedding ring glistening in the dining room, which made him smile with fulfillment as he awaited your feedback, “keep treating me well and I might mess around and get pregnant with a real baby instead of a fur baby by new year’s.”

“Please tempt me with a good time.” Ez mentioned, sending a wink your way, making you groan and throw your head back.

Stomping out you yelled, “Bye, Ezekiel!”

“See you later!” Ez chuckled to himself, turning his attention back to his phone once you were out of his sight.

Thankful to have not only a loving husband and a automatic starter, that you forgot to start before Ez called you into the dining room, you flinched as your hands rested on the steering wheel. Immediately your hands went to mess with the knobs to crank the heat up, shaking your head at the brawny man for messing with the temperature in the car.

He was warm blooded and you were always cold. It was a whole debate inside of the house but in the car, you did not comprise despite the increase of gas prices. You couldn’t stand being cold and EZ knew that.

Checking the time again on the dashboard, you searched your glove department for your gloves, then the console, the backseat pockets, and the side holders in the doors but couldn’t find them. Sighing you threw the driver’s side door open again, allowing the winter air to bite at your cheeks as you jogged around your car and back to your home.

You just knew your gloves had to be on the bench and you previously overlooked them. Unlocking the door, which took a little bit of a tussle thanks to the cold, you made a mental note (that you would probably forget during the day) that you or EZ needed to use the WD-40 so neither of you didn’t experience a broken key again this winter.

Zoning in on the bench in the entry way, your eyes scanned the object and then you crouched down to the cubbies, feeling around for the gloves just to not locate them.

“Ez,” you called out, “have you seen my gloves? The Prada ones?”

Lifting your head, you spotted EZ standing down the hallway, your eyes shifting to Sally, your pitbull who had her paws resting up on his thighs, “Seriously? Take them off Sally.”

EZ smiled sheepishly at you as Sally peered over at you in annoyance. It was evident that your girl was sick of his mess too. He was a typical dog dad, taking the girl everywhere he could when he had the car, if you weren’t in the passenger seat you can only guess who was and forcing her into costumes when it was clear she didn’t care to be dressed up. He simply liked bothering your teenage fur baby, that’s all.

“I thought you’d be gone already and wouldn’t mind letting Sally borrow them on our walk,” Ez told you, while you stepped forward and held out your hands for the item.

Sighing Ez took them off Sally’s paws, who dropped them back to the wood floor and sat, watching the exchange.

“You got lucky this time, girl.” Ez pointed at Sally who just blinked and looked over at you.

“I know, he’s a real pain in the ass and if I had the time, I’d beat him up for you.” You told Sally who wagged her tail in response.

Ez huffed as he leaned over, slapping the gloves into your outstretched hands, “I just wanted to have a trial run with her since,” He whispered to you, “I got her some mitts for Christmas to protect her paws for our daily jogs and walks.”

“She’s not gonna wear them,” you shoved your hands into the gloves, “you know Sally trots to her own drum. She might even think they’re chew toys; you saw what she did to those Halloween costumes two months ago.”

Ez stretched at his brow, “have a little faith please. Maybe her favorite holiday is Christmas and she’ll be on her best behavior. We haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Her favorite holiday is sleeping and chewing shit up, then acting like she didn’t do it. It requires minimum effort on her part.”

Sally growled a bit before barking.

“I think you struck a nerve,” Ez joked, “and you might want to keep those gloves in the car if you know what’s good for you.”

Fanning your gloved hands at the two you spun on your heels, “On that note, I’m outta here. love you two, be good.”

“We love you too but…no promises.” Ez murmured as he smiled at your retreating form that began closing the front door, now putting a leash on Sally and giving her a good pet.

◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣ ◢✥◣

Continue along with my December anthology prompts here.

[bookishfanfic]

Crying over EZ becoming VP right after wisdom teeth removal is just 💯

[inscribeddiatribes]

Bishop’s Change?

I think I might one of the only ones that isn’t really surprised about what’s going on with Bishop. Disappointed, but not surprised. I feel like Bish was only calm and collected in the earlier seasons because had complete power/control. I remember him being a bit of mess later in the season, but now that his power is being taken away from him... his true colors are really starting to show (in addition to all of the stress/grief finally starting to catch up to him).

Clubs like this aren’t necessarily known for their progressiveness, so homophobia and misogyny aren’t completely off brand. We probably didn’t notice his homophobia because he wasn’t exactly spewing hate speech to his ex wife. There are many people that hate gay men, yet are completely okay with lesbians. Bishop is probably one of them. Overall, I hate that Bishop isn’t one of my favorites anymore, but his character progression makes sense to me.

[newyorkrican922]

Finally something!!

[thegirlwhowritesfics]

Mayans s4 trailer part 2

Alright lovebugs, strap yourself in, its time for my review on the Mayans s4 trailer.

Also this is going to be two posts cause tumblr now doesn't let more than 10 images per post.

I believe this is Hope, with what looks like blood running behind her and on her hands, yet again feeds back into Coco dying.

I think this is a flashback to when Ez first goes to jail, I kinda hope its not and he ends up back in jail.

Poor Hank, I hope he fucking lives. Also fuck you Nails. #justiceforhank

So clearly they are in a hospital, SOA in the lift (with pizza boxes?) and then Manny on left (is it wrong that I hope he has a neck tat in this?).

flawless

happy Coco, the braids? I wonder if Nes taught him.

I'm going to pissed if Coco dies and Gilly lives.

WHOSE LOYALTY?? YOU PACKED YOUR SHIT AND LEFT THE CLUB.

This isn't Nails, its Andrea Cortés from On My Block.

I cannot wait to see this scene play out.

Overall, I don't vibe with the trailer. I am getting the impression that more is getting jammed into this season without resolving anything from s1-3.

[mistressvera]

[michaelirby]

i’m currently celebrating 4/20 rn so forgive me if this doesn’t make sense but. on LSA there’s a woman who posted that she worked with Kurt on season 2 i think?? and she had like 90 pages of notes and she said that 90% of Kurt’s ideas and plot lines were completely scrapped when Elgin took over bc he wanted to make the show his own (obvs take this with a grain of salt)

SO

Elgin’s been trying to steer away from soa, but now they’re the plot line of s4. what if they’re only in the first few episodes for the buildup and the fight? because obviously the mayans are going to come out on top, it’s their fucking show.

so i could see this as Elgin’s way of saying ‘fuck you’ to soa and ‘proving’ that they’re better. mayhaps???

idk that’s just what i’m thinking

[cloveroctobers]

RIO/MANNY x black! Reader | October Prompts!

A/N: andddd we’re back! Back at it again with some spooky content for you. We love writing for Rio/Manny so I thought why not? Also threw another handsome man into the mix…so we’ll see how this works out! Shall we?

Prompt: #2. “Trust no one tonight.” + #4. “The house is not haunted.”

Synopsis: Rio/Manny warns you to be careful tonight and suddenly the house feels a lot bigger and creepier without him there. So you invite over a new friend you made to mainly keep you company but to show them that your mind is not playing tricks on you.

⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣ ೋ ⍣

“Trust no one tonight,” Manny’s voice tells you as you’re standing in the kitchen, hand deep into a chip bag.

Instantly a frown appeared on your face, “and what do you mean by that, Manny?”

It was mostly silent on his side of the line until you heard the acceleration of his engine before he basically ignored you, “where’s my girl?”

“You’re talking to her.”

Manny chuckled on the other line, “oh so you love me again?”

You scowled putting the phone on speaker and tossing it onto the island. It’s been five months since you brought up the idea of separation but not a divorce. Manny was your husband of eight years but the danger of his lifestyle started to become unsettling to you. Of course you were loyal, he could never say you weren’t but having him brush off the fact that he was almost burned alive scared you. He had to come clean to his Mayan Charter, that he was part of something much bigger than they knew.

Which brought on higher demands and not seeing him at all. The two of you shared a four year old and if you had to raise her yourself, you would. You preferred not to but Manny made that hard and he didn’t like you questioning him. He just expected you to, “trust the process.” He would do anything for the both of you, the two of you were his entire world and he was involved in a lifestyle that could hand him his death sentence any day. He was down for the cause and providing for his family was his number one goal.

“I never stopped loving you,” you sighed, “don’t get on my nerves Manny. What’s up?”

Manny answered, “ez’s supply got burned to a crisp so he came to myself and Mick to make a trip over the border. Let’s just say, shit went left over there and you know I don’t flee from much.”

This was true and frustrating. You didn’t need to know every detail of your man’s business but just the basics. Things like this? You needed to know. When Manny provided vague sentences and started questioning about your daughter’s whereabouts and whenever he mentioned those fucking Reyes brothers—you had questions.

Manny knew how to be strategic so if anything took a turn, he was quick on his feet to handle it. That you knew. The secret was out that Manny had his own connections and could supply what was needed. Miguel Galindo was hiding in the shadows so someone had to take over but that was not how Manny originally wanted to play it. So you left the raised ranch in Santo padre to a mid-century home out in Palm Springs, away from everyone and almost everything.

“Which is why I’m asking, where’s Maeve?”

“She’s with her aunt and uncle for the weekend remember?” You replied, “they wanted to take her and the twins to the theme park with those tickets you gave them for their birthday.”

Your younger siblings were roommates in a shared town home out in San Diego and often took Maeve to spend time with your brother’s kids. You had plans to enroll Maeve into a private school next year but would strongly consider homeschooling if Manny’s profession got significantly worse.

“Mmm, I’ll get mick on that.”

Widening your eyes you said, “damn, that bad huh?”

“Yeah, kinda. Don’t worry about it too much, mama.” Manny answered, “I’m on my way back but I don’t recommend leaving the house once nightfall comes through. Shut everything down the minute the sunsets you hear me?”

Puffing out a breath you scowled, “what if I had plans now that Maeve is with my sibs?”

“That’s cancelled, I thought that was obvious.” He chuckled.

Your eyes were rolling. It’s not like you did have plans exactly this weekend, it was supposed to be a chill one but the fact of the matter is: you could have had plans and things often have to be rearranged due to Manny’s surroundings.

“Mama?” He pressed.

“Yes. I know. Operation lockdown by 6pm until otherwise stated.”

“Trust no one.”

You repeated, “And trust no one.”

“Aight.”

Just like that you were off the phone with a long sigh and a childish stomp of your feet. Everything from this point on was a routine: checking the time, checking the fridge for leftovers, putting some tunes on by voice command, and ran your bath water as you stripped, sitting in your bra and panties while you scrolled Twitter.

A gush of warm-like air brushed against your kitchen, almost as if someone was breathing right behind you as you sat on your bed. You whipped around, eyes scanning the ceiling in search of the placement of the vent. Yes the central heat turned on minutes after you got off the phone with Manny. That was the reason why you decided to take a bath, turning it up slightly just to keep it warm while you bathed.

Most of the vents in the bedrooms were only on the floor and not the ceiling. Rubbing at the spot, you pushed off the bed to quickly enter the bathroom with a lock of the door. Settling into the bubble bath, you plucked the flute glass off the wooden tray and enjoyed your personal time to yourself. The worry of tonight went to the back of your mind as you dozed off for some time.

A quick yank by the tips of your exposed feet had you underwater. The gasping for air made you choke, hands gripping the sides of the tub while you felt pressure on your chest, holding you down. This couldn’t be a simple mistake of dozing off? Not when it felt like something cold and solid was keeping you in place between your breasts?!

Your lungs were burning for air until you were able to feel in control of your body again. Popping out of the water, you choked lounging onto the side of the tub, cheek and ankle resting along the cool edge. Coughing you quickly wiped the bubbles off your face, glancing down at your toes to see your big toe nail appeared to be bleeding along with a dark purple ring circling your ankle.

Once you gained the strength to pull yourself out onto the tile floor you fought to gain your breath back. A towel was eventually wrapped tightly around your body, water drained, gauze secured around your toe; with your phone pressed against your ear.

Manny now had ten missed calls.

Cautiously you found some clothes to throw on, leg bouncing as you sat on your bed. You locked yourself in the bathroom but didn’t feel safe there and now you were back in the bedroom and you didn’t a hundred percent feel safe there either.

That’s when you felt it again. Warm breath against the back of your neck followed by a sinister whisper, “Malachi.”

If you ever seen Tom and Jerry? You were Tom shooting up from your bed after that. Fumbling with the door knob, you did not look behind you as you hobbled down the hallway ordering your phone to call someone else instead.

Twenty minutes later you flung the front door open, revealing a new friend you made three months ago downtown named: Max Parish. The buzz haired man stared down at you as your eyes held complete fear in them.

“What’re you still doing in the house?” Max huffed as he took in the sight of you, barely dressed.

“I can’t exactly leave.”

Max sucked his teeth now stepping into the house, “Manny would just have to understand the circumstances especially if you said someone’s in the house.”

“I’m better off taking my chances here than whatever he’s got himself messed up in out there.” You argued.

Max eyed the house. This was his first time being over at your new upgrade and it didn’t feel like something you’d pick really. In your mind, you always felt like you were being watched here. It never felt like home, not like Detroit.

“The hell am I doing?” Max muttered to himself, “go wait in the car.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m gonna scope the house out.” He raised his jacket, showing his piece tucked in his waist band, “make sure they get the message.”

Given Manny’s lifestyle outside of his family, of course he kept a gun in the house just in case. The sight of the gun attached to Max’s body wasn’t foreign to you yet you still found yourself taking a sharp inhale. You knew how to fire a gun and had a solid hand but unfortunately you did not have the pleasure of liking them. It made you uncomfortable to know that there was one in this house especially when Maeve was around. You were waiting any second for the feds to come searching the house, (you just had to think of the worse if it ever happened, something manny got on you about) although manny didn’t have anything to hide here.

“It’s not—it’s not a person.” You mumbled out as Max started moving.

He stopped in his tracks, “you said—

“I know what I said,” you exasperated, “there’s something in this house, Max.”

A small smile played on Max’s lips then, “something?” He echoed, “like what?”

“The fucking devil! I don’t know! All i know is, one minute I’m minding my black ass business and the next, I’m being drowned in the tub and someone’s screaming in my got damn ear.” You explained to Max who rubbed at his beard.

His laugh was full of disbelief as he shook his head. “I thought you said it was something not someone.” He teased.

“I’m not making this shit up! I’m really freaked out and I would handle it myself but you’re the closest thing I got when manny’s not answering his phone!” You attempted to pace in the entry way and that’s when Max took in your full appearance.

He missed the bandage around your foot and your coils were dripping down your oversized tee. The friendship between you and Max was not instant, you met at a cafe—which sure was cliché but you payed for his drink just for him to chase you and scold you about it on your way to your cosmetology course—which so happened to be in the same building as Max’s cooking course.

It was war from that point because there maybe some things that made you uncomfortable but you did not take well to someone talking to you crazy. Being yelled at was a trigger for you and you didn’t need some 6’5 man yelling at you for being kind. Max ended up apologizing to you the week after at the next class meeting, telling you that he was simply having a bad day since it was the anniversary of his fiancée’s passing. Again that had nothing to do with you, he acknowledged that and soon ended up buying your beverage every Thursday before class.

Somehow you built a friendship around that. When either of you called the other, most of the time you were jumping to each other’s aide but not without some shit talking first on the side.

“Wait,” Max ran a hand over his buzzed head, “you said manny wasn’t picking up his phone?”

“Yeah.”

“And did you talk to him before that?”

“Yes. He told me…not to trust anyone.” Your eyes were wide, “Oh my god, get out!” You ordered.

Max raised his brows as you began shoving him backwards but he barely budged. He gripped your hands trying to get you to calm down, figuring whatever manny put into your head before these events probably increased your paranoia. From what max learned about your relationship with manny, he personally didn’t care much for him although he’s never met him, Max just felt like Manny didn’t have his priorities straight when it came to you or his child.

He kept that to himself though.

Once Max got a hold of your face, he turned your head to the side by your jaw, catching the red liquid that slid out the side of your ear.

Okay…that was concerning.

“Whatever you’re thinking had nothing to do with me. I promise,” Max gently spoke, “but could it be manny playing a trick on you?”

“No.” You shook your head, “why would he do that?”

“I don’t know.” Max lifted his shoulders, eyes glancing around this Brady bunch ass house, “you tell me.”

“He’s coming back from Mexico tonight…i assume with the Yuma and Santo Padre charter. I don’t know who stayed back but he knows I don’t care to have them around me—even if it’s for his idea of protection. The only one I trust is Mick and Manny said he was sending him off to Maeve…but why isn’t he answering his phone?” You thought out-loud.

Max hummed as he let go of your face, surveying the house once more. It was quiet, much like you would expect a home in the desert with a Mountain View to be. Perhaps it was a figment of your imagination after Manny caused you to be on alert? Majority of the time you were a homebody, if you weren’t with your daughter you’d invite a friend or two over but most of the time you were alone and without your husband.

“Maybe…”

Your eyes were in slits as you peered at your friend.

“The house is not haunted.” Max stated, “your husband set your anxiety off…if he’s not lurking in the basement or something.”

Crossing your arms you still felt upset, “I don’t think we have a basement and I didn’t do this to myself.”

Max was no therapist and it’s not like he thought you needed one or anything! It’s just it’s always a possibility when you have a lot going on in your life right? He didn’t want to say anything to make you feel worse so he inhaled.

“Okay then, shut the door. Let me check for you.” Max instructed as you swallowed the lump in your throat, first checking the time on your phone and slamming the door shut.

The man lifted a brow as you walked by him to the hallway. Slowly he followed you to see you reaching for the side of what appeared to be a abstract painting, which slid to the side at your touch. Max was in awe as the wall proceeded with the same movement, revealing a panel behind it. Your fingers flew over the monitor, punching in some numbers before you pulled the switch into a downwards position.

‘Lockdown activated.’ Flashed in bright text before the clinging of metal followed.

Max’s head turned towards the front, noticing the windows becoming dark followed by the front door clinking with more locks.

“This manny’s work too?”

“Anything for his family.” You were quiet now as you went into the kitchen before calling out, “audio off.”

Which cut off some The Mamas and The Papa’s song he was sure his red headed aunt listened to when she was growing up. Max didn’t pick up on the music playing until he realized how dejected you appeared.

“Anything for his family? Yet he’s not answering your calls? Eh, I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right here.”

“Max,” you started pinching the space in between your brows, “the first thing I would want him to do is go to our daughter. If I’m in trouble, I’d figure it out.”

“He’s got you trained then.” Max sarcastically said, “yet I’m here and he’s not.”

Glared you hissed, “maybe I want the spirits to get your ass first just to give me enough time to get out here, did you ever think about that?”

“So a set up is it?” Max was smug, “you just put us in lockdown which means no one in and no one out. Sounds like you just killed us both dont you think?”

“I’m…really starting to hate men who’s names start with the letter ‘m.’”

“Aw, thank you, babe.” Max placed his hand on his chest mockingly while you fanned your hand at him.

Leaning against the island, you rocked back and forth slightly looking around. “You really don’t think this place is haunted?”

“I’ve seen a lot in my life but there’s only one way to find out.” Max declared, “I’ll check the place out now…since I don’t really have a choice now that you locked me in here with you. Thanks for the option by the way.”

“Oh, You’re welcome sweetie.” You gave a small smile.

Max scoffed with a shake of his head, “don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Well…it was fun while it lasted.”

“Max!”

“I’m kidding! Just relax, finish your merlot…better yet, don’t.” Max had his eyes elsewhere as he slowly began to creep around the house and out of your sight.

Once max was gone you stared at the bottle, gripping it, taking a sip before you shoved it into the fridge with a sigh.

The house still didn’t feel as comforting even with max being here with you. Not only did it not feel like home but it always felt eerie, too long and separate from what a house should be. You didn’t get a say when Manny just uplifted you and Maeve to this house. Marriage was supposed to be about a partnership yet most of the time you felt like it was you on your own.

Everything felt like it was always on his terms and in a sense it made you think of “Rio” more than anything. Christopher changed his name and his image once he decided California would be your next move. You didn’t mind the move much since that meant being closer to your siblings…however there was a contrast to this ordeal; not just in the exterior of your relationship but also what should have felt like the inside of a home was anything but.

He was supposed to be that.

Which is why you brought up separation. To test Manny, to see if he rather work on this marriage or continue diving into his job. You were understanding for years! His life was constantly on the line and you were stuck always watching from the sidelines. He could never leave this life, it’s been this way since he was a teenager. Since you learned about his previous relationship, the one that mattered, before you.

You gotta go where you wanna go

Do what you wanna do

With whoever you wanna do it with

The distortion of the previous track began to play throughout the house, making you sit up straight at the bar stool.

“The hell? Audio off.” You called out just for the track to continue on with its chopped and screwed version.

Babe, you gotta go where you wanna go

Do what you wanna do

With whoever you wanna do it with

“Isla?” Max called out to you, making you snap your head to look at Max being led into the kitchen by a gun.

Hoping off the chair you winced at the pressure and gripped the island for support, “Manny?! What’re you doing?”

“I thought I made it pretty clear not to trust nobody tonight, mama.” Manny’s smooth voice was leveled as he looked at you, “Just to my surprise, you have some dude who prolly goes to Coachella to sniff coke off some girl’s asscrack, up in our house.”

Max gave the 6’1 man the side eye, “that’s very specific and judgmental of you.”

“I advise you to stop trying to talk to me before I split your shit forward.”

Max widened his eyes at you, wondering when you were going to step in. He could definitely say he personally wasn’t a fan of your husband after this.

“Okay none of that!” You yelled over the music.

Manny glanced around and it was his voice this time to say, “audio off.”

Which shut the music completely off.

Now ain’t that some shit?

“Manny…you better start talking.”

Manny grinned at you but it was anything but sweet. He nodded his head at you, “you want to start making demands when I’m just trying to have your best interest at heart tonight? What about mine? Who the fuck is this?”

“Max is my friend.” You blinked, “are you seriously threatening his life in front of me now to prove what exactly? Never mind that, let’s discuss why you didn’t answer your damn phone when I needed you huh?!”

Manny licked his lips, “I got caught up, my phone was acting up the second I got back in town like I knew it would. I got here as fast as I could…so mind telling me what’s going on?”

“That sounds like bullshit, honestly.” Max commented just for Manny to take the butt of the gun and jam it at the back of Max’s skull.

You yelped as Max dropped to his knees, groaning as he did so. Your eyes were wide as Manny smirked to himself, surveying the larger man on his kitchen floor.

“I don’t think I asked for your opinion, Coachella.”

Shaking your head you stepped forward to check on your friend but the look Manny sent you made you pause. “Max, you okay?” You asked, eyes still set on your husband who crossed his arms.

Max continued groaning, “I’ve dealt with worse. Just give me a second.”

“Ooo,” Manny nodded his head impressed, “Coachella’s got bravery which is the only explanation I can think of to why you’re entertaining him behind my back.”

Scoffing you looked away in incredulity and held up your hands. “First I thought it was me losing my sanity here but I’m convinced it’s your stupid ass!”

“Want to run that by me again, mama?” Manny stepped over Max who now laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling, dazed.

You also stepped to Manny, making your heated eyes meet his. Toe to toe you said, “I didn’t fucking stutter. Separation does not mean I suddenly went screwing other men, making you sleep in the other room does not mean I’m screwing other men. I wouldn’t do that to us. let me make this clear and final to you, I’m not screwing Max. I’m allowed to have male friends.”

“I don’t have female friends because I respect this marriage too much. I expect you to do the same…I know how jealous it makes you to see me with another so I don’t.” Manny shrugged his shoulders as if he was doing you a damn favor.

“Jealous?! Uh, no.” You pointed at him almost laughing in his face, “you don’t get to stand here and insult me. You certainly do and the difference is I trust you! I trust you to put them in their place if they ever take it there.”

“I have colleagues that are women, doesn’t exactly make them my friends.” Manny informed you, slits in his eyes while you just closed your own with a slow shake of your head.

Manny even went as far to curl a finger around one of your damp coils. He studied your face while you tried to get your thoughts together. He loved when you said your peace because that let him know you had a mind of your own, even if it pissed him off a good percentage of the time. It wasn’t about who was right or wrong, it was about who had the last word and who stood by it.

Take that how you will.

“Guys,” Max had been moaning for quite some time, almost missable as you pressed your forehead against Manny’s chin.

“What’s going on in the pretty head of yours, Hm? What happened?” Manny lightly caressed the back of your neck, squeezing and massaging the tension there.

That’s when your eyes met his again, “you need to be honest and tell me what else you’re hiding?”

He frowned.

“GUYS!” Max yelled just as his own body was lifted into the air by his feet and flung over their heads into the hallway.

Both you and Manny watched in horror as the man’s body left a dent in the wall before he fell into unconsciousness. The lights began to automatically flicker on and off along with the music playing again. Protectively Manny gripped your shoulders bringing you into his frame, pointing the glock into the air—not seeing anything to shoot at.

“We have to get to the basement.” Manny suggested.

“What? We have a basement?”

“It’s the safest for us.” He spun you by the hips, hand slipping down your arm to tighten his hand against yours and leading you through the house.

“Max,” you whispered, “we can’t just leave him.”

“Yes we can,” Manny almost smacked his lips, “as long as he’s out, she won’t get him.”

“She?!”

“C’mon, Isla.” Manny pulled on your arm as he led you towards the bedrooms, “or do you want her playing tennis with your body like she did max?”

Well that wasn’t funny. At least not now.

Cautiously you decided to look over your shoulder, seeing Max’s limb peeking out from behind the wall. And what did you do that for? You saw her dressed as if she was from a different decade standing over Max’s body. A gray hand pressed onto the side of the wall, long sickly fingers and black sharp nails. Her face appeared around the wall, peeking right at you, what could have been a beautiful face turned horrid.

Her jaw was down too low, eyes also black with no pupil as she screamed at you before she began floating towards you. The evoked a scream out of you but as soon as it left your lips you felt Manny yank on your arm once more, followed by him shoving you up behind a door, hand clasped over your mouth.

“Sssh,” he coached you, eyes drifting from your frightened stare as he looked at the door listening to what sounded like the clicking of heels.

“Malachi,” the woman in white called.

Which made you clench your eyes shut just as Manny carefully locked the door to your daughter’s bedroom. Keeping a finger to his lips, he guided you away from the door, taking slow steps back to the spacious closet. Sliding the barn door closed behind you, Manny went to the old diaper changing station that stood in the center of the closet. His hands went underneath it, pressing on something that slid the clothes on the rack out of the way.

With the gun he trailed it along the wall, making a symbol. Something you saw once at his grandmother’s house back in Detroit, a family crescent that was also tattooed somewhere on his back. The wall began to move, revealing a large safe. Manny tucked the gun into his waist band and quickly latched onto the handles, twisting and turning before it popped open.

He didn’t look back at you, holding his hand out and expecting you to grab it. You held your head back, staring up at the ceiling, making a silent prayer as your fingers found your husband’s. He led the way, stepping over and into the safe and helping you in as you did so. He closed the safe behind you, locking it with a scanner that went over his right eye.

You waited as he led the way, lights turning on at each step. The tunnel was cold, and illuminated in brown lighting as he led the way to the unknown.

Finding yourself sitting on a cozy tan couch in what appeared to be a control room, you sat as Manny brought you some warm apple cider in a mug you were looking for since you left Detroit. You hated warm apple cider and yet Manny came with a scooper dropping a few ice cubes into your mug. A small smile played on your lips as you stirred the beverage with a spoon before placing it on a side table near you.

“Might as well get comfortable down here, we’ll be here at least until dawn.” Manny mentioned, crouched over a control system that suddenly lit up, showing screens of the house.

He then picked up a walkie and connected it, “Mick? Maeve and Isla’s family good?”

“They’re fine.” Mick responded after some time, “they’re all having dinner.”

Your stomach rumbled at the thought. You were really looking forward to the leftover oxtail rasta pasta in the fridge. However your body was saying you were hungry but your mind was elsewhere.

“What about yall?” Mick asked.

Manny glanced over at you resting your head back on the couch, arms folded.

“We’re good…” Manny started, “first time actually seeing her tonight.”

“Shit.”

“Word. I’ll talk to you in a bit, brother.”

“Alright.”

Manny pulled his lips into his mouth, dropping his head a bit as he realized he had some explaining to do. Standing up he made his way over to you, plopping down so that your thighs were brushing.

“C’mere.” Manny attempted to scoop a arm across your shoulders.

You shoved him away by the chest, “no, fuck that. Start talking.”

Manny exhaled through his nostrils, tightening his jaw before he rubbed his hands against his pants, going to rest his elbows against his knees.

“You’re not going to like what I’m about to say.”

You were silent but did not falter your gaze from the side of Manny’s face.

“This house is one of the only houses in the states that belonged to my family for centuries.” Manny started, “Nick was the one to get it remodeled but I outbid him on purchasing it. Which pissed him off in the end.” He was smirking making you want to slap it right off his gorgeous face.

So you opted for shoving his knee.

He cleared his throat, “I knew we would need a place to stay once it got out to the charter that I wasn’t one hundred percent who I said I was. It was perfect at the time, secluded and away from everybody. I’m shocked homeboy even managed to get here…you know once you get to this area things start to malfunction. There’s a reason for that.”

You held your breath.

“It’s her doing.” Manny continued, “my great great great—however many great aunt who keeps calling for someone named Malachi? Which is her son, lived and died here many years ago. It was brutal.”

Your crossed legs on the floor began to wiggle now, finger pressed to your temple. Manny picked up on this, reaching for your injured foot to rest across his lap as he sighed.

“This was only supposed to be a temporary spot! A month or two tops and we would be out of here, move somewhere else or build a place someplace else. It didn’t register that it’s the anniversary of what happened to them here.” Manny told you while you glared at him.

There was so much he was still leaving out.

“You must have had so much on your mind that you also forgot to mention to your wife that you wanted to move her and your four year old to the land of the damned?” You hissed.

Manny took your words with a grain of salt, “I didn’t know things would go this far. No one told me she would be a vengeful spirit. Like I said, it was only supposed to be a couple of weeks.”

“How did she die? What happened to her and the baby, Malachi?”

“…they accused her of being a undercover witch after she decided to leave the convent back in Mexico. She had miraculously became pregnant before with a boy she decided to name Malachi, most of the sisters tried to help her and convince her to stay believing it was a blessing instead but the head nun shunned her due to the actions she did not commit. So she crossed the border, found a home, this home, gave birth, and settled. What started out as a new chapter soon found a bitter end.” Manny caressed your ankle which actually began to throb again.

Manny sniffed, “the head nun went around convincing others that my aunt was a witch…she was a real hater even after my aunt left. A religious cult that the head nun was cool with—thats ironic right? Located my aunt and stole the four month old baby boy and drowned him in the creek up the road.”

You felt nauseous at this. A hand going up to cover your mouth as you had to calm yourself down. It made better sense now, upsetting nonetheless but at least you were finally getting the basis of this house.

“I almost drowned earlier,” you said with shaky breath.

Manny sat up.

“That’s why I called you multiple times before I reached out to max. It was her, your aunt. She did that to me.” Your eyes stared down at your foot, “she’s looking for her baby.”

“Which they never found, only his blanket…the investigators only found her body hanging and badly burned.” Manny’s voice was low as he realized, “I’m so sorry, mama.”

And you knew he was.

Another thought occurred to you, “Is Maeve going to be safe?”

“As long as she’s nowhere near this house. I made sure Mick understood that.” Manny replied with a curt nod.

Some tension seemed to release from your body at this news. Manny brought your legs up to his lips, placing a kiss at the purplish bruise on your ankle. His hands then slipped up your thigh to rest there while he now tried to pull you into his lap.

This time you allowed it but you were still aggravated. There was already so much going on in your lives and now you just learned about a (rightfully) vengeful family member that you didn’t really want to meet.

“You should have told me,” you said as Manny locked his lands around your waist, “then I wouldn’t have gotten max involved.”

“fuck him though. Forget about Chef Boyardee,” Manny said from over your head making you jerk your head back, “spending all this time with my girl, my wife. I just hope you didn’t bring him around my daughter.”

“What did you say?”

“Which part?” Manny cleared his throat, sitting his body up straight with you still in his lap.

You gripped his face turning it to look right at you. And manny did but not without a side eye radiating from his long lashes.

“How did you know he’s in the culinary business?”

“I told you I got eyes everywhere,” manny boldly notified.

“Manny you got three seconds to stop playing with me before I call Malachi my damn self.” You warned.

Manny held his hands out with a quirk of his thick brows, “oh excellent idea, mama. I’ve been ready to empty out the clip again, it’s been a few hours actually and since I was being generous and didn’t do that to max thanks to my friendliness with his aunt Melissa? I dare you.”

“You are deranged!” You yelled, “how are you friendly with his aunt Melissa?”

“You wanted Maeve in private school and I want her in public school. Did some digging on Max to find that the woman who raised him, his aunt on his deceased father’s side is a school teacher. Fascinating isn’t it?” Manny told you.

Getting off his lap you should have known. This was the man you married, the man who always had a plan. You were starting to wonder did you meet Max out of pure coincidence or was this all part of whatever game Manny was playing?

“…Does max work for you?”

“Nah,” Manny smirked, “you did that all on your own, sweetheart. but…he can if he wants to get that restaurant started.”

“Is that entity even real? Is anything real with you?”

Manny frowned as you felt like you wanted to start bawling. This was all becoming too much for you to handle and you’ve been holding on for so long.

“Hey now,” Manny crouched beside you as you held your face away from him, “of course it is. I don’t play with the dead…I usually dispose of ‘em—

“Oh fuck you!” You yelled getting to you feet, almost forgetting your injured toe as you crumpled to the carpet in front of the man you married, “this isn’t a joke anymore! This is my life and I’m not going to continue with you fucking it up!”

Cradling your foot, your toe began to bleed through the gauze. Breathing air through your teeth your eyes burned with tears as Manny moved around the room for the first aid kit. He sat on the edge of the couch, gripping your ankle to cater to your wound and you let him.

Laying back on the carpet, you bit down on your lip as tears slid down your cheeks with your arms folded.

“I did too much this time, huh?” Manny asked.

Huffing you nodded your head, “yeah…and I think I’m really done.”

He was just about to place a kiss on your ankle but your words stopped him.

“Whatchu say?”

Swallowing you looked up at him saying, “I want out. I want a divorce, Rio.”

The way you said his nickname with such venom on your tongue did not sit right with him. At all so he was on you then, catching you off guard as your breath got caught in your lungs. He was hovering over you now, hands on either side of the face as he peered down at you with those dark eyes.

“Are you threatening me right now, isla? At a time like this?” He trailed his nose along your cheek, making you turn your head away from him as he spoke into your ear, “you and I both know you’re not going nowhere. We love each other too much and we took vows to each other which means something in my book. I’ll be damned if I let this ruin us.”

He still didn’t get it.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Manny pulled away from you, rubbing at his mouth as the ceiling above you rattled, “we got bigger problems right now.”

His eyes were at the monitor as he helped you up.

“W-what now?” You cleared your throat.

Manny could see Max starting to wake up on one of the monitors, which was not a good thing—for him. Moving closer, Manny stared hard at each screen with you standing behind him in utter confusion.

He lifted his head in that moment, tilting it to the side as he placed a finger to his lips. He suddenly moved away from you, staring out into the hallway as the sound of creaking followed.

“Man—

“We gotta go, now!”

“Go where?! I thought here was safe.”

“We gotta go lower, mama. Right now! There’s a elevator in the back of the room. We better get on that or else.” Manny ordered, quickly moving around as he snatched up the walkie and moved over to the wall to send the weapon station down below.

“Or else, what?!”

He came back to you as your heart began to race. Manny pecked your lips, gripping the sides of your neck, “that bitch is gonna flood this area up. She’ll drown us and contrary to your belief, I care about your well-being a ton, even if you don’t think I go about it right. Your ass is mine and I’m forever yours so unless you want to see a reenactment of the titanic…we gotta get the hell up outta here, you understand?”

“Isla?” Manny quizzed.

You held his stare before you slipped your hands in his again. This time Manny allowed you to lead the way to the gated elevator, his gaze elsewhere as water ran down the opposite hallway. It was your turn to yank the lanky man beside you, hands sliding the gate shut after him. Manny was mashing on the buttons, the old elevator suddenly dropping as waves of water began to flood the room you were just in.

Some water splashed into the elevator, the amount was like someone flicking water at you in the pool. Your eyes closed, thinking this was the end but found yourselves descending just in time, to someplace else with a man you thought you knew. 

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Continue along with my fall anthology prompts here