King of Hearts (gxg)

6. Beach Fronts ♔

"Okay Monie, but come on. You can't blame me this time. I mean... look at this place."

"Can you at least act like you got some home training for once in your life?"

"Can you let me be excited for once in your life? Good shit like this don't happen very often for us, can you let me enjoy this?"

"You know," she dropped her hands into her lap after parking in one of the designated spots for the complex. "You're right. I'ma let you enjoy this. But-"

"God, why is it always a but?" Marco groaned. "Why can't good shit ever happen to us without it always having to be a but?"

"It's not a bad but if you had let me finish. You should know we only staying here temporarily though. Just until we can find a new permanent home. And I can't promise the next one is gonna be as nice as this place."

"How long is temporary?"

"No more than a year."

"Dang Monie," Marco laughed. "You made it seem like we was gonna be staying a couple weeks. Oh I'ma milk being here for a year. Trust. Now get your ass up so I can go see the beach," he undid his own seatbelt before reaching for hers.

"Marco-!"

"Ava. Girl, wake up," he ignored his sister and instead turned around to get Ava out of her seat. "We at the beach."

"The beach?" Ava rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I wanna see the beach."

"Well come on then," Marco got out of the car and went to the back door to properly help her out.

It was dark out, but that didn't stop him from picking Ava up and putting her on his back as the two made their way from the parking lot straight down to the beach that was right in front of them.

"Take y'all shoes off!" Money called behind them because they'd run ahead of her.

Marco put Ava down and took his slides and socks off and then helped her undo the buckles on her sandals. He didn't even care, he left them right there on the concrete pavement before the two ran onto the cool sand.

"What the fuck," Marco laughed as he picked up a handful of sand, slowly letting it fall through his fingers and back down onto the beach. It was dark, the beach only being slightly lit from the reflection of the moon, but Monie could still see the biggest smile she's ever seen on his face in the last 15 years.

Ava was sitting down, burying her arms and feet in the sand, getting it all over her- including in her curly hair. But Monie didn't even care. She was just happy that her kids were happy, and she couldn't help but to smile as she watched the two of them play around in the sand for the first time. There's technically a beach in Chicago, they've just never been before. Life has just always been too... well, hectic.

And that's exactly why Monie moved them out of Chicago. She wants them to experience new things in a new and healthy environment. A fresh start is exactly what the three of them needed, because now Monie can pour all of her attention into both Ava and Marco without her past always there to distract her or hold her back.

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Tuesday Morning
June 1st

Marco was awake early that morning, even earlier than Monie and Ava, which is not normal for him when he doesn't have school or basketball practice- which he currently has neither of. The only reason he'd woken up early was to take a jog on the beach before the sun came out and it got too hot.

"He gon' need a body bag or a night sack. He a bitch, he'll fold under pressure," Marco rapped along to the song 'Bad Man' playing through his headphones as he stepped off of the elevator after coming back from the beach. "We'll beat his ass if he try to throw the-"