CHAPTER 51
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"G'morning Faye," Fezco said to Faye as he walked past the kitchen table, dropping his notebook on it.
"Good morning. What are you writing?" Faye asked, peeking at the page it was opened on.
"A love letter."
"For Princess?" Faye asked and picked the notebook up while Fezco poured himself a bowl of cereal.
"Yeah, she got a bunch of old love letters her dad wrote to her mom and she was reading em the other day and was almost crying cause her dad was like, hella sweet and shit, and so I thought maybe I should write her one?"
He glanced back at Faye and snatched the notebook from her before she could read anything.
"Nah this personal," He told her and closed the notebook.
"Sorry," She laughed. "What did you write?"
"Uh...just a lotta shit iono how to say with like, actual words," He shrugged and folded the notebook, tucking it in his back pocket as he leaned on the counter with his cereal bowl.
"That's so cute," Faye smiled. "Is she almost ready?"
"Yeah, my bad, I was jus distracting her and shit," Fezco smirked as he ate his cereal.
"Ew," Faye scoffed as Estrella walked into the kitchen with them.
"I literally fucking hate you," She gave Fezco a look as she grabbed her concealer from her vanity.
He laughed, "Fuck did I do?"
"Fuck did I do?" She mocked him and smeared concealer on the hickie on her upper boob.
Fezco kissed his teeth, "You said I could."
"Yeah but I said lower," Estrella rolled her eyes at him as she tried to cover up the mark. "You always do this shit."
"Whatever mane," He laughed and continued eating his cereal, making a mental note to do that shit again later tonight. "Come on, let's get y'all to the mall, I got shit to do."
Fezco dropped the two girls off at the mall, giving Estrella his credit card per usual. Yet he doesn't wanna be called a sugar daddy?
Anyways, the first thing the girls did was search for some newborn size Black Air Force 1's, which they found at Finish Line.
Estrella almost cried seeing how cute and tiny they were, both the shoes and the box and the cute ass little socks.
Along with the shoes, she bought a gift bag and some tissue paper at some other store to put it all together like an actual gift.
After spending a few hours at the mall with Faye, most of that time being spent drinking boba and sitting in massage chairs, they went home, where Estrella put the gift together all secretively.
The fact that Fezco was also writing his love letter to her all secretively was super helpful, so he didn't catch on.
And if she were to be unsure about the whole black Air Forces thing being the perfect way to tell Fezco that she was pregnant, Estrella and Fezco were unintentionally wearing the same fucking shoes that day.
"Twinsies," Estrella pointed out and kicked Fezco's shoe off where it rested on the coffee table after realizing they were matching.
He glanced down at their shoes from watching Final Destination 3 on the TV before smiling at her and laughing, "You always copyin me and shit, huh, ma?"
Estrella rolled her eyes, "I really don't like you today."
"Sucks, cause I love you eryday," He laughed and pulled her under his arm. "You ain't show me what you bought at the mall."
"I'll show you later. I got a dress for tomorrow and it's super fucking pretty."
"You also super fuckin pretty," Fezco mumbled into her ear.
Ashtray gagged from where he sat a seat away from the couple on the couch, rolling his eyes.
"Fucking simp," He mumbled as he stuffed hot Cheetos into his mouth.
Fezco and Estrella both glanced over at him and gave him an annoyed look, Fezco shaking his head and then looking back at the TV as Estrella took the hot Cheetos bag from Ashtray.
"Hey," He scoffed, watching as she ate a few.
"Have you ever tried these with lime on them?" Estrella asked him.
"Those are fucking nasty," Ashtray said.
"No I know, I mean like, have you ever added lime to these?" She rephrased her question.
Ashtray gave her a weird look, "No? You do that?"
"Yeah and they're really good."
"You're weird."
"I'm not weird, you're just white," Estrella laughed as Fezco grabbed a few Cheetos.
Ashtray rolled his eyes as Estrella stood up and walked to the kitchen with the bag.
"Wait, no! Don't ruin my chips," He told her and smacked Fezco's arm, making him drop the Cheetos he had grabbed.
"Bro come on," Fezco kissed his teeth.
"Don't let her ruin my chips!"
"Nah you deserve that shit," Fezco sighed as he picked the red Cheetos off his white tee, leaving it stained.
Estrella cut up and squeezed a few limes into the bag, then walked back to the couch and sat between Fezco and Ashtray, holding the bag out for the kid to her left.
He hesitated before reaching into the bag, making her pull it back.
"No, don't grab one, your hands are gonna get all gross. Do this," Estrella said and pushed the Cheetos to the top of the bag with her fingers from outside the bag, then put her lips to the opening and ate a Cheeto she pushed up.
She handed him the bag and watched as he copied her actions, then waited for a reaction.
Ashtray didn't say anything as he ate the Cheetos with lime, which he always did when Estrella made him try something he talked shit about and then ended up liking.
Estrella laughed, and leaned back into Fezco's side, focusing back on the TV.
"You gon go to yo school's grad night?" Fezco asked Estrella and half nodded at the TV.
"After this movie? Fuck no," She laughed. "These movies got me scared of everything. Big ass roller coasters, planes."
"Nah mane, the first one wit the plane got me scared of fuckin planes too," Fezco agreed. "I'm happy I ain't ever wanted to travel nowhere cause I'd probably pass the fuck out, on god."
"And you're scared of heights too, aren't you?" Estrella laughed. "Remember the ferris wheel at the fair?"
"You were scared on a ferris wheel?" Ashtray laughed at his brother.
Fezco gave him a look before shaking his head at his wife, "Yo you wasn't supposed ever bring that up."
"Sorry," She continued laughing and gave his cheek a kiss.
After watching the movie, Estrella made some random pasta she saw her favorite food Tik Tok account make for dinner and they all ate as the little family they were.
Were.
Fezco and Estrella fell asleep after a quick round and a shower, both excited for their date tomorrow.
That next day was supposed to be a good day for them, and that's what it was. Until it wasn't.
Estrella woke up that morning, a little confused after Fezco's arms weren't tightly wrapped around her like usual.
She glanced over at Fezco's side of the bed to see him sitting up and writing in that notebook he had been writing in with his back turned to her.
She didn't know it then, but Fezco was pouring his entire heart out into his letter to her, smiling a little every time he wrote something that he knew would make her smile and then laugh like she always did.
Estrella rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before she scooted closer to him and hugged him from behind, pressing herself against his back and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Fezco flipped the page, hoping she didn't catch a glimpse of what he wrote as she gave his cheek a kiss and then rested her head on his shoulder.
"Good morning."
He turned his head to face her and smiled, "G'morning ma."
Estrella placed a hand on his cheek, the both of them leaning it at the same time and bringing each other into a kiss.
She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb, making him happily sigh and practically melt into her touch.
His smile hadn't faltered as she pulled away, staring at her with the biggest heart eyes.
"I think I fall more in love witchu everyday," He confessed.
"Likewise," Estrella laughed and kissed his nose. "Let's go make breakfast, I'm hungry as fuck."
He watched as she got up out of bed and slipped a pair of his big sweatpants on before slipping into her Hello Kitty slippers and walking towards the door.
"I'll go out in a sec," He advised her as she exited the room, looking back down at his notebook as he flipped back to the page he was previously writing on.
He clicked his pen and wrote the concluding sentence that he had been struggling with.
I fall more in love with you everyday.
—$—
"Yo, Ash, get the door mane," Fezco called out from the bathroom, where he was cleaning up his beard.
He and Estrella had been getting ready to go on their date for the past hour and a half, taking a shower together after breakfast where Estrella hogged the water and Fezco continuously poked her back so she would hurry up.
Now he was finishing up with trimming and cleaning up his beard because he knew Estrella liked it that way while Estrella sat back down at her vanity to continue doing her makeup after taking a small break to steam Fezco's shirt.
Ashtray checked the cameras before opening the front door to reveal Custer, who Faye noticed immediately, making her freeze and stop mid sentence as she spoke to Estrella.
Estrella glanced at Faye after she stopped talking, then followed her gaze onto Custer, who walked into the house.
Fezco walked out of the bathroom and in direction of the living room for his shirt, making Estrella get up again to give it to him.
"What we got goin on?" He asked as she handed him his shirt.
"Freshly steamed," Estrella smiled up at Fezco while he put it on, helping him straighten out.
"Yes yes yes, you the best, ma," He smiled back as she buttoned the shirt up for him.
"I didn't know Custer was coming over today," Estrella brought up to him.
Fezco furrowed his eyebrows, "Custer?"
"Damn, what's good?" Custer spoke as he appeared in the hall, making Fezco look at him for a second.
"Yo, wassup mane," Fezco nodded as Estrella finished buttoning his shirt up. "I'm actually a lil busy, I'm gettin ready to go out."
Custer looked between Fezco and Estrella, "We goin to a party? Where y'all goin?"
"Don't worry about what we doin, man. Worry about yourself," Fezco mumbled, walking to his room as Estrella sat back at her vanity.
"Alright...ima just chill then," Custer said and walked to the living room, dropping himself down on the couch and sneakily checking Estrella out.
Ashtray closely watched Custer through the window in his room with squinted eyes, feeling something off about him, but becoming ultimately annoyed once he saw the way he looked at Estrella.
He then noticed the way he looked over at Faye and mouthed a few things while Faye just stared at him, completely frozen.
Ashtray grabbed his pocket knife off his desk and hid it in his sleeve before getting up and walking into the living room, eyeing Custer as he lit a cigarette.
The kid glanced at Estrella while she brushed out her straightened hair and snatched the cigarette out of Custer's mouth before sitting in an armchair, never taking his eyes off the man.
"My bad, playa. How you doin?" Custer asked Ashtray.
But Ashtray just stared at him and remained silent, making Custer look away from him to look at the black TV screen.
Estrella quietly laughed at Ashtray ignoring him before getting up and walking to the room with Fezco to get dressed.
"Yo Princess, come here for a sec–oh you already here," Fezco smiled down at her as she walked in. "You done wit yo makeup?"
"Yeah, what do you think?" Estrella closed her eyes so he could see the glittery light purple eyeshadow on her eyelids properly.
"Looks hella good. Pretty as fuck. But, uh, I need yo input too, so help me out."
Estrella watched him finish tying his tie around his neck and stood still to let her get a good look at the look before moving the tie back so she could see that look too.
"Tie, or no tie?" He asked her and moved his tie back and forth a few times.
"Hmm I think you look handsome with no tie," Estrella decided.
Fezco slightly laughed, "Aight, fuck this shit then," He said and loosened the tie, bringing it over his head. "You think I look handsome?"
Estrella smiled, standing on her toes so they were almost eye level. "I do."
Fezco avoided the eye contact she tried to make to keep himself from blushing and smiled.
"Cool...ima put my pants on."
Estrella laughed and backed off, grabbing her dress off where she laid it out on their bed to also get dressed.
Fezco put on his pants and then his black Air Forces and was slipping his belt through the belt loops in his pants when he glanced over at his wife, watching as she fixed her new dress on herself in the mirror to fit her how she wanted.
It was a light purple off the shoulder dress with some fuzz on the long sleeves and a criss cross strap across her chest.
She looked good in everything in his eyes, but purple was definitely her color.
"Fuck, mane, you got no business being this fucking pretty," He mumbled and shook his head at her as he stepped up behind her.
Estrella shot him a smile through the mirror and turned around to face him, being brought into a kiss as she did. A heated one at that.
"Wait, Fez, this lipstick stains," Estrella laughed in between kisses.
"Oh well," He shrugged and continued to kiss her.
Estrella's laughter ruined it, making her push him away to finish getting dressed.
Fezco let her know he would wait for her outside as he put his suit jacket on before walking out of their room and into the kitchen, opening the cupboard where he hid some roses and the enveloped love letter for his wife.
He grabbed a Sharpie off the kitchen counter and wrote her name on the front of the envelope, followed by a star and a heart and three lines above her name as a crown.
Fezco hid the envelope behind his back as Estrella walked into the room while putting in some big hoop earrings, laughing at the lipstick stains on Fezco's lips.
"Fool," She mumbled as she grabbed a napkin and ran it under the sink.
She gave his cheek a kiss, leaving a legit lipstick stain on it and took a quick picture with her phone before cleaning it off.
"Ion mind," Fezco smirked.
"Yeah I bet you don't," She laughed.
"We ready?" He asked as he looked her up and down.
Estrella nodded, dropping the napkin in the trash before opening a cupboard and grabbing the gift bag that she hid, which contained the baby shoes and an added positive pregnancy test in case Fezco decided to be slow and not get the memo asap.
"These for you," Fezco grabbed the bouqet of roses off the counter and handed them to her, noticing the gift bag she held and smiled before glancing back at Faye, who was getting a glass of water, and then over at the two in the living room.
Ashtray was glaring at Custer, who was sneaking glances at Faye, who was staring at Custer, clearly uncomfortable and slightly scared.
"Aight uh, we finna head out," Fezco announced to them and pulled Estrella under his arm.
Custer looked back at the couple with furrowed eyebrows, "Wait, you're–you're leaving?"
"Yeah, we about to leave right now, we got reservations," Fezco nodded as all three pairs of eyes landed on him and Estrella.
"How do we look?" Estrella asked them and excitedly smiled as she hugged Fezco.
The three remained quiet, confusing Fezco a little.
"Is everything good?" He asked, looking at Faye and then at Ashtray and Custer.
Custer cleared his throat, "Yeah, before you go bro, I really gotta talk to you about something."
Fezco sighed in annoyance, "Like what, man?"
"Everything," Custer said.
"The fuck is you talkin bout, bruh?" Fezco gently snapped as Estrella and Ashtray made eye contact.
"Bro..." Custer trailed off and rubbed his hand over his face. "The fucking cops found Mouse's body."
Estrella's heart dropped, along with Faye's glass of water, the shattering sound drawing attention to her.
"Sorry," Faye apologized and bent down to pick up the broken glass.
She slowly looked up at Fezco and Estrella while they watched her, putting her finger to her lips, telling them to stay quiet.
"Did you hear what I said?" Custer asked, snapping Fezco's attention back onto him.
Fezco clicked his tongue a few times, giving Estrella and Ashtray a knowing look as he leaned on the wall and stayed quiet like Faye had said.
For what? Who knew. But he had a bad feeling, and Faye clearly knew something.
"I thought you told me that Laurie killed Mouse...right?" Faye asked Custer, who gave her a confused look.
"Laurie?" He asked. "Wha–I never said that. What are you talking about?"
Fezco kept his eyes on Ashtray for a second before glancing at Estrella and then at Faye as she continued.
"Yeah, you know, Laurie?" Faye nodded. "The drug dealer that lives in the apartment complex off Kemper. You were the one that told me she killed Mouse."
"I never said that," Custer denied.
Faye thought about it for a minute before nodding, "Yes you did."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Are you high?!" Custer questioned.
"You know that Laurie and those fucking people, they scare me!" Faye told him. "Why are you trying to protect them?"
"I'm not fucking protecting anyone! What the fuck is this?!" Custer tried to laugh and looked at Fezco.
"So, you're working for Laurie?" Faye asked.
"Hey, no! So how about you just shut the fuck up!" Custer snapped.
"Okay, then why are you trying to cover up a murder that she committed?"
"Alright now," Fezco interjected and leaned off the wall, taking a step closer to Custer. "Think it's time for you to get outta here, big fella."
"Bro, we gotta figure out what the fuck we're gonna say," Custer stressed.
Estrella furrowed her eyebrows as Ashtray stood up, tuning out whatever the fuck Custer was saying. She and Fezco noticed the pocket knife in his hand as he towered over Custer at the same time.
"Wait, Ash," Fezco spoke over Custer and stepped closer.
"Ash," Estrella called out, but Ashtray ignored them both and stuck his pocket knife right into the side of Custer's neck just as he turned around to face him.
"Ash, no!" Fezco yelled, closing his eyes in frustration once it was too late.
Estrella slapped her hand over her mouth in shock as Custer tried to hold his now bleeding neck, staring up at Ashtray.
Fezco acted quick and walked up behind Custer, placing his hand over his mouth to silence any sounds or screams he would let out after noticing his phone on the coffee table.
Fezco put a finger up to his lips at Ashtray so he would also stay quiet while Estrella stood frozen in place as she watched another murder occur in this living room, her stomach starting to twist as blood spilled out of Custer's mouth and onto her husband's hand.
Estrella suddenly felt nauseous at the sight being pregnant didn't help, so she rushed to the bathroom with Faye closely behind.
Once Custer was dead, Fezco removed his hand and motioned to the phone on the coffee table, making Ashtray hand it to him.
He glanced down the hall for a split second, looking through the bathroom door at his wife kneeled in front of the toilet with Faye besides her, holding her hair back.
Ashtray watched as his brother walked to the kitchen and dropped Custer's phone into a soda cup by the sink, then gripped onto the sink as he recollected himself.
In that moment, as much as he always wanted her to love him, he wished Estrella never did.
.