Page 75 of Atlas Uncharted

Kairi

“She must got some Black magic in her pussy to have him pull the race card.”

“It’s always the fat Black ones you have to watch out for.”

“He lying for his DEI lover.”

I didn’t know how Atlas figured going on a podcast and “telling his truth” would work to stop Ashlen. This was why I was a firm believer that mics were too damn cheap. I wanted to go back to Florida and hug my daddy.

This was also exactly why I was about to release the pictures. I was tired of Ashlen ass. I had gotten so desperate I called her parents. They didn’t answer or return my call. Which was ironic. When I hit the best seller, they’d called for free copies of my book and said I was like a daughter to them Ashlen had gotten her ways from them and this cemented it.

“What were you thinking?” I snapped, throwing my phone onto the coffee table. “You should have known that ‘blame it on me’ bullshit wasn’t going to work. You’re tragically rich and white-minded. And you left out all the ugly shit. She’s out here trying to ruin me, and you’re being diplomatic.

” Atlas shook his head and sighed like he was exhausted with me. “Kairi, come on.”

I sucked my teeth and crossed my arms, the anger bubbling under my skin. I didn’t want to sound like I was lecturing him, but Atlas didn’t understand the nuances of race and love or how ugly social media could get. He thought just saying the truth was enough. Like people actually cared about facts over a scandal.

“Kairi.” His voice was low, careful, like I was a bomb he was trying to disarm. “I was trying to help. I thought if I told people the truth, they’d back off.”

I laughed“Back off?” I pointed at my phone. “You really thought the same people who love watching a Black woman burn were just gonna hear your little speech and go, ‘Oh wow, we’ve been so unfair to Kairi, let’s stop harassing her’? No. They’re calling me a witch, Atlas. They’re saying I put a spell on you with my pussy. What kind of stupid shit...”

He ran a hand down his face. “I thought if I took the blame, if I made it clear that I made the mistake, it would take the pressure off you.”

I rolled my eyes. “You really don’t get it.”

Atlas sat down on the couch, rubbing the back of his neck.

He exhaled like he was choosing his words carefully. “What you want to do isn’t the way to fight back, Kairi. Releasing those pictures… that’s not who you are.”

I scoffed. “Oh, so now you know who I am? How? I’m not the same girl from college. ”

“Yes.” He met my eyes, his jaw tight. “I know you. I know you’re angry. I know you’re hurt. And I know you think this is the only way to win, but it’s not. You’re a good person Kairi.”

I sucked my teeth, “Fuck being a good person. I was good to both you and Ashlen and look what it got me. I shook my head. “Thisis my life, Atlas. You get to be the tragic, misguided husband who made a mistake. I’m the villain. I’m the jezebel, the destroyer of families, the fat Black woman who seduced the poor, helpless white man, who’s too good for her..”

“That’s not what I think.”

“Fuck what you think, that’s what they think. And their opinions are what’s ruining my life. Don’t piss me off.”

Atlas leaned forward, his hands clasped. “I’m just trying to be logical. Releasing those pictures is going to make you look bitter, and vengeful.’ People are just waiting for you to give them more ammunition and get worse. Even if you prove she’s a liar,” he continued, “even if you expose her, what then? You think she’s going to just disappear? She’ll play the victim harder than ever. ‘Atlas and Kairi released intimate photos of me, invaded my privacy, humiliated me publicly.’ And you know what? People will eat that up.”

I stared at him, my pulse thrumming in my ears. He was starting to sounded like he was defending her. “So what am I supposed to do, Atlas? Just let her keep dragging keep? Let her keep making money off of my pain? This bitch had a tik tok channel now where she was telling her version of our stories in parts, reading from my books, linking what happened in them to what happened in real life.”

“No.” His replied. “You keep being you. You keep writing, you keep living. You don’t let her define you. You win by moving on, you go high when they go low.”

I sighed, dropping my head back against the couch. My body was still tight.

I sat up, resting my elbows on my knees. “That’s all fine and well,” I said, my voice calmer. “You’re right.”

He exhaled in relief, leaning back. “Good.”

I pulled out my phone, turned the screen toward him, and hit post.

The color drained from his face as he watched the pictures upload to every single one of my social media accounts. Everywhere.

“Goddamn it, Kairi,” he breathed.

I leaned back. My hands weren’t shaking anymore.

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