Simple life

Simple Life

Ezekiel never asked for the life he was born into.

Growing up on the streets of Chicago, he learned early that trust was rare, love was temporary, and survival came before everything else. Raised around the King Lords, Ezekiel built a name for himself through loyalty, reputation, and the walls he put up to protect the pain he carried inside.

To everyone else, he's the person they expect him to be-the boy with the chains, the confidence, and the reputation that follows him everywhere.

But nobody knows the real Ezekiel.

Nobody knows the kid who lost his parents before he could even remember them. Nobody knows the weight he carries or the part of him that dreams about something quieter. Something normal.

Something simple.

Then he meets Rose.

Unlike everyone else, Rose doesn't see the name, the image, or the rumors surrounding him. She sees the person underneath it all. A girl carrying struggles of her own, raising her younger siblings and taking care of her grandmother, Rose understands what it means to grow up before you're ready.

Two people from completely different worlds find comfort in each other.

But loving someone means allowing them to see the parts of you that you've spent years hiding.

As Ezekiel begins to question the life he's always known, he's forced to face a difficult truth: the streets that shaped him might not be the future he wants.

Between loyalty, friendship, family, and the possibility of a better life, Ezekiel has to decide if he's willing to fight for the one thing he's never had.

Peace.

A simple life.

Because sometimes the hardest thing to escape isn't the world around you...

It's the person that world turned you into.