"Yetarian, I'm outta here," she said, holding out her hand.

"Karen," the slick man said, attempting to smooth out her obvious anger. "My dear Karen, what do you mean you are out of here? You can't – "

"Now, Simeon," she said with more venom staining her tone. "You've been giving me the same runaround for weeks now. I want my final pay and then I'm gone."

"Runaround? Karen, what are you talking about? I am not giving you any runaround."

"Simeon, I'm going to say it one more time – "

The loud crash that echoed from the front room caught her attention, her head swinging to see a yellow SUV smashing into the large glass windows. Simeon left her side in a heartbeat, screaming.

"Franklin! What the fuck are you doing!"

She walked out of the office to see Franklin holding his head, and a man she'd never seen before standing behind him.

"Mr. Simeon, it's not exactly how it looks."

She turned her attention to the other man as he pulled out what looked like a few hundred dollar bills.

"I always trump big for a job well done," the man said as he handed Franklin the money. "Get outta here, kid."

"You motherfucker!" Simeon said as he reared up to fight the guy.

She didn't stick around to see it. Marching back into the office, she hastily slid open a drawer to Simeon's desk, snatched up the thick envelope, and exited out the back room. Shoving the envelope into her bag, she quickly climbed into the old pickup truck she drove and started off after Franklin.

"Get in," she told him as the vehicle rolled to a stop.

"Damn, am I glad I don't gotta walk."

"What the hell happened back there?"

He waved his hand, wanting the memory and the headache to disappear. "Man, Simeon sent me out for a repo that shouldn't have been one. Had to creep around some old dude's house, and he was sitting duck in the fuckin' back of the car. Put a gun to my head and demanded that I drive through the windows."

Karen listened carefully as she looked over at her friend. He seemed fine, minus the few cuts on his face and a finger that appeared to be cut open. Popping open the glove compartment, she threw a few random fast food napkins into his lap, motioning to his hand.

"Wrap that up and put pressure on it. Don't want you bleeding out in my car."

"Shit, thanks, Kar."

"You think we should go back for the dude?"

"Man, fuck him. Crazy old fucker. I understand him being upset, but he ain't have to put a gun to my fucking head. His son signed the papers."

"Privileged rich kids. Daddy doesn't pay him enough attention so he's gotta have some outrageously priced car, at an interest rate that would make anyone's eyeballs explode, just so he feels loved. That's what makes this world go 'round, Frankie."

"What the fuck ever," he said shutting the glove compartment. "I'm about done with this stupid shit. You know that I was telling Simeon that the other day, and he sent me and Lamar out on some stupid fucking bike pick up. Felt like a fucking setup to begin with."

"And then Lamar shot the guy?"

"Damn, he told you? He needs to keep his fucking mouth shut. He's gonna get clipped one of these days," Franklin grumbled.

"Who do you think he asked to go back and remove evidence?" she asked, then shook her head. "He's always going to be someone you need to look over, Frankie. That's never going to change."

"It's been like that since kindergarten. That shit don't never get old with him."

A half of a smile twisted her lips at Lamar's antics.

"So," she said as she came to a stop at a red light. "Want me to take you home or do you want to clean out your finger and go eat somewhere?"

"I should take my ass home and stop eating out so damn much, but fuck it. I'll figure things out later."

"Don't worry about that," she told him, her hand riffling through her bag. "Looks like we'll both be unemployed as of today." Her fingers grabbed the thick pad of money and she briefly held it up for him to see. "Our ex-boss's treat."

"You took that from him? Shit, he's gonna be one pissed off dude."

"He owes it to me." She tucked the money back into her bag. "He's been wanting to only pay me halftime lately. I was in the office talking to him about it when you decided to crash through the front. Good distraction though. Thanks."

Franklin laughed. "Shit, you real crazy, Karen. Anyone that doesn't want to pay you in full definitely wants some trouble. And I can't imagine how nice of a talk that conversation was."

"Not nice enough," she mumbled as they came to a stop in front of a drug store. "Sit tight. I'll get some supplies to bandage that and then we can go eat."

Franklin watched as she pulled open the store's door, lucky to have someone like her in his life.

"""""

"What do you mean you he wants you to meet with him? Is Michael dragging you into something?"

He chewed his food as he shook his head. "Nah, he's not bringing me into anything that I can't handle," Franklin said as he brought another forkful of the chicken and rice dish she prepared for him to his mouth. "He wants you to meet Trevor, too. I'm not even going to hesitate to say this dude sounds crazy as fuck."

"You mean, more crazy than the rest of us?" She sat beside him on the couch, a leg tucked underneath her. "What's the deal then? What are they doing?"

He took a sip of his drink as he looked at her. "You really want to know?"

"Yeah, of course," she said.

Nodding his head, he grabbed his plate only to place it down again as they heard the front door to the house open.

"Franklin?" his aunt's voice rang. "Franklin, you here?"

"Damn," Franklin mumbled out as his aunt made his way into the living room.

"Have you been here, bumming around all day?"

The lady stopped in her tracks as she noted a second person sitting next to her nephew. A bright smile drew upon her face from ear to ear.

"Why, hey there, Karen!" Denise said cheerfully. "I thought I smelled something too good to made by Franklin."

Franklin's eyes narrowed as his aunt tossed her yoga bag down.

"There's plenty more, Miss Clinton," Karen offered. "Would you like me to make you a plate?"

"That would be lovely, Karen. I just need to talk to Franklin for a moment," Denise said as she slowly walked to the far side of the living room.

Karen stood, just barely holding in the massive sigh she wanted to release. If there were only one bad person in Franklin's life, it had to be his aunt. She didn't particularly care for Denise, but she respected her enough, for Franklin's sake anyway. It seemed to make his relationship with his aunt less of a trouble.

As she prepared a presentable plate of food for Franklin's aunt, Karen's mind kept grinding. This Trevor guy that Franklin was a mere second away from telling her about caught her interest. Come to think of it, she didn't really like Michael all that much, but again, she respected him. He seemed to be more trouble than he was worth, and put shame on any definition of a decent man that she'd ever known in her life.

After all, she was a Vercetti, and had known no tougher man than her father.

"But nothing, Franklin," she heard Denise's voice raising out from the living room.

She listened carefully as she arranged the items on the plate with a precision. Anyone looking at her would simply think that she was just concentrating on making a plate of food, but she was doing much more than that. Her ears actually perked up at certain words and the way they were said. She may not have liked Denise, but she wasn't going to ignore the woman. She had been telling Franklin for a while now that she believed his aunt had ulterior motives when it came to this house that he co-owned with Denise.

Karen believed the woman was no good on top of being extraordinarily annoying.

"Well, you don't have to worry, because I won't be here," Franklin abruptly said, the tone of his voice sounding as though he were already exhausted this early in the afternoon.

Karen placed a piece of toasty, buttered bread on the plate, and with the biggest smile she could ever pretend to have, she grabbed up the plate and brought it into the living room. Franklin had picked up his own plate, walking past Karen, foul expression plastered over his face, and into the kitchen. She temporarily ignored it to carefully hand his aunt her food.

"Here you are," Karen said brightly. "Cheesy chicken and rice with a touch of fresh lemon juice, green beans, carrots, and of course a side salad." She watched as Denise's face lit up. "Would you like anything else?"

"Oh, no, dear. Please, you do too much already. You should sit down and relax."

Karen heard Franklin let out a deep breath quite loudly. The sarcastic air didn't go unnoticed by Denise, who automatically narrowed her eyes in Franklin's direction. Karen had lost count on how many times she told Franklin not to rise to the occasion of his aunt's prodding. But he did, and it ruffled his feathers nearly every time. Now turning back into the kitchen, she placed the food still remaining on Franklin's plate into a Tupperware, as well as putting whatever was left in the pot in its own container.

Franklin disappeared into the room he used, shutting the door behind him, and by the time Karen had quickly washed up the pots and utensils she had used to cook the meal, he emerged dressed in different clothes.

"And where do you think you're going?" Denise's voice questioned as he walked into the living room for his hat.

"Man, I don't have time for this," he mumbled as he went into the kitchen, taking a hold of his container of food. "You ready?"

"Give me a minute," Karen told him. "Have to potty." She saw the inquisitive look on his aunt's face, hearing the questions she had for him shortly after she made her way to the bathroom. When she came out a minute or two later after drying her hands on a bathroom towel, Denise was still going at it. This time, she did try to block out the woman's squawking voice as she entered the living room once more to get her bag and jacket.

"You just worry about you, okay?" Franklin said in a final tone. His attention turned to Karen as she slid on her denim jacket, then pulled out a small bottle of lotion, placing a dab of it into her palm, then slipping the bottle back into her leather bag before slinging the bag over her shoulder. He turned to his aunt again, the most irritated look on his face. "Don't wait up."

"So nice to talk to you again, Miss Clinton."

Karen was briskly rubbing her hands together, dissolving the lotion as she followed Franklin out the door. Opening the passenger side door on the white Buffalo he drove for her, she reached into her bag for her sunglasses as she slid into the car, shutting the door and waiting for him to start the car. The engine rumbled to life as Franklin placed the food container on the back seat.

"Okay," Karen said as she put on the dark bronze shades. "Let's go meet up with this motherfucker."

"""""

When they arrived at the spot, Karen's eyes immediately fell on the helicopter sitting to their right.

"What's the chopper for?" she asked Franklin, receiving a shoulder shrug in response.

"I don't know, Kar," he said as his Buffalo came to a stop. Switching off the ignition, he slowly opened the car door, taking notice of a man that he'd never seen before standing next to the helicopter. Next to that man, was a balding guy who seemed to be taking a less than pleasant tone with the guy.

"What is this about?" Karen quietly asked, more to herself than to Franklin, and she followed him up to the two men.

Less than a few minutes later, Michael arrived, being driven by a man she didn't know.

"Who's that cagey motherfucker? Huh?" the balding man asked Michael, then turned to the helicopter guy. "No, uhh, it's another cagey motherfucker, alright? Not you."

Karen watched as he gave the guy a shove, Michael quickly intervening.

"Hey, T, enough with the faux political bullshit!"

The older man then gave the guy a nod to make his way from the group. Michael turned to her and Franklin as the guy walked away.

"Franklin, Karen... come on, you guys better take off," he told them. "Really."

"Shit, I'm good," Franklin said without hesitation. "I ain't bailin'."

"Whoa," the other man said, causing Karen to look at him. "What, am I detecting some, ah, some sort of 'son I never had' bullshit here, Mikey, huh?" He turned to the young man, holding a hand out. "Hey listen, if you want to replace some father figure, you can do a lot better than this fat snake, alright. This fucker would eat his own kids."

"Like I said, Franklin... Deranged."

"Yeah," the man said. "And best friend."

That caused Michael to give a short laugh. "Exactly." Michael walked a few short feet away from them, giving out introductions, pointing first to the man. "That's Trevor. My best friend. That's Franklin, the son I always wanted. And this is his friend Karen, a rare and valuable asset in this shithole."

Franklin shook Trevor's hand first. Karen stood back, absorbing every detail of this moment. Franklin seemed to have to pull his hand away from the aggressive man named Trevor, and she bit her lip as the man held his hand out to her. She realized it wasn't the firm handshake he had given to Franklin, rather a more gently held shake. Trevor also tipped his head toward her, giving her the chance to look into his hazel-colored eyes.

"Alright, guys, listen, this is the shot," Michael began. "I'm going to do all the heavy lifting on this job. Okay? Trevor, all I need you to do is fly me to the target. Franklin, you're going to cover me from across the street. We're going to make these assholes happy, and we're gonna walk away from this thing clean. Got it?"

Franklin nodded. "We got you."

Karen waited for them to finish their planning, thoughts racing through her mind. What kind of job was this? It seemed as though Michael was pulling Franklin into something that just didn't sit right with her. Red flags were being thrown up in her mind, but she held her tongue for now.

They started walking towards Franklin's car when Trevor's voice caught her attention.

"Nice to meet you, homie," the man said sarcastically.

Franklin waved a hand at him as he walked. "Yeah, whatever."

Karen's thoughts were still going full speed as they left the area. They were on the highway, driving to their destination before Karen opened her mouth to say anything.

"And what exactly are we doing?" she asked him.

"Covering Michael," he replied. "I just need to you stay in the car so we can make a quick getaway."

"Oh," she sang out. "So I'm the getaway driver again. Good to know my talents are useful."

Franklin glanced her way, shaking his head as she smiled at him.