Page 16 of Tangled Hearts
“Bitch, like I said, I’ll tell him you called.” Knycole wasted no time hanging up the phone so that she could call up her people.
Rock didn’t answer, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. Next, she dialed up her best friend and told her everything. Noir insisted she come over her house, but Knycole knew her mama wasn’t having that so late. They promised each other to check in tomorrow and hung up before Hov was back at the car.
“Briana called,” she announced before he could get in the car good.
“I don’t know what the fuck for,” he said under his breath, tossing her a few bags before tossing the rest in the backseat.
Knycole shrugged her shoulders. “Sounded important. She would be a good look for you.”
“I ain’t looking for a good look. All I’m concerned about is getting to that bag. If she don’t want to fuck, then I have no use for her.” Hov gripped the steering wheel.
“One day, you’ll get lonely and want more out of life… I know I do.” She mumbled the last part of her sentence.
“When you’ve been broke all your life, all you dream about is marrying the money. Bitches will never be a priority for me. I don’t even want kids,” he explained.
The two of them came from the same world but still had different wants and needs. Where Knycole craved love and affection, Hov detested it. The streets were all he had, and from them, he didn’t need love. Rock, Knycole, and Noir were the only family he had, and that was okay with him. Hov’s sole purpose in life was to level up financially. That was where his vision and plan ended. As for Knycole, her plan took her beyond the universe. They rode the rest of the way in silence with Knyc having no idea where he was taking her.
“What we doing here?” she asked when they pulled up in front of Mae Lou’s house.
Hov faced her. “Look, I would never let you stay the night in the spot. Rock has a room here, and you can sleep there. That nigga will be here in a minute.”
Knycole only nodded before following him into the house where Mae Lou showed her to the room and told her she was welcome to anything in the house. Left alone in Rock’s room, she had nothing but time to think about what had happened. It all felt like a bad dream she wanted to wake up from. Times like this, she wished she had a mother to go to. She also wished her daddy had never taken a hit of drugs. Still, it was all wishful thinking. She couldn’t wish herself out of the situation. She could only work hard and do better.
“You let that girl sneak me, Rock.”
That’s the first thing Shakeisha said when she opened the door for Rock. Her mama’s apartment smelled like cheap air freshener, the kind that came from the dollar store and never really covered nothing.
She leaned against the frame, arms crossed, lip still puffy from the fight that happened days ago.
Rock shifted his weight, just staring at her. He had on a white tee, black jeans, and his hair half twisted. His sketchbook was tucked under his arm out of habit. “I didn’t let nothing happen. The fuck you wanted me to do?”
“Um, stop her!” she snapped, stepping back so he could come in. “You always got an excuse for her.”
“You know how Knyc is and you knew what was gonna happen if she caught you in my car.” He slid past her. This wasn’t the first time Knyc and Shakeisha got into a fight, so Rock didn’t understand why she was acting like it was so left field.
The living room was small, couch pushed against the wall, a fan buzzing in the corner. He sat down, elbows on his knees, watching her face go through a million different emotions.Shakeisha was so pretty to him. She had dark skin and a slim build with nice sized breasts. Although small, her curves twisted and dipped where he liked them to. Her and Knyc were night and day body wise. Knycole was what you’d call thick— maybe even a little chubby but still small enough to fit into a size nine jeans.
Shakeisha stayed standing, eyes cutting sharp. “You was there. You seen her swing at me. I didn’t even see her coming until my door was being snatched open.”
“I mean I seen her when it was too late too… Shit, my dick was out, Kesh,” he answered. “What you wanted me to do?”
Her lip curled. “You love her real bad, huh?”
Rock looked at the floor for a long beat before he looked back at her. “You always asking shit you don’t really want the answer to.” He sighed. “All I know is she don’t be moving how you move.”
Shakeisha blinked. “So I’m the problem.”
“I ain’t sayin’ that.”
“You don’t gotta say it. I hear it.” Her voice cracked a little, but she covered it by tugging at her scarf. “You think she better than me ’cause she a good girl. She go to school, she smile sweet and shit, but she don’t got history with you like me.”
Rock leaned back, arms spread on the couch. “She don’t got you, though.”
That made her pause. Shakeisha finally sat down, her eyes searching his face. “What that mean?”
“It mean you the first person I ever trusted with anything. First one I called when shit got bad. You held me down in ways she never could ’cause she don’t even know what I come from. I’ll never let her hold me cause she ain’t built to do it.” He shook his head. “That mean something.”
Shakeisha’s jaw tightened. “But it don’t mean everything.”
