Page 3 of Tangled Hearts
“I don’t understand why you keep playing with me!” Knycole yelled when she snatched the door open, grabbing Shakeisha by her clip-on ponytail.
Rock’s eyes doubled in size. “The fuck?!” He tried to put his dick up and hop out the car but wasn’t quick enough.
“Get her off me!” Shakeisha pleaded to anyone listening. She was from the hood but wasn’t much of a fighter, especially when compared to girls like Knycole and Noir.
Noir wanted to get tagged in so bad but knew it wasn’t even worth it. Knycole was handling Shakeisha like a ragdoll. “Upper cut that hoe!” she chanted, spectating from the sidelines.
A crowd started to form on the street. Old and young were crowded around taking in all the foolishness. Rock’s best friend, Hov, stood on the porch hitting his blunt, unbothered because it was all too familiar to him. Rock would do some foul things, and Knycole would show her ass.
“Bitch, get the fuck off me!” Shakeisha tried to break free from her assailant but Knycole gripped her hair tighter.
“I told your dumb ass to stay away from him, but it seems that you have a fuckin’ hearing problem! After I beat your ass, I bet you remember then!”
“Let that girl go, Knyc. You ’round here making the block hot,” Rock fussed, trying his hardest to break the fight up.
“Keep your hoes in check and out of my girl’s face, then she wouldn’t be making the block hot!” Noir chimed in. She liked Rock but loved Knycole, so she was always on her side.
Rock cut his eyes at Noir but didn’t say anything. Finally, he pulled Knycole off Shakeisha, and the three of them huffed and puffed, too young to be out of breath. Commentary from the onlookers was heard as they all agreed that Knycole had, once again, beat ass and took names. To the older people, it was ridiculous and shameful for a young girl to be fighting in the streets about a boy, but to the youngins’, it was a rite of passage and well deserved.
“If you would do right by me, I wouldn’t be out here acting up!” Knycole directed to Rock, minutes away from hauling off and punching him in his mouth.
He knew it too and knew he needed to calm her down. With his hands in the air, he protested. “You always jumping to conclusions. I was just giving that girl a ride from the store, since it’s too late for her to be walking by herself,” he lied through the thin gap in his teeth.
She stepped into his face, neck rolling with balled up fists. “Do I look that damn dumb to you? Rock, for one reason or another, you just keep finding your way to this street walker. I need to make sure I get checked because we all know that hoe will fuck anybody... you are so damn stupid.” She mushed him upside his head with her index finger as her words shot out like venom.
“Bitch, I’ll break your fuckin’ face if you even think about hitting her with that brick.” Hov’s calloused voice rang out fromthe curb. He’d just put his weed out and was keeping a close eye on Shakeisha while Rock and Knycole argued in the streets without a care. That was who he was. He always sat back and observed.
She froze mid-swing, dropping the brick immediately. Shakeisha knew better than to go against Hov. He was the mean friend and didn’t care one bit about her being a girl. If she even thought about hitting Knycole with the brick, he was bound to do exactly what he said.
Knycole turned around shocked that she was about to get hit with a brick. Even more shocked that Rock didn’t notice it. “You see what you’re doing to me?” She swung on him while her eyes swelled with salty tears.
Rock hated when she cried. He knew he wasn’t doing right by her but wasn’t equipped with the knowledge to do so. For him, making sure she was straight was how he showed his love for her, and even though he could see his flaws, he wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
“Can you at least take me back to where you picked me up from?” Shakeisha asked, impervious to their lover’s quarrel. It pained her heart to see Rock so gentle with Knycole. Although she was a well-known hoe, she had a soft spot for him. If she had it her way, he’d be all hers and she’d leave the streets alone.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to calm himself because disrespecting women wasn’t his motive. “Shakeisha, you gotta move around before I let my girl tag you one more time.” Oblivious to her hurt, Rock never noticed how his actions towards her always broke her down.
Shakeisha wasn’t one to show many emotions and today wasn’t going to be any different. Besides, he’d embarrassed her enough for one night. “Nigga, don’t try to play me like your dick wasn’t just down my thro?—”
Her words were caught off when she saw Knycole lunging at her again. Her heartrate sped up like a car on the racetrack. Fight or flight kicked into overdrive, and she decided to do the latter. Before her feet could carry her into the dark, Hov caught Knycole in midair, and boy was she relieved.
“Let me the fuck go, Hov! I’m about to murder this hoe!” Knycole squirmed.
“Hell nah. Aye, Rock, take her ass home,” Hov directed to his friend of ten years.
Rock shook his head at the whole scene, finding it both comical and sad. “Bring your crazy ass on.” He grabbed his girlfriend, tugging her down the street.
“No! I want to beat her ass again!” Knycole pleaded.
“Say no more.” Noir charged at Shakeisha, beating her ass worse than what her best friend had just done. She’d stood off to the side letting the shit play out, but one thing she wasn’t going to allow was for a anybody to try to play in her friend’s face.
“Agh!” Shakeisha squealed when she felt her nose break from Noir punching her in it.
“That’s my best friend!” Knycole cheered as she was pushed towards her house.
Hearing Shakeisha scream was music to her ears, and she knew ole’ girl would think twice before messing with Rock again.
Knycole laid in her bed beside Rock while he snored lightly in her ear. That was their usual routine, and if she was being honest, she loved every minute of it. Her home life wasn’t the greatest, so being cooped up in her room with him was all the solace she needed or wanted. She was the only child to a single father. Her mother overdosed when she was only two years old.Because of that, her father was all she knew. Outside of him, she didn’t know any other family on either side.
