Page 11 of Tangled Hearts
Knycole moved her hand and grabbed his chin. Made him look at her. “You ain’t gone be no fuck nigga or no statistic. You got too much heart for all that.”
“This why I love you.” Rock’s eyes softened, his dimples settling into his cheeks. “Don’t nobody ever say shit like that that to me.”
“Maybe they should.”
They sat there for a while just sitting in the silence and the rawness of their emotions. Watching the world move slow. Watching the aunties pull toddlers from swings. Watching old heads play cards under the pavilion. Watching teens walk in circles trying to flirt without saying it out loud.
Knycole leaned into his side. “You ever think you’d fall for somebody?”
She remembered the first time Rock laid eyes on her, how he locked in like he’d already made the decision for both of them. Hov was in the picture, and that made her guard herself tight, but Rock didn’t back off. He stayed consistent in a way that was quiet but heavy… walking her home, sketching her face when she wasn’t looking, making sure she felt chosen even when she didn’t feel whole. Little by little, he wore her down. Not with sweet words, but with his presence. With loyalty that felt raw and complicated. He didn’t get all of her, but he claimed the pieces she was able to give.
“Nah. Thought I’d always be too numb.” Rock answered.
“And now?”
Rock looked down at her, lips close to her temple. “Now I’m scared to lose you.”
“You think you might?”
“I think I might deserve to.”
Knycole’s chest pulled tight, her skin clamming up with truth.
She reached into his backpack and pulled out a highlighter, then flipped open his sketchbook. On the page where her face lived, she scribbled:Don’t fold on me. Not like them.
Rock blinked at the words, wondering if he could stand against all the temptation that seemed to find him.
“You still got time,” she whispered, like she could read his mind. “To grow into the kind of man I see in you.”
“And if I don’t?”
She stood up, brushing her jeans off, and looked him dead in his face. “Then I’ll still love you… I just won’t wait for you.”
Rock stood up too. His hands digging into his pockets. “You tryna be grown.”
“I am grown.” Knycole rolled her neck.
“You tryna be somebody wife or some shit.”
“I’m tryna be somebody’s everything. You should try it.”
He stepped forward. “Com’ere.”
Knycole didn’t move.
Rock kissed her anyway. Slow. With his eyes open. With a kind of hold that asked for nothing, just reminded her he still meant it.
When they pulled apart, her heart was thudding but her face stayed calm.
“You hungry?” he grinned, trying to shift the mood.
She rolled her eyes. “You always ask me that after you get deep.”
“I’m serious. You want something or not?”
“Only if you buying.”
“I got food stamps,” he laughed, digging into his pocket for the card he got from a smoker in exchange for something to get high on.
