Page 45 of Tangled Hearts
“And you too,” Briana said, her lips turned up high into the air.
“The fuck that face for?” he asked, only taking his eyes off the road for a few seconds.
Her mind pondered over what she should say next—or if she should say anything at all. “Your eyes light up when he mentions her name… hell, when anyone mentions her, and Lord forbid she walks up on you.” She rolled her eyes at the reminder of how his body language changed whenever Knycole came around.
“Who?” Hov asked, knowing damn well who she was talking about.
“Play stupid if you want to,” she said after kissing her teeth. No matter how much he curved her, she was unwilling to give up on him. “So, what have you been up to lately?”
With skeptical eyes, he tried hard to understand what she saw in him. If he was being honest, he wasn’t the nicest person to her, nor did he pay her much attention. So, the mere thought of her constantly being readily available to him was foreign and didn’t make sense. She was one of the baddest girls in the hood, and all the boys wanted to get down with her just off the fact that she hadn’t been passed around. Her head was on straight, and from what he could tell, she wasn’t a sack chaser.
“What you want from me?” he asked, his voice void of humor. Hov presented himself as a confident ass nigga but when it came to others’ feelings towards him, uncertainty clouded his judgement. He had mommy issuesandfear of abandonment.
Briana looked at him with squinted eyes. “Huh? I’m not understanding what you mean,” she said.
“I’m saying, what you want from a nigga? Like, why you keep coming back?” His hand gripped the steering wheel, nerves on edge. Hov was aware of how a vulnerable moment could derail his whole day but he needed to understand her reasoning.
“I really don’t know. I was just over here asking myself the same shit,” she replied honestly, in hopes that he would understand the message deeply buried in her words. A messageshe wasn’t sure of. Briana had plagued her brain with the same question and never came up with a good enough reason. There was just something about the broken boy from the hood that held her by her throat.
Hov only nodded, appreciative of her honesty. The chemistry changed, so they rode the rest of the way quietly. Briana pondered over what he asked and why, while Hov beat himself up for feeling vulnerable. That side of him was usually reserved for one person. He felt like he was betraying what they had by being open with another woman.
“Let’s go.” He jumped out the car in a hurry.
The mall was packed since it was the weekend. She didn’t care too much for crowded places but didn’t mind people seeing her with Hov. “What store you want to go in first?” she asked, bouncing on her heels.
His cheeks dimpled. “It doesn’t matter to me. I know you said you had some bread, so what you come in here to get?”
“An outfit for tonight. Let’s go in Forever 21,” she suggested with a smile.
“Hell nah. You can go in there by yourself,” he denied.
She wrapped her arms around him and looked up into his eyes. “Come on, Hov,” she whined.
She was such a cutie, but he didn’t care because he wasn’t going into the store with her. “I’ll be out here waiting for you.” He refused.
Holding onto him a little longer, she savored his scent. “Okay,” she mumbled before going into the store.
Hov took a seat on one of the benches and pulled his phone out to text Knycole.
Hov:What you doing, birthday girl?
Knycole:Oh, so you did remember?
Hov:Yea, so what you want to do today, kid?
Knycole:Feel special.
The last text did something to his soul. He could feel the emotions behind the simple request. Sure, they’d celebrated her birthday before, but back then, money was limited. Nevertheless, he, Rock, and Noir always tried to make the best of the situation. Ms. Nakorea would always buy her a cake with her food stamps, and they’d do their thing. But this year was different. She was turning seventeen, and he had a little money now, so he was going to go all out.
Knowing he wanted to do something unexpected for her, he went over to the Gucci store, forgetting about Briana. Hov had tunnel vision, and in that moment, nothing or no one else mattered besides Knycole. Even though he felt a way about admitting it.
“Can we help you, sir?” a young, black sales associate asked as soon as he walked in the door.
Scratching his head, his eyes scanned the women’s section. “Aye, what y’all girls be liking?”
The girl giggled. “All of it,” she responded. “The main question is, what doesshelike?”
“She’s really simple, you know what I’m saying? And she looks good in everything,” he told her while thinking long and hard about what Knycole would like. “Her favorite color is yellow, so let me get some shit in that color.”
