Page 76 of Tangled Hearts

The shop smelled like fresh paint and ink. It smelled brand new. The kind of smell that only permeated the air when it was something grand being built from the ground up. It smelled like dreams.

Music played from the speakers—Something by Cash. A record that had everyone humming along while laughing over food containers spread across the counter.

The space was bright and the walls were lined with Rock’s sketches. Each one a piece of him.

Rock was working on a piece for one of his day-one homies. He looked legit. Sleeves rolled up with his face focused but smiling between strokes.

Rock’s energy was different now. It wasn’t about running the block or proving himself through pain.

It was about building something that belonged to him.

He had his daughter giggling, his sister on his line more these days, Mae Lou proud of him, and a woman in his life that challenged him without breaking him down.

The family he used to think he’d never have was right here. It wasn’t perfect, but it was his. And looking around the shop, hearing laughter mix with the buzz of his machine, Rock knew this was the kind of full he could live with forever.

Shakeisha sat in a chair with Rodeisha on her lap, her daughter’s braids clicking with beads as she bounced to the beat. Mae Lou and Rocky had stopped by earlier, leaving Rock proud but a little on edge, now it was just them—his chosen circle.

He was on edge because life felt too perfect. He was still figuring out how to accept the good days since the only days he remembered had been bad.

Knycole leaned against a wall, watching everything with a light in her eyes.

For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t carrying heaviness.

Noir, big and pregnant, was across from her, recording little clips on her phone, hyping everybody up like always.

Cash sat next to her, one hand on her thigh, laughing at something Qua’s smart ass said.

Knycole looked over at Shakeisha. For a second, they locked eyes, the air thick with everything unsaid. Then Knycole pushed off the wall, walked over, and held her hand out. “Come dance with me.”

Rock stopped working. At this point, he had love for Knycole but how she felt wasn’t a concern of his anymore. It had to be that way if he and Hov wanted to operate as brothers.

Shakeisha blinked, then smirked. “Girl, don’t try to outdance me.”

Knycole put her hand to God. “No competition.”

Shakeisha smiled and made her way to the makeshift dance floor. This was Rock’s grand opening and he’d been busy all day. Now, he was eager to turn up with his people.

Ralo’s Dream Last Night started playing and Rock put his ink gun down to vibe out with his people.

Cash knocked Noir’s thick leg off him, standing to his feet with his boys.

Hov was last. Always having to peep the scene.

He hiked his jeans up and went to his brothers. “Bruh, I had a dream last night, that everything went right.”

“You better not fuck with my brother…” Rock rapped.

Cash came in, the professional, smooth cause he knew what he was doing. “Yea… I got my money right, money right.”

Knycole helped Noir get up, Shakeisha went to sit down feeling like this was their moment, but Knycole had other plans. She waved her up again. The kids jumped up and down, getting hype with their parents.

“Something told me that you wasn’t right, I knew it.” Noir waved her hands, mimicking what she saw Cash do on stage.

Shakeisha cracked up, singing a part too. “You know my nigga still my nigga if we get into it.”

“You need to tell me you love me even when we be beefin’,” Knycole got into Hov’s face but didn’t move fast enough before he was kissing her lips.

“I tell him, gone and free Trouble, that’s my thief in the night,” they all yelled.

“We too lit!” Rock yelled, looking around his shop at his people.

Life felt beautiful, felt right, a beautiful, tangled mess but theirs.

“Watch out,” Noir grabbed Destiny up. She was full on walking now and sometimes the bigger kids would forget she wasn’t as advanced as them. They loved their little cousin and Cash accepted her.

Noir scooped Destiny onto her hip like it was second nature.

Nobody had to ask how the baby ended up with her, it was written in everything she did.

After Christian was killed and Chanta went down for shooting her own brother, the streets turned their backs on Destiny.

Chanta’s family wanted nothing to do with her, not after the shame and the blood.

The baby would’ve ended up in the system if Noir hadn’t stepped in.

That was what Chanta wanted to talk to her about.

It wasn’t a decision Noir sat on or prayed over.

She just did it. Because in her heart, Destiny was a piece of Christian she wasn’t ready to let go of.

A reminder of a man who broke her down and loved her in the same breath.

Taking care of Destiny gave her a purpose on the days when grief tried to choke her out.

She carried that little girl like a badge and a burden, proud and aching at the same time.

Some people whispered that she was crazy for it, others thought she was doing too much. Noir didn’t care. She loved Destiny with her whole chest, even when it hurt. That baby was innocent, and if the world was gonna fail her mama and her daddy, Noir swore it wouldn’t fail her too.

Cash never questioned it either. He didn’t flinch when Destiny’s name got added to the list of people he looked out for. His hand on Noir’s belly said enough. He accepted both of them.

Hov bent down to kiss his niece making her laugh. He’d forgiven Noir and they were back tight like nothing ever happened.

Hov couldn’t keep his hands off Knycole, and she still blushed like it was her first time being noticed by him.

His hand slid around her waist while she tipped her chin up, their mouths brushing before turning into a full-on kiss.

She laughed against his lips, pushing his chest lightly, but stayed tucked close to him.

Life was different now. Hov was knee deep in real estate.

Flipping houses, buying lots, and putting his name on paperwork he never thought he’d touch.

Knycole was killing it in school, top of her class and already talking about what came after.

Together, they were building something real.

She had moved into his big house and turned it into a home, filling the walls with family pictures, canvases from local artists, and drawings Qua had made.

What used to feel empty, now carried love in every corner.

She’d surprised him a few months back engraving the headstone for his mama.

He hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it, too much pain in the thought of memorializing her when he never got the chance to heal what was broken.

Knycole had handled it, unveiling it to him one cool morning.

His chest nearly gave out when he read the words etched across the stone:

A tangled soul, always my mama.

He’d stood there with his arms wrapped around Knycole, his face pressed into her hair, letting the tears fall for the first time in years. That moment cemented her place in his life more than anything else could.

Now, at Rock’s grand opening, Hov held her close, proud of the woman who’d walked through fire with him.

Proud of himself too, for choosing to keep going when everything in him had once screamed to give up.

She leaned in to kiss him again, her lips warm, soft, certain of his place in her life.

He gripped her tighter, letting the noise of the crowd fade while he focused on her.

“You happy?” she whispered against his mouth.

“Best I ever been,” he answered, his voice low but heavy with truth. He kissed her again, sealing the moment.

She looked around getting teary eyed at how far they all came—four flats.

Knycole thought about it all—the fights, the heartbreaks, the secrets, the lessons. She looked around at every face, each one tied to her in ways no one else could understand.

Hearts didn’t break here. They tangled. They stretched. They tied knots, loosened them, and sometimes unraveled. But no matter what, they were bound. And that was family.

The End