Page 8 of Tangled Hearts

Hov pushed people out the way without a care.

When he laid eyes on the scene in front of him, all he could see was red.

Knycole was in the street crying her eyes out begging her own daddy not to put her out.

His six-foot-three inch stature caught her attention, and she knew nothing good was about to come from his presence.

“Get in the car, Knyc,” Hov commanded, never stopping his stride towards Nick.

Regardless of what was going on, she never wanted to see harm come to her father. “No, Hov.” She put her arms in front of him in hopes of stopping him.

He pushed her to the side with just enough force to move her but without hurting her.

He would never hurt her. “I told you to get your shit together for her, and not only did you disregard my warning, but you do her like this in front of all these nosey muthafuckas.” He needed no response before he knocked Nick on his ass with one hit.

The crowd wasn’t shocked, but that didn’t stop them from mumbling in amusement. Everyone knew Hov wasn’t anything to play with, and although it was messed up that he put his hands on his elder, they knew he was justified with how Nick had put his barely clothed daughter out on the streets.

Knycole rushed to her father crying even harder. She was embarrassed and upset.

“Let’s go.” Hov grabbed her by the arm, dragging her to his car before speeding off.

“You didn’t have to do him like that,” Knycole fussed while they cruised down the street.

“And that nigga shouldn’t have done you like that. I don’t play about you and Noir, and your daddy knows that.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to handle him like that. That’s all the family I have, and I would hate for something to happen to him. Hell, I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She sniffled.

“Ain’t shit gonna happen to me. Your daddy knows better than to talk to the police. Now, I’m ’bout to run in this Walmart and grab you a few things. You need something else important besides clothes?”

Knycole looked out the window before diverting her eyes back to him.

His blemish-free, milk chocolate skin melted under the street lights.

His brows formed a V in the center of his forehead as he waited for her to answer him.

Hov was extremely handsome with a mysterious look and cognac-colored eyes that pierced through you with just a glance.

He could dress his ass off with minimal effort, which only added to his grown man persona.

Hence the reason he was nicknamed Hov. He was always on his Jay-Z shit—his Sean Carter shit.

He had the drive and the wisdom to match the name.

“Knyc.” His eyes bucked at her to get her attention.

“Oh, yea. I need some pads,” she mumbled with slight amusement mixed with shame in her wide, doe-shaped eyes.

His tatted hand brushed down his perfectly squared face. “Man, you tripping, tripping.”

She giggled. “Unless you want me to go in like this…”

“Nah, I got it, man,” he said through gritted teeth, mumbling under his breath before closing the door.

Knycole sat back in her seat with a heavy mind.

Home life for her wasn’t great, but it was home, and she wanted to be there.

Now, she was forced to become a burden on people whose lives were just as messed up.

She wanted to call Noir and Rock but remembered she left her phone at home.

Looking around in the car, she spotted Hov’s phone in the cupholder.

Before she could dial Rock, a call came through and she answered, “hello?”

“Hello…who is this?” Briana asked with an attitude.

“Um, this is Knycole. Who is this?” she replied.

“Briana. Where is Hov?”

“He ain’t here right now, but I’ll tell him you called.”

“Y’all must have something going on?” Briana asked as if she didn’t know Rock was with Knycole.

“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.”

He didn’t answer, just let her words hang in the stale air.

She slid closer, her hand landed on his thigh. “Say you love me, Rock. Just say it.”

His throat worked.

He wanted to.

It sat right there, heavy as hell. But his mind replayed her with other dudes, laughing, letting them get close. He knew her loyalty bent easy when she felt ignored. It made him swallow the words back down.

Instead he said, “I care about you more than you know.”

She frowned. “That’s not the same.”