Five Days Later
I t w a s r a i n i n g hard as hell. Like, the kind of rain that made you want to stay in the house under a blanket with snacks and a good movie.
Getting your pussy ate off the bone and put through the mattress.
But instead, I was driving in my new G-Wagon to spend the evening with voices flying from every direction, pots clinking, and a TV loud in the background.
Better known as… Knuck’s grandmother’s house.
He sat in the passenger seat with Kassim’s diaper bag at his feet and a Styrofoam cup of Don Julio in his hand. “You sure you good wit’ everything the doctor said?”
“I’m fine,” I answered, keeping both hands on the wheel. I could feel his stare. “I’m serious. She said Zoloft starts working in two weeks and therapy every Tuesday at nine.”
Knuck leaned over and kissed my cheek. My stomach fluttered; the postpartum rage diagnosis still pressed heavy on my mind, but his calm beside me helped. “I love you.”
“I know. You’re really okay with the meds?” I asked quietly.
“I’m okay wit’ whatever keeps your head straight,” he said. “Long as it doesn’t mess wit’ that crazy head game.”
I shot him a side-eye. “Keon, focus.”
He smirked and tapped the bottle. “Two weeks, right?”
“Two weeks.”
“Bet. I’ma count ‘em down.”
Rain was still beating down outside when we arrived but I gathered myself and Kassim’s things. Shaking the water off my coat, I stepped carefully inside Granny Evie’s house, easing into the familiar chaos.
“Bout time!” Keema’s voice came from the living room before I even saw her face. “We been waitin’ on the bride-to-be! Get in here and tell us what kinda chicken you want before Uncle Buck puts BBQ sauce on all the wings!”
Inside, heat and commotion swallowed me whole. I dodged pots clanging around me, flinched as the Celtics game blared from the TV, and spotted someone huddled in the corner, their phone speaker leaking R&B. The house smelled like baked chicken, greens, and burnt hair grease.
Knuck handed Kassim to Monae’s eager arms. She pressed kisses to his cheeks. “My baby!”
I slipped my raincoat off, shaking rain from the hem. Uncle Buck lifted his can. “Niggas can’t never arrive nowhere on time,” he teased.
“Ny, your mama is the shit. She had me and Nae’s bridesmaid dresses shipped to the house, so all we gotta do is get ‘em altered. My baby daddy gon’ be sick when he sees me on social media wit’ that sage poppin’ on my chocolate skin, bihhh!”
“Move ‘round, aggy,” Knuck dismissed her, keeping his hand on the small of my back as we moved towards the kitchen. “Milt ain’t thinkin’ ‘bout your ass. Long as he’s still in Nae’s life, that’s all that matters.”
The noise wrapped around me, warm and chaotic. For a second, it felt perfect. Then a knock hammered the door with three solid hits. Every conversation died, Uncle Buck muted the TV, and Monae froze mid-selfie.
Granny Evie kept setting the table like nothing new could surprise her. “Who is it?” she called out.
“Coogs, Granny,” a deep voice answered.
I watched Knuck’s entire body tighten with his eyes fixed on the door, jaw flexing.
Granny Evie’s face lit. “Coogs? I ain’t seen him in years. Keema, go let him in!”
“Fuck, no,” Knuck snapped, but his sister was already swaying to the door.
It swung open, and in walked a tall, Deebo-looking nigga wearing a black coat that dripped puddles on the carpet. He scanned the room like he was looking for someone in particular. His eyes found me, lingered, then slid to Knuck.
Granny shuffled over to the front door to hug him. “You still fine as ever.”
Knuck moved forward deliberately and slowly. “You gotta go, bro.”
Coogs smirked. “Relax. I just came to say what’s up. Didn’t know I was interruptin’ family dinner and shit.”
“You are,” Knuck replied, voice flat.
The room froze. Kassim must’ve felt the tension because he started crying and fussing, so I took him from Monae. I rocked him, whispering into his ear as we all watched the tension unfold.
Coogs stepped closer. “I can’t believe your ass really switchin’ up on a nigga.”
Knuck’s rotated his neck and replied, “Step outside wit’ this shit, Coogs. On God, we ain’t doin’ this shit in front of my fuckin’ family.”
Coogs’ lip curled as he balled up his fists.
“Nigga, fuck that bitch and that baby! I’m the one…
” Knuck closed the distance, yanked his collar, and shoved him into the doorframe so hard the wall shook.
I watched my fiancé pull a gun from the back of his jeans in seconds, bashing it over the dude’s face. “Fuck!” He hollered.
“Keon!” Granny Evie cried out, holding her chest.
“Granny, sit down,” Keema suggested, holding her hand as Uncle Buck tried to assist with Coogs. Knuck brushed him off instantly.
“You think I forgot how to end shit?” Knuck sounded heartless, and it gave me chills.
Granted, I knew he wasn’t all the way clean from the streets.
I’d never seen him check somebody like this.
“I knew you was gon’ be on bullshit, but to bring this shit to my fuckin’ family?
Nah. Find sumn safe to do, my nigga. ‘Cause next time, I’m straight droppin’ your ass. ”
The dude’s smirk faltered, blood leaking from his nose onto his lips. “Bet. Y’all try to stay safe out here.”
Knuck pushed him out the door into the rain and slammed it shut.
For a few seconds, the room was silent. Then Uncle Buck picked up the remote and unmuted the game.
Monae lifted her phone and started snapping pictures.
Keema reached over and turned her music back up.
Granny Evie, shaking her head, mumbled about Coogs “always being impulsive” as she headed back toward the kitchen.
I stood there, caressing Kassim’s back to calm him, but my pulse raced. Knuck put his gun back in his jeans, chest rising and falling. His eyes were dark as he walked over to me and kissed the baby’s head before giving me a peck on the lips. Just like that… the evening went on.
???
K n u c k d r o v e u s home later that night, and I gathered up Kassim to get inside.
Silently, I gave him a quick bath, settled him in the crib, and watched his tiny chest lift steady as he fell asleep.
Exhaling deeply, I walked downstairs and knew Knuck was in his mancave.
Sure enough, I found him shirtless, in his boxer briefs, chain resting against his chest.
“We need to talk,” I huffed, approaching him, ready for some type of answers.
“I don’t wanna do this shit like this, Ny.”
“I don’t give a fuck how you wanna do it,” I said, voice rising. “You pulled a gun out at your grandmother’s house. In front of me, your family… your fuckin’ son.”
“The nigga showin’ up was disrespectful as fuck.”
“Who the fuck is he?!”
Knuck set the glass down with a thud and refilled it. Then, he gulped it down and locked eyes with me. “Nobody you needa know ‘bout.”
I laughed once. “Oh, so now you pick and choose what I’m allowed to know about your life?”
“This ain’t ‘bout what’s allowed,” he said. “This is ‘bout protection.”
“Protection from what?” I demanded. “Who the hell is he, Keon?”
He slammed the glass down on the counter, not hard enough to break it but hard enough to make the point. “You don’t need to be in this shit.”
“I’m already in it!” I yelled, voice shaking now. “I’m not some bitch you fuck and keep in the dark. I’m not your little girlfriend. I’m gonna be your wife in less than a week. I deserve to know what kind of danger you’re bringing to my front door.”
He stepped closer with a deranged look in his eyes. “Ain’t nobody touchin’ you.”
“You don’t know that,” I snapped back. “You can’t control other people’s reactions. You don’t know what he’s plotting after you did what you did tonight. This shit ain’t over.” He grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. We were both breathing hard now. “Tell me who the fuck he is.”
I watched Knuck’s jaw tick and his nostrils flare before he exhaled deeply.
Taking my hand, he brought me over to the leather couch, and we sat down.
He stared at me for a long moment, then he spoke.
“His name’s Coogs,” he said at last, voice low.
“My OG from back in the day. Used to move weight when I was a corner boy.”
I swallowed hard as I listened to every word.
“This nigga got a fed charge and did fourteen upstate. He kept quiet… ain’t never snitch on nobody. I sent commissary every week, made sure his family was straight. The nigga came home and figured the world owes him his spot back.”
“So… he wants money?” I asked.
“He wants back in the streets, and I offered the muthafucka a spot at one of the dealerships instead. He turned it down and got disrespectful.” Knuck’s jaw ticked again. “He sees dealerships, hears ‘bout my family, my seed, and thinks I got soft.”
“Fuck what he thinks, Keon.” I folded my arms, and his eyes narrowed when I said that. “I’m already fighting myself. I can’t fight your past, too.”
The words cracked something in him, and I could tell. “You ain’t never gotta fight my past,” he said. “That’s shit for me to handle.”
“How?”
“That’s for me to worry ‘bout, not you,” he said, eyebrows bunched together as he pulled me into his chest. “All you need to know is that nigga won’t ever come near my family again. On my soul.”
I pulled back a little, eyes locked on his, and I felt the shift. That subtle but violent flip in his energy.
“I’ma handle this shit the only way I know how,” Knuck continued. “Ain’t no more conversations. Ain’t no back-and-forth. That nigga crossed a line he’s not gon’ get the chance to cross again.”
“Knuck…”
He cut me off without raising his voice. “Everything gon’ be straight. You hear me? You gon’ be straight. Kassim gon’ be straight. Everybody.”
I stared at him, heart thumping too loud in my chest. “Should I be scared?”
He chuckled, shaking his head before kissing my lips. “Never that,” he whispered against my lips. Hugging me tightly, he said in my ear, “You should feel lucky you got a nigga who’s never gon’ play ‘bout his respect, his woman, or his family.”
I barely had time to react before he was already pulling away.
“Go take a shower,” he chucked his chin towards the door. “I need a minute.”
I stared at him for a second, the smell of liquor hanging in the air, then headed upstairs with my heart lodged in my throat. I let the shower spray beat on my shoulders until the mirror fogged and the last of the tremor left my hands.
Afterward, I crawled into bed wearing a lace nightie. The house felt heavy but quiet. Rain tapped the windows, and the baby monitor glowed steady green. Worry stayed in my chest, but sleep finally pulled me under.
???
I f e l t K n u c k ’ s beard first, then the slow drag of his tongue along my inner thigh. “Keon,” I whispered, half-asleep.
“Shh.” His voice was a deep ripple against my skin. “Let me talk to you like this.” He hooked his fingers and slid my panties down my legs. His palms pressed my hips to the mattress.
A deep moan slipped from my lips as his tongue stroked me. “I told you I got us, and I mean that shit.” His words vibrated against my clit before his tongue circled it, sucking on it just right.
I sucked in a sharp breath, head dropping back against the pillow. “Babe…” His tongue pressed deeper, sliding through my pussy until the tip flicked over my clit again in tight, steady strokes. My hips lifted off the mattress, body on fire. “Fuucckkk…”
“I’ma always protect you,” he groaned, voice rough. He sucked hard and I gasped, my legs tightening around his shoulders.
My back arched, and a cry tore out of me as I came hard. “Keonnnn!”
Before I could even catch my breath, Knuck climbed up the bed, my eyes connecting with his. His chain hung against his chest as he lowered and kissed my lips deeply. “You don’t ever have to worry, baby,” he said, his eyes dark, intense, still holding that edge from earlier.
He pushed inside me in one long, claiming stroke, filling me until the breath left my chest. “Fuck,” I breathed, nails gripping his shoulders.
He held there for a minute, letting me feel every inch of him and the slow burn of stretch that came with it. “You heard me?”
“Yessss…”
He pulled halfway out, then drove back in, slow and steady. “I protect what’s mine in prayer or gun smoke. Fuckkk…” His hand slid up my stomach, skimmed the swell of my breasts, then wrapped gently around my throat. “…don’t ever question that shit.”
My legs locked around Knuck’s waist as his stroke started getting crazy. “Baaabbbeee… shhiiittt…”
The headboard knocked against the wall with every thrust, his hips rolling. “Nah, tell me you understand, Nyomi, “ he hissed in my ear, hands grippin’ my hips to lock me in.
My fingers raked down his back. “I get… it… ohhh, fuuckkk, I…”
“Say it again,” he grunted, drilling my pussy, relentlessly. “Fuck, baby… fuck. Say that shit again.”
Whole body on fire, my thighs trembled and shook. Pussy sloshing as I came. “I understanddd… shhiiittt… oh, my God… Keon…”
“Mmhmm,” he sucked on my neck, fucking me through my orgasm, not letting up. “Nobody loves you harder, and nobody keeps you safer,” he murmured against my ear. “I fuckin’ love you wit’... mmm… everything in me.” He punctuated the promise with a savage thrust that stole sound from my throat.
“Yessss… fuckfuckfuck… fuucckkk…”
Feeling me clamp around him, he pounded deeper and let loose a guttural groan, pace turning urgent. Two more heavy strokes and he came, burying his face in the crook of my neck. “Fuck, Ny… shit, baby… fuck.”
Both of us were breathing hard as hell for a few moments, and then he rolled off of me, pulling me close to his damp chest. Locking his arms around my waist, I could feel Knuck’s heartbeat thundering.
He lifted my chin, grip firm. “A nigga still learnin’ how to be soft where you need softness, so gimme that time, but remember one thing.” His voice was a little softer now, but still carried that weight.
I nodded, pressing a kiss to the pulse in his throat. “What’s that?”
His palm traced slow circles over my spine. “Ain’t a muthafucka walkin’ this Earth that’ll take me from y’all. Remember that.” He kissed my forehead slowly. “Now, get some sleep.”
I closed my eyes, grounding myself in his warmth and the promise in those words. Whatever chaos waited outside this room, his arms felt like the safest place on earth.