Tasha's hand landed across her face so hard the ginger ale flew into the back seat. “Bitch, you been fuckin’ my man?”
Shyann held her jaw, trying to find the right words to say, but her words got stuck in the back of her throat. “Tasha, I… I … it’s … it’s?—”
Tasha shook her head, mocking every word. “I… I … it’s … it’s.” Tasha pounced on her. “Shut up, lyin’ hoe.”
Shyann screamed, dropping her bags as she was clawing at Tasha’s arm, but Tasha was possessed. She dragged Shyann’s head down toward the horn, the loud, steadyBEEEEEEPechoing through the parking lot as Tasha pounded into her skull. “Tasha, what the fuck?—?!”
Every lie, every fake smile, every text she sent to Juelz was a play in Tasha's face. Tasha didn’t stop hitting Shyann until she was slumped against the door, crying and bleeding from her lip.
“Don’t, Tasha, me, hoe!” she yelled, getting out of the car to walk around to Shyann's side of the vehicle. She grabbed a fistful of Shyann’s wig and dragged her onto the pavement. “Getcho ass outta the car, hoe! You smilin’ and shit in my face, and fuckin’ Jue behind my back at the same time!”
Punch…
“Bitch, I let you come into my house?—”
“T, let go! It wasn’t like that!” Shyann shrieked, kicking her leg up, trying to push her off.
Tasha didn’t care. She wasn’t hearing shit. Shyann was spitting. She was on top of her now, swinging, open palm, closed fist, whatever landed. “Bitch, you ‘posed to be my friend. Outtaall the niggas out here, you fucked mine? I should kill you out here, hoe.”
“Get off me!” Shyann screamed, trying to yank away, but Tasha caught her again, nails digging into her neck. When Shyann managed to lift her head to gasp for air, Tasha’s foot connected hard with her right eye. It swelled shut instantly.
By the time bystanders rushed over to pull Tasha off, Shyann was a bloody swollen mess. Her shirt was ripped, one lash was hanging off her eyelid, and blood was smeared across her mouth.
Tasha stood there, held back by two men, her chest heaving as she fought for air. She wasn’t weak in that moment, she had found strength she didn’t realize she had, despite having surgery yesterday. “Naw! Lemme go. I’m ‘bout to dog walk this hoe.” Tasha yelled. “Don’t youevercome near me again. You dead to me bitch.DEAD,you hear me?DEAD!” she broke free from their arms. “If you wanted to sample the dick? All you had to do was ask, bitch. We probably coulda fucked the nigga together. But you went about it the wrong fuckin’ way.”
Shyann wiped her mouth, looking up from the pavement with one good eye. “Tasha, listen to me?—”
Tasha didn’t let her finish, she swung on her one last time. “Fuck you, Shy! You were my friend.”
She spat at Shyann and climbed into the driver’s seat, slammed the door, and peeled off, leaving the scent of burnt rubber and betrayal in the air.
Shyann was trying to tear the remaining of her wig off that was still hanging on by the glue as she cried out. “Nooo. Don’t letta take my carrr!”
Tasha drove like a bat out of hell, her hands steady on the wheel as her heart thundered against her ribs. She pulled Shyann’s car into the driveway, her hands still locked tight on the wheel. Her whole body was a world of rage, betrayal, and disbelief, fighting for space in her chest. But her mind wassomewhere else. Cloudy. Scattered. The world felt like it was tilting on its axis.
Once she arrived at her and Juelz's home, she was overheated. Seeing red. She couldn’t believe they betrayed her like that.
She stumbled out of the car, her movements jagged. She slammed the door with a desperate, bone-deep strength, so hard that the driver’s side window shattered, the glass raining down onto the pavement like diamonds.
She didn't even flinch at the sound. She was mumbling to herself, her voice a low, jagged hiss of curses and hatred. She turned toward the house, her eyes fixed on the front door, when she heard it?—
CRASH.
The sound of metal groaning against the pavement made her spin around. Because of the rage blinding her, Tasha hadn’t realized she had never put the car in park. She watched, frozen, as the car rolled backwards. It gained speed, heavy and unstoppable, backing straight out of the driveway.
She walked into the house, swinging the door open so hard that the doorknob crashed into the drywall. The house was quiet, and it made her blood boil.
“JUELZ!”she roared, hervoice cracking the silence of the foyer.“You muthafucka! Get out here!”She was holding her abdomen, as she bent down.“NOWWWW!”
He didn’t answer. She was alone. She went upstairs to the master bathroom and closed the door. She stripped off her sweat-soaked, hospital-scented clothes and stepped into the shower. She scrubbed her knuckles—sore and bruised from Shyann’s face—until the skin was raw. The more she scrubbed, the more she could smell Shyann’s perfume.
When she stepped out of the shower, she dressed in her black lace panty set and tied a loose black silk robe around her waist.She looked at herself in the mirror. She was pale, and her eyes were dark, but all she saw was a woman who was done being a victim.
The night was still young,but the house felt heavy. Tasha moved through it like a stranger, each step loud. Drawers were open, clothes tossed, the air thick with frustration. Juelz still hadn’t shown his face. She didn’t know if he was hiding or just avoiding her, but either way, it had her tight.
The Bluetooth speaker blasted Aaliyah, soft, sad, and familiar.
“How could the one I gave my heart to…”
