Acknowledge Me

Toya

***Destiny in the media***

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone/Only darkness everyday" -Bill Withers

"What's wrong baby," I ask alarmed, as a look of pure horror mars his face.
"We gotta get to Shine." Hakeem says seemingly in a daze.
"What's going on with my brother Hakeem," I ask starting to panic. If the look on my man's face is any indication, my brother is in some deep shit right now.
Hakeem shakes his daze and runs to the closet to grab his Nike Slides, "Throw some flip flops on, we got to go. I don't know what's going on but Nisha just called from his phone saying I needed to come get Shine and his bitch before they bleed to death."
"What the hell happened? Why would she say something like that? What happened?" Firing off questions while scrambling to get into some slippers, I follow behind Hakeem who's already halfway out the door.
"Stop asking all these questions Toya and bring your ass on." Hakeem says forcibly making me roll my eyes but I run out the door behind him anyways.
The ride over to Shine's house seems to take forever but in all actuality the ride that usually takes 10 minutes, Hakeem  accomplishes in 3.
Barely coming to a complete stop we both hop out of the car, leaving it running, and sprint into Shine's house which is wide open.
"Oh my God!" I scream at the horrific sight of my brother bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
"What the fuck happened man?" Hakeem asks as he rubs his head and then rushes to pick my brother up Bridal style carrying him out to his truck. If this had been any other day the sight of Hakeem carrying Shine like that would have been funny but Shine looks to be barely hanging on. Looking at my brother in such a helpless state makes tears well up in my eyes. Why would she do this Hakeem?"
I survey the room and unexpectedly come across some unfamiliar girl. I slap her in an attempt to wake her up. She shoots up in surprise and the look in her eyes is one of pure terror.
"Come on, get up we have to get you to the hospital to get your arm checked out." I say as I offer my hand to help her up.
Poor thing looks hesitant to let me help her so I put on my best smile to show her I'm not looking to harm her.
She reluctantly clasps my hand and allows me to help her up and I follow behind Hakeem.
"Baby I need you to drive us to the hospital quick," Hakeem requests as he gets in the backseat with Shine.
Scary ass is standing by the car looking like a little lost puppy. "Get in the car or get left, ain't nobody trying to do anything to you." I bark as I get in the car and put it in reverse ready to leave her for real.
Catching the hint, Scary ass jumps in the car and buckles her seatbelt as I swerve out of Shine's driveway.
"What happened to you?" Hakeem asks as he applies pressure to the gunshot wound in Shine's arm and hip.
"Nisha came home to Destiny giving me top. She nutted the fuck up and started blasting on both of us." Shine says yelping in pain at the pressure Hakeem is putting on his wounds.
"Where is Nisha at anyway?" I ask instantly becoming irate.
"I don't know sis, she left." Shine replies breathlessly.
"So you mean to tell me she purposely shot you and left you for dead like it was nothing?" I ask getting more and more heated. Coming home to my brother with some hoe in their house must have been a blow. I understand that but Nisha took this shit too far. Trying to murder my brother over some dick she been knew was for everybody is too fucking far.
Shine draws my attention back to him when he starts coughing up blood.
"Come on man, don't you die on me man," Hakeem cries out as Shine begins to close his eyes.
"No noooo, NO!" I scream as I watch my brother's body slump and blood pour out of his mouth.

......

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Who the fuck is knocking on my door like they're the police?" Nisha ask as she swings the door open with a mug to match her obvious attitude.
I don't care about any of that right now though. I steal on Nisha, hitting her dead in her eye. I didn't come here to talk I came to beat this bitch within an inch of her life.
"What the fuck Toya!" Nisha screams losing her balance at the suddeness of my assault but I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I guess it dawns on her that I didn't come to chit-chat because she finally gets her stance together and fights back.
For a minute we're going toe-to-toe; matching two-piece for two piece, jab for jab but this shit is far beyond personal. My anger and adrenaline for the situation she selfishly put my brother in overrides the fact that Nisha has hands for days. I pummel Nisha to a bloody pulp until my body is lifted in the air. Even still I'm trying to attack her like a feral animal, screaming obscenities trying to get away from the one holding me back.
"Calm your ass down LaToya," Hakeem says lowly but forcefully, "I told you not to come over here starting shit."
"Let me go, Hakeem, so I can finish beating this bitch's ass." I snap like a rabid dog trying to get out of Hakeem's hold, but even as angry as I am I can't match his strength.
"Fuck you too Toya." Nisha says as she picks herself up off the ground, wiping blood from her lip.
"No fuck you, you dizzy bitch how could you do this? HOW?!"
Nisha tenses up, "Don't come at me like that Toya, you don't know what went down-"
"Bitch please," I cut Nisha off before she gets to playing the victim, "You been with my brother for how many years? He been cheating on your stupid ass for how many years? I don't feel sorry for you because you knew what type of nigga Shine was when you got with him. You knew because I told you. No matter how many times we begged you to leave you stayed knowing he had Community dick. You shot my brother up and left him for dead because of the disrespect you allowed. You killed my brother because of some shit you allowed. You're so fucking stupid. You ruined your life and your daughter's life over something that was never exclusively yours anyway but you just wait. Imma make you pay for this shit!" I scream as tears flood my face. I can't believe that I'm sitting here having this conversation with my best friend. My heart crumbled into a thousand pieces when I watched my brother's lifeless body be rushed into surgery. Despite his infidelity issues my brother was good to Nisha on all other levels and didn't deserve to be shot up and left for dead. Fight him, tear his shit up, fuck his friend or whatever but to shoot my brother was too far and unforgivable.
Nisha's whole body softens as her lips quiver, "Miko's dead?" She asks just above a whisper but I have no more words for her.
"Let's go Hakeem," I turn to leave my condo. My niece is the only reason I'm not putting Nisha out but best believe that'll only lasts so long before she has to get out of my condo.
"Toya!" Nisha pleads as she chases behind me but I continue to ignore her.
I guess my unwillingness to speak on my brother triggers something in her because Nisha stops me in my tracks with her next words. "I made a mistake and I might be dumb over Miko but you ain't no better than me bitch. You prance around here thinking that you're better than me when in reality you're just like me. Knowledge may not be cheating but he's stringing you along just like the rest of our niggas. As big as you talk your ass ain't going nowhere either. Knowledge is never going to marry you and if I was him I wouldn't marry your insecure, stuck up ass either."
Hurt doesn't encompass the stinging I feel and my chest at Nisha's words but I'll be damned if she sees me sweat, "In the event that I am on the 10 year girlfriend plan at least I have my freedom to find somebody new. Your ass is about to be locked up in a cage for life because of some dick you been knew wasn't yours. Don't worry though, I'll raise my niece up to be nothing like her stupid ass mama. Say what you want but Hakeem will never have me out here doing the dizzy shit you got going on, trust that bitch."
Nisha lunges at me and I square up preparing myself for her assault. Hakeem blocks Nisha, swooping her up in his arms while cutting his eyes at me. "Get in the car LaToya!" Hakeem yells at me, keeping a firm hold on Nisha. "NOW!" he screams causing me to jump. I storm to my Beamer, getting in and starting the car. Hakeem jumps in my car before I can pull off and immediately starts going in on me, "What the fuck is wrong with you LaToya? I told your ass specifically not to come over here making shit worse and at the first chance you disobey me."
"She shot my brother and left him for dead. If you thought I was going to let that slide you are crazy. You can be mad all you want but I'm not sorry, so if you're expecting some kind of apology fuck her and fuck you too."
Hakeem yokes me up by the collar of my shirt, "Who the fuck are you talking to LaToya? Don't get fucked up because all that mouth you got right now ain't gone fly."
I'm still livid but I know when to simmer down.
Giving me one last hard look, Hakeem let's go of my shirt and sits back in my passenger seat sighing, "You think I'm not feeling some type of way right now LaToya? Shine is my best fucking friend. You think I'm not hurting just like you? That shit you doing ain't gone help nobody though. You know if Shine was up he wouldn't appreciate you stepping to Nisha like you did. Why did you tell her he was dead anyway? He may be messed up but he's not dead."
"It serves her right. I hope she's in there crying her eyes out and losing her mind over the fact she "killed" my brother. Fuck that bitch. As far as I'm concerned, Shine is dead to her."
Hakeem shakes his head at me. Trying to diffuse the mood a little he adds, "I've never seen you like this. Who knew your little spoiled princess ass was an undercover Thug."
I laugh for the first time since all this mess occurred, "My daddy, uncles and big brother's are the biggest dope dealers in Georgia, you know they didn't raise no punk. I sit pretty because I can but I can go there."
"Alright gangster." Hakeem chuckles, "What are you going to tell Shine when he wakes up and finds out what you did?"
Right now Shine is in a medically-induced coma. Thankfully the bullets pierced no vital organs and went through but Shine lost a lot of blood so they put him in a coma to give his body time to heal.
"Shine knows me well enough to know I wasn't going to let that slide so he'll be mad at me for a little while because it's her but he'll get over it."
"I guess" Hakeem says as we settle into silence, trailing off into our own thoughts. As much as I don't want to let what Nisha said get in my head, I can't help but be bothered. I love Nisha, I love my mom and I love my auntie's but as much as I love them I refuse to be a duplicate of the mistakes they've made in relationships. I refuse to be one of those women that makes their situation something that it isn't. I just can't fathom that life.
I turn to Hakeem, "Do you ever plan on marrying me?"
"Not this again," Hakeem says rolling his eyes, "We already talked about this Toya."
"Yes this again Hakeem," I roll my eyes at him, "You knew from the beginning that I did not plan on being anybody's 15-year girlfriend and I feel like that's what you're trying to do to me. I don't buy the whole 'I have to get over my insecurities and trust you fully before we can get married' spiel. Especially with you saying that you're never going to leave me. So if you're never going to leave me what does it matter if I have 'insecurities'or not," I say sarcastically putting emphasis on the insecurities part with air quotations. "I feel like you're just trying to string me along and I'm not going to do that with you. I'm not one of these broads that is going to hang on to your every word. I specifically told you if by five years we're not married, we're not going to be together anymore and I'm not playing."
"I'm not having this conversation with you again because it's pointless and you don't listen. We got more important stuff to worry about right now then you and your delusional ass wedding." Hakeem dead pans, pissing me off in the process.
"Go ahead Hakeem; treat me like a joke if you want to but I guarantee I'll be the one who has the last laugh. Just know that we've been together for 4 years and there's no ring on this finger," I wave my left hand in the air, "You have exactly one year to propose and marry me or I can show you better than I can tell you. We will cease to exist as a couple. So feel how you feel and say what you gotta say but just know that I warned you. Now I would appreciate it if you would get out of my car."
Hakeem smirks at me, "Like I said, ain't nobody stuntin you or this delusional ass wedding you got planned up in your head. You talking about us getting married and you don't even trust me. What kind of sense does that make? But I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now so whatever." Hakeem says as he opens my car door, "Where are you about to go right now?"
"Don't worry about where I'm going" I say heatedly, "Worry about what you're going to do when I leave you. One year Hakeem and I'm out, remember that."
"Nobody has time to play games with you today , where are you going?" Hakeem asks totally ignoring what I just said and he can do that if he wants too but I'm dead serious.
I ignore him as I text Kim to ask her if it's okay if I stay at her place for a couple days. I know that Hakeem isn't going to go for this, being that he can't stand Kim but I really don't care at this point. After the day I've had, I need a break from everything and everybody.
Hakeem looks at me and I guess after seeing that I'm done talking to him he shakes his head at me and then slams my door, walking off to his Range.
"Go best friend, thass my..." I barely let the phone ring before I pick up for Kim. "Biiiiiitch what happened? I know it has to be juicy for you to be asking to stay at my house." Kim asks loudly.
I cringe at the use of that bitch word but forge on because I need to vent. As I fill Kim in on the events of today I pull out of Nisha's driveway unsure of if my relationship will last with her or Hakeem.