HARD KNOX(2)

Fucking right.

My grandmother, all five foot nothing of her would wind up and smack the shit out of my mother like she was a child.

All the while my old man was out on the street hustling. See, at that time, he was moving illegal car parts and hustling motorcycle deals, working his way into the club that would save all of us.

Anyway, back to the f*cking yellow truck.

I saw a woman hop out of the driver’s seat of the truck. She was an adult, but damn, she was kind of hot. She stopped, put her hands to her hips, and looked up to the second floor apartment that was her new home. The other people that had lived there before were real treats. A single mother with three daughters and she treated the place like her own porn and drug house. I hooked up with her oldest daughter and saw enough in that place that it was nice when the FOR RENT sign popped up in the window.

I would never knew what happened to the family that left, which was good.

The woman outside the yellow truck looked at me. I put my hands to the railing on my porch and leaned forward. I grinned and took a drag of my smoke.

She quickly turned her head.

I guess she was too adult for a little wild thing on the side.

I started a countdown in my head until I would be able to get close enough to f*ck that woman, but the countdown went to zero when the passenger door opened.

And that was the moment I met her.

That’s when f*cking Ana came crashing into my life.

Long legs in tight jeans, a red hoodie, blondie hair sort of messy, and a pink bag tossed over her shoulder. She took two steps and froze when she saw me. The second our eyes met, I knew we were going to end up in some serious trouble.

And then she made the first move.

She f*cking waved to me.

Just like that… she sealed her fate for the rest of her damn life.





The yellow truck left and turned around. It backed up to the steps of the apartment. I just stood there, enjoying a second smoke. Yeah, it was a bad habit to pick up at a young age, but it was the only thing that kept me calm and focused. I was still a few years away from the beginning of my reign in * so cigarettes were all I had. I would get drunk but that cost money and any of the booze in the house was consumed by the old man. He drank whiskey when he brushed his teeth. It was like water would poison him or some shit.

Ana’s mother walked to the back of the yellow truck and opened the door. There wasn’t much shit in the truck but enough that it would make the job a pain in the ass for two people.

Chivalry wasn’t quite in my arsenal so I stood there and watched as the two of them fought to take boxes out of the truck. A few times, they both would look at me as though they f*cking expected me to help. I wasn’t some goddamn butler or something.

Then they got to the beds.

Ana’s mother tried to slide one of the box springs out and it toppled over and almost smacked Ana in the face. She jumped back and yelled. Then her mother lost her cool. She dropped to her knees and started to pound on the box spring, breaking down into tears.

Now that got my attention.

I stood at the railing again, watching the scene unfold.

Ana went to her mother and touched her back. Then she looked back at me. From the distance, her blue eyes instantly sank into me like goddamn fangs on a venomous snake.

I took the cigarette from my mouth and tossed it over the railing. I jumped the railing and walked over to them.

“Hey,” I said to Ana.

That’s when she told me her name.

Her mother had already stood up and walked away, probably embarrassed that she was crying like a damn fool.

I grabbed the box spring and picked it up. “Where we going with this?” I asked Ana.

“My mother’s name is Abby,” she said. “I don’t know why I just told you that.”

“Abby and Ana,” I said. “Sounds like a crappy kids’ show.”

She smirked.

Her mother then appeared, looking cleaned up.

Her mother had some dirty ass hollowed out eyes. I could tell right from the jump she was a mess.

“Where to, Mrs….” I stopped for effect, knowing I was being an ass for even dropping the whole Mrs. thing.

“Abby is fine,” she said.

I looked at Ana.

Later I would find out Ana’s father had been caught cheating and had tried to attack she and her mother, leaving his ass in jail and Ana and her mother on the street. That explained why she was in my shitty neighborhood.

I lifted the box spring on my own.

“I can help,” Abby said.

“I’m good,” I said.

I grew up strong and wasn’t afraid to show it off. Oh-f*cking-well to anyone who didn’t like it. I had a rusted weight set in the musty basement of the apartment-slash-house. I lifted. I ran. I got into tons of fights. I was built to kill, but at that point in life I hadn’t killed anyone.

I carried the box spring up to the apartment. How ironic that the box spring was for Ana’s bedroom, the same room where I hooked up with some chick before. We didn’t go all the way in there though, but damn close.

The same would happen with Ana…

I carried up the box springs, the mattresses, half taped, overflowed boxes, and all the small pieces of furniture.

My boy Matteo cruised by on his motorcycle and saw me. He stopped for a little bit to help me get the couch and love seat upstairs. The entire time I worked, I just kept staring at Ana.