Gangsta Love

The Thug That Saved Me

She felt kinda relieved once she made it into the store and no one had followed her. She moved fast to the aisle with the tampons and rushed to the front counter to pay for them.

"$5.67 is your change mam." said the cashier.

"Thank you." Stacy snatched the money and headed for the exit when a tall figure stood in her way. When she looked up, it wasnt the most pleasant face in the world.

He was about 6'3 with cuts and scrapes on his face with an odor that didnt compliment him in any way.

"Excuse me." Stacy stepped the the left but the man blocked her and soon another smaller male figure stepped up blocking the left side of the exit.

Stacy stepped to the right hoping she could squeeze through and break for it but soon a third male figure blocked the right side.

"I just want to go home please." she cried.

The tallest man moved his men to the side to let Stacy walk pass. She walked fast going back the way she came only to realize those same men were following her. She picked up her pace and,sprinting, giving the men a reason to chase her.

Her speed was no match for the theirs and they easily caught up to her; surrounding her on every side and forcing her in the alley behind them.
Repeatedly, she asked them to leave. Instead they laughed in her face. They pulled and tugged at her clothes as they pushed her back against the brick wall.

"The knife." she thought to herself. Just as she pulled it out to defend herself, she's punched in the stomach.

"You tried to stab me bitch! Huh?"
He yells at her when she hits the ground.

Stacy groans, placing her hand to her stomach and crawls backwards trying to get away from the men as they go deeper into the alley. The exit clearly blocked, the men get closer ready to attack when...

SCUUURT! A black-on-black Audi pulls up to the alley. The three men scatter but there was no where to hide. They recognized that car, that music and the 6'4 dark skinned man who was stepping out of his luxury car with his gun pointed at them.

"The fuck yall doing over here?" he asked them, moving closer But the men were too scared to respond. He looked behind the three fools and saw Stacy still lying on the ground, frozen solid and afraid.

"You must want me to bust a cap in your asses dont cha?" he walked closer to them, pressing the barrel of the gun to each of their foreheads. The men shook their heads rapidly with scrunched up faces and nervous sweat running down between their eyes. "Now i told yall mother fuckas i didnt want to see you on this side of town ever again and yet here you are. And not only that but you got the Got Damn nerve to be preying on girls."

He threw a fist at the tallest guy knowing he was the ring leader. Seeing their leader fall hard to the ground scared the other two straight. "Please dont let me catch yall around here again. Next time it wont be my fist that knocks yo ass out."

The other two men grab their friend and run fast out of the alley. Once they were gone, he turned his attention to Stacy who still hadnt moved.

"You ok? They didnt hurt you did they?" he asked as he helped her up from the ground.

"No. I-im ok."

"What you doing on this side of town? Ive never seen you before. You must be new. Any local can tell you this is no place for a pretty lady like yourself."

He walked over to grab her bag and knife up from the ground then handed it to her.

"I just got a little lost thats all." she said shyly.

"Do you need a ride home?"

Stacy thought for a second. She had her tampons but going back home wasnt exactly her first option. She knew her dad was probably looking for her now and all hell would break loose if she didnt show up soon. But maybe if she waited for Dante to come back and explained to him what happened, it would change some things for the better.

She nodded and walked back with him to his car. Like a true gentleman, he held the door open until she was inside and then closed it shut.

"I never did get your name." he said taking his eyes off the road for a split second.

"Oh, its Stacy."

"Stacy?  My names Knowledge. And i take it that was your first time on the Valley side."

"Ive been before. Just never by myself."

"You dont have to be shy with me baby girl. I dont bite unless you ask me to." Knowledge teased, trying to get her to look up at him. "Am i making you uncomfortable?"

"No, no. I-im fine."

Soon Knowledge was pulling up to Dante's house. He put the gear in park.

"Thanks for the ride." Stacy grabbed her bag and opened the car door.

She rushed inside the house to the bathroom, cleaned herself up and changed into a pair of Dante's pajama pants.

It was well after 9 pm by the time Dante came back. Stacy was asleep but awoke when he entered the room. She pretended to still be asleep, listening to him creep around the room and ease in the bed behind her.

"Where the fuck have you been Dante! You ain't been with JoJo this whole time." Stacy sat up and crossed her arms.

"Yes I have baby."

"So what is that mark on your neck?" she raised an eyebrow waiting for his stupid excuse.

"Oh... That's probably from...uh..."

Stacy climbed out of bed and began to pack her change of clothes into her bag.

"What are you doing?" he asked

"Leaving! I had a feeling you were cheating but I didn't think you would be stupid enough to get caught with a hickey."

"Baby, please let me explain."

"You had more than enough time to explain why you didn't want to be with me anymore. But you wanted the best of both worlds. Well let that bitch deal with you because I'm done."

Stacy threw her bag over her shoulder and was headed down stairs to leave when Dante ran behind her and stopped her.

"Wait, at least let me take you home. I can't take back what I did but I can at least make sure you get home safe."

Stacy agreed and got in the car with him. She refused to say one word to him. There was nothing to talk about and Dante was too scared to say anything. When he pulled up to her house, she got out and slammed the door closed.

This had to be the worst day of her life. Dante was supposed to be the love of her soul mate; Her Forever. But there was no way she would stay with a man that cheats regardless of how long they've been together. The thought of her being "back on the market" was bitter sweet. No Dante meant no protection other than her father and to her that wasn't enough. If she thought the Valley incident was bad, little did she know things were only going to get worse.