When Realness Goes Too Far

in #hive-1707988 months ago

When Realness Goes Too Far



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So there was this dude, we'll call him Tunde,Tunde was a real solid guy, always holding it down for his people and seeing the good in everybody. But he had this one person in his circle who was bucking all the way outta pocket with disrespect lately.

I'm talking about his homeboy Kazeem. Now Kazeem was one of those cats who thought he was just "keeping it real" with his opinions and all, but really, he was just masking his rudeness behind that whole "I'm just being honest" type talk, you know what I mean?

Dude had a way of hitting Tunde with these underhanded compliments and low-key jobs that felt like a million tiny paper cuts over time. It started off small at first – little jokes here and there about Tunde's style or his dating situations.
Kazeem would be like, “hey, I see you finally got a haircut and don't look so busted!" Or he'd clown Tunde for still being single, telling him to "handle that" before all the good ones were taken.

Just typical guy banter, right? Tunde tried to laugh it off at first and not take things too seriously. He knew his boy Kazeem didn't really mean any real harm with those little quips. But then, things started escalating over time, and those little jabs turned into straight gut punches coming left and right.

It got to the point where Kazeem was just unloading on Tunde about his whole life – critiquing his job, his lack of ambition, how he dressed, you name it! Dude was tearing Tunde's world apart piece by piece, all under the guise of "just keeping it real" and not sugar-coating the truth.

And the messed up part? Kazeem acted like he wasn't even registering how harsh and uncalled for a lot of his comments really were. Like he was totally oblivious to the sting behind his toxic words. Tunde would try to brush it off, but deep down, those insults were really getting to him in a bad way.

There's nothing worse than having someone who's supposed to be your road dog just constantly raining on your parade and making you question everything about yourself. After months of enduring that kind of treatment, Tunde was at his wit's end, and self-doubt was setting in.

That's when he realized something had to give. Kazeem clearly wasn't picking up on any hints or social cues about how messed up his behavior really was. The usual heart-to-heart talks weren't cutting it – dude was like Teflon, with all that "real talk" just sliding right off him without any real reflection.

So Tunde figured, you know what? Maybe it's time to hit Kazeem with a dose of his own toxic medicine and see how he likes the bitter taste for once. An eye for an eye, as they say – the only way for Kazeem to truly understand the impact of his hurtful words.

From there, it was on sight! Anytime Tunde would link up with his disrespectful buddy, he made it a mission to fire back with his own personalized insults and criticisms. If Kazeen came with some slick comments about Tunde's career, you best believe the clapbacks were locked and loaded.

"Damn Kazeem, I see you STILL working at that dead-end job with no real upward mobility, huh? Better start investing in some clown makeup 'cause that's your whole career path summed up right there!"

When Kazeem tried poking fun at Tunde's dating prospects, it was intervention time from his so-called friend. "Bruh, let's be real – who even wants to wife someone up dealing with that busted attitude of yours? I'd hate to be the poor lady stuck listening to you just ramble and run your mouth about nothing all day!"

You get the picture, fam. For every little disrespectful pebble Kazeem tried throwing, Tunde was launching a whole boulder right back in his direction. At first, Kazeem didn't even seem phased – he laughed it off thinking his boy was just finally learning to dish it back a little bit.

But as the weeks went on and Tunde stayed bullying his buddy with personalized verbal harassment, you could see the shift start to happen. The smile would slowly leave Kazeem's face, replaced by this confused, almost hurt look anytime Tunde would blast him with another round of flaming insults.

Suddenly, all those hurtful words Tunde had been deflecting for months were hitting way too close to home for Kazeem's liking when the tables were turned. Being on the receiving end of that toxic energy made the homeboy's skin crawl in a way he never expected.

That's when it finally clicked for him – this is how Tunde had been feeling for all those months as the target of Kazeem's cruel "honesty" and trash-talking. The sting of having your own friend just blatantly disrespect you and tear you down without caring how it makes you feel? Tunde had been living with that dark cloud looming over him constantly until he'd had enough.

From that point on, Kazeem made moves to rebrand himself and ditch that toxic communication style he'd been stubbornly clinging to. Turned out, a nice healthy dose of his own harsh medicine was the only way for dude to fully recognize how hurtful he'd truly been, even if he didn't intend that level of malice initially.

For Tunde, it was a lesson in standing up for himself and refusing to just be a punching bag for disrespect anymore. Protecting his peace and self-worth meant pushing back with equal ferocity until Kazeem opened his eyes to how wack he was moving all along.

Some friends, you gotta really break that iron shovel over their head to get your point across, feel me? But once the medicine goes down, hopefully they emerge better for it on the other side – just like Kazeem did after taking his very own dose of toxicity for once

Thank you for reading my post

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I have meet a few person like kazeem, always hurting others through their speeches in the name of cracking jokes. I used to overlook them like tunde but with time I had to change, you tell me nonsense, I fire it back at you while it's still very hot. That's just the best way to deal with them.

What a great story. Standing up to defend ourselves against hurtful words is the easiest way to inform people on how we want to be treated. It's nice Tunde gave Kazeem the taste of his own medicine.

Interesting story. Kazeem certainly needed to learn a lesson by getting a taste of his own medicine. One important tip for you: The author's voice really does not belong in a story. It should be told through the actions and dialogue of the characters. Be sure to read our article on author intrusion in our [catalog of fiction writing tips](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/catalog-of-fiction-writing-tips-from-the-ink-well.

Also, we expect everyone who posts in The Ink Well to read and comment on the work of at least two other community members for each story posted. Thank you.

Well noted ,thank you

This felt really close to home and I take it you had to deal with someone like this who you were/ are still close to in your life. It definitely reads that way to me anyway but I think that's why it feels so real. Solid work 👍 👍

Thank your u so much

I love the courage of Tunde. The way he later stood for himself. Characters like Kazeem would kill one's esteem.