Once she is done with her school work, Shanekqua "Nekqua" Rutledge, 16, spends her afternoons watching The Lifetime Movie Network Nekqua, who moved in with her biological aunt, Shonda, when she was 6, is a junior in high school. She has a passion for singing, and is going to New York City to audition for the voice this February.
Hey, Best Friend! // "I just [got] on the swings, feel like I'm flying, like I'm going somewhere. I'm really not going anywhere. I just feel like I'm going somewhere," Nekqua said when she explained what she did after her ex-boyfriend raped her.
Nekqua and her best friend Brittney, then 16, talk on and text while Brittney's son Jayce sleeps. Jacye is Nekqua's god son. "I get these rages where I just want nothing around me, no one around me. I just get really frustrated," Nekqua said of her ex-boyfriend, "Ive had nightmares. [They] started like last month because, it's April and he's supposed to be coming home in April." (Syracuse, NY / November 2012)
HEY, BEST FRIEND! // Nekqua rests after work at her apartment with her twin, Shy, in August of 2016. After graduating from a school with one of the lowest graduation rates in New York, she attended community college for two years. This year her financial aid did not go through, so she is unable to go back because she cannot afford to pay the fines or pay for college out of pocket. (Syracuse, NY / September 2016)
ROUGH CAPTION: Nekqua at home with her twin, Shy, and her boyfriend at her home on the North Side of Syracuse. Nekqua lives with her boyfriend, who is currently unemployed, and she works at a call center for Direct TV. She has begun a budgeting plan to save up for community college. She attended OCC for two years, but her financial aid did not go through so she is unable to go back because she cannot afford to pay the fines or pay for college out of pocket.