Chapter 4 #4
“I’m just fucking with you. I ain’t gon’ say I told you so, but you should’ve stayed at my crib like I’d offered. I get it, though. I don’t like outside noise in my relationship either.”
“I’m not in a relationship. When did she tell Savvy?”
“Yesterday. Whoop called to check in on her, and she just started spilling the beans like a muthafucka. I can tell she ain’t ever had a real friend before.”
“And your wife told you?”
“Nah. I was doing what I do best, ear hustling my ass off. From what I heard, Kennedy sounded bad off. You’re putting her through the wringer, and she’s putting herself through it by trying to fight fire with fire.”
“That’s her fucking fault! I told her ass not to try that bullshit, Shabu. I don’t know what the fuck to do with her, but I know letting her go ain’t an option either.”
That frustrating truth rolled off Relic’s tongue, and he didn’t care to catch it.
From the moment he saw Kennedy for who she truly was; he knew she’d either become a gift or a curse for him, depending on how he handled her.
He was well aware the clever, sharp-tongued, scarred beauty could turn out either his best hidden weapon or a weapon formed against him.
The risk had been worth taking then, and it’d become priceless since letting her in.
Shabu emitted a low chuckle. “Nigga, yo ass in love,” he jested, and Relic scoffed.
“Me and Larenn are different, ti frè. We don’t process emotions or situations the same as you all do. It’s not love, but we understand one another. I never had that before.”
“Just because y’all speak it differently from us doesn’t mean it ain’t the same language, bro.”
“You don’t get it. Does Savvy know where Kennedy’s parents live?” he asked, shifting gears before Shabu drove their conversation in a direction he wasn’t willing to go. “I don’t want to ask Tekken, but I will.”
“Why can’t you ask him? He ain’t feeling you fucking with his aunt?”
“According to what Toot told P in so many words, no, but that ain’t my problem.”
“It needs to be. Would Jah not fucking with Kennedy matter in how you see her?” Shabu countered. Relic didn’t respond but took it into consideration. “Whoop is on her way to the restaurant, though, so I’ll ask her. I doubt she’ll tell you ‘cause she’s team Kennedy right now.”
“I guess it’ll be a bummer for her when she finds out we’re still on the same team then.”
“A lie don’t care who tell it, but if that’s what makes you feel better while your so-called teammate is ducking and dodging yo ass, you got it.”
“Get the fuck off my line. I’m ‘bout to pull up on you ‘cause we got a situation to take care of before shit gets out of hand. Be outside.”
Relic deaded the call and stuffed his phone inside his pocket. Drish shot him a glance as he passed the shopping plaza, turning on the side street where the restaurant was located.
“I used to want a relationship like that with my big brother before he died.”
“What?” Relic shot him an exasperated side eye at the attempt to start a conversation, but Drish laughed it off.
“How you and your brothers are close and shit. I used to want that. Me and mine barely saw each other or spoke, but I told myself once I hit eighteen that I’d reach out and try to build a genuine bond with the nigga. I ain’t get that chance.”
“Why’d you have to wait to eighteen?”
“So, I could make my own decisions. My father’s side didn’t like the life my brother lived, so they kept me away from him and my mom. My momma didn’t fuck with my dad’s side either, so I figured it’d be easier without them having a say. It never crossed my mind he’d die before I got the chance.”
Relic’s gaze drifted to Shabu, who was sauntering out of the restaurant as they pulled up, and the regret he held for his brother intensified because Drish was enamored by an illusion they’d painted.
On the surface, they were tight knit, but below it was nothing but trauma and resentment they’d both learned to wade over instead of diving into it.
Relic avoided it the most, and he wondered if it made him as much of a pussy as he felt in that moment.
His mouth managed to quirk into a smirk after Shabu flicked him off before placing Navy to her feet.
She dashed for her electric convertible that was waiting in the middle of the lot, and Relic slid out his truck, watching her sandy curls bounce wildly before his attention veered elsewhere, and his heart staggered.
The silver sedan from earlier was creeping down the street in stealth mode.
A gun materialized through the driver side window, causing his mind and body to shut down—disconnecting with his surroundings before he accepted his pending fate. Another gun peeking out the car’s back window to target his folks altered his decision in an instant and kickstarted his heart again.
“Grab my fucking niece!” he bellowed, snatching his gun from his hip.
He didn’t check whether Drish or Shabu noticed their opposition speeding toward them before he started letting off, striking their windshield just as a barrage of bullets lit up his truck and shattered the restaurant windows.
Relic’s vision blurred in a blind rage, and his blood flow pumped in his ears, drowning out the sounds around him while he ducked behind his truck for protection, letting loose more rounds over its hood.
His senses glitched, but it did nothing to erase the last thing he’d heard that refused to stop blaring in his head... Navy’s tiny voice screaming at the top of her lungs.