Chapter 5 #2
“Why are you in my business all of a sudden? Either you got a man who’s fucking up, or you’re dealing with a drug dealer again. Which is it?”
“When did I mess with a drug dealer?” she rebutted, playing dumb. Her dad wasn’t going for it.
“I was honest with you, Kenn. The least you can do is show me that same respect. How old were you when you started dealing with Ezekiel?”
Her shoulders sagged. “Eighteen.”
“He made the first move?”
If she confirmed that, she’d be lying straight through her teeth. “No. I was flirting with Zeke for a while before he gave in.”
Butch hunched forward, propping both elbows on his legs before he leered at her. She leaned back like she was a kid, and her dad was about to take off his belt to wear her ass out for being grown.
“What the hell made you do that, Kennedy?”
“I don’t know! He was always around and treated me like you and Koda did. Plus, he was cute. I was a girl with a crush who actually got to live it out. No one could have convinced me that he’d turn out a piece of shit.”
Butch shook his head. “They say that a girl’s first love is her dad, and her second is a nigga just like him. I guess, I can’t be too upset. It’s the past now. What about this new one?”
“With him, I didn’t fall for lies. I fell for the qualities I should’ve run from, but he carries himself in a way that’s so damn intriguing. I think we teach one another a lot, and I really want to figure him out.”
“How’s that going for you so far?”
“The only thing I figured out is, his reputation does him no justice. He’s fucking horrible.”
“But you caught feelings and can’t call it quits yet?”
“Pretty much. I want to hate him, but it’s hard to do that in his face, so here I am.”
“Yea, here your bull headed ass is. I can’t listen to you vent about that nigga breaking your heart while I’m sober. We’ll talk after my nightcap of scotch.”
She giggled when he sighed and stood up, massaging his temple. His gaze coasted to her door before his face lit up, and she didn’t have to wonder why.
“What are y’all up here going on about?” her mother inquired, entering the room with a soft smile.
Diane flung her silver hair that was laid to perfection over her shoulder before strutting to her husband in a nice fitting wrap dress with an apron around her slender waist. Her mother was the reason Kennedy never stepped out in anything less than her best. She couldn’t begin to imagine how money making Butch and prissy Diane used to break necks in their prime.
“Your daughter is stressing me the hell out,” her dad complained, grabbing his wife as soon as she neared him.
“Nothing new there. I’m about to start dinner. What do you two want to eat?”
“I’ll pass on dinner. I’m going out for fresh air and a few drinks. I’ll eat then,” Kennedy told them, and visible relief spread across her mom’s face.
“I’m glad you’re finally getting out of this room. You going alone? I know you grew up here, but after what you just went through, I’m kind of worried about you going by yourself.”
“Stop worrying so damn much, Di. Let the girl have a second to clear her head.” Butch kissed her cheek, and she nodded with a sigh.
“Fine.”
“I’ll be alright, Ma. Plus, Sonny is coming with me,” she divulged, referring to the best friend she’d once had.
“Where in the world did you find him? As a matter of fact, don’t answer that. Just keep out of trouble because he hasn’t changed a lick. Mess is still all he’s good for.”
Kennedy laughed because she was banking on it. “I found him on social media earlier today and reached out. Figured I could use the company since Tekken isn’t here.”
“Well, enjoy yourself and be safe. Don’t come in too late, and don’t drive drunk.” Diane ran down the rules as Butch held her waist and began steering her out the room.
He sent a light tap to her ass and whispered in her ear before she grinned, prancing off while he doubled back to stand in the doorway with folded arms. Kennedy groaned under her breath.
“What old man?”
“I can tell, you’re up to something. Redid your hair all pretty. Going out with Sonny when you ain’t spoken to his ass since before y’all moved. Don’t tell me, you’re about to chase behind the first nigga who hurt you so that you can get over the new one.”
“Chase? Did you forget who my dad and brother are? I’m not chasing a damn soul. My feet will detach from my ankles before I ever chase a nigga.”
“And you better stand on that, too! I told you the shit Di put up with, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for you to accept the same. Me and Koda worked too goddamn hard to set the bar high, so don’t let these men make you forget who you are, tough girl. A goddamn Sutton.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Her father stared at her a bit longer like he wanted to say more but then chucked his chin to end their discussion and walked away. She finger-combed her braids while the pinch of doubt he’d stirred up made her second guess her next move.
An unfamiliar chiming made her hesitation cease, and she hurried to grab her prepaid phone off her vanity table to swipe the green icon. She couldn’t resist the faint smirk that grew on her face before she spoke.
“Hey, Sonny. What’s the move?”
“Bitch, you know you in for a time with me!” Vivacity radiated off him, even through a phone call. “Fuck that lil’ rinky dink bar you suggested. I’m sending you an address to the best lounge here, and I got the hook up. Meet me at eight before the stragglers start rolling in.”
“They got good wings?”
“And do! Bomb ass food. No watered down drinks, and I can get us a private section away from the brokies.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. See you there.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Sonny hung up with that, and Kennedy swapped her prepaid phone for her main one, going straight to her call log.
Relic’s name in red taunted her, but she stood on her word like she swore to her dad, even though she couldn’t pretend she didn’t miss him.
She’d gone a month avoiding his ass but let him to suck her back into his life within the span of a fucking night.
Kennedy wished she could blame it solely on the dick but knew better.
Resentment and unrequited feelings persuaded her to toss her phone on the bed, shutting herself off from him or anyone or thing connected to his ass.
While she was being foolish, waiting on him to prove he meant the things he’d told her, he was searching for her replacement just like she had suggested and moving like she was the wrong doer in their situation.
The barbed wire encompassing her tattered heart tautened, serrating it even further.
Kennedy headed for her closet to locate the skimpiest fuck ‘em dress she owned, knowing it’d fit better with her grown woman weight. The indecisiveness she felt erased as she focused on her side mission she had to see through.
Niggas were too comfortable with playing in her face, so she wasn’t reconsidering shit.
Over an hour worth of good music, hot lemon pepper wings with non-stop tequila shots, and all was right in the world for Kennedy.
She bent over her food tray, biting into a wet wing as Sonny danced in front of their table with a mixed drink in his hand.
He sipped from it before twerking his toned ass in a pair of distressed skinny jeans that he’d paired with a hollowed-out knit sweater and calf-high boots.
He’d toned it down and found his style since their teenage years when he used to borrow her halter tops and shorts, and his older brother used to beat his ass for doing the most. It’d taken a while for Sonny’s family to accept they couldn’t knock his craving for dick out of him with their fists.
Kennedy groaned when the DJ transitioned the song blaring through the speakers into one she could recite by heart. Sonny gasped and turned to her, pointing his cup in her direction when Tekken’s deep ass voice reverberated throughout the lounge, sending the rowdiness up a notch.
“That’s Tekken’s little ass, ain’t it?” he confirmed with an approving bob of his head. “He ain’t lil’ no more, Kenn. Yo nephew fine as shit, and that muthafucka look like he’s packing. You know, I can eyeball a nigga and tell.”
“Eye another nigga, and keep those fake ass hazels off that one.”
Sonny gasped, batting his contact covered eyes before sashaying over to the table. He sat down his cup to grab a wing to chomp, chewing with loud smacks before talking to her around a mouthful of meat.
“My bad, sista! I forgot you don’t play about that one, but I’m glad they put on his song, so I can address the big ole elephant in the room you been glossing over.
Why did I get cut off with everyone else?
I was so damn hype when I saw Tek’s face making its rounds, but I couldn’t even hit up my girl ‘cause she got fake ass fuck after—”
“My brother died,” Kennedy finished. Sonny pursed his mouth before his eyes rolled.
“I mean, that was some crazy, traumatic ass shit, but I would think you’d want your family around and not kick us to the curb. My brother and Zeke loved you like a little sister, Kennedy. I loved you like my sister. That was wack how you did us.”
“It was wack how Sarge and Zeke did us.”
“Girl, they didn’t know where the damn money was! Sarge told me what you were mad about, and it’s wild you think they knew or that they would need to keep it if they did. All of them niggas were paid!”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m over that,” Kennedy riposted, wiping her hands clean.
She grabbed a pre-made shot and tossed it back with a hiss before grabbing a lemon to bite into.
The bitter taste as she sucked was as sour as her mood Sonny had blown with his naivety.
He’d always been focused on spending Sarge’s money rather than learning the game and how to read people, so no one could play in his damn face or feed him lies. She pitied him to an extent.