Chapter 6 #4
“Let your mother finish. She knows a thing or two, so listen. He ain’t gotta respond, but I know he hears her.”
“All I’m getting at is that it seems like he’s not open to communicating.
I’m not saying he should force your hand, but it wouldn’t hurt to express he needs you right now.
A lot of the time, all it takes is showing some vulnerability to win us over, but he seems to lack that.
You’re not the most expressive woman either, Kennedy, so I see how wires can get crossed.
You want more than he gives, and he’s giving no more than what he believes you want. ”
“I’ve never been a man of many words.” Every set of eyes drifted to Relic when he lifted his face from his plate to reply.
“If I feel like it’ll be a waste of breath, I don’t use it.
I prefer letting my actions speak in the instances I can’t.
My brother’s daughter was in the hospital, but I left home and drove over seven hours to talk to Kennedy face to face just because she wouldn’t answer her phone.
I don’t date, and I don’t meet families, yet I’m sitting at a table, letting two people who don’t know shit about me or my personal life dissect me because I know putting you at ease will put her at ease.
“Do I wanna drag Kennedy out of your fucking house and make her come with me? Yes. Am I capable of it? Yes. Will I do it? No, because I pick and choose my battles with her. Me against you two is a losing one, so I’m not wasting my time.
Now, can I finish eating? I have a long ride home ahead of me, and this French toast is good.
My son would love it. It’s his favorite, too. ”
The table went dead silent, and Kennedy’s mouth fell open before she clamped it shut, preventing the corners of her lips from curling upward at Relic respectfully putting her parents in their place.
She couldn’t deny that he made her proud and annoyed in the same instance.
He’d shed a light on the way he’d learned to subtly handle her without it coming off as controlling.
Even more so, Relic defended and expressed their connection—no matter how offhand it sounded—when a man she’d dealt with for years, who’d known her parents even longer, hadn’t grown the balls to do the same.
Relic made it hard for Kennedy to believe or accept that every gesture he made held an ulterior motive behind it.
“Well, you made valid points,” Diane acknowledged, cracking a smile as she cut into her stack of French toast. “I stand corrected, and I didn’t mean to offend you. Kennedy is the only child I have left, so I’d like to know that she’s in good hands. Butch, you got anything you’d like to add?”
“Shit, I was done talking once he said he had no wins against us. Clearly, Kennedy has set the tone, so I can’t say much about it. As long as he knows, I ain’t Tekken, and I’ll bust his ass about my daughter, I’m good.”
Relic snorted a chuckle before a genuine smile spread across his face that sent Diane’s eyes stretching wide. He’d turned into a whole new man in front of her with that one gesture.
“I see why my daughter is taken with you, Relic,” she complimented, and her husband snapped his head in her direction while Kennedy squealed a laugh.
“I know goddamn well you didn’t just tell that boy he looks good in my face.”
“Butch, stop it. He’s a handsome young man when he isn’t brooding. I’m just telling my daughter, I get it. That’s how I got caught up and pregnant by your behind.”
“Yea, alright. Relic, you gotta get the hell out of here, trying to steal my daughter and my wife. We really got a problem now ‘cause I don’t play about mine.”
Relic simpered and lifted both hands. “Your wife is beautiful, but I’ll stick to the younger version. I like mine with a little bite to it.”
“Oh, don’t let Diane’s sweet smile and soft voice fool you. Kennedy ain’t get her mouth and attitude from out of nowhere. She’s her mother’s child.”
“Butch, hush.” Diane fanned him off with a coy grin. She sipped her orange juice before casually sliding in, “I’ll have Kennedy set up Tekken or Koda’s old room for you to get some rest before you leave, Relic.”
“What?” Kennedy and Butch blurted in unison. Relic tossed his head while dusting his hands clean.
“I appreciate it, but I need to get back, and I think I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
“You haven’t overstayed a thing! I can’t let you drive, knowing you haven’t slept. I’m not trying to be pushy like I’m your mom—”
“You’re not. My mother wouldn’t care one way or the other,” he cut in, jarring her to where she could only blink, losing track of her thoughts.
Diane glanced at her husband, who scrubbed his bald head like he was as lost for words as her.
When she looked at her daughter, she noticed Kennedy putting her hand on Relic’s leg beneath their table.
His sharp features remained stoned as though he refused to expose cracks in his armor, and Diane grew assured of two things; pain and a forlorn story resided behind his glacial, cryptic eyes.
“Well, I care,” she asserted. “And I’m sure Kennedy does, too. I’m not taking no for an answer because I don’t need her moping around again if you got hurt or worse.”
“Okay, y’all can stop doing the most, acting like I was so distraught since I got here. Ma, I can clean this up since I know you and dad are heading to the store. Relic, you’re helping before I make up a bed for you. My mom is right about you needing rest.”
Butch pushed his plate away and patted his stomach. “I’m done, and I know I’m about to burn it off ‘cause she’s about to have me out all day. It was nice talking with you, Relic. Maybe you’ll last, and we can do this again but with some liquor and sports.”
“Dad, he fishes!” Kennedy exclaimed like the thought had just popped in her head. She stood with a cheesy grin. “You know, you’ve always wanted to do that. He’s taking his son this weekend.”
“How do you know? I told Jah yesterday,” Relic said, and she rolled her eyes while grabbing their plates to take to the counter.
“He called me back once he got in the house. He was really excited about it.”
“Wait a minute. The sweet boy you’ve been talking to is his son?” Diane clarified as she got up. Her husband did the same with a toss of his head.
“Partners my ass. And speaking of asses, I plan to get in yours once I get back, Kennedy. Your mom told me that you went to Zeke’s lounge and saw him, with your lying self.”
“Butch!” Diane smacked his arm before he laughed at Kennedy looking like a deer caught in headlights.
“Oh, did I just tell something I wasn’t supposed to? I think that’s our cue, Di. Let’s get out of here.”
Kennedy couldn’t even look at Relic as her dad rested a hand on her mom’s back to guide them from the kitchen like he hadn’t just put her business on blast. Nerves settled in her stomach, causing it to mimic tumbleweed while she scraped plates clean before transferring more dishes from the table to a neat pile beside the sink just as the front door closed.
Tension hung in the atmosphere so thick that she’d suffocate beneath it if it wasn’t addressed.
She pivoted on her bare feet before pushing out a sharp breath at the most menacing eyes piercing her like glass shards.
If she knew nothing else, she knew Relic was about to reveal yet another side of him she hadn’t experienced.