Chapter 9 Kennedy
He wasn’t worth it.
That single sentence moved throughout her brain and curled around her senses—tightening her chest, strangling her lungs, and rewiring the way she’d seen Relic, who was one of the most intelligent and strong-willed men she had met until that moment.
The lines on his glass table fucked up her wet dream but also explained his fickle moods and hurtful outbursts.
Kennedy had believed that those actions stemmed from trauma, when he was nothing more than a drug dealer getting high on his supply.
It wasn’t until that moment; Kennedy realized she placed Relic on too high of a pedestal, and watching him fall from it didn’t bring her the pleasure she thought it would.
Her movements were gradual as she spun to face him with her features contorted somewhere between enraged and pure panic. His mute expression didn’t help matters.
“What the hell is this?” Her tone was breathless as she pointed at the drugs.
“I told you, I don’t want to hear your mouth. I tried to keep you out, Kennedy.”
“What the hell does that have to do with drugs sitting on your fucking table?!”
That gut-coiling, chest deflating feeling struck Relic as he pivoted to slam his door before stalking to her, glaring her down as she matched his eye contact since he had her fucked up.
“You think I care about you being upset when you’re in here doing dumb shit! This is a weak man’s sport, Relic! Am I wasting my time on you? What was the objective for me agreeing to be your partner in the first place?”
The terror and frustration that had consumed her the moment she spotted those drugs intensified as he stared at her, unresponsive. She clapped in his face when she really wanted to knock some sense into his ass.
“Stop looking at me like Jahleel when I get on his butt about homework, and answer the damn question! Why’d I agree to this, Relic?”
“So, I won’t end up like Koda,” he answered through gritted teeth as if it pained him to repeat it.
“Exactly, but that can’t be what you want anymore.
I didn’t say anything about you making that bucket list, but now you’re playing in drugs, and Morrone is doing what?
Sitting on his ass and waiting for you to get indicted.
How the hell can I help you when you rather self-destruct?
You don’t want to try, Relic! You rather be a fucking loser like the niggas who want you dead! ”
“Those were Jessica’s drugs.” The heavy rise and fall of her chest slowed after he gave her that detail.
“She left them in my last place, and I kept them. Maybe ‘cause they were a reminder of her, or maybe because I wanted to see if I was stronger than my fucking mind. I don’t know, but I’ve never done drugs a day in my life, and I put that on everything I care about. I put that on you.”
A pitter patter behind her ribs sent her arms crossing as she struggled to keep her resolve strong because Relic’s convicting gaze told her that he meant it. She still couldn’t soften for him since he needed a reality check.
“I hope you’re being honest, and don’t bring that shit in here again.
Jahleel comes here,” she reminded him. “He could’ve easily found that.
I get you’re stressing, but that’s not the answer, just like those bottles aren’t.
Control it like you do everything else, Relic.
You’re far from the weak ass nigga who’d resort to getting high on his supply. ”
“Are you sure about that? Let you tell it, I am.”
“Well, now I’m telling you that you’re not! I expect a level of greatness from you that I probably shouldn’t, but it’s because that’s what you’ve shown me until now. This shit is disappointing. It’s beneath you, Relic.”
“I told you, I didn’t do it. Never have.”
“And I want to believe that. I really do. You can head downstairs with your family. I’ll clean this up.”
Relic stalled like he was undecided about leaving her with the drugs but then walked away while a small wave of guilt crashed into her as his reminder about calling him weak hung in the air.
Dirt from the foot she’d stuck in her mouth made her face screw up because when heated, she couldn’t care less about the hurtful digs she spewed, but she regretted imprinting a memory in his head that would put her in a category with people he resented.
People like his mother. She couldn’t imagine the number of times that phrase had run through his mind since their argument in the rain.
Instead of beating herself up about it, she tossed her purse on his bed and then collected the baggie, blade, and dollar bill from his table.
She swept the drugs in her palm with a finger and then tossed the other articles inside the trash bin on the way to the bathroom.
Kennedy made sure he wouldn’t get his hands on those drugs again—turning on the sink water before shaking the contents in her hand down the drain.
Relief consumed her but then evaporated just as quickly after recalling that Relic carried that same substance in his possession by the brick load.
Before that thought could give her heart palpitations, ringing from the room caused her to pause, tuning into the somewhat familiar sound until she realized that it was her prepaid phone.
Kennedy rushed into the room to yank her purse off the bed, shuffling through its contents before she found the device to power down before Relic caught wind of it.
An unknown number flashing across the screen that could only belong to either one of two people sidetracked her initial task.
Against her better judgement, she breathed through a sudden bout of nausea before answering the call.
“Hello?”
“Kennedy?” The voice sounded unsure of whether it was her on the line, but she clocked his immediately.
“Hey, Sarge. What’s going on?”
“Nothing much. Sonny gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, you’re fine,” she replied as she hurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
“Good. I’m glad you picked up ‘cause I want to chop it up with you about a few things I didn’t say that night at the lounge. Zeke is my brother, but he was—”
“Annoyed by my questions,” she interjected. “Yea, I noticed.”
“No. He was lying his ass off, Kennedy.”
Sarge’s revision on her assumption stole the air out of the room, and her breathing shallowed before she trudged to the wall, resting her back against it to remain upright.
“I’m listening.”
“Now, this ain’t me throwing Zeke under the bus, but the fact he didn’t just tell the truth after all this time didn’t make sense.
For one, I can’t say for certain if Koda stepped to Zeke, but he did press me about if I’d seen anything iffy between y’all.
I had mentioned it to Zeke, but of course, he denied it back then. ”
“So, he did know my brother found out?”
“I wouldn’t quite say that, but he knew Koda had his suspicions.
Second, your brother had a girl he used to fuck with back then.
Some young bitch fresh on the strip scene.
Koda fucked around with her for over a year before he got word, she’d lied about her age.
She even claimed she was pregnant by him, but with her being a stripper—”
“Hold up.” Kennedy held out a palm as if Sarge could see her. Her eyes shut as she grappled with processing the overwhelming information. “Koda had a baby? Now, that, I find hard to believe, especially since he didn’t tell me.”
“I’m not sure about the details because Koda was best friends with Zeke, not me. They held each other’s secrets. I only know what she told him, and he said he wasn’t about to claim a child without a blood test.”
“So, why didn’t they get one?”
“My assumption is he died before they got the chance to, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. She disappeared after that. I just wanted to give you the info I had because I can tell, you haven’t found peace with the situation yet.”
“So, this girl just vanished? Do you know her name?” she pressed, refusing to believe Sarge was clueless outside of the breadcrumbs he was feeding her.
“I only had her strip club name that I can’t recall, but Zeke might.
Hit him up or not, that’s your call. Honestly, I have a feeling he’s going to give you the runaround.
When it comes to talking about what happened to Koda, he shuts down.
When I think about it, maybe your brother did say something about y’all, and that’s why Zeke told me not to go to Koda’s party that night. ”
“What?” Kennedy had heard him, but she refused to believe the words that’d come out of his mouth.
“You were supposed to come but then Koda told you not to, right? That’s because Zeke was coming, but then he pulled out and told me not to go either.”
“Thank you for letting me know that, Sarge. I have to go.”
Kennedy ended the call before he could say more and powered off her phone.
Her body slid down the wall until she was balled up with her thighs pressed to her chest and her chin rested on her knees.
A boulder clogged her throat on a mission to suffocate her, while her vision skewed like she was seeing life through a kaleidoscope.
In a sense, she was, because nothing appeared the same.
Everything she once knew and believed had warped and blunted into aching memories she would rather erase.
Ignorance was bliss, and Kennedy lost hers from the very moment Koda had died, but she wished she’d lost it well before then.
If she had, she would’ve picked up on dating an enemy disguised as her first love.