Chapter 11 Relic #4
Tekken hesitated but then trudged to his spot, while Relic went in the opposite direction to check on Kennedy whose back was facing him as she stood in the sand near the ocean waves, staring at the sky.
If they were home, he could take her to their favorite place, so she could detach from everything weighing her down, except for him.
If he had it his way, Kennedy would learn to adjust to the load of carrying the bullshit he came with because the month or so, she believed she had left to stomach him wasn’t nearly long enough for Relic.
He aspired to embed himself in her so deeply that she’d carry him with her forever in the very manner she did for Koda and her first love. Relic intended to make his mark.
“Your emotions are showing, Larenn. What did you do?”
The heaviest question he’d ever asked her caused the muscles in her back to stiffen as straight as a board. Relic strode through the sand until he was behind her and then placed a hand on her scarred arm, rubbing it to soothe her rather than himself. She’d need the comfort to confess her sins.
“The hypothetical that you gave me in the bathroom the day you came back has been on my mind. It took me a minute, but I figured out why you were so fucked up. Big dog Kennedy would never cry over me. She doesn’t give a damn about me that much, and it was arrogant on my part to believe otherwise.
You didn’t even shed a tear after you killed a man.
So, that left three men who I know you deem worthy of tears.
One is at the table, and the other is home with Diane.
The last one is in a grave. You looked like you saw a ghost after spotting Tekken, so, to be specific, what did you do to hurt him?
Am I off base, assuming it has to do with Koda? ”
Kennedy jerked her arm to nudge his hand off her at the mention of her big brother. Her shoulders quaked, and Relic assumed she was crying but then a round of cynical, biting laughter erupted from her as she turned to face him before clapping her hands.
“Bravo, Relic. I bet you’re so damn proud of yourself, aren’t you? Here I was, believing you invited Tekken here because I needed family around, but it was really to screw with my fucking head! To try and break me down because you love to ruin people that much. Wow.”
Ruin.
That pithy word caused him to step back, scrubbing a hand over his mouth at the turn of their conversation that he hadn’t anticipated. She’d taken his actions and flipped them for the worse. Relic was used to it, but it fucked with his head whenever it came from her.
“I’m not trying to break you down. I’m breaking you in, Kennedy. I’m trying to show you that you can trust me with your secrets, so you’ll let down the fucking walls you have up because of one goddamn mistake I made. Maybe I went about it wrong.”
“There is no damn maybe! What’d you tell me?
” She tapped a finger against her chin like she had to ponder on it, although the phrase sat at the tip of her tongue.
“I have to run shit past you first because any other way will make me sneaky, and you can’t trust me.
How in the hell do you think blindsiding me will lead to trust?
How is forcing me to tell you something I’m not ready to speak about leading to trust, Relic? ”
“You’re right, but in my defense, inviting Tek wasn’t to force your hand. It was to validate the things I assumed. Someone can easily deny the truth when there’s no sound evidence or proof to back it up. I needed to be certain.”
“And what proof did I give you?”
“Your breakdown sent up red flags, but that call you took minutes before on a prepaid phone you think I know nothing about was the real giveaway. Sarge, right? That’s the same name you mentioned at breakfast and when you fed us the idea for Aura.
Your weird reaction to Tek sealed it, though, so you might want to act normal and store that skeleton away better if you don’t want him suspicious. ”
Kennedy sucked her teeth as if she wasn’t shaking in her fucking heels from his sleuthing, or like Relic knowing about her possibly playing a hand in Koda’s death didn’t make her stomach plummet into her ass.
If Relic exposed that truth to Tekken, it’d implode her world.
The nerve-racking fact that he had caught wind of her prepaid phone didn’t help matters.
She wondered if he’d found it and sifted through her texts with Sonny, or screened her call log that was loaded with an unknown number she refused to answer since she figured it was Ezekiel.
After her conversation with Sarge, she didn’t know or care to figure out why he was reaching out.
She was on the fence about how she’d handle him.
“Before you drive yourself crazy about how I know, I have cameras in my home. I don’t check them often, but I do more with you staying there,” Relic confessed, putting a frown on her face. “The only place I don’t have them is the bathrooms, where you ran off to.”
“Why did you just tell me that? Now, I’ll know not to do anything slick.”
“If you wanted to, you would’ve done it already, and to be honest, I don’t think you will.”
Kennedy pursed her lips and crossed her arms before asking, “So, what? Is this your way of showing, you trust me?”
“I trust you to be you, Kennedy. I trust you to never do anything that could harm my son, and he lays his head there. I trust you enough to know that you’d never put the hate you have for me above the love you’ve grown for Jah. Are you ready to head back to the table?”
Those emotions for Relic she had buried tried freeing themselves at hearing him confess that he trusted her with the person he cherished most in the world.
The person he had sacrificed her for, and killed Lomar for simply laying eyes on.
Relic didn’t realize it, but he had shown his hand with that simple gesture.
He didn’t deem her as an enemy or a threat, even though she labeled him both in her book. Kennedy smiled and held out her hand.
Relic groaned under his breath but took it, entwining his fingers between hers while preparing to curse his folks out once they noticed and expressed their opinions about it.
If he’d known his situation with Kennedy would create so many waves, he would have left everyone at home and vacationed with her alone.
As quiet as kept, once he took care of business with his brother, they wouldn’t see his or Kennedy’s face for the duration of their trip.
To his surprise, no one paid them any mind once they reached the table because everyone was too busy holding out their shot glasses while Shabu circled the table, filling each one with the whiskey bottle Relic requested. Relic let go of Kennedy’s hand, stalked over to Shabu, and yanked it away.
“How the fuck you gon’ pass out some shit I paid for without waiting for me?”
Shabu swiped it back. “Because you said it was for us, nigga! Sit yo wound too tight ass down and drink the shot I poured for you. I don’t see how Kenn Dog deals with yo angry ass.”
“I’m angrier,” she revealed with an uncaring shrug as she stood behind her seat.
“I don’t know if that was meant as a joke or not, but I believe you.”
She laughed, and Shabu smirked before filling the rest of his folks’ glasses.
Before he got the chance to reach hers, Kennedy snatched the bottle while Relic sat down, eyeing their playful exchange that seemed harmless but managed to light a fire in his fucking intestines.
He peeped Kennedy tolerated Shabu in a manner she didn’t the rest of the men in his family.
Shabu slapped a hand on Relic’s chest as he passed by, like he figured it had gotten under his brother’s skin, and that only agitated Relic further.
His heated gaze stayed with Kennedy as she lowered into her seat with the bottle in her hand and picked up her knife to tap against it for the tables’ attention like she was about to make a toast. Pierre screwed up his face.
“Man, I already know y’all just snuck off and put y’all corrupt ass heads together to start some bullshit. Fuck you on, Bonnie?”
She giggled before swearing, “Nothing bad! I thought of some good content for Titan’s vlog. We’ve been fussing or throwing slugs, and that’s not what we came here for. I don’t know about y’all, but I can use some fun, so I think we should play a game.”
“I’m down,” Titan replied. “Tell us the rules.”
“You’ve probably seen it before. Basically, someone is going to give a scenario about something another person at the table has done, and for a spin on it, if we guess who it is, that person has to drink.”
“I ain’t saying I’m slow to pick up shit like this, but if I was, give an example,” Shabu requested. Kennedy filled her shot glass and set down the bottle before expounding on the game concept.
“Okay, I’ll say, someone at this table bought their ex-girlfriend her dress, shoes, and jewelry for prom just for her to accept another nigga’s prom-posal as her date. You have to guess that person.”
“I’m weak! We all that know my sis finessed the hell out of Tek with that,” Tima boasted, pinching her thumb and middle finger together with a nod. Tekken folded his arms and scoffed.
“I ain’t playing this dumb ass game.”
“Boy, get out of your feelings and play. We all gon’ be messy anyway. Might as well put it on the table and have fun with it.”
“You know what, you’re right, Tima.” Tekken picked up his shot to drink before slamming the glass on the table and throwing out, “Someone at this table ate some pussy in the studio and forgot to turn off the cameras. Oh, and it was another person in there watching her while she did it.”
“Who the fuck watched?” Pierre bellowed, glaring at Tima who stared around aimlessly but took her shot. He nodded. “Aight. Don’t worry about it. The first thing I’m gon’ do when we touch down is steal Bird’s laptop to go through the tapes.”