Chapter 15 - Kennedy
“Wooo! Go, Jah!” Kennedy screamed, bouncing in her foldable chair after Jahleel got an interception and took off across the field.
The nearby parents chuckled at her enthusiasm, and she shot them a quick smile before lowering her attention to her phone, hoping to refrain from garnering unwanted gazes from the male eyes.
It seemed like once the weather began breaking, the mothers she was used to seeing were slowly being replaced with dads, who’d gone from eyeing her as if she were an outsider to ogling her like fresh meat.
She made sure to keep any conversations short and sweet since she didn’t want problems for them or her.
Relic may not have been there physically, but Kennedy wasn’t dumb enough to believe he didn’t keep tabs on his son.
“You know, this is just practice, right?”
Her eyes flitted up at the deep baritone and tall frame towering over her, intruding on her space. The older man who looked more Relic’s age than hers grinned, exposing a dimple in his cheek that reminded her of Lomar, sending her mouth curling downward.
“Yes, I know. Am I not allowed to cheer here?”
“You can do whatever you’d like, but I’m just letting you know that you can save that energy for the real game. It doesn’t make a difference right now.”
“You don’t think so?” she challenged. Her eyes rolled before landing on the field where the young boys got into position at the line of scrimmage before the snap. She used her hands like a megaphone to holler, “Let’s go, Jah! Show ‘em how it’s done, Mr. Gridiron Bully!”
He didn’t react to her since he was locked in, but she knew he’d heard her when the play started, and the center hiked the ball back to him.
Jahleel shot off at the speed of light, spinning around one opponent before he stiff-armed another, sending the boy crashing to the ground as oohhhs resounded throughout the parent section.
Kennedy burst into laughter after Jahleel dived over the fake endzone line and then stood, flexing his arm with a chuck of his chin in her direction.
“Big Bully!” she boasted, hitting the same flex move before her stare lifted to the man beside her. He raised his hands in the air.
“I stand corrected, but I hope he has that same energy during their real games. They need some wins.”
“Tell that to his teammates. As you can see, mine does what needs to be done. One person can’t carry the team.
I noticed a lot of them don’t attend every practice either, or they aren’t giving it their full potential when they’re here.
Jahleel is dedicated. He really loves it, so I’m going to do the most every time if that’s what it takes to help his drive stay where it is. ”
“I hear you, but they’re kids. He’s what? Nine or ten. It’s good to support him, but don’t put too much pressure on him. He’ll have off days. You don’t want to push him to—”
“Greatness?” she finished with a freshly waxed brow peaking. “Because that’s where he’s going. I appreciate the advice, though.”
Kennedy ended their conversation with a curt smile, and he took the hint to head back to the dads group where he had come from. Once ensuring no one else was coming over to bother her, she checked her phone and smirked at Sonny asking if it was fine for him to call her.
It didn’t take her old best friend long to peep that she messaged him at random times during the day and odder hours of the night.
Returning or picking up his phone calls was even more sporadic because Kennedy knew Relic was probably eavesdropping from his surveillance footage, so she only answered while at Jahleel’s practice or if she had time on her lunch breaks at the salon.
She had taken a few calls in the bathroom, but that stopped just as fast as she’d started, since she didn’t put it past Relic’s anal ass to count the time and notice she took longer to piss or shower than usual.
Kennedy snorted at the thoughts of his compulsive behavior while she thumbed Sonny’s name to call him.
“At this point, I feel like a side bitch, so whoever else you’re fucking that got you hiding me, let them know it’s over ‘cause I can’t do it anymore.”
Kennedy sucked her teeth at his dramatics before she threatened, “I’m about to hang up on your ass.”
“Seriously, Kenn! What the hell do you have going on that you can’t pick up for me? If you aren’t screening calls, the damn phone is going to voicemail. Then, you text back like you’re fucking light skin when that’s my job! I do the ignoring, I don’t get ignored.”
“I told you, I have a hectic schedule here. My life isn’t like it used to be where we shopped, partied, and spent up our brothers’ money. I have big girl responsibilities now.”
“That sounds horrible, Kennedy. I’ll send a prayer up for you.”
Kennedy cackled. “It’s called being an adult, Sonny. I have a business to run and others to help with, so there is little time for me to sit around and chit chat.”
“Which is why I called to give you a great solution to our problem. How about I stay with you for a while? It’ll give us time to really catch up without playing phone tag. Plus, I need a change of scenery, Kenn. Maybe it’ll do me some good like it did you.”
If Sonny was in her face, he would’ve taken offense to how fast Kennedy’s features balled at the mere notion.
She had love for her once best friend, but Sonny was messy as hell, and drama was his middle name.
He was the epitome of the bullshit that Kennedy had moved away from, so she couldn’t see herself willingly bringing it to her doorstep or her home.
When an honest excuse popped in her head, she relaxed in her chair and placed her eyes on Jahleel.
“Now isn’t the best time, Sonny. I’m sort of between places at the moment.”
“Bitch, you’re telling me after all this bragging you do about running a business, you don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of?”
“See, I almost cursed your ass out. I had a situation at my last place, so I moved out. I haven’t found anything I like yet, so I’ve been staying with a friend.”
Kennedy left it at that instead of elaborating on killing someone in her apartment and then moving in with a man who was her man but also the man who had played a part in setting her last job on fire with her in it. If she did, she’d sound like she attracted just as much drama as Sonny did.
“Well, who is this friend? Is it the man Zeke asked me about but then tried to backtrack once he realized I didn’t know who he was talking about?”
“What?” Kennedy played dumb. “Zeke should be the last one in my damn business, but who’d he ask about?”
“He asked if I knew your friend who helped you out, but when I asked him what friend and help with what, he said forget it.”
“When was this?”
“Girl, a couple of days ago, which was another reason I asked can I call since I didn’t want to text it. He said he’s tried calling you, but you won’t pick up for him. I thought things were cleared up after y’all talked in his office. What changed?”
“Nothing changed, and that’s the thing. I don’t hold a grudge, but we will never be cool. I have no kick it for his ass, so please relay the message for him to stop calling me. I’m tired of blocking unknown numbers.”
Sonny laughed. “So, you came home just to shake shit up, like my brother said.”
“What does that mean?”
“That you knew it would fuck Zeke’s head up, seeing you again.
Sarge said Zeke has been off his square since he talked to you.
Zeke and his wife have even been on shaky ground since then because Zeke disappeared for two days last week, and Sarge thought the nigga had snuck off with you. His wife was worried sick.”
That made Kennedy perk up in her seat on high alert, scouring the field for a face she knew wasn’t above tracing her whereabouts if he cared to. She meant it when she said she had a type. Her eyes drifted to the parking lot, stalling on a wolf gray sedan before she turned to face forward.
“He wasn’t here, and if he was smart, he wouldn’t try that shit either,” she sneered, her studious survey coming to a halt once she noticed Jahleel’s grandmother and sister strolling onto the field from the opposite side.
“Sonny, I’ll call you later,” she stated and ended the call she was done with at the mention of Ezekiel.
She tossed her phone in her purse and stood, folding her chair to slip in its cover before flinging the strap onto her shoulder since Jahleel’s practice was coming to an end.
Kennedy rarely ran into his grandmother since he’d let her know when Kennedy or his dad was picking him up, and his grandmother avoided coming out because she made it a point to avoid Relic.
Kennedy hadn’t told Jahleel that she was coming because she figured it was time for either her or Relic to grow some balls and have a discussion with the lady who was taking great care of Jahleel.
Once Relic was arrested, Kennedy was aware her relationship with Jahleel would rest in that woman’s hands, whether Relic believed so or not.
She strutted toward his grandmother in heels and an amiable smile, watching Jahleel’s sister as she ran toward her brother in her pink tunic top and leggings.
Kennedy’s inspection of the brown skin, adorable young girl went to her untied sneakers.
Before she could call out a warning to her, Jahleel’s sister went tumbling to the ground, causing Kennedy to gasp before she rushed over to help her up.
“Are you okay?” she asked with a mild case of panic coming over her at the tears in the girl’s eyes. She grabbed her hand and confirmed, “Jasmine, right? It’s okay, Jas.”
Jasmine nodded and looked down before her bottom lip trembled while she tried wiping the two dirt stains off the knees of her bright leggings. Kennedy sighed and then kneeled to tie the girl’s shoes.