Shabu stood in the doorway, his gaze flitting from her to his brother, who was staring at nothing as if he were in a trance. His brows furrowed before he tossed his head for Kennedy to step out.
“You know?” he interrogated as soon as her feet came over the threshold.
“Know what?”
She played clueless since it wasn’t her place to speak on Relic’s condition or the things he’d divulged about his father. Kennedy didn’t want to risk overspeaking if Shabu was none thewiser on the former subject. He smirked like he knew she was bullshitting him.
“I ain’t gon’ press you, Kenn Dog. I respect it. Me and Whoop are the same way except for that slip up she had, telling you about Aura,” he added, doubling down on the fact, they didn’t do secrets. “I’ll be back to check on him.”
“We’ll be here.”
Shabu laughed at her taking charge before sauntering off while she reentered the bathroom and closed the door. Her steps were cautious as she neared Relic where he’d sat down on the toilet lid, but she relaxed after he reached out to grip the back of her thighs and pulled her close. She ran a hand over his hair that she’d cut that morning.
Kennedy was dying to ask him how old he was when Joseph had taught him tactical vomiting and forced him to shove his small fingers down a grown man’s throat who’d overloaded on toxins. She wondered how many nights he had to sit up with his father to ensure Joseph didn’t choke on his vomit since, if left up to Judith, she might’ve let him croak. Kennedy couldn’t say she blamed her. She expelled a sigh while wondering what else Joseph had done to fuck up Relic’s mental. She had a feeling she’d barely scratched the surface of his poorly suppressed traumas.
“Nine.” Kennedy leaned back to see Relic’s face as he gave her the answer to a question she hadn’t asked aloud. “I couldn’t move him the first time ‘cause he’s sturdy like me and Titan. Joseph didn’t talk to me for a week because he was disappointed in how weak I was. How I couldn’t even man up to do that simple thing for him when he did everything for me. I figured it out after that.”
She swallowed before asking, “How?”
“I used his work pail since I could lift him up enough to prop his head on that. I’d clean it before he woke up. I did that ‘tilI was strong enough to put him over the toilet. Shabu sat with me sometimes until Judith made him go to bed. She never made me.”
Relic stood and gripped the side of her neck, smirking at the mixture of dread and anger swarming her dark eyes as he brushed a thumb across her scarred cheek. Her fierce glower alone told him, had she been in Judith’s shoes, she would’ve killed Joseph well before Shabu’s failed attempt. If it were Jahleel, a nigga wouldn’t stand a chance to harm his son, not even him, which was the reason he had signed the contract and then gone to the courts a few days ago to solidify his stance. His mind had been on go, and stomach in knots since, but staring into her hardened eyes, he knew he’d made the right move. Relic bent to peck her lips, and Kennedy held his face to deepen their kiss like she’d been deprived of his affection too long while in the presence of intrusive eyes.
“Does the bullshit stop for even a second?” she pulled back to ask that against his lips, and he scoffed.
“No. You’re tired already?”
“Hell, yes. It’s too many people you have to look after like they came out of your sac, and the label is adding to it. Saucy needs to be in rehab, and we need to find her family or someone who can be there for her. I know, her parents disowned her, but maybe her grandparents on her father’s side. She mentioned they used to be close.”
“I know. I’ll look into it.”
“I’ll do it.” She offered her help, making Relic rest his forehead against hers. Kennedy pecked his lips again and complained, “We need to detach soon before we lose it. I wish I hadn’t offered to go to church with Jah, his sister, and grandma soon, or I’d squeeze another trip in after the couple’s shower.”
Relic glossed over the trip suggestion and asked, “So, what’s your angle with being friendly to Jah’s grandma?”
“I don’t have one. Your son loves his grandma, Relic, so we decided to talk it out for his sake.”
“What about my mother?”
“You tell me. It’s us against them,” she reminded him, flicking a finger between them for emphasis. “You made it so that she’s in the ‘them’ category. If, or when, you decide to make amends, then I’ll follow your lead because we’re a team.”
“The dream team, Larenn. Don’t forget that part.”
“I wish it was a fucking dream,” she uttered, backing away from his touch as he laughed and outstretched both arms.
“Welcome to my world. A never-ending cycle of Relic doing everything for everyone but somehow still being the bad guy. The shit makes prison or death appealing, huh?”
Her heart plummeted to her gut before she snapped, “Don’t say that. How close are we to doomsday?”
“Close enough that you might want to enjoy me while you can.” He smacked her thigh and added, “Get dressed. We still have shit to do, and I have a little surprise coming for you, too.”
“A surprise? What kind of surprise? Relic!” she yelled at his departing back since he was already swaggering out of the bathroom, back in his mode.
He’d encountered a setback, but he shook that shit off since he couldn’t afford to hide in a bathroom and wallow in his feelings like Kennedy had done at his home the time she was triggered. Relic couldn’t waste a moment because, as a man, he’d been taught to handle the situations no one else could or didn’t have the fucking heart to. He had been conditioned to never allow a soul to deem him as weak or incapable of finding a solution to every problem.
Relic had learned at the age of nine that, no matter his size, or how large the conundrum, if he put his mind to it, he could outmaneuver every threat or person in his damn way.
That was Relic’s special gift to Kennedy.
