“I didn’t think it until Tek told me Koda knew about us. I didn’t get why you’d keep that a secret, Zeke. Then, you lied about my brother having a girl when he has a whole child out there somewhere.”
“Wait, what? Koda didn’t have a girl. That wasn’t a lie, Kennedy.”
“Sarge.” She turned to where he had been silent in a corner the entire time. He didn’t move or blink when she reminded him, “You said he was messing with a stripper, right? And she got pregnant for him.”
“That hoe!”
Ezekiel balled his face because he couldn’t even recall her name, and Koda was hitting her on the low, so he was unsure how Sarge had heard about the pregnancy incident since Koda rarely told the nigga his business. The more he thought about it, his breathing picked up before he glared at Sarge.
“How do you know she was pregnant, Sarge?”
“Oh, shit. I think you accidentally started something, Relic,” Los hissed before moving by his side while Shabu did the same. Kennedy stepped forward.
“Wait, what do you mean, how does he know? Y’all didn’t tell him?”
“He might’ve known they were fucking, but not ‘bout the possible baby. Koda nipped it in the bud immediately. So, who told you, Sarge? Her?”
Sarge threw his hands in the air and confessed, “Yea, she did. So, fucking what? It doesn’t change that you lied to Kenn about it. I was just telling her that she might have a niece out there.”
Relic chuckled before pointing out, “I notice you said a niece. How do you know it wasn’t a nephew?”
The floor began to spin under Kennedy’s feet as she stared at Sarge’s dumb expression before he got it in check a second too late. After taking a subtle step backward, he chuckled before addressing Relic.
“I said niece because Koda has a son. It was a random sex. It’s only one or the other.”
“You sure? Or were you fucking the same bitch, and she pinned a baby you wanted on Koda because she was choosing like hoes do.”
“She wasn’t a hoe. She was innocent until Koda used her and dumped her like fucking trash. Koda changed her. Made her like him,” Sarge sneered, thinking of her. “I was there for her the whole pregnancy while he left her to rot. The minute he said he’d be active once they took a blood test, she tried to push me aside like he’d done her. She was ungrateful, and Koda thought he was fucking untouchable and could treat people like shit.”
“You set up Koda behind a bitch!” Kennedy screamed and lunged for him, but Relic caught her before she could attack. She wriggled in his hold while shouting, “You had a fucking girl and kid already, Sarge! You took my brother behind a hoe that didn’t want you!”
“I set him up because he thought he was the end all, be all! Because he cut me off when Zeke sat his ass down! I didn’t want to stop, but he didn’t feel I was good enough for second in command. Koda sat in my fucking face and laughed when I asked for Zeke’s spot. Finding out that he knocked up the girl I was feeling was just the icing on the cake. Now, look who got the last fucking laugh. She was left with no nigga to take care of her, and he’s dead. The only thing I regret is not finding his stash before I sent his opps the location. I would have robbed his ass like you thought.”
“Oh, shit!” Los shouted as Ezekiel charged Sarge and pinned him against the wall.
Relic didn’t think anything of it but released Kennedy the instant he spotted the metal glinting in Ezekiel’s hand. It tucked under Sarge’s chin, and Relic glared at Los.
“You let him snatch your fucking gun!”
“I was invested in the story like y’all. I didn’t see the nigga coming!”
Relic pushed out a breath before taking cautious steps toward Ezekiel, who glanced back for a split second before placing his attention on his supposed friend. The goading look on Sarge’s face as he laughed almost convinced Relic to let Ezekiel pull the trigger, but they were in the wrong place. It’d end badly for everyone involved.
“Don’t do it. Not here with all these eyes around. It’s too messy,” he warned Ezekiel. “We can find another way. Hell, I got a thousand places to do it and get rid of him.”
“Well, you got one minute to let me know how to get him out of here without it causing a scene, or your concert is headlining the news for a homicide. I had a snake sitting in my face for damn near a decade, so I don’t give a fuck about prison at this point.”
“Pills.”
Kennedy summoned every set of eyes with that single word. She went to the dressing table and squatted, fishing through one of the bags that had fallen over to retrieve an orange bottle that she held in the air.
“I don’t know what these are, but this is what Saucy took, and she hasn’t budged. I’m sure a good dose will get Sarge woozy enough to walk out of here quietly.”
Relic stared for a beat before instructing, “Put his ass in the chair and force him to swallow them. We can move him once it kicks in. If anyone comes in, they’ll just think the nigga is on something or drunk.”
Sarge shoved Ezekiel and tried to beeline for the door after hearing that instruction, but Shabu tripped him and then rammed him in the stomach with his gun while Los put him in a headlock from behind. They dragged him to the couch like Sarge wore a hundred pounds soak and wet instead of his hefty weight.
Ezekiel sauntered to Kennedy and took the pill bottle from her while dissecting her because she was a different girl than theone he recalled. He was convinced the young girl he knew was encapsulated in the moment she’d shot him in his kitchen after having a mental breakdown from his bullshit. She had never come back from that day.
