Jahleel huffed a breath but resumed eating while Relic returned his attention to the one-sided exchange he’d been having with Kennedy the past few days since she refused to acknowledge him reaching out. He wished he’d locked her in one of his spare bedrooms instead of watching from his camera footage as she stole his car keys and fled like a thief in the night. Relic was learning the old adage, out of sight and out of mind,was bullshit since he hadn’t made it a day without her invading his thoughts.
Even while away, his biggest distraction had learned a new trick—how to stress him the fuck out. He couldn’t stop his mind from drifting to scenarios of what Kennedy was doing, who she was with, and whether she was acting out in the same manner that Harmony and Jessica used to do whenever they felt slighted. His eyes squeezed shut at the thought of her giving another nigga some pussy to get back at him.
Seconds passed before he took a breath and peered at his phone again. He skimmed the number of messages he sent Kennedy, deleted the thread, and blocked the number altogether. Relic wasn’t in the business of allowing women to make him sweat. As the days passed, he found it harder not to drag Kennedy home by the curly bundles sewn into her goddamn head, so it was best he stopped reaching out while he was ahead.
His truck door opening reeled him out of his thoughts before his hand flew to his hip out of instinct. He turned in his seat as Jahleel hopped out, grabbing his mess while his brows bunched at Relic’s reaction.
“You didn’t hear me, did you?” he accused, shaking his head with his usual lour. “I told you, I’m done eating and going to throw my trash away.”
“I heard you,” Relic lied. Jahleel twisted his mouth to one side in disbelief but didn’t debate him on it.
Once Relic watched his son jog to the nearby trash bin and dump his bags inside, he started his ride while Jahleel rushed back toward the passenger side, climbing in before buckling up. Relic checked his wristwatch as he pulled off, noting the time he told Aura he’d meet her at the mall had come and gone. He’d get there when he got there, and if it were up to him, they wouldn’t have shit to talk about. His shoulders rolled to settle the stiffnessthere from Kennedy coercing him into doing bullshit he’d rather not.
“When you pick me up next time, can my sister come, too?” Jahleel asked, garnering his attention as he eased out of the lot and merged with oncoming traffic.
“I can’t take her out of school, Jah. I’m not her parent. Maybe we can talk your grandma into letting her chill one day with us. She can’t stay at my house, though.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s a little girl, and I’m a grown man who isn’t shit to her. If I were your grandmother, I wouldn’t let her spend the night either. Never trust your sister around just anybody, especially men. You hear me?”
“You’re not just anybody to me, though.”
Relic took his eyes off the road to stare at him. “What does that mean?”
“It means that I’m safe with you, so she is too, right?”
“Life doesn’t work like that,” he explained, observing the unsettled look Jahleel wore. “You don’t know what the hell a nigga is thinking, and lil’ girls are the easiest to hurt since they’re weaker. It’s easy to convince them to do what you say. Young ladies are the same, just older. If you want to protect your sister, then know that there’s no exception to the rule, Jah. Not even me.”
“My granny said the same thing,” Jahleel stated. Relic nodded, already knowing. “She was talking to her church friend and said she didn’t like Jas hanging with our mom ‘cause she might let her man friends do anything to Jas.”
“And that’s one thing I agree with your grandma on. I wouldn’t have trusted Jessica either. If I had a daughter by her—”
Relic stopped himself before he admitted he would’ve put a bullet in Jessica himself and took his daughter before he let a woman like her raise his little girl.
Shabu and Savvy’s overprotective natures over Navy wouldn’t have shit on him if he’d fathered a girl. Relic was glad he hadn’t because he was an example of the men he’d warned his son about, and that karma was too great to put on his child. His stomach tightened as he accepted that he played a hand in creating bitches like Jessica and scarring women like Michi, who he was told from Titan was smart enough to not want to bring a girl in this world either. He blinked rapidly while trying to focus and overlook the real reasons he didn’t want that gorgeous, deep complexioned little girl who crossed his mind on occasions.
“Ms. Kennedy said her brother taught her to shoot a gun, right?” Jahleel asked, and Relic smirked, appreciating his son’s young but sharp mind.
“Before he passed away, yea. Why?”
“Because she don’t seem weak or like you can tell her what to do. Ms. Kennedy protects herself. I’ll teach Jas to be like her, so she won’t need me all the time.”
“Good idea. Since you brought her up, call her.”
“Ms. Kennedy?” Jahleel confirmed with a mile wide smile spreading across his face.
Relic nodded with a grimace, loathing the fact he was resorting to extreme measures just to hear her voice like he hadn’t blocked her number minutes ago. That was the shit Kennedy did to him. She left him unfocused, knowing she was the only distraction that settled him down.
Jahleel didn’t waste time digging in his pocket for his phone—tapping her contact before activating the speaker phone, so his dad could hear. The phone rang twice before she picked up, making Relic frown while Jahleel muffled a laugh with his hand.
“Mr. Gridiron Bully!” she sang with enthusiasm and a raspy voice Relic instantly noticed. His attention swiveled from the heavy traffic to Jahleel’s phone like he could see her as she asked, “What are you doing calling me so early? Your homework done?”
“No, ma’am. I’m not home yet.”
“Okay, you’re lucky ‘cause I was about to be on your butt. How was school?”
“Boriiing,” he dragged, and she laughed before it was replaced with a light cough. Jahleel’s brows dipped. “You didn’t sound like that yesterday. Are you getting sick?”
