“Somebody feels me,” Relic uttered and then grunted after Kennedy elbowed his side.
“I wore a cropped jacket with it, thank you both very much.”
“Leave her alone like you tell me, Butch. Relic, would you like some coffee?” Diane offered as she slid a spatula underneath a row of French toast, transferring them from a griddle onto a silver tray. “I have creamer and sugar, or I can make it like Butch’s coffee with brown sugar, whiskey, and whipped cream. I also have orange juice and water.”
“I’ll make it for him, Ma.” Kennedy stood but sat back down after taking one look at her dad.
“Yea, sit you and that high schooler ass dress down. I know it’s old ‘cause it’s cheap. You probably stole it, too, since me or Koda would never buy that shit.”
A cackle erupted from Kennedy before she admitted, “Sonny stole it, actually.”
“Of course, he did. That boy stayed in some mess. His head ain’t been right since he ran away that time. How old were y’all? Fourteen?” Butch verified, smirking at his wife as she pranced over with a plate of bacon and sausages to sit on the table.
“Yes, fourteen. I hope you made grits, too, Ma.”
Kennedy pushed the conversation along since talking about that situation with Sonny rubbed her wrong. Over a decade later, it still pissed her off to no end how Sarge had painted Sonny as a rebellious teen to save his own ass.
“Who is Sonny?” Relic asked, making her groan while stealing a slice of bacon. She bit it to buy time, but her dad did the talking for her.
“Sonny was her ex-best friend and the brother of one of my late son’s friends.”
Relic hummed. “So, you cut your best friend off, too. Is Zeke his brother?”
“No. Sarge, but I never told you about him. Koda was closer with Zeke. Sarge and Koda were more so friends by extension.”
“You talk to him about Koda?” Butch looked between them as Diane returned to the table to set a mug in front of Relic.
“Mhm, that’s the same reaction I had. She rarely talks about him to us or Tekken. Sounds to me like he knows a little about Zeke, too.”
“Depends on what you call a little,” Relic stated and picked up his Irish coffee to chug. Butch placed his down and crossed his arms.
“How ‘bout you tell us a little about you? Relic, is it? Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Because I’m the man who signed Tekken to my label. Relic Records. He worked at my restaurant before that.”
“Oh, yea? Well, I appreciate the opportunity you gave my grandson, but ain’t you and his aunt sneaking around too close to home, then? How does Tekken feel about that? Knowing Kennedy, he’s probably in the dark.”
“He knows,” Relic replied. “I’ll talk to him about it at some point, but Kennedy is grown. What we do privately won’t affect him just like it won’t affect her managing my hair salon.”
“Our salon. Half is mine,” she reminded him, and he snorted but didn’t debate it.
Butch released a deep rumble of laughter from the pit of his belly after catching onto the means his daughter had secured the salon she used to dream about.
“Part owner, huh? Relic, I can tell by the investments you made with your money that you’re a smart man. With that being said, do you really believe you’ll get far, or hold onto mydaughter, by buying her love? You might want to ask the last guy how that turned out.”
“I don’t buy love because it’s never done anything for me. I buy loyalty.”
Kennedy whined and sunk lower in her seat, her eyes pinging between the two most prideful men that she knew being antipathetic to one another. Her stomach knotted as she waited on pins and needles for their discussion to turn for the worst.
“Maybe you never had loyalty from the right person. If you did, you’d know it’s better when it’s free, and so is love.” Diane added her two cents as she set plates of warm eggs, French toast, and grits center table before taking her seat.
She delivered Relic a soft smile because she could tell he felt as out of place as he looked. Their family dynamic was unfamiliar to him, and it showed.
Relic picked up the empty plate in front of him to fork piles of food on it. Once he was finished, he swapped it for Kennedy’s plate to do the same, knowing she didn’t want to make any sudden moves to have the heat turned on her. He was acclimated to it and willing to endure the sting for both of them if necessary.
“Eat,” he commanded, waiting for her to pick up her fork before turning his attention to her mother. “I’ve been in the game long enough to know that money won’t afford me everything I need. Love won’t either, so I use the lesser of the two evils. Me and Kennedy have an understanding, and I’ve only given her what she asks for.”
“Which is?”
