“You know what, they sure do. I absolutely agree.”
Kennedy smirked, patted his bicep, and then pranced past him while he watched, knowing he’d stuck his damn foot in his mouth. As fast as he found a loophole out of her wrath, he’d given her a reason to resume her bullshit after validating every action deserved a consequential reaction. Relic was convinced, he couldn’t win for fucking losing.
“Nigga, you ain’t ‘bout to have me out all night. Fuck is we doing, and why you got me out in the woods, riding in a semi-truck sleeper cab? I’m two seconds from getting in that muthafuckin’ bed back there, but I don’t know who had their nasty ass body on it.”
Relic kept his eyes on the unlit road instead of giving Los the answers he’d been digging for since getting picked up from his home in a semi cab. The nigga would find out everything he needed to know soon, but until then, Relic needed the quiet drive for his peace of mind. He needed to wrap his head around the fact that in a few minutes’ time, another person would know about his impending arrest. Each time he admitted it aloud, it made it realer and put a gnawing ache in his stomach. As much as he prepared, he realized there wasn’t enough preparation in the world for not knowing how the cookie would crumble.
For once, his planning didn’t mean shit. His strategic moves didn’t seem as well-laid as before. A soft pounding in his temples commenced as he accepted that one wrong step could ruin the intricate details he’d obsessed over for well over a year. Relic couldn’t predict what was coming, and that fucked with his mental more than his arrest.
“And on top of your bullshit, now my phone ain’t got no service,” Los groused, dropping his phone into his lap as Relic snorted a breath.
“That’s the fucking point. We’re about to pull up to the cabin soon. Chill the fuck out.”
“A cabin! Nigga, I love you and all, but this ain’t that. Me and you ain’t finna be in no cabin together, having no man’s night alone. We could’ve hit up the strip club, a bar, or anything else but this.”
“Anybody ever tell you, you act just like your dumb ass brother?”
Los chuckled at that. “Nobody acts like my dumb ass brother. For real, what’s up with all this shit? I didn’t even know you could drive a fucking semi. Then, you ain’t said much since you picked me up. I know you. Fuck is going on in that big ass head of yours?”
“If you know me, then you know that I show people shit better than I can tell them. We’re here.”
Relic turned onto the dirt trail cut between the trees to take Los to the same spot he’d taken Shabu to by boat. The same repository he had shown Kennedy where he stashed his product. It was also where the bulk of his physical cash resided inside his safe under lock and key where he never intended for a soul to find out about it. After getting shot and then being gunned at again, he came to terms with it being a chance he might not get to tell them later. The rest was being held in a private location forbackup in case his folks were dumb enough to fuck up his money somehow.
“This is where yo cabin is? This shit looks like where them cannibalism ass people take their victims to tie them up and eat them later,” Los said, peering out the window at nothing but blackness and towering trees that blocked out the sky. The only other thing he could see was Relic’s single cabin up ahead. “Yea, this is definitely the spot they take ‘em to. You ain’t got no neighbors or nothing?”
“Not close to where you can see them. I can take you on a tour, though. Stroll around the neighborhood and—”
“Hell to the fuck nah!” Los interjected, making Relic chuckle as he pulled up to park in front of his cabin.
“I didn’t think so. Let’s make this shit quick, ‘cause I got better things I could be doing.”
“Like what? Tricking off on Kennedy?”
Fucking Kennedyimmediately popped in Relic’s head as his retort, but he said nothing and hopped out the semi as Los laughed, rounding the cab to meet him before they strolled to the door. After he’d shown Kennedy the house, he dropped her off at her salon on some petty shit instead of using his day wisely, getting a much-needed nut. With the stress of everything weighing on him, he wished he’d put aside teaching her a lesson in exchange for temporary relief that only she brought him.
“Keep it a buck with me,” Los pressed, nudging Relic with a sly grin. “You gon’ kill her, ain’t you?”
“Stop fucking talking to me.”
“I’m just saying! The last time you had a woman in yo crib, getting all comfortable and shit, she wound up dead. I was questioning that fake ass family shit you were doing with Jessica, so it ain’t shock me how it turned out. I can’t call it with Kennedy, though. One minute, I think you fuck with her, butthen I can tell you’re fucking with her head the next. Which is it?”
“I’m fucking with her ‘cause I fuck with her head.”
“You’re the most full of shit nigga I’ve ever met in my life.”
“That’s what she said,” Relic muttered, making them both chuckle as he tapped the small screen on his door to bring it to life. Once it lit up, he pressed his prints against it, watched it turn green, and the pushed open the door as Los observed the process with pinched brows.
“Fancy ass nigga.”
“It ain’t cost that much. I’ll buy you one for the house Nubia never lets you stay in, if you want.”
“You always got jokes about my ex-wife, but anytime I mention Kennedy, your ass goes silent.”
Just as Los called it, Relic went mute before he flicked on the lights and started toward the kitchen. Los followed without being instructed. His forehead creased as his folks sauntered to the fridge, braced his hands on it, and shoved it toward the counter. Los inched closer after Relic kneeled before brushing his hand across the dusty tan tile, latching a finger into a discreet hole to lift the concealed hatch door no wider than three rows and four columns worth of tile.
“Watch your head. The cellar isn’t that big,” Relic said as he turned to start climbing down without pause.
Los stood in a stupor for a split second before he got a move on, taking his time to carefully crawl backward into the dark hole, planting a foot on the stairs before lowering himself down the creaky wood. By the time his feet hit the ground, a light flicked on.
