Page 31 of Disrespectfully, Relic

“Says who?” Relic butted in, strolling behind her as the skeleton stamped with her name tried breaking free from his internal closet. He ignored it and pointed at the targets. “Y’all are talking too much, and I’m trying to see whether Los did his fucking job with my son.”

“I’m ready. You good, Jah?”

“Yep,” he answered, placing his earmuffs over his lobes.

Kennedy watched with a small smile as his expression grew serious, and hands clenched the gun’s grip while his thumb swiped the safety off. She did the same, aimed, and then examined the targets. A row of paper ducks taped to cans were lined on a slab of wood, a string—wrapped around two trees—with bullseye pictures clipped to it was a few feet behind those, and two human silhouette pictures pinned to wooden stands was furthest back.

“Are we going for the ducks, bullseye, or silhouette targets, Jah?”

“The ducks. We’ll go on the count of three.”

“I’ll count!” Nairi shouted, adjusting her earmuffs before backing up. “One, two, three...”

Kennedy winced as she pulled the trigger. The gun’s power shocked her for a split second because it’d been years since she had to used one. Her eyes rolled when a derisive scoff from Relic sounded over her shoulder.

“I thought you’d be better at this shit. It’s looking like me and Los didn’t have to step in when you tried my folks because you would’ve missed anyway.”

“Shut the hell up.”

“I would say make me, but you just proved that you couldn’t even if I gave you the gun and bullets to do it. My judgement was off about you, Kennedy. I guess my old age is making me rusty.”

“Don’t listen to him. My daddy can teach you with me and Jah,” Nairi told her in a consoling tone. “You ready to go again?”

Kennedy placed her pointer finger near the trigger and shifted her aim an inch. Before she could give Nairi the go ahead, a solid body pressing against her backside like it belonged there made her shudder.

She refused to glance back as Relic grazed both hands down her arms and then planted them overtop hers like she required his help. His mouth rested at her ear while his thumb rubbed the keloids along her hand as her teeth clenched. If she hated nothing more, it was being seen as a helpless bitch, incapable of getting shit done. Relic’s actions made it obvious her minor slip had placed her in that category.

“You don’t just aim and shoot. Use your front sight to focus on the target,” he coached, tapping the tiny post on her gun’s barrel near the muzzle. She tucked her lips to not respond. “Inhale, let it out, and shoot at the pause before you inhale again. Don’t fucking breathe until they’re not, and don’t hesitate because real life doesn’t give you a moment to contemplate your move. Remember, it’s always them or you, Kennedy. Go again.”

“On the count of three,” Nairi reiterated before starting. “One, two, three...”

Kennedy and Jahleel pulled their triggers in unison, both knocking down a duck as Nairi cheered them on. Jahleel missed his second and third duck but hit the last one standing, while Kennedy hit each mark. She didn’t lower her gun when Relic removed his hands.

“I finally did it! You saw that, Relic?” Jahleel exclaimed with a broad smile.

“I did. You got more work to do, but not bad for your first time. Me and Los will bring y’all here once a month to work on your skills. We’ll even invite Kennedy again since she needs it. Sounds good?”

“Yep. You hear that Ms. Kennedy? Relic said you can come again.”

Kennedy heard him but was too busy replaying Relic’s taunting words on a loop in her head to respond. Hell would freeze over before she’d let him believe she couldn’t protect herself without his guidance. She raised her gun higher to aim at the silhouette furthest away and then did what Relic had recited but Koda had taught her well before she knew she’d need it. Kennedy inhaled, exhaled, and then held her breath as she let off three shots into her target.

After lowering her gun with a squint, a small smirk eased onto her face at seeing the holes gaped into the image at the head, heart, and groin for added measure. She pivoted in her heels to face Relic, noting her skills wiped the smugness off his face.

“I was thirteen when my brother taught me to shoot, so I guess my old age made me a bit rusty, too. It’s coming back to me, don’t you think?”

“I think your chest shot is off.”

“And I think maybe you should take those damn glasses off to see better because that shit is perfect.”

She reached for his shades, but Relic tipped back and then caught her hand at the wrist. A shrieked slipped out when he tightened his hold to yank her against his chest.

“Don’t try that shit again, Kennedy, and this is as nice as I’ll ever be about it,” he stated in a stern tone before releasing her.

“Your best bet was to let me go, or this gun was about to be upside your damn head. It wasn’t that serious, Relic. They’re just glasses.”

“He doesn’t like taking them off because he’s cursed,” Jahleel stepped in to explain, and Los chuckled.

“Folks, why the hell did you tell him about some shit like that?”

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