Page 59 of Disrespectfully, Relic

A blow to his forehead with the butt of Slim’s gun sent his head flying back. Relic shut his eyes and breathed through the pain, but that was as far as his reaction went because Joseph had taught him never to cry or whine like a bitch.

The gun’s barrel pressed against his temple and cloaked him with a calmness he hadn’t witnessed in years. A part of Relic welcomed death. He’d have no responsibility there, and the skeletons in his mental closet would settle beneath the dirt with him. If they ever clawed their way to the surface, he wouldn’t have to face those repercussions.

His teeth clenched when pain seared his neck from the chain Pierre bought him being snatched off, peeling away his skin with it. Relic opened his eyes—struggling to view the last face he’d see through the trickle of blood rolling over his lid—and a flash of locs darting around the building made him crack a smile while his emotions rested between relief and mild disappointment.

“This is mine now.” Slim lifted the chain in the air before goading, “Tell your peoples to get it back in blood.”

“Back in blood you say? Heard.”

Shots rang out, causing Relic’s hearing to impair as soon as those words left his mouth.

Slim ducked, and Relic dipped to the side to retrieve his gun while Shabu took out two of the three niggas with shots to the back of the head that neither saw coming. The last standing aimed at Shabu, and Relic redirected his attention—hitting his opposition in the head and neck with precision. That split second of taking his eyes off Slim to save his brother cost him because an excruciating pain radiated from Relic’s shoulder into his chest, sending him against the wall for support.

Shabu’s mouth was moving, but Relic couldn’t hear him through the buzzing from his sensitive eardrums. His brother spun around, letting off at Slim as the nigga dived behind the single car and then bolted for the trees just as their gang came running around the building.

Shabu pointed and said, “Go catch that nigga, now!”

They shot past him, and he went to Relic, helping him stand before staring at the blood saturating his brother’s shirt.

“I’m good. Get us the fuck out of here and call P. They were back here waiting to hit him up. He got a fucking target on his back.”

“Who got what? Yea, aight.”

If Relic weren’t in pain, he’d laugh at his brother’s nonchalance as Shabu pulled out his phone to call Pierre while they jogged to the car. The ache in Relic’s arm made him groan as he fished out his keys, hitting the locks on his vehicle parked feet away. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact he’d aligned his ducks to enter and exit the club without a hitch but had failed. Slim and his boys had either gotten to the back the same way as him, or his team had let them slip right past because they weren’t efficient enough to pinpoint the impending danger. When Relic recalled they hadn’t followed his brother either, the wheels in his head started spinning.

“Yoooo! You had me finna turn Super Saiyan when I ain’t see you, bitch! Where the fuck you go?”

That greeting sent Relic’s eyes toward his brother. Shabu snatched his keys and then pointed to the passenger side before moving around him to climb in the driver’s seat. Relic didn’t have it in him to talk shit.

“I’m straight. Fuck you at, P?” Shabu asked, starting the car and backing out as soon as Relic dropped inside. He tried not to look at his brother because seeing Relic bleeding had him seconds away from crashing the fuck out.

“We’re in the truck. Titan’s big ass is, too. We’ll circle back to get his ride when shit cools off. Relic left at the nick of fucking time ‘cause that nigga would be hot as fish grease that some shit popped off while he was here.”

“Nah, he ain’t leave in the nick of time.” The phone silenced as Shabu scanned the lot and then skirted around a car to skip them after spotting the truck his folks were inside leaving the lot safely. “This nigga is in the passenger seat, leaking, and you got a red dot.”

“Who got what? Ha!”

“Feel me, gang? Niggas don’t know they just woke a sleeping giant, but we’ll kick the shit. Let me get my bro situated, and don’t tell Titan!”

“Heard.”

Shabu ended the call and dropped his phone into his lap, removing his foot from the gas as he rolled out of the parking lot while police careened inside. He hauled ass the moment he was in the clear.

“What the hell happened, Relic?”

“I told you. Niggas were already outside when I walked out, but I peeped them too late. My car was right there, which is why I didn’t have anyone at the door, but the muthafuckas who were stationed near my car should’ve seen them. Did they try to see what was up when you walked by?”

“Yea, but I told them shit was copesetic. I ain’t need them rowdy niggas making a scene in case you were in trouble, which you were. You better fucking thank Kenn Dog, bro.”

Relic frowned as he removed his shirt, wrapping it underneath his armpit and around his shoulder where he was hit. “Thank her for what?”

“When I saw her at the grand opening, she told me to watch you. That shit made me paranoid, so that’s why I kept bothering you and wasn’t drinking. You know I’d be turnt up with P if she hadn’t put that bug in my ear. It ain’t feel right letting you leave alone, so I went out the front because I knew you’d bitch if you saw me lurking. When yo ass ain’t come around that corner fast enough, it sent up red flags.”

That divulgence of information slowed Relic’s movements before he bit one end of his shirt and then tugged the other, knotting it in place until he got somewhere that he could call Logan to patch him up. Gratefulness was the last thing coursing through him as he tried recalling every conversation he’d had with Kennedy since they’d met. Not one would give her a reason to believe he needed a babysitter, especially while he was out to celebrate his main shooter. Shabu had sat his ass down after popping the officer that’d raped Michi. His brother was washing his hands, but Kennedy had gone behind his back and made a fucking play that wasn’t her call.

Anger caused his chest to heave because it was his fault she felt comfortable to where she called a shot that could’ve landed his brother six feet under. Relic didn’t give one damn about his own demise, but Shabu was a different story. His hands shook and vision blurred at the thought of his brother on ice because he’d let a bitch believe she held more power than she deserved.

“Bro!”

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