Page 44 of The Only Shot that Mattered

“Of course I did. I invited you. Sorry it was so last minute?—”

Kenna tugged on Skylar’s arm, shooting daggers at her. “Skylar, you can’t be serious right now.”

Skylar pulled her arm away, and her eyes turned to slits. “Just go get us some popcorn.”

Kenna reared back like Skylar had slapped her before she grabbed the girl’s arm once again and dragged her and Alanzo away from the group of boys. “Little girl, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not your flunky. I’m not your damn maid, and you don’t get to order me around. Now, I think it’s best we go. If you still want to see this movie, we can find a show at a different theater, but this, baby, isn’t the move, and it’s not cute.” Kenna looked Big Len and his friends up and down with her face turned up. “At all.”

“Aye, who is this bitch?” Big Len called out with a scowl. He obviously heard what Kenna said.

Alanzo, who had been quiet this entire exchange, growled fiercely before running over to Big Len and punching him in his stomach. “Don’t talk to Titi like that.”

Big Len grunted while his friends looked like they were deciding whether to laugh or rough Alanzo up. Kenna quickly made her way over to them and pushed Alanzo behind her while Skylar did her best to diffuse the situation.

“She’s my daddy’s girlfriend. Look, she’s my ride, so be cool,” Skylar said.

Although it wasn’t the right moment, Kenna felt a swell of pride hearing Skylar so easily refer to Kenna as her father’s girlfriend.

Before Kenna could put her foot down about leaving, a group of men walked up to them. Kenna’s sense of dread heightened.She looked toward the exit, which they had managed to get several yards away from.

These men were older than Skylar and Big Len. They looked to be around Kenna’s age, in fact, but they also looked like low-life thugs. Something about the way the three of them walked up on them didn’t sit right with Kenna, and she immediately pulled Skylar’s arm to wedge herself between her and what she now felt like was a threat. She didn’t know why, but something about the way the air shifted when Big Len noticed the men made her skin crawl and had those warning bells sounding more like sirens in her head.

“Aye, where’s my money, lil nigga?” the leader of this new group of men asked.

Kenna instinctively took a few steps back, prompting Skylar and Alanzo to as well. A silent prayer of thanks went up from Kenna that Skylar was wordlessly obeying her at the moment. She must have felt the shift too.

Big Len sucked his teeth, but Kenna could see the nerves bouncing around his body and in his eyes. She sensed it because her own body mirrored his at the moment.

“I’on got shit for you, homie. Move around.” Big Len tried to move around the older men while his friends laughed stupidly behind him.

“Skylar, we need to get out of here?—”

A noise that haunted Kenna both in her sleep and while she was awake sounded through the dusty theater.

It happened so fast, Kenna almost missed it, but her instincts took over. Everything about the situation wouldn’t allow her to look away for more than a split second, so the familiar sound didn’t come as a surprise. That didn’t mean it didn’t startle her. It almost paralyzed her as flashes of her brother lying dead in a pool of his own blood filled her mind.

Big Len’s body hitting the floor and Skylar’s screams kept her from planting her feet in place and going into a full-blown panic attack. Thoughts of her classmates who she should have tried harder to save crushed her but also forced her into action.

In one motion, Kenna lifted Alanzo into her arms and pulled Skylar’s arm, dragging her along. Chaos ensued around them, and Kenna struggled to hold a crying Alanzo in her arm. He was big, and she was petite, but she pulled strength from her ancestors to keep pushing while tugging Skylar along. People bumped into them, but still, Kenna kept pushing.

She wanted to suck in as much fresh air as she could once they made it outside. Outside meant safety. But she focused on her task of getting to the car. The parking lot was madness, and Kenna had to stay on point to get them to the car without getting run over. When they finally made it, she shoved Alanzo into the back seat while Skylar stood at the passenger side door, frozen in place with tears streaming down her face.

“Skylar, sweetie, you have to get in the car. Get in the car.” Kenna’s voice sounded strange, a cross between panicked, confident, and demanding as she opened the car door for her.

Still, Skylar stood there, staring off into space, her tears leaving streaks in their path. “He… he’s dead. He’s dead, Kenna.” Her watery eyes found Kenna’s. “He was shot, and now he’s dead. He’s dead, right?”

Kenna’s tears fell from her eyes rapidly as she pulled Skylar in for a tight hug. “We have to get going, honey, okay? I need you to get in the car so I can get you back home safely to your father.”

At the mention of her dad, Skylar seemed to snap out of it just enough to slide into the car. Kenna quickly followed suit and pulled out of the parking lot, not caring that she cut a few people off and missed a stop sign. When they were far enough away, Kenna pulled her phone out and dialed 911.

Her hands trembled as she listened to the operator greet her.

“H-hi… I need to report a sh-shooting.”

Things Kenna was thankful for:

1. The police allowing them to be questioned at Damien’s house instead of the precinct or making her turn around and go back to the movie theater.

2. Damien’s comfortable bed.

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