Page 289 of Kentrell

For half a second… everything froze.

Him. Me. The whole damn room.

Kenny wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, still grinning like this was all fun to him.

“Oh… so you one of them ones now, huh?” he taunted, taking a slow step forward. “Go ‘head then. Pull that shit, nigga.”

My heart was thumping so loud it drowned out everything but him.

I tightened my grip on the gun… knuckles pale… but my finger froze on the trigger.

I didn’t want this. Not really.

But I also wasn’t going back to being scared of him. Not tonight. Not never again.

I shifted my weight… aimed steady… but my eyes—damn near on their own—glanced back toward the hallway.

Toward the back bedroom.

I could hear her.

My mama.

Screaming for us to stop.

Begging.

Her voice cracked mid-yell, like she’d been shouting for minutes and we just kept ignoring her.

Kenny caught the look.

Saw me hesitate.

And that just made him worse.

“Look at you…” he sneered, laughing low and nasty. “Lookin’ for your mama to save your punk ass.”

He stepped closer, fearless… eyes dark with the kind of hate only he could hold.

“Boy, I tell ya…” he shook his head slow, smirking like he was disgusted with me. “If you had a pussy… I’d put you on the track witcha mama.”

My stomach twisted.

That was it.

I squeezed the trigger.

Click.

The sound felt louder than it should’ve been… sharp and empty… echoing through the room like the whole house held its breath.

For a split second… confusion hit me.

Then—

BANG!

The blast rocked the air.

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