Page 290 of Kentrell

My ears rang. Everything blurred.

And when my eyes focused…

I saw him.

My daddy.

Staring at me with this wild, stunned look… like he couldn’t believe it either.

Blood started spreading across his chest… fast… dark… red. His knees buckled, causing him to hit the floor hard.

I froze. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

The gun was still in my hands… but I knew damn well I ain’t feel no kick. No recoil.

Didn’t matter.

My mind already decided—I did this.

I stood there in shock, my heart punching my ribs, staring down at him, while the blood kept spreading.

And then?—

“WHAT DID YOU DO, KENTRELL?!”

My mama’s scream tore through the hallway.

She came running from the back bedroom… barefoot… face twisted with fear and heartbreak.

Her voice cracked as she dropped to the floor next to him, shaking him, yelling his name, but he was already gone… eyes open… chest still.

“No! Kenny! Wake up! No, no, no—Kentrell, baby, what did you do?!”

I couldn’t say a word. Couldn’t move.

Just stood there…

Holding the gun like it was glued to my hand…

Feeling my whole life shift sideways in a single breath.

I was shaking now.

“I ain’t remember all that,” I muttered, my voice hoarse, rough like it had been dragged across concrete.

“You were in shock, baby…” Her voice cracked, breaking right along with me.

As the weight of it settled… it all started clicking. Like pieces of a puzzle I didn’t even know I’d been avoiding. Memories I buried so deep they barely felt real… now crawling back, sharp and cold.

And like instinct… like breath… my mind went straight to my baby brother.

“Kensei—”

“What about him?” My mama locked onto my words, like she already knew something was coming.

But I couldn’t even answer her straight. My heart was thudding too hard. My head too full of noise.

“Who the fuck pulled the trigger?” I asked instead, locking eyes with her… watching close as her gaze flickered left… like she needed to look anywhere but at me.

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