Page 54 of Kentrell

“You not like me though…” he added, voice dipping softer now, like he was talking to himself as much as me. “You gon’ make sure she know.”

“Bitch… whatchu on?” I asked, trying to shake the mood.

“Shit… my last fuckin’ blunt.” He exhaled another cloud into the phone. “I’on know… just been thinking.”

I clenched my jaw, waiting him out… letting him gather whatever thought was trying to break through.

“I ain’t gon’ lie…” His voice came through the speakers way too loud, making me wince and curl my face up.

“Damn, turn your phone down,” I muttered, but he kept going.

“I tried that shit out… had me a shorty.” He sighed heavy, like the weight of it still sitting on his chest. “My lil vibe… separated her from the Angels and everything. Just to see how that shit feel… to have something that’s just mine… you know?”

Mine.

That word hit me like a boomerang.

First my mama… bringing back what I said when I was just a kid. Now my little brother… echoing it like the shit was on repeat in the universe.

“I ain’t let my hoes eat her pussy either… none of that shit.” He laughed, like it was some big, honorable confession.

I shook my head, smirking. “That was all mine,” he said, dragging the word out like it still tasted good and bitter at the same time.

“So what happened to her?” I asked, lowkey wanting to know more now.

“Shit… her ass left.” He said it flat, like it was obvious.

That pulled a snort outta me before I could help it.

“Put a bitch on a pedestal and she park yo ass dead in yo feelings,” he admitted, and I could hear the salt all through his voice. “I ain’t gon’ lie, folks… that shit blew me. Had me checkin’ my phone like a goofy, too. Sitting there waiting on a text that never came. No calls. No messages. Just… dipped.”

“So you ain’t know she was gon’ leave you?”

“Nah… I mean, we got into it bad. And you know how females be… tryna say shit just to get a reaction. She told me don’t trip… then hit me with the Usher ‘Watch This.’”

That had me crying laughing, trying to blink through tears while keeping my eyes on the road.

“Shit… now you know she a woman of her word,” I teased, still grinning.

“Fuck you, bitch!” Wani barked, but he laughed with me. Couldn’t help it.

“It’s cool though,” he said after a beat, like he was trying to sound unbothered. “Her peoples still stay out here.”

I knew that tone.

“Nigga… leave that girl alone,” I said, shifting back into big brother mode without even thinking.

“You got enough hoes in rotation to keep your mind off one chick who clearly not thinkin’ about your ass.”

“Damn, bloody… straight to the back with it,” he sighed like I stabbed him with the truth.

“Nah… I’m for real, G.” My voice dropped low, all play gone now. “Leave that shit alone.”

He didn’t respond for a while. Just sat there on the other end, letting the silence fill the space between us.

When he finally did speak, I heard him take a long drag… slow… like he needed the hit before conceding.

“Yeah… you right.”

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