Page 76 of Kentrell

“Outta nowhere?” she snapped, voice climbing. “I guess since I’m not that young, dumb ass hoe sucking yo dick every night you done forgot all about that shit you was doing behind Kenny’s back. You remember that? All them promises and ultimatum you gave? You tried to put this shit off on me, but you was just as lowdown as I was.”

My gut twisted, suddenly feeling sick. Pretty Kenny’s name got my attention, my jaw locking tight.

Then it hit me—hard.

Taffy.

I’ll never forget that night. Even now, decades later, it plays in my head like an old movie I can’t switch off.

I was about six years old when it happened. The yelling out front woke me first, loud enough to rattle the walls. Glass shattered somewhere, voices echoing sharp and furious through the house. Quietly, heart racing, I crept out of bed and cracked my bedroom door just enough to peek through.

There stood Taffy, one of my daddy’s girls, face wet and eyes swollen, waving around a bright pink car seat like a weapon. My mama stood her ground, fists balled tight, fury radiating off her skin. Pretty Kenny was off to the side, taking slow drags off his Black & Mild, expression blank like none of this chaos disturbed him.

“You ain’t shit, Kenny!” Taffy cried, voice breaking as she slammed the car seat down on our coffee table. Inside, a tiny baby girl slept through the madness like it was normal. “You ain’t even come see your child. Your own daughter!”

My mama laughed bitterly, shaking her head. “Bitch, quit playing in my face. You know damn well Kenny ain’t the daddy of that baby. Stop lying.”

Taffy didn’t say another word—she just lunged. Mama met her halfway, fists flying, pulling hair, slamming bodies into furniture, until?—

It happened fast. Too fast.

Mama’s hands connected with Taffy’s face hard enough to send her stumbling backward, straight into the glass side table. It shattered beneath her, the crash finally waking the baby, whose sharp cries pierced through the air.

Behind me, I heard the loud crinkling of the plastic mama had wrapped our mattress in to stop Kenwan from pissing in the bed.

“What’s going on?” Velvet groggily shuffled from her room, yawning and naked. My eyes widened in shock before snapping shut.

“This bitch done brought this fucking baby over here, tryna prove it’s Kenny’s!” Mama hissed.

I opened my eyes slightly, trying to peek without seeing too much of Kenwan’s mama. It worked until Velvet moved past me toward the coffee table, bending down to look at the baby before snorting.

“One thing Kenny got is strong genes,” Velvet chuckled softly as she headed back to her bedroom. “And he gon’ mark his babies somehow.”

Her door closed behind her, leaving the tension heavy and thick in the air.

“Y’all hoes just mad ’cause Kenny was fucking on me too?—”

“Bitch, he fuck all his hoes, dumbass!” My mama’s chest heaved with anger. “You not special ’cause you fucking on your pimp!”

Taffy laughed bitterly, blood smeared across her swollen lips. “Y’all bitches think y’all special ’cause his dirty ass nutted up in them ran-through coochies. That’s why you hate Shugga and Butterfly—’cause they got that fresh pussy Kenny can’t leave alone.”

My mama moved closer, voice dropping dangerously low. “Bitch, I don’t give a fuck where Kenny stick his dick—I know my place.”

Shifting my gaze to the right, I watched my daddy calmly finish off his smoke before smoothly walking to the coffee table, dabbing the butt into the ashtray. Without even glancing at the baby girl—who’d gone quiet after nobody came to her rescue—he scooped my mama into his arms.

“Get that baby out my house, and get the fuck out, Taffy,” he murmured, voice deep and cool, carrying Mama toward their bedroom in the back.

As they passed my cracked door, Kenny stopped suddenly, locking eyes with me. For a second I froze, expecting anger—but instead, he burst out laughing. Like it was all a joke. Like there wasn’t a whole woman leaking blood and a newborn just chilling in our living room.

When their door clicked shut, I eased out of my room, creeping silently toward the front, careful not to make a sound. Taffy lay half-slumped against the couch, face battered and swollen, blood trickling from her lip. She didn’t even look up as I stepped quietly past her.

I moved toward the baby, leaning in close, staring at her tiny face. She was pretty, I thought—calm even through all this chaos. Her complexion was caramel, smooth like Taffy’s. Her eyes too. But the rest of her? I didn’t see a trace of Kenny at all.

A sudden hiss made me jump.

“Yo daddy ain’t shit,” Taffy spat, her bloody lip curling into something bitter and broken. Her gaze met mine, eyes blazingwith a hate I was too young to understand. “And you ain’t gon’ be shit neither. I hope the police shoot yo lil’ ass dead in these streets.”

My eyes widened, panic hot in my chest as I backed away.

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