Page 77 of Kentrell

Mama’s voice roared from the back of the house, fierce enough to shake the walls. “BITCH, YOU BET NOT BE TALKIN’ TO MY SON!”

I bolted back to my bedroom—back to safety, back to a darkness that felt safer than anything happening downstairs.

The memory faded as quickly as it had come, dropping me right back into the cold reality of Yam’s kitchen. I steadied my breath, muscles tense, still hidden in the shadows as their argument carried on by the door.

“Some nigga my daughter fucking got her mixed up in his shit!” Taffy was pleading now, her voice trembling, desperate.

“What that got to do with me, Taffy?” Yam huffed, bored. He clearly didn’t give a damn.

“Because he put a hit out on Pokie’s daughter!”

That got my attention instantly. My pulse jumped, jaw tightening as every muscle locked up. Zoe. My heartbeat surged, heat spreading across my chest like gasoline. I forced myself still, listening even harder.

“Pokie?” Yam chuckled bitterly, like he couldn’t believe his ears. “I ain’t seen that bitch since 2003.”

“Yeah, well that’s ’cause she found her a sucka and licked his dumbass.”

I felt anger building again, fists tightening. All I could think about was Zoe—the idea of anybody even breathing threats her way made my blood boil.

“And what’s this shit you talkin’ ’bout a damn daughter?” Yam demanded sharply.

Taffy scoffed loudly, her disgust clear. “Boy, I tell you—y’all niggas wasn’t too sharp about shit,” she spat. “She had a baby,Danyell. Why the fuck you think she was always dipping out on y’all niggas? She didn’t want Kenny to know she kept her baby.” Taffy’s voice softened slightly, but the bitterness lingered. “And good for her,” she muttered. “She found her a goldmine, and it was good while it lasted.”

I felt my breath catch, reality twisting and shifting beneath my feet. Zoe’s life was tangled up deeper than she knew, and suddenly it was clear?—

I wasn’t just a hired hitter anymore.

This shit had just become deeply personal.

“You still not telling me shit that got to do with me,” Yam broke into my thoughts, voice sharp and empty of care.

Taffy’s reply came cracked and trembling. “You talked all that shit about Kenny for years, but you? You were worse.” Her voice caught. “You really are the devil, Danyell. And my dumb ass was too fucking stupid, thinking you actually loved me.”

Yam chuckled darkly. “How could I love you, Taffy? You was fucking me, my best friend, and every nigga we put on you?—”

“No. I was working my debt off, bitch?—”

“It don’t matter how you phrase it,Tamara. A hoe is a hoe.”

His words were cold. Cruel. And as much as I hated to agree with that muthafucka, I couldn’t argue the logic.

But Taffy wasn’t backing down.

“Youmyfucking child’s father, muthafucka!” she snapped, voice flaring with rage. “Why the fuck you think I left?”

“Man, don’t even try it,” Yam scoffed, teeth sucking hard like he’d just bit into a sour lie. “You know why you left.”

“Yeah, I know. I left to protect my daughter—fromyouand your dirty ass secrets.” Her voice cracked as she sniffled. “I knew you’d turn on me the way you turned on your so-called brother.”

“Man, I ain’t tryna hear that shit.”

“Yup, just like Kenny,” Taffy pressed, voice gaining steam. “But he knew Kendra was yours. He told me. So Iknowhe told you. And now? Now I know why you did what you did.”

“You better watch whatchu sayin’,” Yam’s voice dropped low—dangerous and heavy.

“Whatever, nigga,” Taffy dismissed him, venom in every syllable. “You can’t even find it in your heart to protect your own seed.”

“That ain’t my fucking baby?—”

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