Kenney: Still Waters Part 2

Chapter 22

           

When daddy died, Rico started introducing me to people as his son. I was always at their house anyway, so he stepped right into the father role without hesitation. Rico was always talking about his dreams and premonitions, and he never made a move unless he had already dreamed the outcome first. He said that he always knew I was going to be his son. He said that he dreamed of our rise to the top, and knew that I would be the one to rise with him. People took notice. Of him and of me. The bigger he got, the bigger I got. People started treating me with respect. And Fear. And they stopped looking at me like I was cute little Kenney, and showing me all kinds of love because I was Christian Duvalle's boy. Now, they were looking at me like I was...Little Rico.

            Everyone took notice of me once I became Little Rico.

            Everyone.

            Even Tiana.

            I would catch her watching me differently now. She used to watch me like I was the little brother and she was monitoring what I was doing to make sure that I was safe. But by the time I was twelve, she would bite her lip when she watched me. And would shift her eyes quickly to something else if I caught her doing it. But I saw her watching me, and I was watching her, too. And the older she got, the finer she got. She had everyone's attention. But, so did I. All the ladies loved me. They always had. And now, just like Charity and her friends, I looked at least three years older than I actually was.

            The ladies started looking at me differently, but so did the men. They started moving out of my way when I walked down the street. Even without Rico. Grown men. Moved out of my way. They started speaking first. Instead of looking at me like I was the neighborhood's favorite son, they started looking at me like I was not to be fucked with.

            Like the rest of my crew.

            And they were right.

            I wasn't.

            We weren't.

            The whole crew.

            Individually or together, not one of us was to be fucked with.

            Mama never said anything, but I knew she hated what I was turning into. Because she hated Rico. And she knew that underneath it all, I was her beloved Christian's son. Not Rico's. But she never said anything against Rico. And neither did anyone else. By the early nineties, no one crossed Rico.

            No one.

            And crossing me was a sign of disrespect to Rico. He set it up that way. He was the King and I was the Prince. So that meant no one crossed me, either.

            Ever.

            Which made me extremely appealing to all of Charity's friends. Charity hated it. Every time I came around they would look away quickly, and then turn back around and stare at me and start giggling. She and Tiana would just roll their eyes, though. They knew me. Those other girls didn't. Not really. I wasn't anything like I used to be back when they did know me. 

            I had my eye on Tiana, anyway. Only her. I watched her. I waited until she stared looking at me exactly the way that I wanted her to look at me. And once she did, I knew that when the time was right, I was as good as in.