21. Four
Four
“The contract is signed,” the realtor I used to close the contract on Corinthians' building said. I didn’t know him personally, but Nine had suggested I use someone local and had looked him up.
Beau ‘Bizzy’ Rush was proving to be one of the most sought-after realtors in Kansas City.
He’d closed more deals over the last month than most realtors had in the year.
He was young, black, and hungry for success.
From the information Nine could get on him, he was expecting a child with his long-time girlfriend, Silver.
Her room was all white, with hints of baby blue thrown around.
Her bed was perfectly made, with no wrinkles in sight.
I walked to her closet, opened the door, and pushed her clothes aside.
In the back were a small blanket, a pillow, and a light.
If this were anyone else’s closet, I would have thought twice about it, but this was Corinthians.
I looked back at her bed, then at the blanket and pillow in the back of her closet.
The reason her bed was perfect was because she didn’t sleep on it.
I bent, shook my head, and then sighed. I was surprised that she was still sleeping in the closet. Hell, I did, too, some nights. “No problems?” I asked.
“No, she questioned your connection to Strong Pharmaceuticals, but that was it.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“That N. Enterprise had no connection to SP,” he answered. “From the research I did, y’all don’t, right?”
“Right,” I replied. I stood and looked around one last time.
I knew being in her apartment like this was stalkerish as fuck, but this was the only option I had left.
I checked in on Cori as much as I could from a distance.
My last conversation with Psalms a few years back still sat with me.
Psalms was right: if I came back into Cori’s life, I would fuck it up.
Robert had done too much, hurt her too deeply for me ever to think I could be around.
I would remind her of all the bad shit that happened, and I couldn’t let that happen, not since she finally was in a good place.
“The lease that you presented to her stated she was just leasing, correct? Not that she was the owner.”
“Yeah,” Bizzy answered. “I submitted everything like you asked me to.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “Your payment will be in your account by the end of the night.”
“Appreciate doing business with you, Mr. Strong.”
“Same.” I hung up the phone and walked around Corinthians' room one last time. My watch beeped four times, indicating that my heart rate was increasing. I inhaled, closed my eyes, then slowly exhaled to calm myself down.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the picture on her dresser.
I walked over to the dresser, picked it up, then chuckled at the caught-off-guard picture of her and her cousins.
They were all in their own little worlds, in the living room of their grandparents' house.
Exodus sat on the couch, arms hanging over the back, a smirk on his face.
Judge was on the floor, his legs stretched out in front of him, a book in his hand.
Mercy was leaning against the wall, a basketball under her arm, and a sneaky smile on her face.
Krude was next to her, his face animated and hands in the air like he was telling her a story.
Psalms and Corinthians were on the couch opposite Exodus, lost in their own little world.
Psalms had the same ladybug stuffed animal from her childhood in her lap, and she rested her head on her sister's shoulder.
Corinthians' head was resting on Psalms, and a shy smile tugged at her lips.
Cross sat next to Judge, her hand holding a puzzle-piece charm on her necklace.
I put the picture back in its spot, then left. I needed to get out of here before Corinthians came home. Not thinking twice about it, I called Nine as I drove through the city.
“Yeah?” Nine answered. I could hear the keys of his keyboard clicking as he typed.
“You got time to eat?” I asked him as I drove. I was in the mood for some BBQ, and the only place I ever wanted it from when I was in town was Carter's.
“Depends on what you got in mind,” he replied. “And before you answer, I already know you’re about to say Carter's, so the answer is yes. I’m hungry.”
“Bet,” I chuckled. “I’m close to the office.
I’ll be there shortly.” I hung up, turned up the volume, and relaxed into my seat as I drove through the city.
When I got to the office, I parked and waited.
There was no reason to get out of the car and go inside because Nine got the alert that I was here the moment I swiped my badge to get into the parking lot.
A few minutes later, I saw him walk out of the back door. When he got to my car, I unlocked the doors, and he got in.
“Yo’ meeting go good?” he asked as I drove.
“Yeah,” I nodded. Nine didn’t know exactly what I was doing besides buying a new rental property.
N. Enterprise was a technology company. Nine had cybersecurity contracts in almost every state.
I was his accountant, and in my spare time I bought rental properties.
The rental properties were a cover so no one would question me about doing things for Corinthians. “Everything is taken care of.”
“Take me by there so I can see,” Nine requested.
There was a chance that Corinthians was still there, but I knew if I didn’t Nine would have a million questions.
The more I doubled down on not showing him, the more he would pull his damn laptop out and start hacking into shit to see what I was holding back from him.
I’d never told Nine or any of my cousins about Corinthians or what she’d been through.
That wasn’t my secret to tell, and even though I knew they wouldn’t judge her, I wanted to make sure she had all the peace she could get.
Even if they never met her, her pain wasn’t something that needed to be told to anyone that she didn’t want to know.
“Alright,” I said, nodding, then turned.
The parking lot was packed, and it took a few minutes to find a spot. We got out, and I grabbed my hat and glasses from the car. They weren’t needed, but I wasn’t sure whether Corinthians was gone. If she was still around, I didn’t want her to see me.
“That one in the middle,” I told Nine as we fell into step with a large crowd that was walking.
“Yeah, this shit is nice,” Nine said once we were close. He looked through the window then stepped back. “What is your tenant going to turn it into?”
“A barber shop,” I answered him. The pride in my voice was heavy as fuck.
Nine lifted his brow, and I turned and looked through the glass door.
“I know it’s going to be a success.” I knocked on the glass twice, then turned and faced Nine, who was still watching me.
“The fuck you looking at me like that for?” I pulled down on the brim of my hat.
“No reason,” he chuckled. “I just ain’t ever seen you this excited over one of your grant contracts, is all. I’m just surprised by it all.”
“Man, whatever,” I laughed and shook my head.
I looked around the parking lot and couldn’t help but stop when I noticed Corinthians’ Jeep.
I couldn’t see inside, but I had a feeling she was in there.
I licked my lips and smirked. It took everything in me not to walk over to her car and open the door.
I wanted to see her face, look into her eyes, and tell her that I was proud of her.
To let her know that that nigga Robert didn’t break her, that she was unfucking stoppable, and even though I couldn’t protect her then, I could and did now.
“Ay, let’s go,” Nine said, tapping my arm. “Change of plans, we gonna have to get some food later. Uncle Bradon just texted me. He wants to talk; he’s in town.”
I looked over at him and asked, “Everything cool?”
“No clue, you know how cryptic that nigga is at times,” Nine answered.
“Alright.” I looked at Corinthians’ Jeep one last time, then left with Nine.
***
Thirty minutes later, we walked into Uncle Bradon’s house with a bag of food from Carter’s.
He still lived in the same house that he did when we were kids.
After we moved in as teens, we never went back to Robert’s house.
Uncle Bradon fired him and Logan and let them know that if they ever showed their face again, he’d kill them.
He didn’t know the full story of what we went through as kids.
There were times when he would ask whether what we’d gone through was worse than he thought, and I always told him yes.
It was never a secret that their father was abusive to them as kids; the only good child that came from Albert Strong was Uncle Bradon.
None of his other children gave a damn about their kids, but from what I found out, Robert and Logan were the only physically abusive ones.
“Unc!” Nine called out. “We bought food; slide into the kitchen.” I shut the front door, kicked off my shoes, then followed Nine into the kitchen. I grabbed plates and silverware while Nine took the food out of the containers. We made our plates and sat at the table. “Where the fuck is this nigga?”
“No clue,” I answered between bites of food. “Probably in his office.” I picked up my plate and nodded towards the back. “If he in there, he ain’t coming out.”
“Shit, you right,” Nine said, getting up. We walked down the hallway to Uncle Bradon’s office. Nine knocked twice, then turned the handle and opened his office door. Uncle Bradon sat on the desk; his face twisted in anger, and a nigga dead on his floor. “The fuck happened, Unc?”
“I didn’t like the message he was sent here to deliver,” Uncle Bradon replied. He looked up from the body on the floor and smirked. “And he had a fucked-up attitude.”
“Who the hell is this nigga?” Nine asked.