35. Four #2
She looked away, her eyes watered, and I figured that was her answer.
I nodded, let her face go, and stepped back.
I would never pressure her into doing more than she could.
Our chemistry was obvious, but that didn’t mean I had the final say-so over her life.
Her mental state and happiness came first.
The door opened, and Corinthians quickly straightened, wiped her face, and crossed her arms.
“Mama?” Judah said, looking at her. “Auntie Bug asked where you were.”
“Talking,” she said, nodding at me. Judah hadn’t noticed me until then. His eyes got big with surprise, and he ran to me.
“Superhero!” he said as he hugged me. “What are you doing here?”
“Superhero?” Corinthians asked. The confusion in her voice was evident.
Judah looked at me, and his eyes ballooned when he realized what he’d said loud enough for his mama to hear. “Oh man,” he mumbled, looking up at me. “I’m sorry.”
“I-I-I-I-It’s okay,” I told him.
Judah’s eyes narrowed, then he shook his head. “It’s okay if she knows?” he whispered, and I nodded. “You sure?” I nodded again. “Okay.” He came to stand next to me. “Mama, Four has superpowers.”
“Does he?” she asked, and Judah nodded. “Like what?”
“He can't feel pain,” Judah replied excitedly. He could barely stand still.
“He… can't…feel…pain?” she asked slowly. She was pretending not to know even though she’d seen firsthand how that affected my life.
“Nope.” Judah had a head full of long curls that Corinthians took great care of.
Today his hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of his head.
When he shook his head, the curls flew around his head.
“He told me at Madea and Granddaddy’s house.
He can’t feel pain. I asked Auntie Bug to stab him, and she said yes, but Madea said she couldn’t. ”
“Judah DeCorte!” she scolded him. “Come here.” She pointed to the spot in front of her, and he quickly moved to it. She got down to his eye level. “There are a few things wrong with what you said.”
“Cori-“
She quickly lifted her eyes to look from Judah to me, and I shut my mouth. She had that look in her eyes that only a mama could get. I put my hands up in surrender. She nodded, then turned her attention back to Judah.
“Now tell me what you did again when you found out Uri couldn’t feel pain?”
“Whose Uri?” his head tilted to the side like hers did when she was trying to figure something out.
“Four,” she said, shaking her head. “I meant to say Four. What did you say and do when you found out he couldn’t feel pain?”
“I asked Auntie Bug to stab him,” he mumbled.
“Speak up,” Corinthians corrected him. “You are a young man who will eventually become a grown man. You will not mumble when you speak. Use your voice.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, nodding. He cleared his throat, squared his shoulders, and met his mama's eyes. “I asked Auntie Bug to stab him.”
“Why?”
“Because he can't feel pain,” Judah answered. “Madea told me I was wrong and so was Auntie Bug because she agreed to.”
“Of damn course Bug did,” Corinthians said, shaking her head. “Listen, I know hearing that someone not being able to feel pain is exciting, but never, and I mean never, say anything like that again, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered. “I know that it was wrong. I told Four that Madea told me I had to apologize and fussed at me. She said that Four’s condition was serious and I had to make smart decisions.
” He put his hands in his pockets but never dropped his eyes.
I had nothing but respect for how Corinthians was speaking to Judah.
She was firm and direct but also didn’t belittle him for making a mistake.
“Good.”
“Am I in trouble?” he shyly asked.
“No, but if you ever lose your mind like that again, you will be,” she told him and stood. “Now on to this superhero thing. You think because he can't feel pain, he’s a superhero?”
“That’s his superpower,” he told her. “He doesn’t feel pain! I fell and hurt my knee, and Mama, it hurt!” he pointed to his knee that was covered in Band-Aids. “I cried, remember? Think about if I couldn’t feel pain. I would never cry! That would be so cool.”
“You think you would never cry?” Corinthians asked.
Judah looked back at me and lifted his brow. “Four, do you cry?” he asked.
“I didn’t ask him; I asked you,” Corinthians said before I could answer. “Do you think you would never cry?”
Judah thought about it for a second, and he shrugged. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe?”
“Well, you think about it and then tell me your answer later,” she said, and he nodded. “Now you came out here because your Auntie sent you?”
“She wanted to know where you were,” he told her. “She wants to go swimming tomorrow.”
“And you want to go?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he laughed. “But that means you’re going to have to braid my hair so I can put on my swim cap.” He pointed to the bun on top of his head and bashfully smiled. “So, can you?”
“Yes, Judah,” she laughed. “Go get the hair stuff and meet me in the living room.”
“Thank you!” he hugged her, then ran into the house, stopping just before he closed the door, and ran back to me and hugged me. “Later, Four.”
“Later.” I waited until the door closed before turning back to Cori. “I-I-I-I’ll catch you l-l-l-l-later.” I stepped back, and Corinthians stood on the porch. “Go in, Cori.” She looked back at her door when Judah called her name. She tapped her left thigh, nodded, then went into the house.
The door closing behind her felt louder than the soft click that I heard.
***
I wrapped my towel around my waist, closed the shower door, then walked to the counter in my bathroom.
After leaving Corinthians' house, I went back to work; I needed something to occupy my mind.
I had a million thoughts racing through my head, and the only solution I could come up with was to fight.
Despite growing up the way that I did, I found solace standing in a ring.
It allowed me to clear my mind; the only thing I had to focus on was beating the fuck out of the nigga in front of me.
I promised my family that I wouldn’t step into a ring after I blacked out a few years ago.
Now I could see the correlation between my anger and my decision to stay away from Corinthians.
I got in the ring with Citrine; he knew how I got and offered to spar with me.
That sparring match ended with Nine having to choke me out to get me off Citrine.
And Citrine ended up with a colostomy bag due to the amount of damage I’d inflicted on him.
Luckily, Citrine was understanding and informed everyone that he knew what the possible outcome would be if he stepped into a ring with me.
After that, I made the decision not to fight.
So, my outlets now were either working or working out.
I opted for the former but now wished I’d done the latter because I had so much pent-up aggression.
I looked at my bracelet to check my temperature, noting that my heart rate and temperature were a little high.
I knew that was due to the shower but made a mental note to check it later.
I dried off, applied lotion, then put on a pair of boxer briefs and tall socks.
I hung up my towel, left the bathroom, and grabbed my phone on the way to the kitchen.
I had a few leftovers in the fridge for dinner.
Just as I pulled my food from the fridge, there was a knock at the front door.
I set the Tupperware container on the counter, grabbed the gun I kept in the drawer in the island, and went to the front door.
I looked through the peephole, then quickly stepped back, set the gun on the table next to the door where I left my keys, and opened it.
“I don’t want you to stop,” Corinthians quickly said.
It took me a minute to figure out what she was talking about then it dawned on me.
She was answering my question from earlier at her house.
She tapped her left hand against her thigh.
“I don’t know why. I know I should, but I don’t.
You’ve only been around a few times, but each time I feel a feeling I haven’t felt in a long ass time. ”
I took her hand and pulled her into the house. I closed the door and backed her into it. “Okay,” I said, nodding.
“What do we do?” Her eyes searched mine. “How do we do this?”
“W-w-w-w-we just do,” I told her. “Don’t t-t-t-t-think about it.” I smiled and rested my forehead against hers. “Just let it be.”
“Okay,” she whispered and nodded. “I can do that.”
My bracelet started to beep, but we ignored the sound. “Cori?” I lifted my head from hers.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to kiss you,” I told her. I waited for her to nod, and when she did, I smiled. She licked her lips, and every restraint that I was barely holding on to broke. I cupped her jaw, being mindful not to be too rough because I knew of her past, and kissed her.
I wasn’t a sappy nigga, I didn’t care for those chick-flick movies because of their long ass monologues about what kissing the right person felt like, but now, standing here kissing Cori, I completely understood.
Her lips were soft and full, and they felt perfect against mine.
I put my arms around her waist, and hers went around my neck.
I deepened the kiss, longing to feel her tongue and see if she tasted as sweet as I thought she would.