50. Corinthians
Corinthians
“Stop looking at me like that,” he said, finally breaking the silence between us. He reached across the table and took my hand. He brushed his thumb over my knuckles. “You good?”
“I am,” I told him. “You?”
“Yeah,” he answered with a nod. Our server came to check on us before disappearing. Being on this date felt good. Time outside the house was needed for both of us. Even though he and I spent time together, we hadn’t been on a date since we dined and dashed. “Can I tell you something?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t think you would come out,” he said. I looked up from our hands to see him watching me.
My brow went up. “Why? I’ve never told you no before.”
“You haven’t, but now shit is different,” he said. My head tilted to the side, and I continued to watch him. Uri was always so confident, but I could see the insecurity in his eyes.
“You thought I would say no because you know about my brand and what Robert did to me?” I asked, and he slowly nodded. “Uri, I knew what he did to me before you came back.”
“I know, but I didn’t know,” he insisted. “You hold everything close to the vest. I’m scared that you’ll run.”
“That’s my fear for you,” I told him truthfully.
He tilted his head to the side and slowly blinked. “Why would I leave you?” he asked. “I’ve loved you since I was a kid. Before I even knew what love was.”
“Because that was just another example of Robert destroying something in me.” I slowly pulled my hand from his. “I need you to be honest, can you see yourself loving my son and me in the future knowing who his father is?”
“I’m his father,” Uri declared. “Can’t nobody else on this earth claim Judah as their seed but me.” He shook his head.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Because I’m giving you an out right now. No questions asked, no hatred given.” I shook my head. “It’ll be hard for me to be around you probably forever, but I would understand you walking away.”
Uri stood, walked around the table, and got down on one knee. “Listen to me and listen closely. I am not walking away, now or ever. You and Judah are my family. Fuck Robert; he won't matter soon. Shit, if you want to be honest, he doesn’t matter now. He’s a dead man walking.”
“You sure?” I asked, and he smirked.
“As fuck,” he replied. “Now can you handle that?”
“Yes,” I answered with a nod.
“Good,” he replied, then kissed me.
The moment our lips touched, I felt the same spark as I always did.
Uri’s touch, no matter how gentle, felt empowering and freeing.
I wrapped my arms around his neck to deepen the kiss and moaned when I felt his tongue brush against mine.
When we pulled apart, he rested his forehead against mine.
The people around us clapped and cheered.
“I think they think you proposed,” I said softly, then laughed.
“You think?” he asked, and I nodded. “You want to get married?”
“Yeah,” I answered. There was no doubt in my mind that I would marry Uri.
“Alright,” he said, then kissed me again.
***
“Why did you cut your hair?” Uri asked as we walked through the park. The sun was setting, but we weren’t rushing to get back to the house yet. Judah was with Psalms, more than likely eating everything and running her ragged.
“The attack,” I answered. He put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to his side.
We were walking off our food and enjoying each other's company. “I remembered the feel of Robert’s hands in my hair, the way he pulled it to make me look at him when he first got there.” A chill ran through me.
“He sent Tyrell and Isaac to my shop when it opened.”
“I didn’t recognize him at first. Not until Trey got me the names on the list.”
“How often do y’all talk?” I asked. Uri never talked about his brother.
“Weekly,” he answered with a nod. “Nine doesn’t know that, though.”
“Why?”
He blew out a deep breath, then guided me to a bench. After we sat, he ran his hand over his face and then dropped his head. “A few years ago, Six was kidnapped by Robert. It took us too long to find her.”
“Uri…” I ran my hand along his back. “Baby, that wasn’t your fault.”
“He’s my father,” he said, shaking his head. “I should’ve killed him a long time ago.”
“You carry the same guilt that Bradon does,” I told him. “Y’all keep thinking that it was one of your jobs to stop him. It wasn’t. He knew what he was doing was wrong and decided to do it anyway.”
“How can you be so forgiving to a man who did what he did to you?” he looked over at me with the same sad expression he used to wear as a kid.
“Baby, I don’t forgive him for shit,” I said, shaking my head. “I hate him and everything that he is, but I don’t blame you or your uncle for his actions. That’s completely on him.”
“Six said the same thing,” he said, nodding. “We found her…” he looked away and licked his lips. “And she was bad off. Been beaten, starved, was fucked up.”
“How did y’all find her?”
“Trey,” he answered. “He agreed to go back and work his way up the ranks to get close to Robert and Logan. He and Eight did some shit, nothing to be proud about. Robert had her snatched, and to prove their loyalty, he made them beat her.”
“Damn,” I sighed and shook my head. “They went through with it?”
“To a degree,” he said. “They beat her but pulled their punches. They could’ve done some serious damage, especially Trey, but he didn’t.
On the outside looking in, I know it looked bad, but I know my brother.
I know what he’s capable of and the things he did to Six were not his worst.” He wiped his hand over his mouth.
“He knew that Robert’s next request was going to be to assault her sexually.
He got off on shit like that. Trey got word to us, dropped the location, and we got to her in time.
Afterward we snatched Trey and Eight. Beat them within an inch of their lives, and they went back to Robert. ”
“Why?”
“We still needed an in,” he answered with a shrug. “Trey has seen Robert maybe twice since then. Gentle too. He’s on Logan’s ass, trying to find him. He shows his face less than Robert does.”
“You trust your brother?” I asked. “And what I mean by that is do you think the man you call your brother is Trey and not the monster that Robert raised?”
Uri kept his attention on the sun going down in front of us. “Honestly?” he asked, looking over at me. “I pray every night that he’s the man I think he is and not the monster Robert created. I got too much at stake to be wrong.”
His answer was the reason I would keep the fact that Kenbral was there the night Robert attacked me to myself. He wasn’t ready to deal with the fact that he could be wrong about his brother. Uri needed some kind of hope to hold onto.
***
“So, how’s it going?” my therapist asked. I looked around my office, trying to get my thoughts in order. Usually, I was hesitant in therapy to give any information. Like Uri said, I held everything close to the vest. And for good reason.
“It’s going,” I answered with a shrug. “Nothing new to talk about.”
“You sure?” she asked, and I nodded. “Not even the new man in your life? This is the first one since your relationship ended, right?”
“Uri isn’t new,” I told her. She knew the real story behind Judah’s conception.
Well, as close as it could be to the truth.
I told her I was gang raped and I wasn’t sure who Judah’s daddy was.
I was more in denial about who his father was than anything.
She also didn’t know about Robert’s connection to my past. I told her I was assaulted as a child, before my parents died, and had gotten help thanks to my grandparents.
She didn’t know the full story of me being responsible for their deaths.
“So we have a name?” She nodded, and I watched as she wrote something down. Doing virtual appointments was easier for me. I didn’t like the thought of talking to my therapist while we were in the same room. I felt like I was suffocating when we did. “Uri, what’s his last name?”
“Off limits,” I quickly said.
“Corinthians,” she sighed and set her pen down.
“We cannot move forward if everything that happens to you is off limits. You’ve made great progress; your medicine has you on track.
You’re thriving in your business and with your son.
But to keep that going you are going to have to talk about the hard things. ”
“I’m not ready to talk about Uri,” I told her. “He’s off limits for right now.”
“Why?” she questioned. “What makes him different?”
“Uri is just Uri,” I told her. I sat back in my chair and tapped my left hand against my thigh. “He isn’t bad; there’s no darkness to him when it comes to me. He loves me. I can see it in his eyes, in the way that he moves, his intentions; they are all out of love and protection.”
“Then why are you afraid to discuss him?”
“I’m not afraid,” I told her. “I know the good, bad, and ugly about Uri. He isn’t what I’m afraid to discuss.”
“Then who is?”
“Me,” I replied and looked away. “If I discuss Uri, I'll tell you all the good. I’m going to have to tell you the bad, and for him that’s me.”
“I don’t believe that.”
I laughed softly and shook my head. “It doesn’t matter what you believe. I know the truth.” I turned and looked at her. “I’m the bad when it comes to Uri. I bring the bad memories. I’m the reminder of all the bad that happened to him as a child.”
“Then why are you two together?” she asked. “If you know you are the bad in his life, why subject him to that? Don’t you want him to be happy?”
“Because I’ve loved him well before I knew what love felt like between anyone that wasn’t family,” I told her, using the same words that Uri had a few days prior.
“I tried to let him go. We went years without seeing each other, countless nights, and some easy days. I swear the moment I saw him again after all those years I felt a peace I didn’t know I was missing. ”
“And you don’t think he felt the same?” she asked.
“Probably.” I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I answered. “I want to think he did, but I can't put words in his mouth.”
“Ask him,” she said. I opened my mouth, and she held up her hand. “Ask him, Corinthians. And when he tells you yes, then I want you to stop denying what you already know.”
“You are so sure about your answer,” I laughed and shook my head. “He could think I was a damn problem.”
“Oh, you are,” she replied with a smirk. “But there is no doubt in my mind that he feels the same way.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I know love when I see it,” she answered. “Now our time is up; let’s schedule your next appointment for two weeks from now. Are you free?”
I pulled up my calendar on my phone and scrolled through it. It didn’t matter if I were free or not; I would make time. After we agreed on a date, I closed my laptop and got up from my desk. Judah would be coming soon, and I had to do his hair before we headed home.
I walked to the shop and stopped dead in my tracks. Kenbral sat in my chair, his eyes locked on my every move.
“I ain’t here on no bullshit,” he said, holding his hands up. I would’ve believed him if he didn’t have a gun in his right hand. “I just want to talk.”
“With a gun?” I asked, nodding towards it.
“I know you, Cori,” he licked his lips and shook his head. “If I didn’t have it, you would have already crossed the room and tried to kill me.”
“Don’t call me that,” I told him, not denying what he said because it was the truth. “Only Uri can call me that.”
“Just like he only allows you to call him Uri,” he chuckled and lowered his hands. He didn’t take his hand off his gun as it sat in his lap. “Y’all don’t let nobody else get a pass but the other.”
“Why are you here, Kenbral?”
“We need to talk,” he answered. He used his empty hand to take his phone from his pocket. He swiped the screen and then put it back. “We have ten minutes to come to an understanding before my brother gets here.” He licked his lips. “Four asked for the names from that night.”
“I know,” I said with a singular nod. “I saw the folder.”
“My name-“
“I didn’t tell him you were there,” I cut him off.
Kenbral narrowed his eyes. “Why not?”
“Because I love your brother,” I told him. “I love him too much to break his heart like that.”
“He ain’t gonna forgive me,” he replied, and I shrugged. “When he finds out what happened that night…” He wiped his mouth and chuckled. “Nah, he ain’t gonna forgive me.”
“He already knows.”
“You don’t even know what happened,” he laughed and shook his head. “But you will because Four ain’t gonna stop until he gets the answers he’s looking for. I know I can't ask you this, but when the shit comes out fully, ask him to hear me out.”
“Hear you out?” I repeated. “You’re going to try and explain your way out of this?”
“Nah,” he denied. “I just want him to hear my side of the story. For him to give me a chance to make my peace before he kills me because I know that’s all he’s going to want to do.” He stood. “I ain’t perfect, will never claim to be, but everything I’ve done has been to protect my brother.”
I looked away, hating the look in his eyes. Kenbral and Uri looked nothing alike, but their eyes were so similar; not the color, but the emotions they carried. The sound of the door opening made me look over to see Kenbral walking out. He got into his car, started it, and drove off.