52. Corinthians #3
“How much longer are you going to be at work?” he asked. “It’s your late day at the shop, and you forget to eat on your late days.”
“I’m not hungry, baby,” I sadly laughed. “Thank you for checking up on me.”
“Mama, you’re supposed to eat,” he insisted.
“Auntie Bug said if you said you didn’t eat, you have to eat when you get home.
” Judah was aware that I took medication to help stabilize my mood.
He didn’t know why. Last year he found out that I had to make sure I ate when I took my meds, and he was obsessed with making sure I did.
He always called me on my late days to make sure I ate.
“Judah,” I sighed. “I’m tired baby. I will eat in the morning.”
“No ma’am,” he replied. “That’s the rule, remember? Late days, if you don’t eat, you come to where I am, and we will have dinner together. I told Auntie Bug that if you didn’t eat, I wanted to come home instead of you coming to me. I’m about to tell Auntie Bug you didn’t eat. Hold on.”
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I looked down to see a text from Psalms.
Psalms: You know he’s not going to stop until he sees you.
Me: I’m just tired.
Psalms: He doesn’t care. He’s going to worry. I told him we can come to you instead of you coming to us. He’s tired anyway from practicing with Krude.
Me: Practicing?
Psalms: Top secret, no one knows what it’s about. Probably something to do with the church anniversary thing coming up.
“Fuck!” I sighed. I’d completely forgotten about the anniversary celebration we were dragged into. The last thing I wanted to deal with was the damn Kilmores, especially after what I found out today. Uri already told me he had plans to snatch Isaac and Paul after the celebration.
“I’m back,” Judah breathed into the phone. “I’m coming home.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes. She was right. Judah wasn’t going to stop. “Okay,” I finally said. “Something simple though, Judah. A sandwich or something.”
“Deal,” he laughed. “See you in a little while.”
He hung up, and I continued to sit there with my eyes closed.
I had thirty minutes before he called back.
Cross and Nine’s house was closer to mine than the shop.
They would be there before I was. I opened my eyes and called Uri again.
Just like last time, my call went to voicemail.
Instead of leaving a message, I hung up and drove home.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled my car into the garage, got out, and walked to the door.
Not only were my sister and son here, but so were Cross, Nine, and their children.
I kicked off my shoes, closed the door behind me, and made my way to the living room.
I could hear Judah and Deuce in the back; more than likely, they were in the playroom.
Cross came into the hallway, carrying her daughter Love in her arms. The smile she had on her face dropped instantly.
Judah came running from the back. He moved around Cross and hugged me.
When my arms wrapped around him, I started crying again.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling back. His eyes sparkled against the light. “You’re crying.”
I hugged him and kissed the top of his head. “I just had a bad day,” I answered, trying not to cry again. “I didn’t realize how much I needed a hug from you until I got it.”
“Hey Judah, why don’t you go back in the playroom with Deuce?” Cross said, putting her hand on his shoulders. “Let me talk to your mama, and then y’all can make y’all sandwiches.”
“You sure?” Judah said, not letting me go. I knew he heard Cross, but his attention was on me. “I can stay with you if you need me to.”
“I’m sure,” I told him, then kissed his forehead. “I just had a moment, is all. Go on. I’m okay.”
Judah watched me for a second before he backed away and eventually went back to the playroom. Cross took my hand and led me to my room.
“Psalms!” she called out as we passed the living room. When we got to the room, she waited until Psalms was with us before she started talking.
“What’s wrong?” Psalms asked, looking between Cross and me. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Cross answered with a concerned look. “I heard her come in and caught her in the hallway. I was going to tell her we only came because Deuce left his backpack over here and we were about to leave, but then Judah came running to her. As soon as he hugged her, she started crying.”
“Is this about what I texted you about the anniversary shit for church?” Psalms asked. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“This is about your fuck ass baby daddy?” Cross asked.
She patted her daughter on the back as she bounced her in the body carrier.
“Fuck him and his family. I will kill every one of them right damn now. I know Yale is married to one, but she doesn’t love him.
She loves Amethyst. I’ll be doing them a favor.
” Cross went back to the door. “I’ll be back.
I’m going to ask my husband how upset he’s going to be if I kill a not-so-holy family.
” She left, closing the door behind her.
“They did it,” I cried. “They did it because of me.”
“What are you talking about?” Psalms asked me.
“Madea and Granddaddy killed our parents because of me,” I continued to cry. “To protect us. They killed them to protect us.”
“Wait what?” Psalms' face twisted in confusion. “What are you talking about? How do you know that?”
“They told me.” I tried wiping the tears from my face, but it was no use. They wouldn’t stop. “That’s where I was. Not at the shop. I haven’t been there all day. I was meeting with the older generation, then Tulane fuck ass said the grandparents killed our parents.”
“He said what?” Her eyes darkened. “Why the fuck would he say that?”
“Because I stabbed him in the hand,” I told her.
“Then he’s lying. Pain makes niggas say whatever to make it stop.”
I laughed and shook my head. “He’s not. They told me. They did it to protect us. They thought we were being abused. I pointed to them the day they died, and Madea and Granddaddy killed them.”
“Fuck,” Psalms said, then sat on the edge of my bed. “Then they know? Everything?”
“No.” I shook my head and sat next to her. “They just think they were beating us. Nothing about the fighting or you…”
“Fucking,” she finished my sentence. I hated thinking about the thought that my sister was sexually groomed. She’d lost her innocence so young and out of her control. “Okay, so what do you want to do next?”
I stared at the door. I could hear Cross on the phone, more than likely rallying up the cousins to come over. “I don’t know,” I said as my vision blurred again because of my unshed tears. “I don’t know.”