10. Corinthians
Corinthians
Isat in the back of the closet, and I could hear my mama and daddy moving downstairs.
They thought I was asleep because I’d been so quiet, but I wasn’t.
I was waiting; I knew they would be talking in the kitchen tonight.
Over the last year, that’s what they did: meet in the kitchen, talk, Daddy would yell, sometimes hit Mama, and then they’d go to bed.
“She’s going with him next weekend,” Daddy told Mama. “His payment went through; school will be out; she needs to go.”
“She’s a baby, Ruben,” Mama cried. I wanted to say I hated knowing that she was crying, but I didn’t. Her tears weren’t for anyone but herself. “She can't do what he’s asking of her.”
“She can and will,” Daddy replied. “She’s been taking lessons. She knows how to treat him, what he does or doesn’t like. I won't put this off any longer.”
“But she’s-“
“I said she’s going!” he yelled. The sound of him hitting her echoed, and I smirked. There was nothing funny, but I wanted someone else to feel pain besides me. “Psalms is our last option. The debt-“
“Your debt,” she told him. “It’s your debt. You gambled that money away. You got caught up in this lifestyle. Your daddy told you to stay in your lane, but you wanted more. Not me.”
“So, you had no part in this?” he asked with a chuckle. “You weren’t spending the money? What about those clothes, that car in the driveway, or those damn rings on your finger?”
“Let me go, Ruben,” she said, sounding as if she were crying. “Let me go!”
“Answer the question! If it were just my debt, how do you explain all this shit?” He laughed, and it sounded like someone had fallen. “You are pathetic.”
“I’m not pathetic. I’m worried about my daughters. Our daughters. They are children. You have Corinthians fighting and Psalms? Ruben, you sold our daughters to monsters!”
“They aren’t sold,” he dismissively said.
“You see them all the time. You can spend time with them. You are still their mother, but you choose not to be. You could be preparing Psalms for this weekend. You could have tended to every bruise, cut, or whatever Corinthians came home with after a fight, but you chose not to. You decided not to be their mother the moment the check was deposited into our accounts. I told you what Robert was up to. I ain’t ever lied to you about shit, Angel.
Not once. I told you I spent time with him and his brothers.
That our business wasn’t always on the up and up, and you were cool with it until it came knocking at your door.
Stop all that fuckin’ crying now because you're realizing this lifestyle comes with sacrifices. There are no victims in this shit! What’s done is done. ”
“And when Psalms comes back broken, then what? You already broke Corinthians; she will never be the same. Psalms isn’t too far behind her! She’s going to be his fucking plaything. The shit Jonathan is going to do to her is going to change her forever.”
“Then you'd better be prepared to handle the monsters that you helped me create. Now call your fuckin’ brother and have him agree to get Cross in the ring. Say what you need to say to make it happen.”
Hearing their conversation didn’t sound right. I thought Daddy made Mama be quiet, to shut up when other people were around. Now I know better. She didn’t care, just like he didn’t.
The sound of the back door opening then slamming shut made me jump. School was officially over next week. I didn’t move when I heard Mama’s voice again.
“Hello, Mathew?” Mama said. “Yeah, it’s me, Angel.
Ruben wants you to meet him at the house tomorrow to discuss getting Cross signed up for boxing.
” She got quiet for a while, and I thought she had hung up.
“No, the man who runs it is named Robert. Yeah, the same one that’s been supplying y’all.
Yeah, he said you can. Alright, I’ll let Ruben know. Bye.”
I rested my head against the closet wall and closed my eyes. Psalms lay next to me, her body curled up in a ball, sleeping peacefully. I rested my hand on her leg, and she jumped.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she mumbled in her sleep. “I’ll be a good girl.”
***
“Wait! Wait!” I yelled as I tried to climb up my cage. I’d just fought with Kenbral and was hurting, but that didn’t stop me. “Wait!”
“Chill out.” Logan chuckled as he dragged Psalms out of the room.
She was little, but she was putting up a fight.
Since finding out that she was going with Jonathan, I had been teaching her new moves to protect herself.
She said she was scared to use them, but I knew that she would.
She just needed to believe in herself. “Come on!”
“No!” I yelled, shaking the cage. “No! I’ll go! Don’t take her!”
“Not happening,” Logan replied with a shrug. “It's her weekend to be broken in.”
“Cori!” Psalms yelled and tried to get free from Logan. “Cori, help me!”
I got to the top of my cage and pushed against the newly added top. Logan thought that’s how we were getting out of our cages when we were locked in here and had the tops added. I pushed against the top, hoping it would give.
“No! Don’t take her! Please!” I cried as I pushed against the top.
It didn’t give, so I climbed back down. My only option was to use that hole in the back to get out.
Uri, Kenbral, and I had promised not to use it unless it was an emergency, and my sister being dragged away was an emergency.
“Fight back, Bug!” I climbed through the hole just as Psalms bit into Logan’s arm.
“Ahh!” he yelled, trying to push her off him, but Psalms wasn’t letting go. “Fuck!” he hit her in the face, making her let him go and fall to the ground.
I ran as fast as I could to him, jumped on his back, wrapped my arms around his neck, and squeezed as hard as I could. Logan twisted and turned, trying to get me off him.
“Run, Bug!” I yelled at her. “Go through that door and don’t stop running until you get to Madea’s!” We weren’t close to our grandparents' house, but that didn’t matter. I wanted Psalms to run and never stop.
“Get the fuck off me!” Logan grunted and slammed me into the wall.
The air rushed from my lungs, but I didn’t let go.
Psalms had to get out of here first. Logan slammed me into the wall just as the doors opened, and Daddy, Robert, and Uri came into the room.
Uri was bleeding from his mouth, and his eye was swollen.
“Get her off me and grab the little one!”
Daddy went after Psalms, and Robert grabbed my hair and pulled me from Logan.
“What the fuck is going on?” Robert yelled as he held me by the hair.
“Have you lost your damn mind?” He threw me against the wall, and I watched as Uri’s expression changed.
He glared at Robert. “This ain’t what you want, li’l nigga. ”
“Stop hitting her!” Uri yelled, then swung at Robert. His first hit connected, making Robert stumble back. Uri didn’t let up; he ran to Robert, tackled him to the ground, and started hitting him. “Stop hitting her! Stop touching her! Stop it!”
“Oh, y’all have lost your damn minds,” Logan said, pulling Uri up.
He wrapped his arms around his neck and squeezed him like I had done.
Uri clawed at Logan’s arms. I knew he could feel the pressure of Logan’s arms wrapped around his throat and the air not being able to get to his lungs, but he felt no other pain.
“Yeah, fight back, li’l nigga. I like when you fight! ”
Robert got up from the floor, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and chuckled.
“The fight in you is so strong,” he said to Uri.
I tried pushing myself up from the floor, but my body hurt too much.
Robert walked over to me and kicked me in the stomach.
“I’m done playing with you two.” He turned and looked at Daddy, who was struggling with Psalms. “Take her to Jonathan.”
“Bug,” I moaned as Daddy walked away with her in his arms.
“Cori!” she yelled, trying to reach me, but Daddy wouldn’t let her go. “Cori!” The door slammed closed, and I tried to push myself up again.
Robert grabbed me by the back of my head, pulled me from the floor, and dragged me to his office.
Logan followed behind us, dragging Uri, who had passed out.
He threw me on the desk and strapped me down to it.
Whatever beating he was going to give me wouldn’t matter.
Logan threw Uri in the corner of the room and sat in the chairs across from Robert’s desk.
“This is the only way you are going to listen. I knew it from the beginning.” He pulled my shorts and panties down to my knees.
I tried to fight against the chains wrapped around my wrists and ankles, but they didn’t give.
He hit my butt with his hand and laughed.
“That’s okay, though. I always wanted us to end like this.
” He moved away from me, but then I felt him come back.
His pants and underwear were around his ankles.
He kissed my cheek, then put his mouth to my ear.
“You belong to me, Pet. You will never escape. I will kill anyone who tries to take you away, and that includes Uri.” He kissed my shoulder. “Now scream for me.”
I felt something near my vagina, and then a pain I had never experienced shot through my body.
Something was in me; tears fell from my eyes, but I didn’t scream.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to because I did.
I didn’t scream because no sound came out.
This was a pain I’d never experienced. I wasn’t prepared for it and didn’t know how to stop it.
Logan turned around to look over his shoulder at Uri, starting to get up. He got up from his chair, went to Uri, and put his arms back around Uri's neck to keep him from moving.
“Robert, stop!” Uri yelled. “Stop, Robert!”
“Shut up and learn how to be a man,” Robert grunted as he continued to hurt me.
“No!” Uri said, still fighting against Logan’s hold.
“Please stop!” When he realized that Robert wasn’t going to stop, he looked at me.
“Focus on me, Cori. Nothing else. Just me.” He jerked against Logan, who hadn’t let him go.
“P-p-p-please j-j-j-jus-t-t-t-t m-m-m-m-me. Not-t-t-t-t-hin-g-g-g-g-g el-s-s-s-s-s-se.”
I continued lying there, and Robert continued to hurt me. I focused on Uri. Our eyes filled with tears, but neither of us let them fall.
Robert had succeeded in breaking both of us.