13. Uri
Uri
“Talk to your brother and have him ready to fight before I come back,” Robert demanded as I stood in the back of the room.
Kenbral stood in his cage, bleeding from his mouth and nose, and his eye was starting to swell.
My hand went to my side, not because it hurt, but because I had to be mindful of my injury.
Robert made me and Kenbral fight Corinthians.
I didn’t want to. I refused, but she couldn’t.
He used her sister against her. Seeing her little sister in the corner of the room with Jonathan told me everything I needed to know and why my decision not to fight back was easy.
She would win every fight. No matter how much Robert and Logan yelled or punished me.
The door slammed, and I looked up from Kenbral to see Robert gone. I turned back to my brother.
“Stop letting her win, Uri,” Kenbral said, staring at me. “You have to stop letting her beat you.”
“No.”
“You have to stop!” He slammed his injured hand into the gate. “She’s going to kill you if you don’t.”
“No.”
“Do you want me to die?” he asked. No, I didn’t want him to die, but I also couldn’t keep watching Corinthians fight.
She was getting tired; I could see it in her eyes.
She needed me to let her win so that she could have something to hold on to.
If I didn’t, Robert would keep breaking her down until there was nothing left.
When I didn’t answer, he laughed; it was nothing funny, but more than likely it was the only thing he could do.
“You do want me to die, huh?” He held up his shirt to show me the scars and bruises.
“She has to win to save her sister.”
“And you have to win to save your brother!” he cried. “To save me, Uri!” He let go of his shirt and grabbed the gate. “You’re picking her over me?” Tears fell from his eyes. “You would rather her win than me live?”
Sighing, I sat back down in the corner of my cage and watched him.
I wasn’t helping Kenbral, not this time.
Not after seeing what he’d done at the ring when Jonathan had choked Angel in front of Corinthians.
I’d seen the joy in his eyes. He liked watching Jonathan torture her. He was no better than Robert and Logan.
The sound of someone coming back downstairs made me look up, but not move.
Logan came down, whistling some random song.
When he rounded the corner and noticed me, he chuckled and shook his head.
In his hand was a Lunchables, more than likely the only meal I would get for the day.
He lifted his shirt to show me his gun, then unlocked the gate and dropped my Lunchables on the floor.
“Eat up so I can go,” he said, closing the gate. I looked at the Lunchables and debated if I wanted to move. Last time I did, when I got to the food, he tased me. I ran my tongue over my teeth, then stood. “That’s a good puppy.”
“I hate you,” I said, looking at him. Logan shrugged and leaned against the wall. “I hope you die.”
“Better niggas have wished for my downfall,” he replied with a smile. “You'd better hope that you survive this shit.”
“You'd better hope I don’t,” I told him. Instead of picking up the Lunchables, I kicked it against the gate and went back to my corner. The smile Logan wore dropped, and he kissed his teeth. “If I survive this, I will kill you.”
Logan came to my cage, unlocked the door, took the Lunchables out, slammed the door closed, and went back to the steps. The upstairs door opened, and Ruben came down. He barely glanced in our direction.
“Robert called; he has a new girl he wants to pick up,” Ruben said. I watched him, not trusting him, just like I didn’t trust Robert and Logan. “We need to go.”
“Which girl?” Logan asked with a chuckle.
“I don’t know; he said she is a collection,” Ruben answered. “I didn’t ask questions.”
“You mean you were scared to.” Logan roughly patted Ruben's chest and laughed. “My brother has you spooked, and that shit is obvious. You're still his bitch Ruben. Even after all these years.”
“I’m not his bitch,” Ruben denied. “I’m a grown-ass man.”
“A grown what?” Logan chuckled, then wiped his hand over his mouth.
He didn’t respect Ruben, more than likely didn’t really like him, and only tolerated him because of Robert.
Ruben had nothing to bring to the table that could impress Logan.
“Nigga you are a bitch. A big one at that, and you wanna know how I know?” He grabbed the front of Ruben’s shirt and pulled him towards him.
“You’re a bitch in every way possible. You never made a name for yourself.
I mean, look at you; you took your wife’s last name when you got married.
Your daughters don’t even have your name. That should tell you something.”
“I took it because-“
“My fuckin’ brother told you to!” Logan yelled.
Spit flew from his mouth and landed on Ruben’s face.
“You took Angel’s name because yours doesn’t mean shit.
You were a nobody then, and you are one now.
You think because he owns your daughter that you matter?
” Logan pushed him away and shook his head.
“You aren’t shit. Just a nigga on the team for the time being.
All it takes is for Robert to get bored, and you’ll be dead.
Remember that shit.” He roughly patted Ruben’s cheek, then went up the stairs.
“Now bring your ass on so we can pick up his next trophy.” The door slammed shut, and Ruben stood there.
I could see how angry he was from where I was sitting.
His hands shook, and he was breathing hard.
Thunder cracked through the sky, and then a loud boom followed. Ruben took a deep breath, then went up the stairs. I could hear people above my head, voices too, but I couldn’t tell who they were.
The lights went off, and I closed my eyes. I wasn’t tired, but I would use the time I knew that no one else was here to rest. I don’t know how much time passed before the sound of someone walking down the stairs made me open my eyes. My cage door was open, and so was Kenbral’s.
Not wasting any time, I jumped up and ran out of my cage.
Even though it was dark, I could see enough to know that someone else was down here with us.
I got to the steps when I heard my collar start to hum.
The door at the top of the steps was cracked open.
Even though I could hear people talking, I didn’t stop running.
I rounded the corner to enter the kitchen and stopped.
Corinthians sat in a small cage in the corner, her eyes barely open and in blood-stained clothes.
“Cori!” I whispered as I got closer to her cage.
She blinked but said nothing. “Cori, I’m going to get you out of here.
” I pulled at the cage door. “Cori, wake up!” I pulled at the door, and it didn’t budge.
I got up and started looking around. I went through the drawers and cabinets looking for something to use to open the cage.
There was nothing here. No pots, pans, or silverware. Nothing. It was like no one lived here.
“You were so close,” Logan said from behind me.
I stopped moving and waited. “You had the perfect opportunity to get away. But you didn’t take it.
” I turned around to see him standing in the doorframe.
“I knew you would stop and try to get her free.” I took a step towards him, and he lifted his shirt to show me his gun.
“I will kill you.” His face twisted for a moment, then he smiled and shook his head.
“Or better yet, I’ll kill her.” He pointed the gun at Corinthians.
“I hate you.”
“I don’t give a damn,” he said, then laughed and approached me. “Now get your dumb ass back downstairs.” He pushed me towards the steps. I looked over my shoulder to see Corinthians close her eyes. “Hurry the fuck up.”