20. Corinthians
Corinthians
My alarm blasted through the air, and I sat up, dizzy and confused.
I hit my head on the wall of my closet, and I groaned in pain as I moved.
I got to my phone, swiped the screen to turn off the alarm, then looked around.
I needed to get ready; Mercy had a game.
I was running on fumes, but I knew I couldn’t stop.
I wanted success, could see the finish line, and was ready to get to it.
Originally, I’d gone to college for business and was going to help Psalms open her own flower shop, but I knew my heart wasn’t going to be in it.
After a long talk with my grandparents, I decided to step back from helping my sister and open my own barbershop.
Granddaddy promised that when I graduated, he would help me buy my building to open my own shop, and I’d recently started looking into those as well.
To say I was excited was an understatement.
I was ready to start my career. Seeing my cousins and sister do what they love was the motivation that I needed.
I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and then turned on the water to shower.
I couldn’t start my day without a shower.
I walked back to my room, went to my closet, and grabbed what I planned to wear.
After showering, I got myself together and was out the door before my second alarm went off, reminding me that I needed to leave.
“Hello?” I answered my phone as I got into my car.
“I was just making sure you were on the move,” Exodus chuckled.
I started my car, checked my surroundings, put on my seat belt, and pulled off. “I said I would be there and I meant it.”
“Man, ain’t no doubt you would be there; we know how you roll. We didn’t think you’d be on time,” he replied.
“I set a few alarms,” I told him.
“I knew it!” Krude yelled in the background. “Pay me my money, I know my people.”
“Y’all had a bet going?” I asked. I wasn’t surprised, though. Krude kept a bet going. He was naturally competitive.
“Hell yeah we did!” Krude laughed. “You want a split of the money, then be here within twenty minutes.”
“Why twenty minutes?” I asked, turning the corner.
“You ain't on time until you're in our faces,” he told me. “Now press that pedal and make that Jeep hit some corners.”
“How much is the bet?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Your cut would be six thousand,” Krude answered. “Make it in fifteen, and I’ll up it to ten.”
“Ten thousand?” I repeated. I thought about what I could do with that much money, then looked down at the dash.
Unlike the rest of my family, I didn’t go into the family business of killing.
The summer Granddaddy taught everyone what he was really known for changed the dynamic of our family.
While my cousins embraced it, I made it known that I wouldn’t be joining them.
They all understood and never pressured me to be a part of anything that I wasn’t comfortable with.
They never held conversations about what they did around me either.
“Yep,” Krude replied. “I know you could use the money, so hurry up.”
“Man, give me this phone,” Exodus said. “Look, don’t rush too much. Be safe out there.”
“What’s your time frame?” I asked with a laugh. If Ex wasn’t rushing me, then it was for a reason.
“Thirty minutes,” he mumbled, making me laugh harder. “Judge has you clocking in in twenty, make it then. We can't let this nigga win another bet.” He sighed loudly. “I can’t handle his dramatics tonight.”
I got on the highway and pressed down on the pedal. “No can do, big cousin; I need the money. I’m trying to open my own shop, remember?”
“I’ll double that shit,” Exodus quickly said. “And I got a lead on an open space not too far from one of my businesses. You let someone else win this shit, and it’s yours.”
Exodus owned a few businesses and was trying to expand. He was desperate as hell not to let Krude win.
“Triple,” I countered.
“Deal,” he agreed.
“You hating ass nigga!” I heard Krude yell as I hung up the phone.
I dropped my phone in my bag and continued driving.
Going to Mercy’s game was going to be fun.
I hadn’t been out in a while and was looking forward to spending time with my cousins.
I got to the school and lucked up on a parking spot.
After I parked, I got out and took my time walking into the building.
I’d surpassed the time for Krude to win, so there was no reason to rush.
“I had so much more faith in you,” Krude said, approaching me. He mugged me before pulling me into a hug. “I was ready to drop that money off to you first thing in the morning.”
“It’s nothing personal,” I laughed as we separated and started walking towards the basketball court. We weaved through the crowd to our seats. “I’m opening a business; I need the money.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he replied with a smirk. “You just like letting them niggas have one on me.”
“Never,” I replied, shaking my head.
We walked down the steps to our seats. When we got to the family, I greeted everyone, then took my seat between Cross and Psalms.
“It’s good to see you,” I said to Cross as I was seated. “You need to come to visit more often.”
“I know,” Cross said, nodding. After our parents' accident, her parents had moved away. They said it was too painful to be around their siblings' kids. Cross came and went; there were times we didn’t see her for months or years at a time. When she became an adult, she came around more, but that still wasn’t enough.
“I’m going to do better. I was telling Psalms that I plan to come and stay a little bit longer. ”
“You should,” I agreed. “Or we could come visit you.”
“I’ll come to y’all,” she said, shaking her head. “I keep telling y’all ain’t nothing out there by me for y’all to be trying to come and visit me.”
“We miss you.”
“I miss y'all too.” She gently bumped her shoulder against mine, then smiled at me. “I’m proud of you, you know that, right?”
“You’ve told me,” I said, nodding. “I haven’t done anything to be proud of, though.”
“You aren’t like us,” Cross said, shrugging.
“That’s something to be proud of.” I didn’t have to ask her to explain because I knew what she meant.
Even though Cross wasn’t around for that summer lesson, she ended up in the same side career as everyone else.
How or why she got there, I never asked, but I knew she was working.
The sound of the buzzer pulled me from my thoughts, and I looked up to see Mercy’s team come to the court.
She looked over at us, waved, then turned to her best friend and teammate, Legacy Glover.
They’d been friends since their first year.
Legacy was the opposite of Mercy. She was quiet, shy almost, and didn’t have a malicious bone in her body.
She was the best friend that Mercy needed to keep her grounded.
“Madea,” Krude called out to our grandmother, who was seated a few seats down from me. She leaned forward and lifted her brow. “I think Cross got a man.”
“Now how the hell did I get brought up when I’m just sitting here minding my business?” Cross asked him. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t help it. We’d had a conversation about her relationship status for years. She never brought anyone around and was secretive about her relationship status.
“Corinthians just said we could come visit you, and you shut her down. You must got a nigga you don’t want us to meet.
” His mouth twisted to the side. “He ugly, ain’t he?
That’s why you don’t want us to come. He funny looking?
Got a limp? What is it? You know we accept everybody for who they are.
” He pointed to Judge next to him. “We accept Judge.”
“I’m not-“
“The fuck I gotta do with this conversation?” Judge asked, grilling him.
“You are the example of us being accepting of all the Lord's children,” Krude answered with a shrug. “Even the ugly ones.”
“Stop playing with me,” Judge said, shaking his head.
“I may tell a joke, but I don’t tell a lie,” Krude said to him, then turned back to Cross. “Now back to your sneaky ass. What’s that nigga do for a living? He a nighttime ballerina and you ashamed?”
“What is a nighttime ballerina?” Granddaddy asked, sitting forward.
“Let it go, Granddaddy,” Psalms said. “Please let it go.”
“Nah, let me tell you what it is, OG,” Krude smiled. “It’s a nigga that’s on the pole. He out there swinging on a pole like he’s in a ’90s R&B video. Shirt open, in the middle of a desert, begging for his woman back. He is making that money”
“Who would do some shit like that?” Exodus asked, sounding confused. “And why would anyone go along with it?
“Love,” Krude answered with a shrug. “A nigga in love will do any and everything to prove it to his woman.”
“Would you?” Exodus asked him.
“Sure would, but my shit would be better. I’d do a whole production, and all you niggas would help.”
“Help with what?” Mercy said, coming over to us. Her game was about to start, but her coach always let her come over to the family before it did so that we could pray.
“Put on a show to get my woman back. Make it look like a 90’s R&B video,” Krude answered her as we stood. “You gonna be a backup dancer?”
“Give me a minute solo, and you know I got you,” she replied.
“Thirty seconds,” Krude countered.
“Deal,” Mercy quickly said, then put her hand out to shake.
“Lord, Gabriel, say the prayer before the girl starts practicing her dance moves,” Madea said, shaking her head.
“Too late, I’m already thinking of a routine. I will have Legacy help me with it later,” she said, shrugging. “Now let’s get this prayer so I can win this game.”