30. Corinthians
Corinthians
Iwashed my hands, grabbed a napkin from the dispenser to dry them, then left the bathroom. A man blocked the hallway leading from the women’s bathroom to the main hall. I tried to sidestep him, but his back was to me.
“Excuse me,” I said. Moving to the left. He smelled so damn good. My interest was piqued by a smell that made me laugh softly. When he moved, I couldn’t help but look at him. I hardly paid attention to men, but this one held my interest.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, moving, then looking up from his phone.
His voice was hypnotic, washing over me and making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. But it was his eyes that kept me standing still. I knew those eyes; no matter how much time passed, I knew them because they were my saving grace for so long.
How was this possible? He wasn’t supposed to be here, not standing in front of me in this restaurant on this day.
Yet he was. Dressed in all black, with a short beard, full lips, a crooked nose, and hazel eyes that looked the same after all these years.
His hair was cut short, neat, his line damn near perfect.
He licked his plump lips, then reached for me but quickly dropped his arms and put his hands in his pockets.
Years of memories washed over me. The lonely nights and cold nights.
The countless hours of sitting in a cage, fighting in a ring, the tears that never fell.
But also, the times we sat together, him holding my hand through those same gates.
Watching him go without eating so I would have enough.
Learning to watch for signs that he wasn’t okay because he never knew.
The sound of his voice, the way he would sing to me.
“Uri?” My voice cracked.
Uri started to say something, then something started to beep. I didn’t know where it came from, but the rate increased with every passing second.
“Cori.” The sound of his voice was so soothing yet turbulent to my system.
I let my gaze roam over him, starting at his feet until it met his gaze again.
He was a grown man, one who looked so dangerous, yet standing next to him I felt the same peace that I always did.
He probably scared other people because of his height and weight, but not me.
For the first time in a long time, I felt safe.
My heart slammed against my chest so hard that I had to rub my chest. This couldn’t be real; he couldn’t be here.
I slammed my eyes shut, then stepped back until my back touched the wall. I would need the support when I opened my eyes and realized that I was hallucinating, and my heart broke into a million pieces. I slowly opened my eyes to see him staring at me. This was real; he was real; he was here.
A slow smile tugged at my lips. He was here! I moved from the wall but stopped walking. He was here. My eyes filled with tears, and I stepped back again. If Uri was here, then so was Robert.
His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. “What’s wrong?” he asked, staring at me.
“You’re here,” I said, and he nodded. “Why?” My hand went to my bracelet on my wrist, pulled the small blade that was hidden in it out, and clutched it in my fist.
“For you,” he answered.
“Man, I swear I gotta look at that sensor,” Nine said from behind him. He approached us, patted Uri on his shoulder, then smiled at me as he stepped around Uri. “I didn’t expect to see you here, though. What’s good, Corinthians?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. My eyes went to Uri then back to Nine. “What are you doing here?”
“Stopped to get some food after a business meeting,” he answered.
Uri hadn’t said anything else; his eyes stayed focused on me.
Every so often he would lick his lips, but that was it.
The beeping started again, and I looked around.
Nine sighed, shook his head, then took his phone from his pocket.
“Four, let me see your monitor.” He put his hand out without looking up from the phone.
“Four.” When he didn’t answer, Nine looked up and patted his chest. “Yo monitor man, take it off. This muthafucka been malfunctioning too much for my liking.”
Uri took his hands out of his pockets, then removed the bracelet on his left wrist and handed it to Nine.
“Y’all know each other?” I asked, looking between the two men. Nine nodded. “H-h-h-h-how?”
“He’s my younger cousin,” Nine answered, then looked up at me. “I told you it was a few of us. One, the fashion designer who knows Ex’s homeboy Focus. Six owns the consultation company and is a PA to December. Zero does a little bit of everything and then Four-“
“The accountant,” I finished. He’d told us about his cousins plenty of times.
The pride and happiness in his voice were evident.
Nine adored his family. I don’t know why I never asked what their real names were.
In Black families, we just rolled with whatever someone introduced themselves as and never asked for their government.
“Yeah,” Nine said, nodding.
“Is that it?”
“Yeah,” Nine quickly answered. “That’s who I fuck with.”
I looked back at Uri, confused. I knew there were at least two more. His brother Kenbral and a cousin named Gentle that I’d only seen in passing when he was with Logan.
Nine was oblivious to the tension and silence between us. He was busy working on the bracelet that Uri had given him. The beeping had stopped, but that didn’t stop Nine from tapping away at his phone. Every so often, he would look at the bracelet, then at Uri and shake his head.
“I-I-I-I need to go,” I finally said. I couldn’t handle the silence. Uri’s eyes held so many secrets and yet a promise that I couldn’t identify. “I just stopped to grab some food before going home.”
“Oh shit, let me get out of the way,” Nine said, stepping aside. “I’ll catch you later.”
“Bye,” I quickly said, walking away.
I didn’t want to; I tried hard as hell not to, but I turned around one last time to see Uri. He was still watching me. His beautiful eyes locked on my every movement.
I turned, grabbed my food from the bar, then basically ran to my car.
I threw the food in the passenger seat, got in, started it, and drove off.
My heart pounded in my chest so hard I swore I was trying not to throw up.
Psalms was at my house waiting for me with Judah.
The only thing I could think of was getting to them, packing, and getting the fuck out of town.
I needed to get away so that I could figure everything out.
Nine was a Strong, his cousin was Uri. The same boy from my past, the one that protected me more than anyone ever had.
The same one whose father was my biggest fear.
No matter how strong I was or was becoming, I still feared Robert.
I parked my car in the garage, turned it off, grabbed the food, and got out.
“Bug!” I yelled as I walked into the kitchen. I dropped the bag of food on the counter and looked around. Usually, they would be in the play area near the living room. “Bug, where are you?”
“What’s up?” Psalms replied, coming out from the backyard. Her eyes were low and puffy, but not from smoking. She’d been crying.
“What happened?” I asked her, not worried about myself.
When Psalms broke down in front of me a few months back and told me she needed me to be strong so she wouldn’t have to, I took it to heart.
I wasn’t a perfect big sister, but I tried, and she knew that.
So, when she told me she needed me, it made me feel like I had failed, and I never wanted to fail Psalms. She had enough people who were supposed to love and protect her fail her; she didn’t need me to do it too.
I approached her and cupped her face in my hands.
No matter how old she got, I always saw the little girl with big ponytails and missing her front teeth following behind me.
I saw the little girl she was before our lives became fucked up. “What happened?”
“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head.
“You’re crying,” I pointed out, and she rolled her eyes. “Bug, tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”
“I dropped a pot on my foot,” she laughed and pointed to her foot. “I’m pretty sure my pinkie toe is broken.”
“Bug-“
“I’m okay,” she said, smiling. It was sad but genuine. “Now what’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost, and you came in here yelling like Judah isn’t asleep.”
I moved my hands from her face and stepped back.
“Let’s take a vacation,” I told her instead of answering the question.
“I have a few days I can be away from the shop, and I want to get away. I was excited about the thought of us taking Judah on his first trip. Maybe we can go visit Cross in Florida or maybe Mercy.”
“A trip?” she asked, surprised, and I nodded. “I could do a weekend getaway.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, then swiped the screen. “Let’s see if Mercy can get away, and we just go see Cross. I want to see her new house.”
Judah started to cry. “Start making calls, see if Mercy wants to go, tell her to bring Legacy, and then call Wryanne and see if she wants to come. We can make it a full girls’ trip.” I started walking backward towards Judah’s room.
“Oh, I like that,” Psalms said, nodding.
“Let me know what they say,” I told her, then turned around and walked to Judah’s room. I pushed the door open to see him lying in the middle of his crib, his little legs kicking as he whined. “Oh, baby boy, what’s wrong?” I picked him up, and his cries stopped.
“Dada,” he mumbled, and I smiled. He wouldn’t say mama; every time he saw me, he called me Dada. I knew he would say mama when he was ready. He wasn’t even a year old yet. “Dada, hi.”