39. Four #2
Because the Sensei’s attention was on Cori and not me, I grabbed him by the throat.
He hit me on the forearm, but it didn’t matter.
I slammed him into the wall, knocking the wind out of him, and hit him so hard his head bounced off the brick wall every time I hit him.
The sight of blood flowing from his nose and mouth excited me.
I dropped him; his knees gave out too quickly for my liking.
This nigga was weak. I kicked him in the side so hard, I heard his ribs break.
He screamed, but I didn’t care. I put my foot on his throat; he clawed at my foot, gasping for air.
I was seconds away from putting my full weight on his throat and crushing his windpipe, but then I saw it.
The small crest branded on the inside of his wrist. I lifted my foot, kicked him in the head, knocking him out.
“Take him to the warehouse,” I said, looking at Nine. His brow went up. “I have questions I need answered before I kill him.”
“So, you do know how to stop when you’re about to go too far?” Krude asked. I looked over to see him sitting in a chair that was against the wall. “Therapy’s working. I like it.”
“Shut up, Krude,” Judge said, shaking his head. He was sitting next to him, reading a book.
“Clean up is on the way; they will take him to the warehouse,” Exodus said.
I nodded, not caring about shit else but Corinthians. She stood near the back door, her hands at her side, her left hand tapping her thigh. I approached her but didn’t touch her because of the blood on my hands.
“Cori?” She looked up, her eyes finding mine. They were filled with tears but also fire; she was pissed. “Tell me so I can fix it.”
“He kicked her so hard I’m pretty sure her ribs are broken,” she said, and I nodded.
I knew this was taking her back to her childhood.
I needed to get her out of here, so she could deal with her emotions without prying eyes.
I knew her family meant well, but she didn’t need a million questions right now.
“Ima go wash my hands, and then we are leaving,” I told her. She nodded. Her eyes locked on the Sensei knocked out on the floor. I went to the back, found the bathroom, washed my hands, and then headed to find Judah.
“J-J-J-J-J-Judah?” I called out as I pushed a door open to the locker room.
Judah sat next to a little girl; more than likely, this was GiGi.
He was still pissed, but the moment he saw me, his shoulders dropped, and I could see he relaxed.
He stood up but didn’t move away from GiGi.
Little man was protective as fuck. “W-w-w-w-we about t-t-t-t-t-to g-o-o-o-o-o-o-o.”
“GiGi daddy here?” he asked.
“I’m n-n-n-n-n-n-not sure.”
“We can’t leave until he’s here,” Judah said, shaking his head. He sat back down next to her.
“Judah…”
“Four, we can't leave,” Judah repeated. “We don’t leave ours behind. No matter what.”
“Four!” Nine called out. I looked over my shoulder to see him standing there with a mug on his face.
“GiGi daddy here.” I nodded. Nine stepped back, and a tall dark-skinned man walked into the hallway.
He was dressed in scrubs and a lab coat.
Dr. Tatum O’Neal didn’t look like your typical doctor, with his low fade, diamond earrings, and black diamonds on his wrist and neck. This was a hood nigga.
“Where’s GiGi?” he asked, looking at Nine and me. “Glory! Where you at, baby girl?”
I stepped back to show Glory her daddy in the hallway; she got up, with Judah’s help, and they walked to her father. As soon as she was close enough, he scooped her up, and his hands went to her side.
“My mama checked her out,” Judah said, standing in front of him. “She said her ribs might be broken. She wrapped her up.”
Dr. O’Neal pulled up her shirt just a little and nodded.
He ran his tongue over his teeth, then looked at me.
This nigga was a killer, no doubt. How he was looking at me was full of rage that only could be calmed by the sight of blood.
“Alright, I appreciate the information, Judah,” he said, looking down at him.
He put his hand out for Judah to shake. “Yo mama told me that you were looking out for her. I gotta thank you for that, man.”
“You’re welcome,” Judah said, shaking his hand. “GiGi is my best friend. I’ma always look out for her.”
Dr. O’neal chuckled then let his hand go. He turned his attention back to his daughter. “You ready to go? I know Ms. C looked at your side but let Daddy do it too, okay?”
“Okay,” GiGi agreed. She wrapped her arms around her daddy’s neck and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Yo wife said that you handled that nigga, but I got a few questions I need answered. Can that be arranged?” he asked me.
“Y-y-y-y-yeah,” I answered.
“Bet, she has my contact info,” he said, then dapped me up. Dr. O’Neal left carrying Glory out of the back instead of the front.
“C-c-c-c-come on, Judah,” I said, guiding him through the hallway.
“Ex walked Corinthians to the car; go through the back,” Nine said, blocking us from going through the front.
We dapped each other up, and I walked Judah through the back door that Dr. O’Neal went through.
By the time we got to my car, his truck was pulling out of the parking lot.
I opened the door for Judah; he got in, then I closed it and rounded the car.
We decided not to get anything to eat; none of us were hungry.
Instead, we headed to Corinthians’ house.
The entire car ride, she sat quietly in the passenger seat.
Her left hand tapped against her thigh. I was giving her space, but that shit was driving me crazy.
I needed to hear her voice and know where she was mentally before I reached out to Trey.
I parked my car in the garage next to Cori’s Jeep, shut off the car, and waited for the garage to close. Once it did, I opened my door. “Stay here till I come back,” I told them.
Corinthians looked at me with a confused expression. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing, I’m just checking the house,” I told her. I leaned across the center console and kissed her before looking back at Judah. He was watching me with a smile on his face.
Corinthians handed me her keys, then I got out.
The first thing I noticed was that her door wasn’t locked.
Cori wasn’t one to play with her safety.
She always locked her doors, no matter what.
I walked back to my car, popped the trunk, got my gun, and tucked it into the back of my pants.
I went to Cori’s door, tapped the window, and waited for her to roll it down.
“Lock the doors,” I told her. Her hand went to the handle, and I shook my head. “Stay here with Judah.” She let go of the handle, picked up her purse, and put it in her lap. I knew she kept a knife in there. “I’ll be right back.”
Cori rolled up the window, and I went back to the door.
I looked at the door one final time, then took out my gun.
I walked through the first floor, looking for anything that looked out of place.
Nothing did, but when I got to her bedroom, I knew a nigga had been in here.
There was a faint smell of a woodsy cologne lingering in the air.
I checked Judah’s room then grabbed his backpack from his closet.
I packed enough clothes to last him a few days, plus his school bag, and then did the same for Cori. They were going to stay with me.
I went through the house one more time. I turned off every light on my way out. The track lights ran the length of the hallway as I moved. I tucked my gun into my pants, put their bags in the trunk, then got in the car.
“J-J-J-J-J-Judah?” I said, looking at him through the rear-view mirror. “You want t-t-t-t-to g-g-g-g-go look at the s-s-s-s-stars?”
“Yeah!” he excitedly answered. “Where we goin’?”
“I-I-I-I-I know a-a-a-a-a-a place,” I told him.
I could feel Cori’s eyes on me as I drove. I knew she expected me to go back to my house, but that wasn’t happening either. My shit was too close. It wasn’t no doubt in my mind that if somebody went into her house, they’d do the same to mine.
Me: I need the presidential suite, the entire floor.
Citrine Stone: Which location?
Me: Downtown.
….
….
My phone buzzed with an alert for an electronic key.
Me: Send one to Corinthians, too.
…
Citrine: Done.
I looked over to see Cori’s watch light up.
She checked it then looked over at me with a confused expression.
I drove through the city, not rushing to get to the hotel.
Every few minutes, I checked the rearview mirror to make sure nobody was following us.
Once I was sure we weren’t, I drove to the hotel, went to the garage, and showed the parking attendant my ID.
He opened the gate and directed me to the right.
I drove to the private-level gate; the attendant there opened the doors, and I drove through.
I parked in my designated spot, turned off the car, and looked back to see Judah looking around.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“The highest part of the city,” I told him, then got out of the car.
I went to the trunk, grabbed their bags and my go bags that I kept in case of emergencies, then closed it.
I rounded the car, opened their doors, and helped them out of the car.
We headed to the private elevator, and I swiped my digital key.
The doors opened, and we stepped inside.
We rode the elevator to our floor, then got off.
“Wow.” Judah turned in circles as he tried to take everything in. “This is huge!”
“I know,” I chuckled.
“We are staying here?” he asked, and I nodded. “Oh, this is so cool! I can see the stars from here, Four?”
“Yeah, that room to the left, it’s yours. Go look.”