39. Four #3
Judah raced from the living room, leaving Cori and me alone.
I took her hand, then led her to the couch and sat down.
Cori sat in my lap, focusing on the skyline in front of us.
The designs of The Stone Hotel were all intended to maximize the view from each location.
We could see the entire skyline of Kansas City; downtown sat at our feet, and to the right, Turner Row flashed with action.
“You saw what I saw.” She looked over at me. She wasn’t talking about the flashes in TR.
“I did,” I told her.
“That sensei was new, only been at the dojo for a few months. He never said anything to me besides hi. Judah said he was nice until he wasn’t.”
“When did he say that?”
“In the car while you were checking the house,” she answered.
“He said he didn’t understand what happened.
Why the sensei went after GiGi the way he did.
” She looked at me, her pretty ass eyes sad.
“I only went outside to look for my phone with Bug. We were gone for less than five minutes. When we came back in, the sound of her crying.” She looked away, shaking her head.
“I know that cry, Uri. I cried like that enough to know it. I saw the look in his eyes.” She chuckled humorlessly. “I know that look too.”
I picked up her hand, kissed her knuckles, and nodded. “I got it from here.”
Cori shook her head. “I want to be there,” she said.
“Mama, Four,” Judah said, coming into the living room. “I can see everything from my room.” He dropped on the couch and smiled. “Deuce would be jealous if he saw it. You know he always says his view from his room is the best.”
“Your iPad is in your bag.” I pointed to his bag on the floor beside him. He jumped up and grabbed it.
“Thanks, Four!” He got his iPad out of his bag, then ran back to his room.
“I’m going to shower,” Corinthians said, and I nodded.
“Our room is to the right,” I told her, nodding to the closed door.
She got up from my lap, and I adjusted my dick in my pants. I wasn’t thinking about sex, but having her body on mine caused a reaction that I couldn’t control. Cori bent, kissed me, then grabbed her bag and left the living room.
I dropped my head back on the couch and rubbed my hand over my face. I needed to talk to Trey. Lifting my head, I took my phone from my pocket and went to the app we used.
Me: Check in tomorrow, 6 am.
I didn’t wait for a response. I dropped my phone on my lap and stared out the window. I wasn’t surprised that Robert was making moves. I’d been waiting for him to show his hand.
Judah came back in the living room and sat next to me on the couch.
“You hungry?” I asked him, palming his head. I playfully moved him from side to side, making him laugh.
“Yeah, you want a burger and fries?” That was his go-to meal.
“Yeah,” he nodded and sat back. I picked up my phone, pulled up the Stone Hotel app, and ordered food for everyone.
“Done, should be here in like thirty minutes,” I told him. “Yo mama in the shower; you know when she gets out, she’s going to tell you to go take yours. Why don’t you go ahead and do it?”
“Alright,” he agreed, then stood. He looked at me with a concerned expression. “You think we can find GiGi’s address and send her some flowers or something?”
“Yeah, we can do that,” I told him, nodding.
Judah smiled, then started to walk away but stopped. “One more thing.”
“What’s up?”
“Why don’t you stutter all the time?” he asked, and all I could do was laugh.
“It’s nerves,” I replied after I got myself together. “It’s from being nervous, scared, or angry. It started from some stuff that happened to me as a kid.”
“Somebody did something to you?” He asked. His eyes ballooned in surprise. “I know you can't feel pain, but did somebody hurt you?”
“I’m good, Judah,” I told him, shaking my head. I wasn’t going to lie to him and say no, because I never lied to Judah and didn’t plan to. “I’m working on my stuttering though. I’m getting better, trying to control it.”
“You can't control it,” he said, shaking his head. “My mama told me that because I do it too. She said I gotta slow down and breathe. Once I get myself together, I stop. Now I only do it when I’m scared. I wasn’t scared today, though.
When everything was happening with GiGi.
I didn’t stutter because I wasn’t scared.
” He shook his head and smiled. “Mama told me she was proud of me for that.”
“So am I,” I told him.
Judah nodded, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
“You know it’s okay to be scared though, right?” I asked him, and Judah nodded. “Good, because I don’t want you to think that being scared means you’re weak, because it doesn’t. Being scared but being able to still be aware of everything is a sign of strength.”
“My mama got scared,” he said, and I nodded.
To anyone else, Cori’s reaction probably did seem like she was scared.
But she wasn’t. She’d checked out, gone into survival mode, and would’ve done anything to protect GiGi and Judah if need be.
“I heard her stutter when she was talking to GiGi. Her hands shook too.” He glanced at the door to our bedroom.
“She’s good now, Judah,” I reassured him. “I’m here to make sure she doesn’t have to be scared ever again. You either.” He looked at me and smiled. “Now go take a shower; our food will be here shortly.”
Judah’s head tilted to the side like he was trying to figure out what to do next with what I told him. He approached me, then pulled me into a hug. “I’m sorry something bad happened to you as a kid, Four,” he said softly as he hugged me, making my eyes water. He let me go and ran to his room.
A single tear fell from my eye as his room door closed.
***
Hours after we ate, and with Judah asleep in his room, I sat on the floor of the bedroom I was sharing with Cori.
I wasn’t tired; hell, I probably wouldn’t fall asleep any time soon.
Cori came from checking on Judah for the millionth time.
She had something on her mind, keeping her up when I needed her to rest.
“Cori?” I put my hand on her thigh to stop her from walking past me. She looked down at me, her dark eyes filled with fear. “What’s wrong baby?” The room wasn’t dark; the curtains were open, giving us light from the city and the moon.
“I can’t sleep here,” she said, shaking her head.
I moved my hand from her thigh and stood. “You can't go home, baby, not until I know it’s safe for you to.”
“I know,” she sighed and looked away. “It’s not that.”
I gently grabbed her chin and made her look at me. “Then, what is it?”
“I can’t sleep in a bed, Uri,” she told me with tears in her eyes. “I don’t sleep in my bed at home. I’ll sit in it every once in a while, but I don’t sleep in the bed.”
I thought back to when I stayed at her house.
We always slept in the living room. The few times we’d gone to her room, it was clean and neat, so I didn’t think anything about it.
That was my fuck up; I knew that as a kid she had a problem sleeping in beds, which was one of the reasons she slept in the closet.
I knew what the fuck to do. “Alright, come on,” I said, letting her face go.
I took her hand, grabbed a blanket and pillow from the bed, tucked them under my arm, then led her to the closet.
I was grateful as shit that the closets were big, but even if they weren’t, I would’ve squeezed my big ass in here with her.
I threw the blanket and pillow to the back, then stepped away from the door for Cori to go before me. “Go ahead.”
She looked at the closet, then back at me, before climbing into it, and I followed behind her. I rested my back against the wall, moved a pillow behind my head, and Cori climbed into my lap, resting her head on my chest.
“Cori, look up.”
She looked up, her eyes filled with tears as she noticed the ceiling for the first time. I don’t know why Citrine had this closet designed the way it was, but I was grateful as fuck for that too. Instead of being a regular ceiling, it was glass.
“Thank you, Uri,” she said softly as she rested her head on my chest.