53. Four #3
The front door opened before I could enter the code. Judah stood there, in his pajamas, durag and house shoes. “I told you I’d be up,” he said, stepping back. “She’s in the living room.”
“Thanks,” I said, closing the door behind me. “You and Deuce on the game?”
“No, he’s asleep,” he said, shaking his head. “I was waiting for you.”
“I got it from here,” I told him. “You can go to sleep.” Judah nodded but didn’t move. “What’s wrong?”
“She’s crying,” he said softly. “My mama doesn’t cry, Four.
” His eyes watered, and I felt bad as fuck.
I knelt in front of him. “She’s like the strongest person I know.
She can cook good, helps me with my homework, smiles all the time, and she’s in there crying.
When she hugged me earlier, I felt her body shake.
” He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but I know it’s bad.
The cousins are all here; Auntie Bug is here too, but I know you’re the only person who can make it better. You can get her to stop crying, right?”
“I can try.” I wiped his tears. “You know I love you and yo mama, right?”
“Yes.”
“So that means that I’ma do whatever I can to make sure she stops crying, okay?” I asked, and Judah nodded. “Alright then, man, go on to bed. I got it from here.”
“Okay.” He hugged me then ran back to his room.
I gave myself a minute, not because I wasn’t ready to get active over whatever had Cori upset but because my mind was still racing over the video. I watched it so many times I could recite every word said by heart. Shit was fucking with me hard.
After I got myself together, I went to the living room to find Cori, her sister, and all her cousins sitting around. She was sitting in the corner of the room, her knees pulled to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs, and her head resting against the window.
Slowly I approached her, not wanting to startle her.
“Cori?” I sat next to her, back against the window.
“Cori?” I touched her leg. “Baby, what’s wrong?
” I looked around the room to see everyone staring at me.
My eyes locked with Nine. Cross sat next to him, her left leg bouncing.
Mercy sat curled up under Givens, silently crying.
Judge sat next to Krude, in deep conversation.
Every so often they’d look over at me, but I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
Ex stood leaning against the wall opposite us, his rosary dangling from his fist. Psalms was across from him, standing behind Wednesday.
Her eyes locked on me, and I could see the tears she wouldn’t let fall.
Slowly she turned her head and looked at me. “I told them,” she softly said. “About our childhood. About what Robert did to me. Psalms told them what Jonathan did to her. They know it all.”
“Okay.”
“My grandparents told me they killed my parents,” she said, then sadly laughed. “They think we were being abused, just beaten, and they confronted my parents. My daddy told them it would be the last time they saw us. That we were leaving.”
“Cori…”
“When I was little, Madea used to tell me that all I had to do was point at whoever was hurting me and she would handle the rest. The day they did, we were at Mercy’s basketball game.
They got into it; we were in the car. I was sore, so damn sore and tried.
” She raked her nails through her hair. “When Madea got into the car, I pointed to my parents. Later that night, the police knocked on the door and told them our parents were killed in a car accident. Madea said she didn’t mean to kill everyone, just my parents.
But they all ended up in the same car. Everyone died except Cross’ parents, but knowing what she went through, I wish they did too.
Robert still got a hold of her, not as much as he did me, but she was still dealt a bad hand. ”
“None of that was your fault,” I told her.
And I meant it. Cori was the strongest person I knew.
She wasn’t responsible for what her parents did or her grandmother’s reaction.
Madea was justified in every way possible.
Cori turned her head to look out the window.
“Cori, look at me. Please.” She looked at me with teary eyes. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was,” she laughed softly and shook her head. “I just wish I would’ve pointed sooner.”
***
Hours after her sister and cousins left, I sat in the closet with Cori curled up in my lap.
She’d cried herself to sleep, not out of fear; no, the tears she released were from anger.
She was angry at her grandparents, her parents, Robert, Logan, hell even at herself and me.
The closet door slowly opened, and I watched as Judah poked his head inside.
He looked at me, then down at his mama and came in.
He didn’t say anything, just curled up on my other side and laid his head on my chest.
“Four?” his voice was low, like he wasn’t trying to disturb his mama.
“Yeah?”
“She stopped crying when you came,” he yawned.
“I know, man.”
“Four?” he mumbled sleepily. “Can you be my daddy?”
His soft snores filled the closet before I could answer him.