64. Corinthians
Corinthians
"Iknow I'm the last person you want to see," Kenbral said.
The only thing separating us was Uri's bed, and it took everything in me not to walk across it and kill him.
Gentle stood next to him, his eyes locked on Uri lying there.
I could see the anguish in his eyes, and I understood it.
Uri wasn't supposed to be there. "But I came to talk. "
"Why?" I cautiously asked him. There wasn't too much of anything he could tell me that I didn't already know.
"Because my brother would want me to," he replied. "Four and I are close. He trusted me to look out for you when he couldn't in the past." I blinked slowly, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "I did it then with no problems, and I will do it now."
"Wait," I said, shaking my head. "You're serious right now?"
"Yes." And he was. I could tell from the look on his face.
"How? I asked. "How are you so damn serious right now, like you did exactly what your brother asked you to do?"
"I did what I could," he insisted. "What I could do, to keep you safe."
"Safe?" I laughed. "You kept me safe?"
"Yes."
"Your father raped me while you were in the room with other people! I was drugged and raped, and you're standing there trying to tell me you did everything you could to protect me?! My son is your fucking brother! How was that protecting me, Kenbral?!"
"I protected you because of that lie!" He yelled back.
"Robert isn't Judah's daddy. Four is!" He threw his hands in the air.
"This whole fucking time, Cori, I've been sitting on that shit!
Robert didn't fuck you. He had you drugged, and a doctor came in and artificially inseminated Four's sperm in you. "
"Wait. What?!" My mind was racing a mile a minute, and I was trying to hear what Kenbral was saying without passing out. This was too damn much. "How?!"
"Melissa was fucking around with Four. They had sex a few days before that night," he said, shaking his head.
"She got the condoms he nutted into. His sperm was extracted, frozen, and then shipped here.
Robert had Melissa set you up. Get you drunk or drugged, he didn't care, and then brought you back to his house.
That whole night was a setup. Melissa wasn't your friend.
Bitch didn't love you. Didn't care a damn thing about you.
She just wanted her check. Wanted to show her daddy that she could make money like Javien Jr. Be successful like Fable. "
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Melissa was Javien Walters Jr. and Fable’s sister. Different mamas but all got the same daddy. Javien Sr. was friends with Robert. He worked for him."
"Robert didn't rape me?" I asked, not caring about anything else. "H-h-h-he didn't rape me?"
"Technically, he did. He had that doctor do something to you without your consent."
"He didn't stick his dick in me?" I clarified. "He didn't do the sick shit he did to me as a kid?"
"No," he stated. "He stood near you. Watching, but he didn't touch you."
I slowly sat in the chair next to Uri's bed. "Robert isn't Judah's father?" I asked again. I needed to hear him say it. The words. They bounced around in my head and heart but hadn't settled. "Right. He isn't Judah's father?"
"No," he answered. "Robert isn't Judah's father."
"Uri is Judah's father."
Tears fell from my eyes, but I didn't bother to wipe them—every emotion known to man and even some that weren't flooded my body.
"Corinthians..."
"You knew this the whole time and didn't say anything," I said, staring at Kenbral. "Why?"
"Because I know how much my brother loves you," he answered, and I felt my eyebrows damn near touch. "How much do you know about why I was back with Robert?"
"Uri told me everything." I hated that I knew. Knowing took away some of the anger and hatred I felt for Kenbral. He sacrificed his life for Uri.
"Then you know I wasn't there because I wanted to be," he said, and I nodded. "You think I just went for Four?"
"Yes."
"Nah, I went for you too," he replied with a shake of his head. "I went because I knew that if Four went, you'd be dragged back into that lifestyle to try and save him. Once you had Judah, I knew that I had to do everything in my power to keep y’all from ending up dead because if y’all did, Robert would get his hands on Judah.”
“That sounds good,” I replied, shaking my head. “Real good.”
Kenbral chuckled. “What the fuck did I gain from being around that shit?” he asked.
“I got a damn wife and a daughter that doesn’t even know the good part of her family.
I could’ve said no. I could’ve lived my fucking life and let Four do what the fuck he was going to do, but I knew that shit wouldn’t end well.
Robert is calculated as fuck. He’s just starting to let his guard down.
Four walking his ass in there would’ve sent him into hiding.
He would’ve stalked your ass until he finally snapped and killed you.
It ain’t ever been a secret how much in love you and Four are.
You think I didn't realize even back then how much y'all loved each other?
You learned to take care of him better than I did. He fought for you. You fought for him."
"He fought for you, too," I reminded him. "I fought for Psalms."
He sadly smiled. "Psalms may not ever tell you this because she doesn't want you to feel any type of way, but y'all never fought for us."
"Excuse me?" I stood ready to argue that notion down. "We didn't fight for y'all? Are you serious right now? How many scars do I have covering my body? How many does Uri have? Are you really standing here saying we didn't fight for y'all?"
"You fought for each other.”
“We fought for y'all!”
“Y’all fought because of me and Psalms. There's a difference."
I laughed and shook my head. "Kenbral, go to hell," I said, crossing my arms. "We fought for y'all."
"You didn't, but it's cool," he denied. "I ain't here to argue with you about what I know."
"Then why are you here?" I snapped. "Huh? Why? Because you've already dropped the bomb on me that your brother is my child's father and not your father like I've thought since I found out I was pregnant."
"I'm here to tell you I know where the rest of the people on the list are."
"I don’t care about them right now," I said, shaking my head. "My concern is Uri waking up."
"Getting to these people will get you to Robert,” he replied. “When Four wakes up, he’s going to want Robert’s head. Those locations put you one step closer to that.”
"My concern is Uri,” I said again. “I’ll figure out the other shit when he’s awake.”
"I have names and locations."
I sighed, then sat back down. Uri was going to want locations and wouldn't stop until he killed every last one of them. "Give me what you have," I told Kenbral.
"You'll give them to Four when he wakes up?"
"No," I answered. "I'll give him their heads."