65. Four
Four
“Get down, Judah,” Cori sighed. The foot of the bed moved, and I felt pressure on my legs. “For real, get down.”
“Four said I could always be next to him,” Judah replied.
He was right; I did. No matter what or where we were.
If he needed the comfort of me being close, I would.
Same with his mama. I was their protection and support, and not being able to open my eyes was keeping me from that. I hated that shit.
“I know, but he had surgery; we have to be careful.”
“Because he can't feel pain?” he asked.
Cori sighed, and I could imagine her nodding.
Her braids covered the side of her face.
When I saw her in braids for the first time, I instantly loved them.
I’d read that victims of assault tended to cut their hair afterward as a safety concern.
Hair was easy to grab. Knowing that she was finding her power and allowing herself to relax and trust me never to hurt her was a blessing I would never take for granted.
“Partially yes,” she answered with a small laugh. “Uri is resting, healing. We need to allow his body to do that without the added pressure of us.”
“Why do you call him Uri and not Four?” Judah asked.
“Because he asked me to,” she said.
“Are you still going to marry him?”
“If Uri woke up right now and said, ‘Let’s get married,’ I would do it,” she replied. “What’s up with all the questions you have today?”
“Just wondering,” he answered. “You want me to stop?” The bed moved again, and I felt tapping against my ankle. The movement was small and quick, so I knew it was Judah and not Cori.
“Nope,” Cori said. “You can ask me anything right now, and I’ll probably say yes.”
“Can I have a dog?” he quickly asked. I wanted to laugh so bad. She’d set herself up with that.
“We will talk about it after Uri wakes up,” Cori replied.
“Four, can you wake up, please?” Judah asked. The tapping against my ankle stopped.
“Judah, it doesn’t work like that,” Cori told him. “And grab your stuff. Cross is here to pick you up.”
“Aww man,” Judah sighed. The bed moved, then I heard his feet hitting the ground. “I really have to go?”
“You don’t want to?” she asked. I could hear the concern in her voice.
“No,” he answered. “I like going to Deuces, but I don’t want to. I want to be with you. I want Four to wake up. I want to go home.”
“Judah…”
“I will be quiet,” he quickly said. “I will sit with Four while you sleep. I know it’s not a closet here, but you can sleep in the corner.”
“Judah…”
“Mommy, I don’t want to go,” he said, then sniffed. “I want to be with you and Four. Please don’t make me go.”
Cori sighed. “Okay baby,” she said. “Let's go talk to Cross, tell her the game plan, and then you can stay here with me.” Someone knocked on the door and then opened it. “I was just about to call you.”
“What’s up?” Cross replied. “Why is Judah crying? What happened? Something with Four? What’s wrong?” Her questions came rapidly.
“Chill,” Cori told her with a small laugh. “He’s okay. He’s going to stay tonight.”
“You sure?” she slowly asked. “Because it’s not a problem that he comes with us.”
“I’m sure,” Cori told her. “Hold on. Judah, put your headphones on, baby. You aren’t leaving.
” There was a pause, and I could hear Judah unzip his backpack.
The soft click-clack of his headphones being pulled out, then the backpack zipped back up.
“I thought I was shielding him from all this, but apparently not. He needs this. Just some stability of knowing that everything is okay even though it’s not. ”
“Do you want me to have Nine up the security on this floor?” Cross asked.
“No, we should be fine,” Cori said. “We’ve already moved him, and no one knows where he is. I just need to give Judah my attention and reassurance. Even with everything going on, I have to make sure my baby is okay.”
“I get it, trust me,” Cross agreed. “I have something for you to look at. Once he’s asleep, FaceTime me so I can show you, and you can decide what you want to do.”
“Thanks,” Cori said. “Bye.”
“Later.”
I listened as Cross left and then relaxed. My family was here, safe, and I needed the rest because when I opened my eyes, I had shit to do.
I don’t know how much time had passed by the time I started hearing Cori talk to Judah. I could feel Cori’s body pressed against mine, and Judah was at my feet again. The soft scent of Cori’s body wash filled my lungs, and I could feel Judah tapping against my ankle.
“A mini pug,” Judah said. “They don’t get big.”
“That’s too small,” Cori laughed. “Plus, they look mean.”
“I don’t want a girlie-looking dog, Mama,” he said. “I want a mean one, even if it is small.”
“A mini poodle,” Cori countered. “December can train it. Like he did Mahogany’s.”
“Kitten is lazy,” Judah grunted. “Focus is always saying all that dog does is eat and sleep. How about a cane corso?”
“Too damn big,” she said and shook her head. “Small, Judah DeCorte.”
“All the small dogs are girlie,” he laughed. “A golden retriever.”
“Too much damn hair.”
“French bulldog?”
“They have breathing issues,” she told him.
“How do you know?” Judah skeptically asked.
Even though Cori said no to a dog, I knew she’d been doing research for the perfect dog for him.
She was keen on pets that required a lot of work, and Judah was still little, so she knew that responsibility would fall mainly on us for a while.
I didn’t mind, but I loved the fact that she wasn’t just saying no and leaving it alone.
She knew how much this meant to Judah and wanted to ensure that what they did would suit his temperament and lifestyle.
“I’m a mama; I know everything,” she answered.
“You sure?”
I slowly opened my eyes to see Judah sitting at the end of my bed.
He wore black pajama pants, a black tank top, tall black socks, and a durag.
Seeing my boy brought tears to my eyes. He looked like he had grown overnight, and I swear my eyes were playing tricks on me, and he even had a little beard coming in.
“Positive,” Cori replied. “There’s nothing that gets past me.” Cori pushed up from my side and stretched her arms over her head. “Now come on, let me get you situated so you can get some sleep.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Judah said as he climbed off the bed. I watched as Cori walked him over to the bathroom. Judah protested, but he did what she asked him. “I said I would stay up while you sleep.”
“I take care of you, Judah, not the other way around,” she said, then kissed the top of his head. “Now go brush your teeth and then lie down. You stayed up late enough.” She closed the bathroom door, then leaned against it and dropped her head. Her shoulders were tense, and her breathing was deep.
“Why you ain’t sleeping, Cori?” I asked. My voice was hoarse as shit and sounded rough to my ears.
Cori's head quickly lifted and her eyes watered as she stared at me. “You’re awake?” she asked softly.
I licked my lips and nodded. “Yeah,” I said, then cleared my throat. “Now answer my question. Why you not sleeping?”
“Because the love of my life decided to use his body as a shield and got shot,” she answered. Her tears freely fell from her eyes, and she bit into her bottom lip.
I didn’t know where I was shot, so I moved slowly and adjusted the bed so that I was sitting up. Once I was situated, I licked my lips again. “Come here.” She did what I asked and crossed the room. “Get in the bed.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said, shaking her head. “The doctor needs to check you out.”
“You been laying with me anyway, right?” I asked, and her brows damn near touched. “I could hear you talking.”
“You heard everything?” she asked.
“Nah, only sometimes,” I clarified. “Now climb in the bed before Judah gets out of that bathroom and climbs in.”
“I really don’t want to hurt you,” she said, shaking her head. “You need to be checked on.” She pressed the button on the side of the bed, then waited. Her eyes swept over me, taking me in, and all I could do was sit here and let her. She looked tired as hell. Her eyes were low and red.
“Yes?”
“He’s awake,” she said. “Can you send in the doctor?”
“She will be in shortly.”
Judah opened the bathroom door and stopped. He smiled, then ran to the bed. “Four!”
“Slow down,” Cori said, catching him before he could jump onto the bed. “He needs to be checked out first.”
“You’re awake!” He excitedly said. “You’re okay!”
“I think so,” I said, nodding. “You good?”
“I am,” Judah replied. “I knew you were gonna wake up. I told Deuce that you were going to wake up. I knew it!” He moved from his mama's arms, went to the pull-out couch to get his iPad, and picked it up. “I’m calling Deuce!”
“Judah, it’s three in the morning,” Cori reminded him. “You aren’t even supposed to be up right now.”
“We were talking about dogs,” Judah told me as he tossed his iPad on the bed. “Mama said I could get one.”
“I said maybe,” Cori corrected him. “And we are still trying to figure out what that maybe could be.”
“Oh yeah?” I replied, and Judah nodded. I didn’t see the point in telling him I'd overheard their conversation. “What did you agree on so far?”
“Nothing,” Judah said, shaking his head. “Mama wants a little girly dog. I want a big dog.”
“We gotta work on your mama,” I said, then turned my attention to Cori. “Ay, I need something from you though.”
“Anything,” Cori replied.
“First, a kiss cuz a nigga been without one too long,” I said.
Cori smiled, then lowered her face to mine and kissed me.
It wasn’t overly sexual or anything because Judah was right next to the bed.
Shit was short, sweet, and filled with longing.
“Damn, I needed that.” I cupped Cori’s face and made her rest her forehead against mine.
“Me too,” she said, searching my eyes.
“I need something else too,” I told her.
“What?”
“Call your granddaddy and tell him to come marry us. Right here, right now,” I told her. “I ain't closing my eyes again, and you ain’t my wife.”
The sound of the iPad ringing made me turn my head. Judah was holding it, his face serious.
“What’s wrong, grandson?” Gabriel DeCorte questioned him. “Where yo mama?”
“Four asked her to marry him,” Judah told him. “He said come to the hospital right now.”
“Four is awake?”
“Yes sir,” Judah said, then turned his iPad towards me. “You on the way?”
Gabriel was already walking through his house. Mary was behind him; lights were coming on as they moved. “Yeah, grandson, I’m on my way.”
“Me too,” Madea said.
“Good to see you awake, Four,” Gabriel said, smiling. “You want to marry my granddaughter?”
“Since I was a li’l ass nigga in that ring fighting for her,” I told him with a nod.
“Alright.”
Gabriel hung up, and Judah held his iPad to his side. His face was blank, but I could see the questions in his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Judah?” Cori asked. I figured she could see the same hesitation in his eyes that I did.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head. He lifted his iPad, swiped it, then looked up at it. “Hey Siri, what's that old saying for stuff you need for a wedding?”
“The old saying is you need something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
Judah looked up at us, then down at the iPad. “Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue,” he said, and I nodded.
The doctor walked into the room, and we turned our attention to her. “Hey, look at you awake and alert,” she said, then used the hand sanitizer on the wall to clean her hands. “My name is Dr. Ladee Collins. I’m your doctor. Do you remember what happened?”
“No,” I said, watching her closely. “I’m fine, though. When can I be discharged?”
“You aren’t fine,” she said, shaking her head. “You were shot, had major surgery, and need to rest. We need to run some tests, check out your motor function, and then we can go from there.”
“Or…” I said slowly.
“Uri,” Cori said, shaking her head. “She’s good. Nadine vetted her.”
“Right,” Dr. Collins said. “And we both know Nadine doesn’t play about you or any of the Numbers.
” She smiled even though I wasn’t ready to jump up and trust her.
“Listen, how about this? Let me run the test, make sure you’re good, and if we like what we see, we can discuss a departure timeframe.
You having CIPA changes a lot of things, and I would rather be overly cautious than say you can have your way. ”
“I’m going to have my way no matter what,” I told her. “But for now I will let you run your test.”
“Thank you,” she said, nodding. “I’ll be back shortly.
I waited until she left before turning to Cori, who was watching me closely. “I’m only doing this for you,” I told her, then laid back in the bed. “Now come get in bed and lay with me until your people get here and we get married.” I looked at Judah. “You too. Come on.”
I adjusted the bed and put my arms out. Neither hesitated to climb into bed. Judah was on my right and Cori on the left. Their heads on my chest, arms wrapped around me.
“Four?” Judah mumbled. I knew sleep was going to take him soon.
“Yeah?”
“For the something new, can it be a dog?” he asked.
“Judah…” Cori lifted her head and shook it.
“Nah,” I said. I felt him sag against me and I smiled. “I already bought you a mini goat. It has a few weeks before it's weaned from its mama, though.”
“A mini goat?” he lifted his head and smiled. “For real?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“I’ma headbutt with it!” he smiled and nodded.
“Judah, you will not! That’s not safe!” Cori said, shaking her head. I could see the panic she had and couldn’t help but laugh. She glared at me. “Why would you buy him a mini goat?”
“You gave him a list of what he couldn’t have, and it wasn’t on there,” I said, then shrugged. “Now come on and lie down before they come back in here and get on my nerves.”