22. Mercy #3
“That’s an insult if I’ve ever heard one,” he said as he opened the door. Faylin walked out first, and then Krude followed her with a smile.
“I have a therapist I can recommend you to,” Judge said to Givens and shook his head. “She’ll probably charge you a little more once you mention his name, but she’s good.”
“Why am I going to need a therapist?” Givens asked as he sat on the couch opposite of Judge.
“You’ll see,” Judge answered with a laugh. He threw the remote to Givens and picked up the book beside him. “Pick whatever you want to watch. She’s going to be a minute.”
“You don’t mind?” he asked as he turned on the TV.
“Nah, I got a book.” He tapped his book against his hand, smirked, and smiled at me. “They are in her bedroom, waiting for you.”
“Thank you,” I said to Judge, then turned to Givens. I kissed him before heading to find my cousins.
I walked into Corinthians’ room and dropped on the floor beside Cross.
The sisters were in the bed, cuddled up together, whispering to each other.
Even though I would never admit it out loud, a part of me envied their connection.
Out of everyone, they were the only ones with siblings.
They never had to grieve alone. We may have grown up together, but we all knew their connection was different.
“How long has she been like that?” I whispered to Cross. Her daughter Love lay on a blanket between her legs, looking around the room. She was only a month old, but I swear she looked at people like she knew their secrets and pain.
“Since I got here,” Cross answered as she watched Love. She gently traced the pattern of her daughter’s onesie. “What’s the story with Judah’s daddy?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” I sighed. Cross glanced over at me and lifted her brow in question. I knew my answer wouldn’t be enough, but it was true. “When she told us she was pregnant with Judah, we were stunned; we didn’t know she knew Paul, let alone was dating him.”
“Why didn’t Granddaddy kill him?” she asked, then kissed her teeth. “As a matter of fact, why didn’t one of y’all kill him?”
“She asked us not to,” I said, and she rolled her eyes. “It’s complicated.”
“How?” She picked up Love when she started to fuss and patted her back. “He hurt her; nothing else needs to be explained. Kill him.”
“He’s Judah’s daddy,” I said, and she shrugged. “Cross, that has to be her decision. Not ours.”
“Four is Judah’s daddy,” she said, shaking her head.
“We can play dumb all we want and act like we don’t see that they are together, but we know they are.
Four doesn’t play about Judah or Corinthians.
So again, I’m going to ask what’s stopping us from going to see about him?
” She stood and started to pace in front of me.
“As a matter of fact, don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”
“No!” Corinthians said, jumping up from the bed. “Leave it alone, Cross. I’m begging you to leave it alone.”
“Why?” she tilted her head to the side as if she didn’t understand what was being asked of her.
“Hold on.” She walked to the door and opened it.
“Mecca!” A few seconds later, the heavy sound of Nine coming toward us echoed through the room.
He strolled into the room, looked around at us, then to his wife, and lifted his brow.
“Call Four and tell him that she’s crying. ”
“He’s already on his way back into town,” Nine replied, then stuffed his hands into the pockets of his Nike sweatpants.
“Who called him?” Corinthians questioned. Her dark eyes held so much worry, but I wasn’t sure who she was worried about. Herself, Four, or the situation with Paul.
“The boys,” Nine said with a shrug. “Apparently, Judah didn’t like seeing you cry, so he called the person who he knew would handle shit.
” He pulled his hand from his pocket and checked his watch.
“His plane should be here in a few hours.” A sneaky smile tugged at his lips.
“And I can't wait until he shows the fuck out.”
“Here, take my baby,” Cross said, handing her husband their daughter. “Call me when Four gets here.”
“Why?” he rested Love against his chest and rubbed her back soothingly.
“Because I want to see if he’s as deranged as you swear he is,” she answered, then got on her tippy toes to give him a quick kiss. “Now, get out so I can find out the story behind why Corinthians is so fucking scared of this nigga.”
“Behave, Cross,” he scolded even though he knew his words were falling on deaf ears. “Now tell me what I want to hear.”
“I’ll love you forever, and that still wouldn’t be enough time,” she replied, and he nodded, then walked out of the room.
The door closed, and Cross turned her attention to Corinthians, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. “Now, tell me why I’m about to piss my husband off,” Cross said.
Corinthians took a deep breath and lifted her head. Tears fell from her eyes, and I knew whatever she was going to say would break something in all of us. “I’m the reason our parents are dead.”
“You bitches with C names always got the biggest secrets,” I said, shaking my head.