Page 104 of 4 Corinthians

Krude rolled his head and looked at Deuce. His face twisted; then he narrowed his eyes. “I know you know what I meant, Silver Tooth Gang Member. Stop playing with me.”

Deuce laughed and continued to swing.

“Ay done be mad because my boy knows the right number to pick,” Nine laughed from his seat. He was working on his laptop. “Deuce?”

“Yes sir?” he answered.

“Tell him again what number you pickin’, son.”

“Nine!” Deuce replied.

“Only Nine?” Mahogany asked her little cousin. Her red hair blew in the wind as she shook her head. Her husband, Focus, stood and tapped her on the arm. She took off her ponytail holder from her wrist and handed it to him. Focus quickly and very much intentionally took his time pulling her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. When he was done, he kissed the back of her head, then sat behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Deuce's face twisted as he thought about what she asked, then he nodded. “Sorry, Mahogany, but I gotta go with my daddy.” The trust and love that Deuce and Nine shared always made me smile. Nine may not have been around when he was first born because of Cross’ secret, but he wasted no time making up for lost time.

“What about yourself?” she asked him, laughing. “You aren’t going to pick yourself?”

“Not yet,” he replied. “I’m still a kid. My daddy will handle it for me.”

“What about your mama?”

Deuce looked over at Cross, smiled, and quickly signed something to her. Cross nodded, signed back her answer, then looked over at her husband who was watching them closely. His brow went up, and he slowly smiled. I was still learning to sign and only caught a few of the words they exchanged.

“Don’t put the spotlight on my boy,” Nine answered for Deuce. “He said his daddy got him and that’s it. We all know his mama ain’t wrapped too tight.” The group started to laugh, and Cross playfully rolled her eyes.

“I keep trying to tell y’all I’m the nice one,” Cross replied and shrugged.

“Nah, I think Judge and Psalms are the nice ones,” Zero said. He was another one of the Strong cousins. He was quiet, but I’d heard a few stories from Nine about him. Zero wasn’t wrapped too tight.

“Two whole psychos,” Krude laughed as he went through the boxes he’d brought. “Zero, I say this because we are boys, but you have no sense of survival skills if you think those two are nice.”

“They don’t even be doing shit,” Zero said, looking between Psalms and Judge. “Psalms, please understand when I say this, it ain’t on no disrespectful shit. But you are a whole hobo chic, flower child. You play in dirt and put together some fire ass flower arrangements and grow weed. Every time I see you, you’re always on chill.” He looked over at Judge. “And Judge? He’s a damn optometrist. He looks at eyeballs and vision boards all day.”

“I hate when I have to agree with Krude,” Exodus chuckled.

“Correct me if I’m wrong then because I been around off folks.” He pointed to Krude, then Cross and Nine. “I ain’t saying they aren’t dangerous; I’m just saying if I had to pick someone to be calm and nice, it’s them.”

“Again, no survival skills,” Krude laughed. He pulled two plastic balls from the boxes and set them aside. “That’s like saying Corinthians isn’t a threat.”

“No offense, but is she?” he asked, then lifted his hands to tell everyone to hold on when they groaned. “I ain’t being disrespectful at all, and I respect the shit out of all y'all. But Corinthians don’t bother anybody. She takes care of Judah, cuts hair, and lowkey flirts with Four when they don’t think we notice.”

“We notice though!” Krude yelled without looking up. “Anybody with eyes can see they flirt.”

I glanced at Four to see him watching Zero with a mug on his face. We hadn’t talked since I went over to his house a few nights ago. When I left my house, I didn’t have any intention of doing anything that we’d done. I just wanted to talk, to tell him that I wanted to explore more. Then he’d kissed me, and damn if that kiss wasn’t the best one I had ever had in my life. His lips were soft, his mouth cool yet sweet. The way his hands touched me calmed my heart and mind. I’d never gotten head, and the way his tongue brought me to orgasm still had me randomly shivering. I wanted to do more, to have sex and willingly be a participant to a man that I knew would never hurt me, and then he looked at me. His eyes reminded me of Robert, not the color but the shape. His living room wasn’t completely dark, and the shadows danced across his features in a way I wasn’t prepared for. I tried to talk myself through the fear, but I couldn’t. I broke. I expected Four to be angry, to shut down, but he hadn’t. He walked me home; kissed me and made sure I got inside safely. Then, the next morning, he was at my door, waiting; we had breakfast in silence. As much as I wanted to talk, I didn’t know what to say. I knew I needed to apologize and explain myself, but I couldn’t form the words.

“Corinthians?” Exodus called my name. I looked over at him and lifted my brow. He wore a sneaky smile that I knew would lead to questions later. My brows went up. “Did you hear what Zero asked?”

“No,” I answered, shaking my head.

“He wanted us to list us by our crazy,” Exodus laughed.

“And did you?”

“I didn’t,” Exodus said, then drank some of his water. “I think I like him underestimating y’all. It makes for better conversation later.”

“Right,” Krude agreed. “It gives me something to talk to my reading group about.” He stood with an air pump in his hands. “Them heffas swear they got everything figured out. I love when they are wrong.” He laughed, then went and plugged the pump in. “Now give me a few minutes to get these together so we can start.”

“I still don’t know how or why you got into a reading group,” Exodus said, shaking his head. “You probably get on them people’s nerves.”