Page 106 of 4 Corinthians

“I-I-I-I-I-I n-n-n-n-n-need to talk t-t-t-t-t-to her,” Uri stuttered. His bracelet started to beep loudly, and he shook his head. “I need t-t-t-t-to ta-.”

“Now this nigga stuttering?” Krude sighed. “The fuck is up with y’all asses?” He looked between the two of us. “This nigga watch sounded like a bomb about to go off. Don’t that shit monitor his heart rate or something like that? The fuck your heart beating like that for?” Krude looked at me. “Move from that nigga. If he blows up, I ain’t picking brain matter out that short ass hair or your ears.”

I looked at Uri; he repeatedly licked his lips. His eyes were focused on our interlaced fingers. Our wrists were touching, and I could feel his pulse. I wondered about his bracelet and why it beeped; now, understanding that it monitored his vitals made perfect sense. The sound of the beeping and the feel of his pulse matched.

Nine approached Four cautiously. His eyes bounced between the two of us, confusion etched across his expression. “Four, let’s go for a walk, man,” he said, coming towards us.

“No.”

“Four, come on,” Nine repeated. “Let Corinthians go in and check on Judah, and you and I talk. Nothing crazy, give yourself a minute.”

“No.” His grip tightened on my hand, and I winced at the pain. Nine noticed my movement and sighed. My cousins did too, which made them walk toward us. Nine didn’t take his eyes off Uri.

“Four, calm your breathing down,” he coached him. “Take a deep breath; you’re hurting Corinthians.”

Uri looked down at me, his pupils dilated, his nostrils flared. I’d seen this look before, when he was younger. When Robert would have me strapped to his desk, Uri would black out; he fought so damn hard to get to me. To stop Robert from hurting me. It never worked; Robert would laugh and antagonize him until he passed out from being choked.

“Hey,” I said softly as I cupped his cheek with my free hand. “I need you to calm down.” The sound of my voice snapped him out of whatever held him. He blinked, licked his lips, and let go of my hand. I could feel the blood rush to my fingers, and I sighed.

“Ay, come on,” Nine said, gently pushing him back. “Let’s go talk, come on.”

“I-I-I-I-I-I didn’t m-m-m-m-mean t-t-t-t-to hurt her,” he said, looking at Nine.

I held my hand to my chest; my middle and ring finger throbbed with pain.

“Don’t matter what the fuck you meant to do,” Judge said, coming to stand next to me. His eyes locked on Uri, nostrils flared, and his gun in his hand. “You fuckin’ did.”

“I-I-I-I-I didn’t mean to,” Uri said, shaking his head. “M-m-m-m-m-my head i-t-t-t-it’s fucked up.”

“It don’t fuckin matter!” Krude yelled. “We don’t give a fuck about that shit nigga. All our heads fucked up. That don’t give you an excuse to hurt a fucking woman. Ever!”

“I-I-I-I-I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Yet, you did,” Exodus said, looking at my hand. “Her fingers are probably broken.”

Uri tried pushing past Nine to get to me, but Nine pushed him back. “Four, what the fuck is your problem!”

“Move!” Uri said, pushing him again. His eyes went blank again, and his watch started to beep loudly. “Move!”

“Nigga no!” Nine said, holding him back. “Get the fuck back, Four!”

Zero rushed outside and immediately came to help Nine. They tried to hold Uri back, but he wasn’t going to stop.

“The fuck is going on with him?” Zero said, struggling to hold him back.

Nine moved quickly, rounded Uri, and wrapped his arm around his neck. He said something that only Uri could hear, then applied pressure. Uri fought until he passed out. Nine slowly lowered them to the ground; Uri stayed passed out in his arms. Nine looked up at me; his grey eyes searched for answers to questions I knew he would never get from me.

“The fuck is going on?” Psalms asked, coming outside. Cross, Mercy, and the boys were behind her. Cross noticed that Uri had passed out on the ground, guided the boys back into the house, and closed the door behind them to make sure they didn’t see anything.

“Four had a moment,” Nine answered, still holding his cousin. His gun sat on the ground next to him, his eyes locked on my cousins. “He will be good when he wakes up.”

“A moment?” Cross asked. She looked at me then lifted her brow. “What’s wrong with your hand?”

“Nothing,” I quietly answered.

“Nothing?” Krude looked at me like I was crazy. “That nigga broke your fucking fingers and you talking about nothing? Have you lost your damn mind?”

“It was an accident; he didn’t mean to.”