Page 16 of 4 Corinthians

The front door opened, and the first person I saw was Madea. She smiled at me and opened her arms. I gathered all my strength and jumped from the car and ran right into her arms. She smelled like vanilla with a hint of something else I could never remember the name of, but every time I smelled it, I thought of her.

“How are you, my baby?” she asked as she lifted me from the ground. I wrapped my legs around her body and held on tight. She rubbed up and down my back and kissed the side of my face. “I missed you.”

“Hi Madea,” I said, holding on to her as tight as I could. “I missed you, too.”

“Then don’t stay away that long again,” she playfully said, then kissed the side of my face again. “Every time I called, you were outside playing or on some new adventure with your friends.” She pulled back, and her smile dropped. Her eyes held so much concern and worry that I had to look away. I didn’t like lying to Madea; she told us it was never a reason to because she would love us no matter what, and I believed her, but my Daddy said we had to. And Robert said if anyone ever found out what was going on, he would kill them. “What happened to your face, Corinthians?” She didn’t wait for me to answer before turning to my parents. “What happened to her face?”

“I told you she was in boxing now, Mama,” Daddy answered with a chuckle. “She got into the ring with someone bigger and got that as proof that she ain’t as big as she thinks she is.” He patted the side of my face, then turned back to Madea and kissed her on the cheek. “She’s alright, nothing major. She’s learning her lesson, though.”

“Boxing? Learning her lesson? Ruben, what the hell are you talking about? This girl knows how to fight just like the rest of the kids. Why the hell did you get her into boxing?” Madea looked at my face again and shook her head.

“Because of what happened at the park, Mama,” Daddy answered. “She got her ass kicked because she’s reckless and hardheaded. This is just tightening up her skills.” He patted the top of my head. “Now put her down so she can go on. She ain’t a baby and doesn’t need to be in grown folks' conversation.”

Madea mugged Daddy, then turned back to face me. “You comin’ with me in the kitchen. I don’t know what your daddy is talking about, and obviously, we need to have some girl time.” She looked around me at Bug. “You in boxing classes too?”

“Nah, Mama, she's in etiquette classes,” Daddy said. “She likes bugs, dirt, and other shit too much. She needs to learn how to be a lady.” Daddy put his hand on Bug’s head and smiled proudly.

“So, you got one in boxing and another in etiquette?” Madea asked.

“Yeah,” Daddy chuckled. He threw his hand up in surrender. “Don’t worry, Psalms is going to boxing classes soon, and Corinthians will be in etiquette classes. I’m going to balance it out.”

Madea put me down and opened the front door. “Go on in the house, girls,” she said without looking at us. “I need to talk to your daddy.”

I took Bug’s hand and pulled her into the house and to the backroom. I needed to know what Daddy was talking about. I got to the girls’ room, closed the door, and took her to the closet.

“What classes does Daddy have you taking?” I asked her once we were hidden. The closet was our secret hiding place. Whenever we were scared, wanted to talk, or hide from everything, we went to the back of the closet. Only Bug and I knew about our hiding spot.

“He takes me to a big house when you go with Mr. Robert,” she answered. Her eyes were glued to her ladybug. It was also the first time I noticed that her nails were painted.

“Who painted your nails, Bug?” I picked up her hand and looked at her nails.

“Mr. Jonathan,” she mumbled. “He paints my nails every time I go to the big house.”

“Why?”

“He said a lady should have painted nails,” she answered, then licked her lips. “He said that I’m a lady and that he is going to take care of me.”

“Does he make you fight or hit you?” I asked her. I hadn’t noticed any new bruises, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t hitting her.

“He-“ she stopped talking and started to rock.

I moved around her and grabbed her shoulders to make her stop rocking. “Bug, look at me,” I told her. She slowly lifted her head, and I saw her tears. “What does he do to you?”

“He spanks me,” she whispered as she cried. “He spanks me and tells me I’m a good girl. If I’m a good girl, why does he spank me, Cori?” Her eyes searched mine for answers I didn’t have.

Uri

Six months, that's how long it had been since I last saw Corinthians. The morning Robert had her taken off the table, leaving me in the tank for another day. He eventually lowered the water so that I could stand but didn’t rush to take me out. Now I was standing in a basement, one I’d never been to before, watching her. She stood on the other side of the makeshift ring, her head down as her daddy talked to her. Logan stood a few feet away, watching them with a smirk on his face. He’d been around more, too. Robert said he was security, but there were guards.

In the past, we only fought in the warehouse, so this was new to us. The windows were blacked out, and the only way in or out was the door at the top of the stairs. There were cages lining the back of the room, and in each one was a bucket, a blanket, and a thin mattress.

“Uri,” Robert called my name, and I slowly turned to look at him. “This fight determines if and when you come out of this basement.”

“If and when?” I repeated. I looked around the basement, trying to figure out exactly where I was.

“Yes,” Robert answered. “This basement will be your new home.”

“For how long?”