Page 183 of 4 Corinthians

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“I’ma kill the people that were in that room,” he casually said. His tone was strong, filled with promises that even if I weren’t listening to him, his words were still spoken loud and clear. “Everyone with no questions asked. Melissa was killed by Mercy. It looks like Robert has been making shit shake, and I didn’t know.” He chuckled even though nothing was funny. “I’m not going to lie. I thought I had shit handled by sending Trey in, but I was wrong. Dead ass wrong, and that’s on me to admit and fix, which I am.”

“Uri, your brother's actions aren’t your fault.”

“Thank you for saying that, but we both know that’s not true.” He kissed the back of my head. “Trey might be the oldest, but he ain’t the strongest, and I ain’t talking about physical strength. I saw that when I went to see him. He’s scared just like we all are; he ain’t ready to admit it.”

“He doesn’t have anyone to talk to?” I asked. I didn’t hate Kenbral; I knew what he’d dealt with as a child. The pain, anger, and fear that he carried. Did I blame Uri for his brother's actions? No, but that didn’t mean I forgave him either. I was indifferent toward Kenbral, but I knew that was because he was Uri’s brother and because of our past. If those two things weren’t a factor, then I would want him dead. I didn’t because I knew how much it would hurt Uri. Which is why, if it came down to it and I knew eventually it would, I would be the one who killed Kenbral. I wouldn’t let Uri take his own brother's life. He would never be able to handle the guilt that came with it.

“Trey has a whole family,” he answered, and I moved my head to look up at him. “Yeah, a wife and daughter.” His face was serious, but his eyes held his pain. Uri licked his lips and looked away. “His li’l girl, her name is Reason. She’s a little younger than Judah. She has spina bifida.” He smiled. “She looks like One but acts like Six. She gives that nigga a run for his money. And his wife? They worked together for a while; he always had a thing for her. She was the one who got a lock on Robert’s fighting ring again. She brought it to him, wanted to look into it. He used it as a way to get back in.”

I turned in his arms and rested my chin on his chest. “Baby, look at me,” I softly said. Uri slowly turned his head to look down at me. “You tell me what you need me to do? Whatever it is, I’ll do it.” Uri needed a way out; it was obvious. His telling me about Kenbral’s life was his way of trying to show that his brother wasn’t a bad person. He was just stuck in the same fucked up situation we were.

“I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head.

“When you figure it out, you let me know, but until then, focus on someone else. Leave Kenbral where he’s at. Let him live his life, raise his daughter, love his wife. Give him the peace you have right now.”

He looked down at me. His eyes searched mine for an answer I more than likely didn’t have. I wasn’t used to being forgiving. I held on to my pain, to the anger, because it was safe, but right now Uri didn’t need that.

“Alright,” he finally said, then nodded. He looked away, and I laid my head on his chest. The sound of his heartbeat was relaxing. I’d spent nights lying against him, just listening to it, allowing myself just to be. “I told Amethyst that I wanted Isaac. He’s going to kill Paul.”

“Because of Yale?” I asked.

“Yeah.” His hands moved up and down my back. “Do you want to be there?”

“For Paul? No,” I answered. “Whatever Amethyst has in store for him will be just fine.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you warn Yale about her husband’s family? Or say something to the Stones about who the Kilmore’s really were?”

I knew he would eventually ask the same question I asked myself a million times. “I thought I was protecting everyone by staying quiet. I know it’s stupid now, but I was dealing with so much trauma that I couldn’t see that I was literally playing with everyone’s life. I know from the outside looking in that everyone could say, ‘Oh, she’s a DeCorte; they could’ve handled it if she just said something,’ but it’s not that easy. I had years of fear, trauma, and pain built up. The two people that were supposed to protect me were a part of my pain. Then Robert promised that he would kill my family if it ever came out, and the one time I actually did something, my parents were killed. I thought it was him. I thought he’d made good on a promise, so I shut the fuck up. Over the years, I saw Robert, Kenbral, or someone connected to Robert.”

“You saw Kenbral? I mean after that night?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “Outside my shop, at random places, he would never say anything would just be there for a moment and then be gone.” I watched a couple walk into the restaurant. “And before you ask, no, it wasn’t you I was seeing. It was Kenbral. Y’all don’t look alike; I know the difference between the two of you even from far away.”

“Okay,” he chuckled. “You didn’t say anything because you thought you were protecting everyone?”

I nibbled on my bottom lip. “Yeah, I thought I was saving them by not saying anything. No one said anything about having problems. When I found out Yale married Grant, I was scared for her, but I also knew she had Amethyst. When I saw her, she looked happy, no bruises or signs of abuse. So, I just stayed quiet and out of the way.”

“Here y’all go,” Bright said, coming from the back. She held up our bag, set it on the counter, then went to greet the couple that had come in.

Uri kissed the top of my head, then unwrapped his arms from around me and took my hand. We walked to the counter, and he paid for our food, then left. Once we were in the car, he helped me in, put our food in the back, then got in.

“How do you feel about telling your cousins everything?” he asked as he drove. “Relieved?”

“Scared,” I laughed and shook my head.

Uri reached across the seat and held my hand. “Why?”

“Because they are DeCorte’s,” I answered. “When you told your cousins and uncle everything, what did you feel?”

“Same,” he answered, and I nodded. “But not because of them being Strong’s. I was scared they would judge me, Kenbral, and Gentle. The shit we went through? That’s everlasting. Ain’t no getting over it because of time like people think. I still got my demons, shit that makes me stop.”

“Like your stutter,” I pointed out.