Page 237 of 4 Corinthians

"Sit there," Cori instructed Mama. She pointed to a chair near the door. Mama did what she was told, then waited. Cori walked around the table, her favorite knife flipping between her fingers, her eyes locked on Robert. He was naked and strapped to a table, hands held together above his head, bound at the wrist. His legs strapped down as well.

At first, I wanted to leave with Robert. Take him back to KC to kill him, but Cori objected. She didn't want him there; she said when this was over, she didn’t want to take the chance of his soul escaping hell and being in KC. I didn't want to point out how crazy that sounded, but we all dealt with issues differently.

Near the table was a pot of water boiling over an open flame. Near the flame was a pair of scissors.

I leaned against the wall and waited. There was no need to rush her. This was her playing field. I was here for support and to pull her back to reality, if needed.

Finally, Robert started to wake up, and I smiled. My girl was about to embrace her crazy finally.

"Pet," Robert groaned, trying to move. "Pet."

"Corinthians." She put the tip of her blade at his ankle, pressed down, then moved it up his body, only stopping when she got to his waist. Blood flowed from his cut and onto the table. "My grandparents named me Corinthians."

"I know," he groaned. His eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he started to shake. "I just..."

"I remember when I first met you," she continued as if Robert hadn't said anything. "It was at the park near Turner Row. My daddy and uncles had just got done playing basketball. We were walking to the car, and you called his name. Daddy cussed under his breath. Called you a fuck nigga or something like that, but we turned around and went to talk to y'all. Throughout the entire conversation, you kept staring at me. I didn't like it." She started cutting from his waist, making her way up. "When y'all were done talking, I remember you touching my face." She stopped at his hand and examined his hands. I saw the moment she'd made up her mind. Moving slowly, she cut the tip of each of his fingers off.

Robert screamed. "Ahh."

"When we got home, I told Daddy I didn't like that you touched me. He said it wouldn't happen again. That we wouldn't see you again." She moved to his other hand, but this time she didn't cut off his fingertips. Instead, she cut down his hand to his chest and used the tip of her knife to circle his areola. She picked up his nipple, looked at it, then placed it on his forehead. "Daddy lied. I saw you again a week later. You and your father-in-law came to our house, y'all talked for a few hours, and I prayed I never saw you again." She laughed. "I was wrong again. Well, partially. I didn't see you again for months, but your father-in-law? I saw him. Over and over again." She looked up at me, and her eyes filled with tears. My father and grandfather had abused Cori. "I didn't remember it at first, then I saw a video of me as a kid, and all the memories I thought I buried came back." She turned back to Robert. "The only thing I could say about him was that he only made me fight. He wanted me to be the daughter he lost. I thought she'd run away. She hadn't. He sold her." Cori started cutting again, this time down his waist. "To you."

"I didn't want her," Robert groaned and shook his head. "I never wanted her."

I looked over at Mama to see her face void of all emotions. She was numb to the pain.

"You should've never touched her," Cori calmly said. She cut down his leg until she got to his calf, then stopped. Her knife went into his calf, and she carefully cut his right calf, making sure not to go too deep but deep enough to cause pain. Robert screamed in agony, but Cori didn't care. "You should've never touched me. Or any other girl for that matter. You should've kept your hands to yourself."

"He's going to pass out from the pain," Mama said. "That or go into shock."

"I know," Cori nodded. "But not before he experiences this pain." She pushed his dick out of the way and cut into his nut sack. She pulled his balls down and then reached across the table to the scissors resting near the open flame. She picked it up and slowly cut off his balls. The blade of the scissors was so hot that it cauterized as it cut. Robert passed out from the pain, and Cori set his balls on his chest. She turned to Mama. "Can you add two tubes to his chest?"

Mama stood and nodded. "Where and for what?"

"One in each lung," Cori said, not giving any further explanation. She walked around the table, picked up the smelling salt, popped it, and placed it up Robert's nose. He slowly woke. "This is going to hurt."

"No, please."

"Sharon."

"Sh-sha-sharon?" Robert groaned. "What is she doing here?" The entire time, his attention had been so focused on Cori that he never noticed her.

Mama did what she asked. She worked quickly, not asking any more questions. Robert screamed and begged for her to stop. He even passed out a few more times, but each time Cori used the smelling salt to wake him. Once she was done, Mama went back to her seat.

"Please," Robert gasped. "Please."

"No need to beg," Cori said as she filled her syringe with boiling water.

Corinthians

After I filled a few syringes with boiling water, I went to the tubes connected to his chest. I pushed the first syringe filled with water into his right lung. Robert gasped, but I didn’t stop until I was finished. Once that was complete, I used the empty syringe and connected it to the other tube and pulled air from his left lung.

I repeated my actions. Being mindful to remember how much water I was putting into his right lung to take air from his left.

By the fifth syringe, Robert was gasping for air and drowning. His body didn't know how he was dying; it just knew he was. He fought against the straps, and all I could do was smile. He had no control over me. No say-so in how I lived my life. The fear I felt was no longer lingering in the back of my mind.

I was free.

I picked up my knife and walked to the head of the table. "Robert?" I slapped his cheek to get his attention. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he fought to breathe. "Robert!" I hit him again, and his eye locked on mine. "One last thing before you die, okay?" I put my mouth to his ear. "Judah isn't your son. Kenbral switched the sperm that was inseminated into me. He's Uri's." I stood, placed my knife to his throat, and made sure I pressed down as hard as I could, dragging it from ear to ear. I watched as blood poured from his neck.