Page 240 of 4 Corinthians

"We still failed you, baby."

"No, you didn't," I told her. "Y'all saved Cori when I couldn't, so in my mind y'all could never fail me."

“We never blamed y’all,” Kenbral said, and I nodded. “Like Four said. Y’all thought y’all were doing the right thing.”

“We should’ve found a way to check on y’all.”

“I’m glad y’all didn’t,” Kenbral said. “If you would’ve, Robert would’ve had y’all killed, and then who knows what would’ve happened to us.”

We continued talking for a while, then finally left. Kenbral stood at his car, and I stood at mine watching as the elder DeCortes drove away.

“You know I half expected you to come kill me next,” Kenbral said. “I had everything figured out for Purpose and Reason.”

“I thought about it,” I told him, and he nodded. “But Cori and I talked about it.”

“She said kill me, huh?” he smirked.

“Nah,” I laughed. “She said let you live. That what you did was protection in its own way. She said she got it. Said some shit about an older sibling's love being different and how she understood it, even if she doesn’t like you for real.”

Kenbral wiped his hand over his mouth. “None of them do,” he replied. “And I’m cool with that as long as you and me can build.”

“We can,” I nodded. I rounded the car and pulled him into a hug.

“I want you to know the shit I did, it was to protect you. I knew what Robert was capable of. I knew what he would do if I didn’t, and I didn’t want you to experience that.” He looked away but not before I could see the tears in his eyes. “I know I fucked up with a lot of stuff, but I swear I only ever did what I did to save you. I fought for you when I didn’t fight for myself. I fought for you. From the beginning, I was looking out for you even when you didn’t know it.”

“I love you, big bro; never doubt that.”

“Love you too, li’l bro,” he said. I could hear the raw emotions in his voice. Shit was heartbreaking.

My phone started ringing, making me pull away. I took my phone from my pocket to see Cori’s name on the screen. “I gotta go,” I said, holding it up. Kenbral nodded, then got in his car. I swiped my screen as I got into mine. “Hello?”

“What’s wrong?” she quickly asked.

“Nothing, just had a talk with my brother is all.”

“Let me see your face,” she said, then the call switched to FaceTime. Her pretty ass face filled the screen, and I smiled. I loved the fuck out of this woman.

“Better?” I asked, resting my head against the headrest. Cori’s eyes searched mine before she shook her head. “Why not?”

“Come home, Uri Strong.” It wasn’t a question; it was a demand. It was one I never had to wonder if I would ever get tired of hearing because I knew I wouldn’t.

“I’m on my way.”

Corinthians

"Cori?" Uri said, opening our closet door. Without turning on the light, he walked to the back to find me. Our closet was huge, damn near the size of most people's bedrooms, but I wasn't going to complain. In the middle of the closet was an extra-large plush couch that was big enough for all of us to fit on. "Cori?" He gently pulled my toe, and I looked away from the skyline. Uri had copied the idea from the hotel that we'd stayed at and put a skyline on the roof. I loved it. "Baby, I know you still not mad about Oreo."

"I'm not," I laughed and shook my head. I looked at him and smiled. "Just know I'm not cleaning up goat shit."

"Nah, I got it," he said. "Move over." He climbed on the couch and pulled me close to him. "You alright?"

"Yeah."

"Why are you in here then? I thought we were going to watch a movie on the living room couch until we fell asleep."

"We are; I just wanted a second of peace before we did," I answered him. "We can just sit here and chill if you want," he offered.

"No, I want to," I closed my eyes. "Just give me a minute."