Page 3 of 4 Corinthians

“You wet the bed,” I told her, pulling her from the bed. “Come on, let’s get this cleaned up before he comes upstairs.” Once Bug was out of bed, I pulled the sheets off the bed and made sure the mattress wasn’t wet. “I have to put these in the back of the closet.” I balled the sheets up as tight as I could. “I will take them with me and have Madea wash them.”

“I’m sorry, Cori.” Bug sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know,” I told her, smiling at her. “It’s okay, I’m not upset. I need to hurry up and hide them before Daddy comes upstairs.” I tucked the sheets under my arm and nodded. “I got this; it’s okay.” Bug looked over her shoulder to the closet, and her shoulders shook. I knew she was trying not to cry but was losing the battle. “Please don’t cry.”

“Are you going to get in trouble?” She turned back to me, and tears fell from her eyes.

“No, Bug,” I sighed and shook my head. “I’m going to hide them. He won't know, and it’s going to be okay. I need you to stop crying. Wipe your face. As soon as I hide these.” I pointed to the sheets. “I’m going to get you some new clothes and put on the other sheets I hid.”

“Okay,” Bug nodded. She wiped her face, and I quickly went to the closet and hid the sheets. This wasn’t the first time we had to do this, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. After I hid the sheets, I grabbed the clean ones and some new clothes for Bug, then handed them to her. “Thank you, Cori.”

“You’re welcome, Bug.” I made the bed, then helped her change her clothes. “I have to cut your panties,” I told her as I looked around the room. There was a pair of scissors in my school backpack, but that was downstairs. My heart slammed against my chest when I realized I couldn’t get her panties off because of the chain around her ankle. Daddy started chaining her to the bed after our visits to the warehouse changed. I had fought back too many times, and he said that he knew he was going to wake up one day and we would be gone. Robert had suggested chaining Bug to the bed instead of me because he knew I wouldn’t leave her. He was right. “Bug, I gotta go get my backpack.”

“You’re going to leave me?” she asked in a panic. “You can't leave me, Cori. What if Daddy comes in here? He said if you were gone, he would send me to Robert.”

“I’m just going to get my scissors to cut your panties off. I’m not staying gone.” I stood and put my hands on her shoulders. Bug was so small, smaller than me, and I was considered small for my age. “I’m coming back, okay?” She nodded, and I dropped my hands. “Count to thirty, and by the time you get finished, I’ll be back.”

Bug started counting, and I quickly and quietly left the room. My backpack was on the bottom step where I left it. I grabbed the scissors from the front pocket and went back to my room.

“I’m back,” I said, softly closing the door behind me. Bug smiled, and I approached her. I cut her panties and put them with the sheets in the back of the closet. When I came back out, Bug looked scared. “What’s wrong?” I closed the closet door and saw what had scared her. Robert stood in the doorway; his eyes locked on her. I stepped in front of Bug and squared my shoulders. He could do what he wanted to me, but not to her. She was off limits.

“Pet,” Robert said, looking at me. I hated that name, but he was the only one who called me that. I asked my mama why, and she said it was his name for me. It meant he loved me. I didn’t like it. “Come here.” He pointed to the space in front of him. I gripped the scissors in my hand tightly and stared at him. “Pet! Come here!” When I didn’t move, he chuckled and shook his head. “I was hoping you would fight me on this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote. Bug whimpered behind me, and I bit into my cheek so hard that I could taste blood. “I’m going to ask one more time and then use it.” He held up the remote and smirked. “Come here.”

I looked over my shoulder at my sister. “I’ll be back,” I whispered to her, and Bug nodded as she cried. I turned back to Robert to find him still watching me.

“It is going to be so fun breaking you, Pet,” he chuckled, then pressed the button on the remote. The jolt of electricity that shot through my body from the collar around my neck made my body lock up, and I fell to the ground. Robert didn’t stop; he didn’t care. I could hear Bug crying, and my body kept shaking from the shock. When he finally did, I hurt so badly I could barely keep my eyes open. My eyes lowered on their own, but before they closed, I watched as Robert turned to the door and Uri, who was always with him, came into the room. I couldn’t hear what Robert was saying, but I watched as he pointed at me, said something to Uri, and then everything went black.

***

“You gotta stop fighting him,” a voice said. I knew I wasn’t at my house; the room was too cold, the air was stale, and the ground was hard. I rolled to my side and slowly pushed up. As soon as I got myself together, I dropped my head to stop it from feeling like it was spinning. I wasn’t in the cages in the warehouse. This was somewhere new. But it had the same feeling of danger as the warehouse. “You hear me? You gotta stop fighting him.”

“What?” I looked to the left, trying to figure out who was talking to me. I could see the outline of someone, but that was it. The room was dark; the only light came from the two doors, and they were barely open.

“You gotta stop fighting him,” he said again. “Every time you defy him, he takes it out on us.” The boy in the cage next to me finally came close enough for me to see him. He looked like he was my age, but I learned a while ago that no one here looked their age. He could’ve been younger than me, but I wasn’t sure. “And I’m tired of getting my ass kicked because of you.”

“Fight who?” I leaned against the gate and watched the boy. I knew who he was talking about, but I wanted to see what this all had to do with him.

“Robert,” he replied. His gray eyes were locked on me. “He punishes us every time you fight him. Stop.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head.

“No?” the boy laughed humorlessly. “You think you have a choice in this?”

“I don’t have to do-“

“You don’t have a choice!” he yelled as he grabbed the bars of his cage. “You fight him, and he takes it out on us. Stop! I’m not as strong as Uri. I can feel.”

“Uri?” Hearing his name instantly put me on alert. I had only seen him a few times, but each time, he made sure I was okay. He never said anything but stood close and looked over me. Whenever he was around, I felt protected, and I wasn’t scared. “Where is he?”

“In the jungle,” the boy answered and pointed to one of the doors. “He’s been fighting since they brought you in. Robert counted every time you said no, and that’s how many people he planned for you to fight, but Uri stepped in for you.” The boy's eyes narrowed. “Stop fighting him.”

The door opened, and a group of men walked in. Uri came in last, his hands tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth. His right eye was swollen, and his nose was bleeding. But he wasn’t walking as if he were hurt. There was no limp or misstep. He looked to be unfazed. They escorted him to the cage with the other boy, unlocked it, and then pushed him in.

“Did he get checked out?” the boy asked, but no one answered. He went to Uri and untied his hands. “Did he get checked out?”

“No,” one of the men laughed as they walked out of the room. The door slammed behind them.

“Uri,” the boy said, looking him over. “I gotta check you out. Make sure you’re okay.”