Page 9 of 4 Corinthians

“Yes, ma’am!” they yelled in unison and rushed down the steps.

“Come on,” Cross said, taking my hand. “You’re with me.” Even though she wasn’t the oldest girl, she was the bossiest, and we all listened to her. Everybody said that Cross was just Madea as a kid. Not only did they look alike, but they acted the same way. “Come on.” Cross dragged me away from the house.

“Wait for Bug,” I said, pulling back from Cross. “I can't leave her.”

“We aren’t; I was just getting you away from Madea,” Cross said, slowing down. We waited for Psalms to catch up, and then I took her hand. “I saw how she was looking at you, which is why we started cleaning faster.” Cross moved her braid from her face and sighed. “I don’t know what she was saying, but I knew it was serious, and you looked scared.”

“I wasn’t scared,” I denied, shaking my head. I wasn’t; it was more than that. I was terrified that Madea would find out what was happening.

“Yeah, okay,” Cross laughed. We stopped at the corner and waited until the traffic cleared before crossing the street. “I just know what I saw, and you looked scared, so we came to your rescue.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled, and Cross nodded.

When we got to the park, everyone stopped at the entrance.

“Okay, so what’s the game plan?” Exodus asked, looking between us. “I know Mercy is going to the court; Judge, you going to the stands?”

“Yeah,” Judge answered and held up his book. “I’m reading about different ways to make zip ties stronger.”

Exodus' face twisted, and he reared back. “Why?” he questioned with a confused expression. “What are you going to do with zip ties?”

“I don’t know,” Judge answered with a shrug. “I'm just interested in them.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, then shook his head. “Krude, where are you going?”

“Checker boards,” he pointed. “I got a rematch with Mr. Fish Sticks.”

“That man’s name is not Fish Sticks,” Exodus replied.

“He smells like them, so that’s what I’m calling him,” Krude shrugged. Krude changed everybody’s name; it didn’t matter what anyone said. He was going to do what he wanted, and changing people’s names was how he remembered who they were. He said he met too many people to keep all their names straight; if he didn’t change them, he would forget who they were.

“Fine, Cross, where are you going?” Exodus asked.

“Wherever Corinthians goes, Madea said keep an eye on her, so that’s what I’m doing,” she answered, then looked over at me. “Where are you going?”

“To the garden with Bug,” I told her. Psalms only ever went to the garden when we came to the park. She planted half the flowers in it, and she took care of them.

“Alright, I’ll be on the jungle gym then,” Exodus said. “Meet back here when the old people leave.”

The old people leaving gave us enough time to get back to the house before the streetlights came on. We broke off and headed towards our destination. I took Bug’s hand, and we went to the garden. Cross followed behind us, watching our surroundings as if she were my personal bodyguard.

“You weren’t supposed to mention Robert,” I told Psalms as we walked down the row of tulips. We stopped, and Cross stayed at the end, close enough to see us but far enough that she couldn’t hear us. I grabbed Psalms by the shoulders and shook her. “You weren’t supposed to tell Bug.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes watered, and her bottom lip shook. “I forgot, and when Granddaddy asked me, I just told him.”

“Robert is not a nice man, Bug,” I told her. “He’s mean and does mean things. He makes me do bad stuff, and he wants you to do it too.” My eyes watered at the thought of my sister having to deal with the stuff I was. “He hits me. Do you want to get hit? Do you want this?” I raised my hand so she could see the bandage wrapped around it. “You don’t, do you?”

“No.” Tears freely fell from her eyes. “I’m sorry, Cori. I won't do it again, I promise.”

“This is our secret, Bug; nobody else can know. Robert said he would hurt anybody who knew. He would kill them!”

“I don’t want Madea or Granddaddy to die!” she panicked. “I’ll be good. I won't tell anybody else. Just don’t let him kill them.”

“I won’t let him, but you have to keep our secret; can you do that?” I asked her.

“Yes,” she quickly nodded.

“Okay, good.” I pulled her into a hug and slammed my eyes shut. It wasn’t fair that I was asking her to keep our secret, but she had to. Robert would make good on his promise if she didn’t.