Page 91 of 4 Corinthians

Four

“Krude’s in trouble,” Judah whispered to me as we stood in line. He wasn’t really paying me too much attention, which I was good with. I was looking for his mama; I knew me coming around was going to fuck with her, but I was tired of hiding. For the last four years, I’d made sure she never saw me. I was giving her space and peace. But then I saw Judah again, a few months ago I knew I couldn’t do it. He was with Nine and Ex and I was visiting. I drove him home and came in. Being around Cori was like a breath of fresh air.

I never took Nine up on his offer to move to Kansas City. I only visited from time to time. Now, I regretted that shit. Not just because everyone else had moved back, but because I realized how much I missed out on. Watching Deuce grow up through FaceTime and text just wasn’t it. Our family was close, and me living so far away made me the odd man out. I wasn’t having that; I decided to move to KC. When I told Nine, he hooked me up with a realtor who found me a cool little house on the south side. I was close to the office and family. My things got in yesterday, and I should’ve been unpacking, but Deuce told me his grandparents were cooking and invited me over. Cross mentioned that everyone would be there and gave me an out because she knew I wasn’t really a people person, or so she thought. I’d told her that because she’d invited me to so much shit with her family before. I had to turn her down because I never heard from Corinthians.

I’d given Cori space, time to figure out what she wanted, and now I was here. I’d only ever experienced peace when I was with her. The first time, my heart raced, then calmed down. I had the best sleep, the most calming night. When I woke up, she and Judah were still asleep, cuddled up at my side, and I knew then that she was the reason. I knew that our past was fucked up and traumatic, but I wanted to spend the rest of my life with them by my side. My letter told her that; I begged her to pick me. To let me love her. I wasn’t a dumb nigga and thought that everything from our past wasn’t going to be hard to work through, but I was going to try because she was worth it, Judah was worth it. We were worth it. “I heard Madea say that he was going to stay in trouble until he learned his lesson.” Judah looked over at me. His brows were damn near touching. “I don’t think he will ever learn.”

“Why?” I chuckled and shook my head. Judah was smart and mature beyond his years, but with a mama like Corinthians, I could see why. He told me all about how she lets him learn and do things for himself. He said she told him her job as a mother was to love him unconditionally and to teach him how to navigate the world without her.

“I don’t know,” he answered with a shrug. I picked up a plate for him then pointed to the silverware and water. Judah got those, then we walked away. Pastor DeCorte had made a bunch of food, and we were eating buffet style. I made him a plate: chicken, grilled broccoli and corn, a burger with everything on it, and pasta salad. Pastor DeCorte had already blessed the food so we could start eating.

I sat there, looking around, waiting for Cori to come back. Cross sat next to Nine; every so often, they’d look up at me, then go back to their conversation. Deuce sat next to Judah, laughing and talking. Krude sat at the end of the table fucking with Judge, and Ex sat across from them, laughing. The only person that was missing was Mercy. She’d recently signed with the Queens and would be moving back within the next few days.

“Four?” Judah tapped my arm. “Four?”

“He can't feel you hitting him,” Deuce told him. I looked over at the two boys.

“What do you mean?” Judah said, looking at Deuce. His brows were damn near touching again. “My hand is right here.” He placed his hand on my arm. “He can feel me.”

“No, he can't,” Deuce said, shaking his head. “He can't feel it.”

“Four?” Judah looked up at me. I could see the questions in his eyes. “You can't feel this?” I nodded. He turned back to Deuce with a smug look on his face. “See! He can too!”

“No, he can't,” Deuce doubled down. “My daddy said Four can't feel. His body doesn’t work like ours does.”

“I don’t believe you,” Judah told him. He turned, looked at me, then at his hand on my arm. “Four, you can feel, right?”

“I can't feel pain,” I told him. “My body doesn’t feel pain, but I can feel.” I looked up to see Psalms. Annoyance was evident on her face at the sight of me. “Probably more than I realized.”

“So, if I stabbed you with this fork, you couldn’t feel it?” Judah poked my hand with his fork, and I shook my head. “I could cut you? And nothing?” Again, I shook my head. “That’s. So. Cool!” he jumped up from his seat. “Auntie Bug! Four can’t feel pain!!”

“Judah!” Madea called out.

“Madea, he can't feel pain!” he told her excitedly, then turned back to me. “Have you broken a bone?” his eyes narrowed. “What would happen if you were run over by a car? Would you die?” His eyes got big. “You’re like a superhero! Oh, that’s so cool!” He turned back to his aunt. “Auntie Bug, stab him with your knife!” he pointed to me.

I looked up to see Psalms nod at Judah, then started walking towards me. Her hand went to her thigh, and she discreetly pushed her dress to the side to take out a knife.

“Psalms DeCorte!” Madea yelled and jumped from her seat. She got to Psalms before she could get to me. “Have you lost your damn mind?” she snatched the knife from Psalms and threw it into the ground. “Why the hell would you listen to that boy? He’s four!”

“He’s five,” Krude said, walking up to them. He took a bite of his burger, looked down at the knife, then back at Psalms. “And y’all call me irresponsible? She was about to send that nigga to the Golden Gates.”

“Stop talking, Genesis,” Madea said, pointing towards the door. “Four, go in the house, please.”

“But Madea-“

“Judah, I wasn’t talking to you.” She cut her eyes to him then looked at me. “I need to talk to my grandchild, and I don’t want you to see that part of me just yet. You still think I’m nice.”

“Oh nah, Madea, let him stay,” Krude protested. “Let him see your crazy now so it won’t surprise him later.” He pointed at me. “He gotta see it, Best Friend. I saw that look in his eyes. Trust me, he needs to see it.”

“Sit the hell down,” Madea said to Psalms. She sat in the empty chair then cut her eyes to me. “Go on.”

“Madea-“

“Genesis.”

“I’ma shut the fuck up, Best Friend,” he said then bit into his food. He looked at me, mouth twisted to the side, and shook his head. “Lucky nigga.”

I walked into the house, not caring about the conversation they were about to have. Judah’s response was typical of a kid. Well, not the stabbing thing, but I’d excuse it for now. I looked around the living room at pictures lining the walls and made my way through the house. I knew from years of sneaking in where Cori’s room was. I knocked on her bedroom door, waited for a beat for her to answer, and when she didn’t, I turned the handle.