Page 10 of 4 Corinthians

“Y’all okay down there?” Cross yelled from the end of the row.

“Yeah,” I answered without letting Bug go. Cross nodded, and I put my mouth to Bug's ear so that only she could hear me. Cross was watching us, but luckily, she couldn’t read lips. “I’m going to protect you, no matter what.” I pulled back, kissed her forehead, and then smiled. “Now come on, show me the flowers you planted and tell me all the cool things you know about them.”

We stayed in the garden until it was time to leave. Psalms was happy, and even though I didn’t like bugs, dirt, or flowers, as long as she was happy, so was I. Cross eventually went to the jungle gym with Exodus. She said she was bored and could see us from where she was.

“I’m going to ask Madea if she can buy me some white roses,” Bug said as we walked out of the garden. She was covered in dirt and had grass in her hair. “You think she will do it?”

“Yeah,” I answered her as I looked around for our cousins.

“Corinthians!” Cross yelled my name. I turned to see her and a group of kids standing by the ice cream truck, waving us over.

“I want ice cream, Cori!” Bug said, pulling my arm towards the ice cream truck.

“Fine,” I sighed and dug into my pocket. Madea had given us money for having good grades. I planned to save it, but if Bug wanted ice cream, I would buy it for her.

“We can get whatever we want,” Mercy said, coming to stand next to us once we were close. “The driver said someone already paid for it.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised, and she nodded.

We got in line behind a couple of the kids that Mercy played basketball with. They were from the local projects around the corner. They came to the park to play basketball because none of the goals had rims.

“I want a Flintstones push-up, please,” Bug requested when it was our turn to order. The ice cream man handed her one. “Thank you.”

“What about you, young lady?” he asked.

“The Tweety bird, please,” I told him.

Once we all had our popsicles, we headed back to the house. We were tired and hot, but the popsicles were the perfect way to end our time at the park.

“I hope Madea cooked,” Krude said as we got to the corner. “I want something good to eat.”

“You’re hungry?” I asked, and he nodded.

“I want a bath,” Judge announced. “I can't eat until I take a bath.” He was holding his vanilla ice cream because of his food allergies; he only ever had vanilla.

We crossed the street and continued our walk to the house. I held Bug’s hand as she bounced next to me. Her relaxed, happy demeanor while eating was good. I didn’t want her to worry about Robert or his threats.

“Ah, man, look at that car!” Exodus said excitedly, pointing to the blue car that had passed us. “That’s nice!”

“I’m going to drive a nice car like that when I get older,” Krude said, nodding. “But it’ll be white.”

“Why white?” Judge asked.

“It’s classy,” Krude said, then licked his popsicle. “I’m going to have nothing but nice things. All white.”

“But you’re messy,” Mercy said, pointing to his now dirty shirt. “Just get black.”

“Sister-cousin, by then I will have enough money that I won’t have to worry about stuff getting dirty.” He smiled, and we all laughed. Krude called Mercy sister-cousin because their daddies are identical twins. Madea told him to stop because it made it seem like their parents were kissing cousins, but he didn’t care.

The same blue car that Exodus had pointed out earlier came back down the street. They slowed down in front of us and rolled the window down. Robert sat in the driver's seat with Uri beside him. I dropped my popsicle and took a step back. He always said he could find me no matter where I ran, and his driving down the street and stopping proved it.

“Hey y’all.” Robert laughed and smiled. He rested his arm on the windowsill. “My boy is looking for the ice cream truck. Have you seen it?”

“Down at the park,” Exodus said, pointing in the direction of the park. “He didn’t have a lot left. Somebody bought all the kids down there ice cream.”

“Oh, really?” Robert’s brows went up in surprise. “Y’all ate it all?”

“Nah,” Exodus answered, then licked his popsicle. “We only took one. Can't be greedy.”