Page 177 of 4 Corinthians

“She’s not tired, Kenbral,” Purpose said, trying not to laugh.

“Thank you,” Trey said, shaking his head.

Reason nodded, then turned and started towards the steps. Her eyes locked on her feet, making sure that she didn’t trip. She stumbled once; I leaned forward, ready to move in case she fell. She was moving too fast. I could see it, but I wasn’t going to stop her. She was determined to make it on her own. When she got to the steps, she stopped again. This time she grabbed the rail and then lifted her foot. Slowly she moved, making sure she was balanced before taking the next step. When she got to the step I was sitting on, she noticed me. Her little face lifted, her green eyes sparkled against the sun as she narrowed them.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Four,” I answered.

Her eyes widened, and she moved as quickly as she could while being safe. She moved to me and threw herself into my arms. “You're my daddy’s little brother!” Reason squalled in excitement. Her arms went around my neck. “I heard about you before! Daddy talks about you all the time!”

“Really?” I hugged her back and looked over at her shoulder to my brother.

“Yeah,” Reason said, pulling back.

“Now you know my name, but what’s your name?”

“Reason Strong, but Daddy calls me Eleven,” she said, laughing.

“Eleven, huh?” I replied. “Do you mind if I call you Eleven, or should I call you Reason?”

“Eleven,” she answered with a bright smile.

“Okay, I can do that,” I told her. “So, Eleven, what did your daddy tell you about me?” I cut my eyes to my brother before turning back to Reason.

“He said you live far, but he was going to take me to visit you soon. Mama too. She has a brother. I’m meeting everybody. That’s why I’ve been tryin’ real hard at PT. I want to get on a plane and meet everybody.” Her little head bobbed up and down as she nodded. The black KC Queens hat she wore that was obviously too big slipped off her head, and that’s when I noticed her red hair.

“You look like One,” I said, taking in her full appearance. There was no denying she was a Strong. She looked like our women cousins spit her out. She was the perfect blend of Six and One. “Damn.”

“Daddy says that too! He says I look like One but have a smart mouth like Six!” she laughed. She looked over at Trey, then back at me. “I want to meet them too.”

“Alright, Eleven, let’s go inside so your daddy and uncle can talk,” Purpose said.

“But I want to stay and talk,” she pouted.

“I know, but you need a bath and dinner,” Purpose replied. She approached us and put her hands out to Reason. I thought she was going to push her hands away like she’d pushed the crutches, but instead she put her hands up for Purpose to pick her up. Purpose whispered something into Reason’s ear that made her smile and nod. “Good seeing you, Four.”

“You too,” I said, moving out of their way. Purpose walked up the remaining steps, then went into the house.

“She was born with spina bifida,” Trey said once the door closed. “We knew before she was born. Her mama wanted to abort her. I said no. It was after I went back in with Robert. The only thing I could think of was to keep her safe. He wouldn’t have cared about her disability. He would’ve…”

“Tortured her to death,” I said, nodding in understanding.

“Purpose was the only person I knew would protect her without thinking twice. You had too much baggage. Too much pain.”

“That’s why you married her?” I asked him. “It wasn’t about the case y’all were working on?”

“Yeah.”

“Does she know that?”

“Nah, she thinks I married her because of the case,” Trey said, shaking his head. He wiped his hand over his mouth. “She’s here for Eleven. Tells me all the time too.” He dropped his head, chuckled, then put his hands in his pockets. “No matter how much I show her I’m a good nigga. That I fucked up and it won't happen again. She doesn’t love me enough to stay.”

“Her life is in KC,” I reminded him. “Her brother, he’s there. Eventually Gift is going to start asking questions, and we both know that nigga ain’t the calmest when it comes to his sister.”

“I know,” Trey replied. He lifted his face to look at me. “She’s all I got though. You know? They're the only two people in the world that see me and not all my baggage and shit.”

I looked back at the house then nodded. Yeah, I got exactly what he was saying. They were his Cori and Judah.