Page 179 of 4 Corinthians

“No.”

“Go,” he said, pointing to the way we’d just come from. “Dinner will be ready by the time you’re finished.”

“That long?” she whined.

“It would be shorter if you weren’t still in here complaining,” he told her. “Now go on.”

Eleven's face twisted in annoyance before she spun on her heels and walked out of the kitchen. The sound of her crutches echoed through the house until she closed her bedroom door.

“She gives me a run for my money,” Trey chuckled and shook his head. “Spoiled as fuck and headstrong.”

I sat down in a chair at the island and leaned back. “She a good kid?” I asked and nodded. “And her health? She alright? Need anything?”

“She’s good,” he replied with a shake of his head as he went back to preparing our food. “Like I said, she’s headstrong and honestly lowkey stubborn as fuck. Having SB only slows her down a little bit.” He smirked, and I could see the love he had for his daughter in his eyes. “Listen…” he put the knife down, picked up the towel off the counter, and wiped his hands. “I fucked up by not telling you about her. I know that.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation on how you chose to father your daughter,” I said, shaking my head. “I understand what you meant when you said that I had baggage. Shit, I do. I’m working on it, but I ain’t got no comeback for that. You protected your child. Continue to do that, and when you're ready to bring her around the family, we will welcome her with open arms. I’ll keep my mouth shut until then.”

“Man…”

My bracelet beeped again, and I groaned. “I need to charge this shit before it goes dead and Cori and Nine show up.” I stood and patted my pockets. “My stuff is in my car, give me a second.”

Trey nodded then went back to cooking, and I left the kitchen. My phone was in the car too, and I needed to get that and check in with Cori. After I grabbed my bag and phone, which I found dead too, I went back into the house. Purpose stood next to Kenbral, voices low and in deep conversation. When I walked in, she stopped talking and watched me.

“I ain’t mean to interrupt,” I said, putting my hands up in surrender. “I just had to grab my stuff.” I dropped my hands then walked to the wall and plugged in my phone and bracelet. “I can go back out if need be.”

“You don’t,” Purpose said, shaking her head. She licked her lips, looked over at Trey, then back at me. “I was able to find the video.”

“Alright,” I said, nodding. My phone booted up quicker than I expected. I held it in my hand and looked at Purpose. “Let me see it.”

“Not here,” Kenbral said, shaking his head. My brows damn near touched in confusion. “Eleven is here, she’s nosy. I don’t want her to overhear nothing.”

“Alright,” I agreed. My phone buzzed, and I looked down expecting to see a bunch of texts and emails coming through. Instead, it was Judah’s name on the screen. “Hold on.” I swiped the screen to answer. Judah looked upset, which wasn’t typical for him. “What’s wrong?”

“My mama’s crying,” he answered, looking into the camera.

“I’m on my way,” I told him. “I’m headed to the airport now.”

“Okay.” He nodded. Relief washed over his face, and I looked at my battery life on my phone. “Ay, I gotta hang up until I’m back in the car and the phone is on the charger. You gonna be cool until then?” If he said no, I was going to stand there until it had enough battery life to make it to my car. It would put me behind on getting back to KC, but to make sure my boy was good, I would wait.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Alright, give me a few.” I hung up and unplugged my phone from the wall. I was sitting at 5% battery. “Ay, I gotta go,” I said, putting my things back into my bag. My bracelet wasn’t charged, but it would have to do for now.

“Four, we need to talk,” Trey said.

“When I get in the air I’ll call you but right now my concern is getting back to Cori. You heard Judah; she’s crying. You know Cori don’t cry.” I looked up at my brother. Purpose looked away while Trey held eye contact. “Just email me the video. I will watch it while I’m in the air and then we will talk.”

“Alright,” he said, nodding.

I put my bag on, approached my brother, hugged him, then his wife, then went to say goodbye to Eleven.

On the drive to the airport, I got a call from Nine before I could call Judah back.

“Hello?” I answered, maneuvering through traffic.

“Something's going on with your woman,” he said.

“Judah already called me,” I replied. “I’m on my way back.”