Page 197 of 4 Corinthians

“I’m not mad,” I told him as I lowered the head. “And you gotta stop because I promised my woman the head of every nigga on my list and he’s on my list.”

“Can I at least see his brain?” Script asked. “I ain’t ever seen one intact before.”

“Fine,” I grunted, then dropped Paul’s head. “But first I want to see his heart stop beating in real time.”

Corinthians

“You know everyone thinks you're fragile, right?” Tulane said, walking into my shop. I watched him through the mirror as he looked around.

“Why are you here, Tulane?” I asked, not caring how rude my question sounded.

“I was with Micah when you called him about Amethyst and what he asked you,” he answered with a shrug. “I tagged along.” He smiled, and even though I didn’t want to admit it, I could see the appeal he had on women back in the day. Even now, he wasn’t unattractive as long as he kept his mouth closed. Once he started talking, he made you want to kick him in the mouth.

“Fragile isn’t the description I would use,” I said as I continued to watch him. Mr. Stone stood near the door, shaking his head. I hadn’t seen Tulane since we all met a while back. I had a feeling he would eventually show up again. He took the opportunity and ran with it. Tulane was a damn busybody and couldn’t help himself.

He shrugged. “I didn’t say it was. It’s just how everyone else describes you,” he replied.

“And what word would you use?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” he answered with a chuckle. He looked around the shop. “You aren’t going to offer me a cut?”

“No.”

Mr. Stone laughed loudly. “I told you she didn’t like your ass,” he said once he got himself together. He looked over at me and lifted his brow. “You good?”

“Yes, sir,” I answered with a nod. “You?”

“I’ve been better. Amethyst is stressing me out. Moving wild, causing problems, shaking shit up.” He shrugged, then wiped his hand over his mouth. “He’s stubborn. Doesn’t listen, only worried about protecting Yale from the Kilmores.”

“They’re dead,” I reminded him.

“Thanks to you,” Tulane laughed. A few hours ago, Amethyst came to the shop and asked me to make a statement on behalf of our family and the passing of the members of the Kilmore family. I’d been against it. I knew that I was putting a target on my back if I did it. I saw the desperation in his eyes. He would do anything to protect Yale, which meant going after the Kilmores. They had already lost enough time, and Yale was pregnant. They needed shit handled before she had her baby.

The statement I made expressed our sympathy for their sudden loss. To everyone else, we were mourning with our brothers in Christ. To Robert, it was a slap in the face and showed he was losing his hold on his connection to me. Without Isaac or Paul, there was no one to check in on me for him. He wasn’t going to let that control go. And to add an extra kick to the face, the picture posted with the announcement included Uri. Next to me, visibly holding my hand.

“I didn’t do anything,” I denied, shaking my head. “That was Am.”

“Am only killed them,” Tulane denied. “You know that your release is going to stir the pot.”

“That wasn’t my intention,” I denied. “I did it for Amethyst.”

“You’re lying,” Tulane laughed and shook his head. “You know just like we do what’s going to happen. Robert is going to come out of hiding. He isn’t going to let you just be happy.”

“Why do you sound excited about that?”

“Because I am,” he answered. “You are too or you wouldn’t have done it.”

“I-“

“Four is going to kill his father for you,” Tulane quickly said. “He has wanted to for years, but he was waiting. I couldn’t figure out on what and now I know.” Tulane leaned against the wall. “He was waiting on you. He had to make sure you didn’t think you were in love with Robert.”

“I’ve never been in love with Robert,” I told him. “Never. I was a fucking kid when all that shit happened. Nothing that Robert put me through would’ve made me love him.”

“Stranger things have happened, trust me. Women have loved him for his cruelty.”

“And I’m not one of them,” I said, mugging him. “And my relationship with Uri isn’t your fucking business.”

Tulane held his hands up in surrender and smirked. “I know,” he said, nodding. “I’m just pointing out what I see. Four waited to make sure you weren’t in that list of women.”