Page 26 of 4 Corinthians

“That’s not how it works!” Logan jumped from his seat. “Each office is supposed to be run by someone with Strong blood.”

Bradon leaned back in his chair, chuckled, and shook his head. “As the CEO, I have the final say-so on who runs the offices. I went to Cali to start over, get away from the city, and get my head right. I’ve done that. I trust Tulane.”

“You trust him?” Robert reared back. “How can you trust a hustler, a fucking thug? He’s a nobody.”

“Tulane has three degrees, years of experience, and has seen shit that you could never imagine. He will run the office just fine.” Uncle Bradon shrugged. “Unless you want to run that office. Or possibly Denzel can?” He looked over at their quiet brother. Denzel sat in his corner of the table. I was surprised to see him in town, too. He never came; he ran the main office in Louisiana.

“I don’t want it,” Denzel declined. “I need to focus on Oakly. He isn’t doing too well.”

“He’s never done well,” Robert said, waving him off. “Now, back to you, Bradon. When are you moving back?”

Uncle Bradon glared at Robert. Denzel’s oldest child had been sick his whole life. Denzel and his wife had another child, a daughter, to help with his recovery, but that’s all I knew about it. Uncle Bradon shook his head. “I don’t know how the fuck you got so heartless, but don’t say no shit like that again,” he told Robert.

Uncle Bradon was the only person I knew that Robert or Logan ever backed down from. They talked about him behind his back but never said anything to his face.

“Daddy?” Breighton said, tapping Uncle Bradon on his arm. He looked down at his daughter and lifted his brow. “Uri’s face is red.” Uncle Bradon quickly lifted his head to look at me; his expression went from confused to concerned, and he stood.

“What’s your temp?” he asked me, pushing his chair back. I watched as he rolled up his sleeves and rounded the table.

“He’s fine,” Robert said. I felt fine, but that didn’t matter because I always felt the same. If my face was red, then that meant something was wrong.

“You don’t fuckin’ know that,” Uncle Bradon said, shaking his head. He rounded the table and got in Robert’s face. “I told you what to look for. How to monitor him, all the shit you’re supposed to do.” He grabbed Robert by the front of his jacket and pulled him from his chair. “When was the last time he was checked out?”

“Not too long ago,” Robert answered. He was glaring at Uncle Bradon, but didn’t move to do anything to make him mad. “I have a doctor-“

“I don’t give a fuck what you have,” Uncle Bradon said, pushing him away. “He’s getting checked out.”

“He doesn’t need to be checked out,” Robert denied. “He’s fine. Probably just a little hot. Nothing to worry about.”

The more they argued, the more it felt like everything was moving slowly, and my head was spinning. I could hear Uncle Bradon say something to Robert, and then my chair was pulled back. Uncle Bradon moved my head back and forth, and I started to see spots.

“Uri!” Uncle Bradon yelled, shaking me, but I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to tell him I was okay, that it was Corinthians that he needed to worry about, but I felt myself getting sleepy. The last thing I heard was him calling my name, and then everything went black.

***

“He has an infection,” I heard someone say. I opened my eyes to see Uncle Bradon talking to a woman. Her back was to me, but I could see his eyes. He looked worried, sad, and then angry.

“How long has he had it?” he rubbed his jaw.

“A few days; we’re lucky we caught it when we did,” she answered, then closed the chart in her hand. “He’s going to be here a few days.”

“Alright,” Uncle Bradon replied. “Thank you, Nadine.”

Nadine turned to the side, and I got a good look at her face. This was Logan’s baby mama, the one who kept her son away from him.

Uncle Bradon tried to walk past her, but Nadine put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. “There’s something else,” she said.

“Can it wait?” Uncle Bradon asked, and she shook her head. “Alright, what’s up?”

“He has a lot of bruises,” Nadine said, and Uncle Bradon’s face twisted in confusion. “I know with your disorder you know that bruises aren’t avoidable, but Bradon this is a lot. I mean, I counted over a hundred, and then I had to stop. The X-ray showed healed broken bones as well.”

Uncle Bradon looked at me and noticed that my eyes were open. He nodded, then let out a deep breath. “Alright, give us a second, Nadine.”

“Will do,” she said. She turned and smiled at me. “Hi, Uri.” I watched her pat my foot. “I will be back later to check on you.” She gave me another smile, then turned to leave the room.

“Hey Nadine?” Uncle Bradon called out to her before she could leave the room. Nadine turned around and lifted her brow. “You think you could bring Mecca around later?”

“Bradon,” she sighed and shook her head. “You know I won't let Logan near Mecca.”