Page 57 of 4 Corinthians

“He runs his mouth too much,” Citrine said with a shrug. “He's trying to impress a new shorty and thinks that running his mouth is going to prove that he’s about something. Yeti could’ve ended this shit a while ago, but you know that nigga likes to play games.”

Yeti was, in fact, playing with Marus. He was pulling his punches, overstepping and leaving himself open for a hit, but Marus wasn’t a boxer. He didn’t know what he was doing. He thought that just because he could street-fight, he could step into a ring and automatically win.

Nine looked around. “She short and curvy? If so, she told us you were over here.”

“Nah, a fighter,” Citrine said, shaking his head. “She ain’t looked twice at that nigga, but he swears she has.”

“He gonna get with a woman that can whoop his ass?” I laughed and shook my head. “He’d be better sitting this one out.”

“Not my problem,” Citrine said. He knocked against the ring. “Yeti, end this shit so we can discuss some important shit.” Yeti nodded, then hit Marus so hard he did a complete spin, then dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

“Oh, that nigga gonna feel that for a few days,” Citrine chuckled. Yeti shrugged then climbed out of the ring. He turned back to Nine and me. “Now this fight, what do I need to know that ain’t been said?”

“Nothing,” Nine answered, shaking his head. “This is just them blowing off some steam.” Uncle Bradon asked us to keep it close to the vest because we didn’t know exactly what we were walking into. Nine trusted Citrine, but he’d been running his underground boxing ring for a while, and there was a chance he was linked to Robert and Logan in some way.

“Alright, let’s talk money.” Citrine pointed towards the back of the building where his office was, and we walked away from the ring. Marus was still lying in the middle of it, blood leaking from his mouth and nose. Citrine had a younger brother who moonlighted as the ring's doctor, but he wasn’t in town, which meant Marus was on his own.

Corinthians

“Iwas worried about you flaking on me, and I had to go out of town,” Melissa said as she sat in the chair in front of me. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I told her, then went back to reading my emails. I wasn’t upset that she had a last-minute trip and had to see her grandmother. I didn’t want to go out anyway, so it was better than me having to cancel on her at the last minute. “I ended up taking on a few new clients and was dead tired by the time I was finished.”

“So, you are going to come out this week when I work then?” she hopefully asked, and I shook my head. “Oh, come on, Corinthians.” She reached across the table and grabbed my wrist. Even though her grip wasn’t tight or aggressive, I quickly pulled my wrist from her grasp. Melissa's face twisted, then she sighed. “My fault, I forgot you don’t like to be touched.” She put her hands in her lap. “I just really want to make up for not being here to celebrate you!”

“It’s fine,” I told her again, and this time I gave her a small smile so she would know I didn’t feel any negative feelings about being touched or her not being around. “And I really don’t have the time. Everything is moving so fast right now. I have to start interviewing barbers, buying equipment, and I’m still taking classes.”

“And you can do all that, but you also need to take a moment for you,” Melissa said. “Just a quick one. You can even bring your sister and her friends along if you want someone else to keep you company when I have to walk away and work.”

“Psalms is not going to a bar,” I laughed. “Plus, I’m pretty sure Joshua is in town.”

“The mysterious boyfriend?” Melissa asked, and I nodded. “Your sister has a man before you?”

“Yes.” Psalms dating took everyone by surprise. She wanted to keep her relationship private, and we respected her wishes even if we didn’t like it.

“Goodness, I want to know the details on her secret relationship so bad,” Melissa laughed. “I know that man is fine because your sister is.” She smiled.

“Let it go, Melissa,” I said, shaking my head as I continued to work. She started to say something, but I looked up at her and locked eyes with her. “Let it go.”

“Okay,” she laughed and put her hands up in surrender. “Are you going to come out anyway? Maybe one of your other cousins can come? I still haven’t met any of them yet.”

“No,” I denied, shaking my head. Even though we were friends, I still had a hard time allowing her to meet my family. Protecting them meant keeping outsiders at a distance. Melissa’s smile dropped, and I sighed. “I will come alone.”

“So, you’re going to come?” she excitedly asked, and I nodded. “Oh yes! We are going to have so much fun.”

I nodded, not really thinking too much about it. I wasn’t going to have fun, but I was going to try to relax for a little while. I knew once I opened my shop, I would be busy. I went back to work while Melissa talked about something I had no interest in. Every once in a while, I would nod or mumble something to make it seem like I was listening.

“Oh, did you hear about the fires?” Melissa asked, and I looked up at her, confused. “The six fires last week. I saw it on the news. They started right outside of Turner Row. Six whole damn blocks went up in flames.”

“Why?” I hadn’t watched the news but heard my grandparents talking about it.

“No clue,” Melissa answered with a shrug. “Nobody was arrested or anything, but it's millions in damages.”

“Probably an insurance scam,” I replied. “Those houses are old, worth a lot of money. Rich people problems.”

“Aren’t you one of the rich people?” she laughed, and I shook my head. “Ma’am your granddaddy is the Pastor Gabriel DeCorte. The only church that rivals y’all’s is the Kilmores’. You are, in fact, one of the rich people.”

“My granddaddy’s money isn’t mine,” I told her. “What he built is his and Madea’s. They don’t hand us a damn thing.”