Page 82 of 4 Corinthians

Nine was oblivious to the tension and silence between us. He was busy working on the bracelet that Uri had given him. The beeping had stopped, but that didn’t stop Nine from tapping away at his phone. Every so often, he would look at the bracelet, then at Uri and shake his head.

“I-I-I-I need to go,” I finally said. I couldn’t handle the silence. Uri’s eyes held so many secrets and yet a promise that I couldn’t identify. “I just stopped to grab some food before going home.”

“Oh shit, let me get out of the way,” Nine said, stepping aside. “I’ll catch you later.”

“Bye,” I quickly said, walking away.

I didn’t want to; I tried hard as hell not to, but I turned around one last time to see Uri. He was still watching me. His beautiful eyes locked on my every movement.

I turned, grabbed my food from the bar, then basically ran to my car. I threw the food in the passenger seat, got in, started it, and drove off. My heart pounded in my chest so hard I swore I was trying not to throw up. Psalms was at my house waiting for me with Judah. The only thing I could think of was getting to them, packing, and getting the fuck out of town. I needed to get away so that I could figure everything out. Nine was a Strong, his cousin was Uri. The same boy from my past, the one that protected me more than anyone ever had. The same one whose father was my biggest fear. No matter how strong I was or was becoming, I still feared Robert.

I parked my car in the garage, turned it off, grabbed the food, and got out.

“Bug!” I yelled as I walked into the kitchen. I dropped the bag of food on the counter and looked around. Usually, they would be in the play area near the living room. “Bug, where are you?”

“What’s up?” Psalms replied, coming out from the backyard. Her eyes were low and puffy, but not from smoking. She’d been crying.

“What happened?” I asked her, not worried about myself. When Psalms broke down in front of me a few months back and told me she needed me to be strong so she wouldn’t have to, I took it to heart. I wasn’t a perfect big sister, but I tried, and she knew that. So, when she told me she needed me, it made me feel like I had failed, and I never wanted to fail Psalms. She had enough people who were supposed to love and protect her fail her; she didn’t need me to do it too. I approached her and cupped her face in my hands. No matter how old she got, I always saw the little girl with big ponytails and missing her front teeth following behind me. I saw the little girl she was before our lives became fucked up. “What happened?”

“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head.

“You’re crying,” I pointed out, and she rolled her eyes. “Bug, tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.”

“I dropped a pot on my foot,” she laughed and pointed to her foot. “I’m pretty sure my pinkie toe is broken.”

“Bug-“

“I’m okay,” she said, smiling. It was sad but genuine. “Now what’s wrong with you? You look like you saw a ghost, and you came in here yelling like Judah isn’t asleep.”

I moved my hands from her face and stepped back. “Let’s take a vacation,” I told her instead of answering the question. “I have a few days I can be away from the shop, and I want to get away. I was excited about the thought of us taking Judah on his first trip. Maybe we can go visit Cross in Florida or maybe Mercy.”

“A trip?” she asked, surprised, and I nodded. “I could do a weekend getaway.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out her phone, then swiped the screen. “Let’s see if Mercy can get away, and we just go see Cross. I want to see her new house.”

Judah started to cry. “Start making calls, see if Mercy wants to go, tell her to bring Legacy, and then call Wryanne and see if she wants to come. We can make it a full girls’ trip.” I started walking backward towards Judah’s room.

“Oh, I like that,” Psalms said, nodding.

“Let me know what they say,” I told her, then turned around and walked to Judah’s room. I pushed the door open to see him lying in the middle of his crib, his little legs kicking as he whined. “Oh, baby boy, what’s wrong?” I picked him up, and his cries stopped.

“Dada,” he mumbled, and I smiled. He wouldn’t say mama; every time he saw me, he called me Dada. I knew he would say mama when he was ready. He wasn’t even a year old yet. “Dada, hi.”

“Hi big man,” I sighed. “I missed you. Did you miss me?” His chubby hands went to my face like they always did, and he babbled as if he were fussing. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” He continued to babble, then stopped and smiled. I kissed his forehead, then walked back to the living room to check on Psalms. “You get a hold of anyone?”

“Everybody said yes, but Cross said she is working and can’t do this week. Mercy offered her house for the weekend,” she answered.

“Okay, pack up.” I switched Judah to my right hip and bounced him. “I want to leave tonight.”

“What’s the rush?” she asked, lifting her brow.

“I just want to get away,” I told her. “I’m about to be swamped at the shop and just need the time away.”

“Alright,” she slowly replied as she nodded. “Wryanne usually calls me when she’s on her way home from work, so I will tell her that we are leaving tonight.” Wryanne was Psalms' best friend. They met when they were kids; Psalms never strayed away from the garden, so Wryanne always went to play with her there. They’d been inseparable since.

“Okay, I’m going to pack our bags.” I patted Judah on the back. I turned around and headed back to his room.

“Corinthians?” Psalms called out.

I stopped walking but didn’t turn around. “Yeah, Bug?”