Page 31 of Don't Kross Me
“You angry at the world, which is understandable, but not everybody out to get you before you get them.”
“Oh, for real? Explain you fucking up my shop, costing me extra money out of pocket when I can barely keep shit afloat around this motherfucka’.” She hiked her brow at him.
“I told you already, Remedy. It’s business. The world keeps spinning no matter what problems you got.” In other words, he didn’t give a fuck about her hardships. He had paper to make, and if motherfuckas ain’t fall in line then they had to deal with the consequences.
Remedy shook her head, disgusted by his lack of empathy. She grabbed her straight razor from the tiled floor and proceeded to clean it off and disinfect it. “You’re so fucked up, doing this to a small business that already has it bad.”
“It is what it is.” He shrugged his broad shoulders nonchalantly. “Everybody fell in line with no issues, except you, even Deno.”
“‘Cause he let you rob him fucking blind,” she scoffed loudly. “You the reason he left me with all his fucking debt.”
“Deno wore a white hat. He was a good guy, one who wanted peace in his community and was above slanging dope.” An amused chuckle drifted out of him as she returned to her position in front of him to resume lining him up. “Let’s see what type of person you are.”
“The fuck you mean by that?”
“I got a proposition for you. Depending on if you with it or not, I can make all your financial problems with the shop disappear,” he offered with a smirk gallivanting across his handsome face.
The thought of working with him sounded tempting; however, her gut was having trouble trusting him. The last thing she needed was another set of problems on top of the ones she already had. Thinking back to the ultimatum Tone had given herregarding her mother and baby brother, she felt like her back was against the wall.
“I’m listening.”
“Let me run a few birds through here.”
She wasn’t a novice to street talk, so she knew exactly what he was insinuating when he referred tobirds.He had packs of pure white and exotic coming in, and although he was setting up shop out in Pompano, he figured he still needed something to fall back on if shit got too hot out there. He had been trying to get Deno to jump on board with running a few plays in his shop before he even got locked up, but Deno wasn’t moved by money. With Remedy, though, he knew if he flashed the right amount, she would be on board.
This wouldn’t be the first time she got entangled with dealing. Tone had her by his side as he trapped all through Chicago. The fast life was scary to her at first, but after learning the ins and outs, Remedy knew all she needed to do was be careful, shut the fuck up, and keep her circle small.
“How many birds we talking?” she asked while taking a step back to check the progress of his lineup.
“That’s for me to know and for you not to worry about. You’ll make your paper, and I’ll make mine.”
“I want twenty percent.”
With a crazed look etched on his face, he let out a scoff. “Shawty, get the fuck outta here. You won’t touch twenty percent a day in ya’ life when it comes to me and mines.”
“Nigga, twenty percent ain’t too much to ask for when it’s a risk. I’m the one who’ll be in this bitch day to day. If Feds do a sweep, I get caught up, not you,” she reminded him of the risk factor of the arrangement.
She knew how to negotiate, and something told Kross that Deno was the one who put her up on game. “I’m sorry, shawty, but I can’t let you hoe me out of twenty percent. You get whatI’m willing to offer. If you can’t take it, I walk and put the next motherfucka’ on. It’s up to you.”
She bit down on her plump bottom lip. Kross ain’t know if she was deep in thought contemplating whether she wanted to take his offer, or if she was just focused on making sure his lineup was crispy. Whichever it was, his arrogance had him feeling like he had this deal in the bag. And just as he expected, she nibbled on the bait and continued to entertain his offer.
“What I’m getting out of it?”
“Ten racks every re-up, and I’ll make sure them young niggas stop wrecking your spot,” he proposed.
“Ten racks? You supposed to be big money ‘round this motherfucka’, and that’s all you offering? Nigga, I ain’t going. Make it sixteen or we don’t gotta talk.” She shrugged before she started lining up his full beard.
He appreciated the tenacity she had to fish for the best deal for herself. She was a shark, and he respected that. “Fifteen and we got a deal.” He stuck his hand out from underneath the cape she draped over him for his hair cut.
Remedy eyed his hand for a while, debating whether she was willing to fold and lose out on a band. The more she thought about it, the quicker she realized that losing out on a band wasn’t shit when she was coming up on fifteen. She sat her hand into his, allowing them to seal the deal with a firm handshake.
“Deal,” she agreed.
Satisfied with her choice, Kross nodded before their handshake disbanded. For the rest of the cut, they didn’t exchange any words with each other. Everything that needed to be said had been said, and they were both satisfied.
Once she was done with his cut, she made sure to spray to him down with some alcohol before handing him a handheld mirror to take a close look at himself. He couldn’t even front, shewas cold as hell with her clippers and had him looking crispy as fuck without any enhancements.
“That’ll be $100.” She stuck her hand out for her payment upon noticing the satisfied smirk he had masking his face.
