Page 47 of Don't Kross Me
A chuckle drifted out of Kross as he unlatched the chain from around his neck and put it on Aniyis. “It’s yours now,” he told him before craning down and sitting a kiss on his forehead.
After saying goodbye to Raquel and Andres, the two boys exited the home. It took a little while to convince Aniyis that it was safe to get in the car, but through it all, Kross remained patient with his son. He even pulled over every so often just to allow him to breathe. PTSD was nothing to play with, especially for a child, so he gave his son all the grace he needed. By the time they arrived at the barber shop, it was going on seven-thirty inthe evening. Instead of unpacking Aniyis’ wheelchair, Kross just carried him on his back.
Remedy unlocked the door of the shop and welcomed them in with a smile. Kross mentioned to her briefly that Aniyis was recovering and needed a lot of patience, and she understood. For Aniyis’ sake, she made sure the shop was empty, and she played soft R&B in the background, hoping that music would help him relax.
“‘Preciate you doing this. Little man was looking a little too rough for my liking,” Kross chuckled as he reached behind him and ruffled Aniyis’ cinnamon brown dreads that had outgrown the last retwist Cassie got him.
“It’s cool. You can get him set up in my chair,” Remedy instructed him. She tried to get a look at Aniyis and offer him a little wave to introduce herself, but he avoided her gaze by burying his head in the crook of Kross’ neck.
She already had the booster seat in her chair, so Kross eased Aniyis down on it. Turning around to face his son, he craned down so they were at eye level with each other. “You good?”
Aniyis’s eyes darted around the shop before he offered his dad a shaky head nod. Kross sighed deeply. He knew Aniyis was trying to put his best foot forward, but he was afraid of being in a new environment and around new people. He thought everyone and every place besides what was familiar to him was unsafe.
“I’m right here, ‘Niyis. I’m not gonna let nothing happen to you,” he assured his son.
Remedy, who was gathering the products she needed, was able to see the way Kross interacted with his son. He was calmer and a lot less intimidating. Once she had everything she needed, she made her way back over to her booth and decided to introduce herself to Aniyis. Just like Kross had, she crouched down and placed herself at eye level with him. “Hi. My name is Remedy. What’s your name?”
Before responding to her, Aniyis shifted his gaze to Kross, who gave him an encouraging head nod. He hesitated a little bit before finally responding. “A-Aniyis,” he stammered barely above a whisper.
“Nice to meet you, Aniyis. Your hair is so nice and long. Is it okay if I retwist it and give you a haircut?” she asked for permission before touching his hair.
Again, he glanced at Kross before shifting his attention back to Remedy. He nodded his head and gave her the green light to do his hair. Kross appreciated the approach she was taking to ensure that Aniyis was comfortable. She got started, making sure she announced each thing she was about to do or put in Aniyis’ hair before she did it just so he would feel more in control. Only a few tears had been shed by Aniyis by the time she got halfway through his head. Every time he did cry, Kross jumped in to comfort him until Remedy asked if it was okay if she could do so.
“He’s been through a lot, so I don’t really know how he’s gonna react to you,” Kross told her with a worried look etching his face.
Remedy nodded her head. “I know, but maybe it’ll be better if he hears that he’s safe from the person who’s doing his hair so he can build a little trust in me,” she suggested with a hopeful shrug.
Kross rubbed the back of his neck, a little unconvinced, but ultimately, he opted to let her take a shot at it. While Aniyis was in tears, Kross took a painful step back and allowed Remedy to comfort him. He watched as she managed to get Aniyis to calm down and wiped his face of the tears that had fallen. Kross’ eyes widened at the sight of them sharing a hug. Since coming back home, Aniyis had been really reserved about who got in his personal space, especially if they were a stranger. Seeing him letRemedy in was shocking as hell, but that just went to show that she had a good spirit.
It took all of two hours for Remedy to wrap up retwisting and cutting Aniyis’ hair. By the time she was done, Aniyis was sound asleep, and Kross was holding him in his lap while Remedy made sure everything was perfect.
“He’s so handsome.” She smiled as she gazed at Aniyis.
“He is. Looks like me, don’t he?” Kross smirked.
She narrowed her eyes a bit, shifting them between Kross and Aniyis. “I’m sorry, but his mama’s genes got you beat. Did you even try at all?” She laughed at the stale look that surfaced on Kross’ face.
“A’ight, shawty. I know he look like his mama, but he got some of me in there fa’sho.” He ended up laughing as well because this was nothing new. Everyone always told him that Cassie must’ve spit Aniyis out because they were twins. Aniyis inherited damn near everything from Cassie, down to the color of his hair. His genes were just no match for Cassie’s.
“He is handsome like his daddy, though, so I’ll give you that.”
As she attempted to make her way to her station to put away her clippers, Kross halted her by wrapping his long arm around her waist. A light laugh dispelled out of her as she felt his hand drift to her ass.
“You got your son in your arms, and you over here trying to feel up on me,” she said as she lightly swatted his bicep.
In return, Kross scoffed. “You ain’t no better than me. Remember what I had you doing in your daddy’s office with his obituary framed on the wall,” he teased her with a mannish smirk casting his face. Immediately, her honey toned skin tinted red as she hid behind her hands sheepishly. “Deno had to find out his baby girl was one of them ones.”
Unable to withstand any more of his snarky and crude jokes, Remedy wiggled out of his hold and returned to putting awayher clippers and hair products. Just like last time, he waited until she had everything put away so he could make sure she locked up and got into her car safely.
“You’re a really great dad, Kross. Keep showing up for him the way that you do. He’ll always remember it,” she praised him as they walked to her car.
“Damn, that’s real. I appreciate that.”
“You’re welcome. Now go home and get baby boy into bed,” she told him as she attempted to get into her car.
“Hold up,” he stopped her. He readjusted a sleeping Aniyis in his arms so he could use his left hand to reach into his front pocket. She eyed him oddly as he pulled out a stack of money and began pulling a few hundreds off the top.
“Kross, I told you I was doing his hair for free,” she reminded him.
