Page 28 of Don't Kross Me
The boys navigated through the cemetery before Kross engaged the brakes on Aniyis’ chair. Aniyis shifted his eyes from the marble headstone that had his mother’s photo on it to his father. He had an unsure look on his face, almost as if he needed confirmation on whether it was his mother’s grave. Kross gave him an encouraging nod, indicating that he was free to say whatever he wanted to Cassie.
Averting his gaze back onto Cassie’s grave, his shoulders dropped as he let out a deep breath. “Mommy, I’m okay,” was the first thing he said to his mother. The statement was heavy enough to cause Kross’ eyes to scorch. Aniyis knew his mother’s main concern would be his well-being. She devoted her life to being his mother, and in every instance, she put him first. “I’m with daddy now. It’s like y’all take turns.”
Ruffling Aniyis’ dreads, Kross let out a laugh. “Yeah, you be getting over on me now that it’s my turn. Keep telling me bedtime is at eleven when you know Mommy had you in bed by nine-thirty,” he added, hoping to lighten the mood to prevent the tears that clogged his eyes from falling.
An infectious laugh eased out of Aniyis as he leaned his head back in full amusement since he knew he’d been pulling a fast one on his father for a few days now. “Nine-thirty on school nights, but I can’t go to school right now.” He motioned his hand over himself, alluding to the current state of his health.
It was nice to have a laugh together in the presence of Cassie’s spirit. It had been a while since they felt the amount of peace they had within them in that moment. After sittingthe new arrangement of roses on her grave, Kross decided to give Aniyis a moment alone with his mother, so he took a few steps back. This was something Raquel did for him as a child whenever they went to go visit his father, Christian. It allowed him the space to speak to his father freely without the fear of someone judging. He was praying that he was providing the same safe space for his baby boy.
The visit went well, and Aniyis proved to his father that he was emotionally intelligent enough to understand what was going on and process it the way he should. A few tears were shed, but that was a given for a child who had never been away from his mother.
“We’ll come back next Saturday. I promise,” Kross assured Aniyis while using his thumb to wipe away some tears that stained his face.
Once they were loaded back into the car, Kross headed in the direction of his mother’s house. Temporarily, Aniyis would be set up there just so Kross could have some help from his village with taking care of Aniyis during the early stages of his recovery. Raquel and Andres opened up their home to them without any hesitation. This was Kross’ first time being a full-time father, so he could use all the help he could get. The two boys were enveloped in a comfortable silence as smooth rap music circulated the car. They were both processing the visit to Cassie’s grave, so silence was expected.
Once he pulled into the driveway, a chuckle rolled out of him at the sight of Noonie and Los anxiously jolting out of their seats for Aniyis’ arrival. Raquel wanted to have her whole church congregation and contact list out to welcome her grandson back home, but Kross talked her into scaling it back to just his homeboys, and he even allowed Zeke to slide through.
Kross got out and aided Aniyis with climbing into his chair before wheeling him to the house. “The most solid little nigga Iknow!” Los jeered as he ruffled Aniyis’ dreads. “Uncle Los glad you straight, little homie.”
“You a hardbody for real, Niyis. Once you shake back, we getting you back on that field,” Noonie added as he dapped Aniyis up.
Kross chuckled with a shake of his head. “Y’all niggas hell, man.”
They all headed inside and were met with Raquel and Andres who welcomed Aniyis home with open arms. As they entered the front room of the home so Aniyis could be transferred to the couch, they were met with Ezekiel, who was in the process of hooking the game system up to the television.
“Aye, ‘Niyis! I got you the PS5 so you can play some Fortnite while you getting better.” Zeke smiled, hoping the gesture would bring some happiness to his nephew.
Aniyis reflected the smile on his uncle’s face as he nodded. “Thank you, Uncle Zeke.”
“It ain’t nothing, little man. I’m just glad you’re good.”
The two brothers exchanged glances at each other, waiting to see if the other would extend the olive branch to speak. Everyone in the room could feel the tension between them. It was thick enough to cut it with a knife. Kross didn’t have anything to say to his little brother, which was why he didn’t speak.
“Let me holla at you in private.” Ezekiel was the one to cut through the tension between them and speak first. That was always the case when it came to their disputes. Kross just had way too much pride.
Kross’ cold eyes peered into Ezekiel, searching for any signs of why he needed to have a conversation. Their parents, Los and Noonie looked between them anxiously, waiting to see whether Kross would agree to speak to him. He decided not to shut his brother out and agreed to talk with a curt head nod. Once he wrapped up setting up the game system, he handed thecontroller off to Aniyis so he could go off and speak to Kross. The two men found privacy on the back porch of their mother’s home. Kross stared at Zeke blankly, awaiting to hear what he had to say.
“Yo, why the fuck would you light up these niggas’ hood without back up? You looking to die or something?” Ezekiel screwed his face up at Kross.
With a smack of his lips, Kross shook his head. “Man, I’m tired of y’all niggas questioning me ‘bout how the fuck I wanna move.”
“‘Cause you moving like you ain’t got no fucking sense. That shit could’ve went bad, and them niggas could’ve left you on the concrete.”
“I’m still standing, nigga. Trust, them niggas going out before I do.”
Ezekiel ran his hands down his face frustratedly. Talking to Kross was like talking to a brick wall. Nothing you said could ever get through to him. Reaching into his pocket, Ezekiel pulled out his burner cell and handed it over to him.
“They put money on your fucking head, K. Look for yourself.”
Taking the phone from Ezekiel, Kross could see the hit of 15k on his head. The hit was amusing to him, prompting a bitter chuckle to dispel out of him. “Them niggas not touching no real paper if they think they can get the job done for 15 racks. How you get this, though?”
“I’m plugged in, K. You can’t go to war with these niggas without me. I’m your fucking brother. If anybody rocking behind you, it’s me, so let’s kill this beef between us and put these niggas down.”
Ezekiel knew he dropped the ball when it came to giving his brother all the details about Cassie’s murder. In his defense, he wanted to handle it and allow Kross time to solely focus on Aniyis. Knowing what he knew now, he would have neverdoubted his brother’s ability to handle business and be in the right headspace to be a father to Aniyis. It was his mistake, and he was man enough to apologize.
“I’m sorry, K.”
Kross eyed his brother up and down. There wasn’t anyone he trusted more than him, and having him at his side would bring him a lot of ease.
