Page 58 of Don't Kross Me
“I’ll never put my hands on you, Remedy.”
“I know, and it’s fucked up that I keep doing that to people because I’m always on defense, but, Melo, I’m trying. I’ve been dealing with a lot since Dad died. I know I ain’t perfect, and Dad was way better than me at taking care of everything, but I’m making it happen. Sometimes, all I need is a thank you here and there.”
She felt undervalued as it was dealing with Tone, and Melo was just adding more to that by continuing to be ungrateful and down talking everything she did for him. She understood he was grieving, but he was beginning to spill his hurt onto her, and that wasn’t fair.
A heavy sigh aired out of him as he opened his arms up for her. Remedy shuffled over to her brother and fell into the embrace. It was rare to get Melo to actually feel something and be nice for a change, so she was basking in it.
“I’m sorry, Rem. I appreciate you and all you do,” he expressed his gratitude for his sister.
“What you do for Ma doesn’t go unnoticed, Melo. I appreciate you too.”
She earned a smile out of him as they parted from the embrace. “Why can’t you come with us instead of staying here?Now that me and Ma gone, it’s only gonna get worse. Y’know that, right?”
“I have a few more things I need to get together so I can find a comfortable spot for all of us. I’m making some more money now, so it shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to a month. You don’t gotta worry about me. My job is to worry about you.”
“Remedy, you know if anything happens to you, I’m gonna kill that nigga, right? I put that on Dad.”
Melo was becoming a man, and all he wanted to do was protect his sister. It was appreciated by Remedy, but she knew the type of nigga Tone was, and he would get a kick out of hurting her little brother who came to her defense, so she always told Melo it wasn’t necessary.
“Nothing is gonna happen, Melo. I’m good.”
They ended up packing the truck with the majority of Ava and Melo’s things before Remedy decided to make the first trip to unload the boxes at the duplex. She took Ava and Melo on the ride with her since she knew there was no way in hell she could unload the truck all by herself. Once they arrived, they were immediately greeted by Raquel and Andres, who were nothing but welcoming.
“Thank you for allowing them to move in on such short notice. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate it,” Remedy thanked Raquel once more as they parted from the hug they shared.
“Oh, baby, stop thanking me.” Raquel waved her off with her warm smile and nurturing spirit. “We’re just doing the Lord’s work, and I am grateful that Kross connected us.”
“Me too. He’s a really good friend.” Remedy smiled at the thought of Kross.
Raquel eyed her with an amused look in her eyes. Remedy referring to Kross as a friend was comical to her, especially since the two were walking around the city with matching hickeys.
“Those mosquitos got you too, huh?” she questioned, causing Remedy’s brows to immediately bump together in confusion.
Raquel pointed to Remedy’s neck, referring to the hickeys that were still in the process of fading. It had completely slipped Remedy’s mind that she was about to meet with Kross’ mother. If she remembered, she definitely would have covered up what her son left behind. Quickly, Remedy’s hand went to her neck in an attempt to cover the hickeys.
“Yeah, these mosquitos been brutal,” she laughed nervously.
It was just her luck that Kross’ black-on-black Maybach came rolling through and parked right at the curb of the duplex. The tricked-out sound system he had in his car had the bass thumping and vibrating the street.
“My son and his music,” Raquel sighed in disdain as she began marching over to chastise him. From the front yard, Remedy watched as Raquel chewed Kross out for how loud his music was and the vulgar lyrics he had his son listening to in the back seat.
“Raq, chill. He know better than to say any of the curse words,” Kross laughed as he helped Aniyis out of the car.
Remedy was happy to see that Aniyis had progressed to crutches since the last time she saw him when she did his hair. Raquel led Aniyis inside the duplex, giving Kross and Remedy a chance to catch up.
“You too player for a nigga now? Give a nigga some good pussy, then you get him some roses just to not hit him up all day?” He smirked as he leaned against the hood of his Maybach.
Laughter escaped Remedy as she shook her head. “It ain’t like that. I’ve just been busy, and so have you,” she mentioned while motioning her head toward Aniyis.
“I feel you, shawty.”
A spree of butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she eyed him. It never failed; he was going to look good as fuck everytime she saw him. His crisp white tee gripped his muscles as he sagged his Amiri jeans slightly. He brought the fit together with a pair of porcelain white Air Forces. As he peered down at her with his bottom lip crannied between his gold slugs, all the memories of their passionate rendezvous flashed in her head.
“My people taking care of your mama and little brother? You don’t need anything, right?”
“Your mom and her husband have been more than helpful.” She smiled before looking over her shoulder to see Andres helping Melo and Ava move some boxes inside. “I really can’t thank you enough.”
“You good, shawty. But what was all that you were saying about not being able to fix your problems?” he teased her.
