Page 62 of Don't Kross Me
“He’s gone,” she croaked out faintly through her tears.
“No, no, no, not Los!” Kross shook his head in denial that his homie from middle school was no longer alive. They had just celebrated his birthday not too long ago, and even though the night ended in bloodshed, all Kross could remember was how happy Los was. He finally got his boys back together with Kross finally home, and he was grateful to celebrate 32 years around the sun with them. That night was a true testament of what type of nigga Los was. Even though it was his night to celebrate, he still shared the spotlight with Kross and made it clear that they were celebrating his homecoming as well. Los was a real nigga, and Kross was blessed to have him by his side for twenty-plus years.
“Fuck!” Ezekiel crouched down, too weak to stand. He felt like he had just gotten the wind blown out of him. Los was such great energy and one of the realest niggas he knew. He ain’t deserve to go out the way he did.
Noonie opened his arms for Audri, knowing that losing her twin must’ve been devastating.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna tell Mami. She can’t handle this type of loss,” Audri cried while burying her head in Noonie’s chest. Her and Los’ mother, Lizette, was in the process of receiving chemo right now, so she had no idea how she was going to break the news to her.
Kross sighed deeply as he rubbed Audri’s back alongside Noonie. “Listen, we family, Audri. Whatever you or Lizette need, we got y’all,” he assured her. He knew that nothing he said could make her feel better, but it was still nice to know Los’ boys were going to look out for them.
One by one, the men were taken back to pay their respects to their homie. Seeing Los like that scarred each one of them for life. Los was a straight shooter, and he didn’t play out in the streets, but that never took away from the fact that he was so full of life. His big frame was intimidating as hell, but once he got to know you, he became a big-ass teddy bear.
Kross gripped Los’ cold hand in his, withholding the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. “I love you, bro. Look out for Cassie for me up there. This shit not over, and I put that on everything I love,” he promised Los before leaving out of the room. He was the last one to pay his respect to Los, and one by one, each of them lost a piece of themselves as soon as they laid eyes on Los’ lifeless body.
Eventually, Audri’s husband was able to make his way over to the hospital, and the guys left, trusting her in his hands.
“I need Serge to get us right with a van and some license plates by sundown. Handle that,” Kross directed his little brother. The coldness he had in his tone let Noonie and Ezekiel know he was out for blood. “Make sure them boys are on go out in Pompano and all-around Liberty. I’ll get us right with all the shit we need from Nina,” he then instructed Noonie.
The three men dapped up with chilling looks in their eyes. “We not wasting no time. Them niggas is dead,” Kross throated out before they went their separate ways in their cars.
Clutching his iron, Kross sped back to his condo, cleaned out all the paper he had stashed there, and stuffed it into a duffle bag. With a bag filled with close to fifty-thousand dollars, he left the condo and got back into his car. He sped straight over to Remedy’s shop and used the spare key she had given him. It was close to three in the morning, so he was sure he wouldn’t run into her or any of the other barbers. He rushed into her office and gained access to the safe where they kept the paper she collected from the drops she made. He emptied the safe of all the money, filling the duffle bag to capacity. Nina was nobody to play with, and she wasn’t a cheap bitch, so he had to make sure he came correct.
Just as he was locking the shop back up to get in his car, his phone vibrated with a call. Usually, Kross would never miss a phone call, but he was so locked into tunnel vision, he missed the call. When his phone started to vibrate again, he reached into his pocket and saw that it was Remedy calling.
“Kross, what the fuck are you doing at the shop at three in the morning?” she stressed. She got an alert on her phone from the cameras he had installed. As hard as she tried to go to sleep, she spent the entire time tossing and turning, concerned about his safety. He was a real street nigga through and through, so it went without saying that the niggas who spun on his homie were about to get knocked off.
He leaned his head back against the headrest of his seat and let out a heavy sigh. His heart and mind were heavy, and even though it sounded like Remedy was about to chew his ass out, hearing her voice brought him a sense of peace.
“Don’t worry about it, shawty. You need to be sleep.”
Remedy sat up in bed, glad that she was able to get him on the phone. “I couldn’t sleep without knowing if you were okay. How is your friend? Is he okay?”
Kross ran his hand down his face as a defeated groan full of pain dispelled out of him. “Nah, Rem. We lost him,” his baritone voice weakly sounded through her ears.
This was a back-to-back loss Kross was suffering. Absolutely nothing would be the same.
“Damn, Kross,” Remedy sympathized with him, her voice full of sorrow. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
“This shit hurt, Remedy, but I’m used to it.” He shrugged his broad shoulders.
“I know, but we’re gonna get through this, together this time,” she assured him, causing a faint smile to grace his face. Having somebody in his corner who understood what he was feeling and wasn’t afraid to tackle the pain head on with him was a blessing. “What do you need from me?”
His eyes shifted to the duffle bag full of paper he had in his passenger seat. He was road running and getting shit together so they could slide on them Zone 7 niggas for what they did to Los and Cassie. He didn’t have a minute to chill with her to get his mind right.
“I’m gone send you some paper to get us a room at The Setai. I’ll meet you there when I’m done.”
“Kross, just meet me there now. I can hear it in your voice that shit is not right with you, and I don’t want you doing anything crazy.”
“I can’t do that right now.” Kross shook his head. “I promise I’m good, shawty. I’ll meet you at the hotel in a minute.”
Accepting her defeat, she let out a sigh before agreeing. “I’ll see you later. Please stay safe.”
“I’ll make it back to you. Don’t trip, shawty,” he assured her before they mutually decided to end the call.
With no hesitation, he sent a few bands her way so she could secure the hotel room. In the midst of him doing that, Noonie hit him with the location to meet Nina. He appreciated Nina’s tenacity to make her money. She heard the urgency in Noonie’s voice and knew the Paper Chase Crew always came through with whatever her asking price was, so it was no stress to her to make it happen for them during the wee hours of the morning.
Kross drove for miles on the interstate until he reached West Palm Beach. On the road, he met up with one of the Paper Chase soldiers, Ace, who would be moving the artillery back to the city. He couldn’t risk getting caught up with anything, so he was playing his cards right. Kross and Ace stood in front of the Maybach and Escalade they rode in as Nina and her crew seemed to emerge from the shadows of the beach. Right where the tide crashed onto the shore underneath the pier, Nina came rolling ten deep with her men. She and the Paper Chase Crew had one hell of a relationship, but she didn’t trust anyone, so she always made sure her security was tight.
