Chapter 17 #2
As she stood over him, she could see the redness that crowded his hazy eyes. It was clear as day that he smoked one right before running into his sister. Grabbing ahold of his face, Remedy assessed his eyes as a look of disappointment filled hers.
“You smoking now, Melo? What the fuck has gotten into you?!” she stressed.
Like always, Melo went completely radio silent.
He sat there with his jaws clenched and his hands balled up into fists.
She really did try her best with him since he was young and trying to figure out life after losing Deno and witnessing Ava get progressively worse, but he was becoming too much to handle.
Before Melo could grant her another sly remark, the sound of pans crashing to the floor alarmed the siblings.
Together, they both rushed out the room and made a beeline straight to the commotion, only to see Ava tossing around kitchenware crazily.
She picked up a frying pan and chucked it toward the wall, and the collision sounded throughout the home with a loud bang.
“Ma! Listen to me! You have to stop!” Remedy attempted to reason with her mother, who was right in the middle of a schizophrenic episode.
“Man, what the fuck?!” Tone emerged from the bedroom, witnessing the chaos Ava was stirring up in the kitchen.
“Both of y’all, stop fucking yelling at her!” Melo snapped at them as he slowly began inching closer and closer to Ava.
“Control her crazy ass!” Tone hissed indignantly.
Remedy snapped her head in his direction, immediately cutting her eyes at him. “Don’t fucking call her that!”
Melo finally got in arms reach of his mother without her chucking a pan right at him. “She’s why I can’t go to fucking school, Remedy.” He held their distressed mother in his arms while she sobbed on his shoulder uncontrollably.
Since Deno passed, Melo was the only one who could calm Ava down whenever she had an episode.
Remedy was too frantic a lot of the time and had yet to learn how to tone down her own emotions when it came to dealing with Ava.
Before their father passed, Ava was cleared to stay home alone, but now, with him gone, her mental was declining rapidly, so she needed more supervision.
Whenever Melo thought he could go to school and trust his mother would be fine without him, she would say or do something that would have him second guessing.
He was glad that he listened to his intuition today and hopped off the school bus when he did.
If Ava had this episode with just Tone and Remedy home, he knew shit would have ended badly.
Remedy bit down on her bottom lip, suppressing the tears that wanted to spring from her eyes. Seeing Melo take control of the situation with ease reminded her so much of her father. She had absolutely no idea how she managed to make it this far without him.
“I’ll get you set up for online school. Just give me a few days,” she murmured as she wiped the tears that managed to cascade from her eyes.
Melo shot her a curt nod before he fixed his full attention on his mother and cleaning up the disaster she made in the kitchen.
Tone returned to the bedroom to get dressed, but not before he made it clear to Remedy that he couldn’t continue living in a home with her crazy-ass mama.
Melo shooed her away too since the looks of pity she was giving Ava could potentially trigger her all over again.
After putting on her make-up and straightening her hair, Remedy left the home and headed to the nearest CVS.
There, she purchased the Plan-B and took it while riding to the shop.
She pulled into the parking lot, and it was empty aside from an all-black Maybach and a Ford pick-up that was parked alongside it.
When she got out of her car, the door of the Maybach to swung open, and Kross stepped out looking like money.
His cement gray Retro Jordan 4s crushed the gravel underneath his feet as he shut the door of his car.
Remedy’s eyes trailed up from his sneakers, appreciating the well thought-out fit that consisted of a pair of light denim designer jeans and a gray and white Bape jersey.
His jewelry was always eye-catching, and his wrist and neck were both flooded out with diamonds.
“You’re late,” was the first thing he said to her, coldness lacing his tone.
“My bad. I got caught up.”
“I need that shit not to happen again. My time is money, shawty.”
Remedy refrained from allowing her face to screw up into a mean mug by pursing her lips. “I’m here now, so what’s up?”
Last time they linked, they broke new ground and actually enjoyed each other’s company.
Now that it was time to talk business, Kross had a whole new demeanor, one that was cold and unapproachable.
The shop wasn’t due to open until ten that morning.
They had agreed to meet early at eight so he could give her the run-down on how shit was going to operate and still give her ample time to prepare for her clients she had coming in.
Her strolling in close to nine had Kross pissed since she had him waiting and wasting time.
He gestured to the door of the shop, indicating that he needed her to unlock it so they could head inside. Once they were inside, she turned on the lights, and he walked right past her to the back office that was now only reserved for her. She rolled her eyes and dragged her feet behind him.
“I’m gone need a key ‘round here since you don’t got a clear concept of time.”
“A key is pushing it.” She let the mean mug she was suppressing just a minute ago take over her face.
“It ain’t a fucking option.” He shook his head. “Look, we did all the negotiating before we shook hands and cut this deal, so I’m not doing all the back and forth with you. I get a key, or this shit can end before it even start.”
Clenching her jaws, she inhaled a deep breath to kill the urge she had to be combative.
“Alright, you can have a key.” She had two keys on her keychain, so she took one off and sat it right in the palm of his hand.
All she had on her mind right now was getting enough paper from this deal to get Melo and her mom a nice place to live.
Kross was actually surprised that he didn’t get much lip from her.
He slipped the key into his pocket before he got straight into business.
“You not about to be nickel and diming anything because everything is already weighed and bagged up for you. And you better not speak a word of this to nobody, not even folks you think you can trust ‘cause you’ll become an easy-ass lick,” he coached her with a stern look in his eye.
“Whoever hit you up to come cop is sent by me, and I’ll give you the heads up on them before anything.
I already gave motherfuckas the memo that they need to pull up solo.
There shouldn’t be no additional faces. If anybody pull up with somebody, you don’t do the drop, and you hit me up immediately.
All my money should be good before you give them any work.
It’s your responsibility to make sure it’s all there?”
“My responsibility?” Remedy cut in with her brows bumped together. “How I’m supposed to do that?”
Kross knew she wasn’t fully capable of protecting herself at all times, so he had that covered. “I got you some muscle to keep shit in order, but if shit do get a little crazy, use this.” He reached into his waistband and pulled out a gun. As he extended it to her, she eyed it with a crazed look.
“I can’t take that.” She shook her head.
“Remedy, take the fucking gun.”
“No. I have too short of a temper to be walking around this bitch strapped. I’m good.”
Kross smacked his lips. “Take the fucking gun, shawty. I’m not gone tell you no more,” he ordered, this time with a stern look in his eyes.
Reluctantly, Remedy reached out, and her small hands gripped the cold steel of the gun. “Is it clean?”
“Of course it’s clean. I wouldn’t jam you up with a dirty gun,” he assured her.
He made sure there was a thorough search conducted in the database to ensure the piece wasn’t linked to any crimes or murders. Despite her willingness to help him move a few birds, he knew she was a female who couldn’t handle that type of heat, so he took some extra precautions for her.
He watched her walk around the desk and conceal the gun in one of the bottom drawers. “So, what else I gotta do?”
“Only contact me from this phone.” He pulled out a burner he had stashed in his back pocket.
“I already put my trap number in it. For every drop, I assign these niggas a number. I’m gone text you the number and the amount of paper they need to give you.
If you don’t get a text from me, or they pull up with the same number they gave you last time, just know shit not right and you’re getting set up.
No matter who the nigga claim he is to me, you get my paper first, count it up, then you give him the work.
Shouldn’t none of these motherfuckas try to pull shit on you since I vetted them and been in business with them for a while.
I just want you to be prepared just in case shit go south. You feel me?”
Shakily, Remedy nodded her head. It was a lot to digest, but it seemed like he had all his bases covered.
Prior to this, he had already hired some men to install a safe into the office wall and hook the shop up with a top-of-the-line surveillance system.
The back door was right in the office, so none of her barbers were going to see any of the drops that would be made.
She managed to find a way to keep her daddy’s shop running and make some easy and fast money on the side. This was a miracle!
After discussing a few more things, Kross excused himself to go grab whoever was pulled in next to him in the Ford pick-up.
Moments later, a stocky man who stood at a staggering height of six-foot-four entered the office alongside Kross.
Remedy couldn’t help but admire his long dreads that hung down to his waist. He reminded her so much of her father.
“This is Dee. He’s gone be your muscle,” Kross introduced the two.
Remedy offered her hand to Dee, and they shook hands.
Kross took the duffle bag Dee had carried inside and sat it on the table.
Once he unzipped it, her eyes couldn’t help but widen at the amount of work that was packed into it.
The bricks of pure white were all wrapped tightly in saran wrap.
Kross and Dee did a count before they stocked up the safe for her.
Once they were done, he instructed Dee to go post up so he could have a moment with Remedy.
“You cool? This shit not too much for you, is it?” he asked her while his fingers stroked his beard.
“I’m good. Just waiting on my funds.” She hiked her brow up at him.
Amused by her straightforwardness, Kross chuckled. “Don’t worry about your paper. I’ll drop it off later tonight when you closing.”
A stale look etched her face when she realized she wasn’t getting the money he promised straight out the gate. “See, now you playing with me.”
“Never that, shawty. How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t be on bullshit today? You be tripping out every other day. I wasn’t about to be riding around the hood with fifteen racks for no reason.”
“About my money, I don’t be on bullshit. Make sure you have my shit tonight, or I’ll raise hell,” she warned him with a devious look in her eye.
Kross knew just from dealing with her crazy ass tripping out on him before she was capable of raising hell like she threatened, but still, he found her amusing. He wasn’t intimidated by her in the slightest.
“You gone get enough of talking to me crazy like that,” he challenged with a smirk etched in his handsome face.
With a roll of her eyes, she waved him off before opening the door and motioning for him to make his way out. “Yeah, whatever, nigga.”
“You need some dick,” he outwardly mentioned without an ounce of care about how crude he came off.
His bold claim caused her to gasp in shock and slam the door shut since Dee wasn’t standing too far away and heard exactly what he said. Whipping around to face him, she shot him a cold look through her narrowed eyes.
“I know you ain’t been getting none ‘cause you walk around this bitch ready to snap at anybody for the smallest shit,” he said, reading her from cover to cover.
She fused her hand onto her curvaceous hip while looking up at him and shooting daggers with her eyes. “Nigga, you don’t know what fuck I got going on, and you don’t know what the fuck I need.”
Another chuckle dispelled out of him. “I know ain’t no way in hell you letting that pussy-ass nigga who be roughing you up drop dick inside you. Be real, Remedy. You need that attitude fucked right up outta’ you.”
His deep oak eyes peered right into her amber ones as his baritone voice and slick Florida accent sounded through her ears.
In denial, she clenched the walls of her pussy, internally not wanting to give Kross the satisfaction of wetting up her panties.
She felt herself getting hot despite her position right under the vent that provided central cooling within the office.
Before he committed himself to Cassie, he was a ladies’ man and knew exactly when he had a shawty ready to fold.
It was clear as day that he had her flustered, and that only stroked his ego more.
She was at a loss for words, and he basked in the fact that he finally got her to shut the fuck up.
He took a seat at the edge of the desk in the office and grabbed her hand to pull her close.
They were so close that she could smell the mint gum he indulged in on his cool breath.
Too close for her to bear the electric current that sparked her body, she took a step back.
“Listen, shawty. Whenever you need a nigga to release some of that pressure?” She was still within arm’s reach of him, so he reached down and slowly dragged his cold fingertips along the backs of her exposed thighs.
All the hairs on the back of her neck shot up as a chill ran down her spine. “—let me know and I got you.”
The light touch he was gracing her thigh with caused her breath to get stuck in her throat briefly. This nigga was dangerous, and Remedy was tempted to dive right into the ocean of risky waters that was Kross Hunter.
Before she could muster up the strength to utter anything in return, he stood up and exited the room. He left her with nothing but his words replaying in her mind, his intoxicating cologne flowing through her nostrils, and some wet panties.