Chapter 19 #2
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 let Remedy 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 away her 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.
“Remember you told me ain’t shit free,” he recalled her words from the time she made him pay her for the hair cut she serviced him with.
“Yeah, but that was for you. Plus, I ain’t really fuck with you then ‘cause you kept having them young niggas fuck up my shop.”
A chortle escaped Kross as he stuffed the money into her Louis Vuitton tote bag. “Take the fucking money, Remedy,” he asserted, making it clear that she had no choice. “Buy something nice to put on for when I take you out.”
With nothing but confidence, he held the door open for her and allowed her to get into the car.
“Take me out?” She bumped her brows together as if she hadn’t heard him properly. In confirmation, he nodded his head, shocking her a bit. It was sad to admit, but she hadn’t been on a date in years, so him making plans prompted a wave of butterflies to flutter within her stomach.
“I wanna see you in all black. Make that happen for me.”
With nothing but swag and finesse, he made his way to his car and strapped Aniyis in before getting in himself.
They ended up pulling off at the same time, Remedy heading home to scroll online for an idea of what black dress she needed to cop for their date, and Kross to his condo to put Aniyis into bed.
He decided to just keep his son for the night.
He enjoyed the day with him too much to just drop him back off at Raq’s house.
He knew he would hear his mother’s mouth about it the next morning, but he didn’t give a fuck.
Once he arrived at the condo, he carried Aniyis out of the car and inside.
After locking up behind him, he made a beeline straight to Aniyis’ room and laid him gently on his bed.
Instead of getting in bed himself, he decided to pack another bag for Aniyis to take to Raquel’s house.
He knew if he didn’t do it now, he would forget.
He packed a few more pajamas, boxers, and outfits for Aniyis to wear to his upcoming doctor appointments.
As he reached up in the closet to grab another set of sweatpants for Aniyis, he ended up knocking down a box that was tucked behind the stack of pants that were folded up nicely.
The box tumbled down and landed right at Kross’ feet.
He crouched down to put it back, but once he read the words printed on the box, his face screwed up in sheer confusion.
In big bold letters, the box read: At Home DNA Paternity Test Kit
Kross could feel of rush of anger flow through his body as he clenched the DNA test in hand and averted his eyes over to Aniyis, who was sound asleep in bed. A sharp pain stabbed his heart as the thought of Aniyis not being his crossed his mind.
“What the fuck?”