Chapter 10 #3
Just from the number of cars parked out front, Kross knew the atmosphere was jumping inside, per the usual.
The barbershop was a communal spot for damn near everybody.
He was glad to see not much had changed since he left.
He pushed the door to enter the shop, prompting the chimes that hung from the threshold to ring.
The aroma of barbicide clashing with the heavy mixture of cologne stung his nose upon entering.
He was greeted by the heavy bass of the speakers that were bumping “All There” by Jeezy and Bankroll Fresh, setting the ambiance of the shop.
His entrance prompted all eyes to gravitate onto him, stirring up the energy inside.
The senior barbers in the shop knew Kross all too well. His presence had them shocked since no one really knew he was out of prison. With his confident gait, he trekked to the center of the shop, and his umber eyes scanned around in search of the familiar face he was looking for.
“Aye, Deno around?” he throated out in his baritone voice which cut through the loud music that was blaring from the speakers.
His question filled the shop with a thick tension as eyes darted across the room at each other and mouths were kept shut. He was never blessed with patience, so the fact that he had to repeat himself evoked a heavy sigh of agitation to air out of him.
“Yo, where the fuck Deno at?” His voice boomed throughout the shop, causing even the clients to shift in their seats uncomfortably.
Emerging from the back of the shop, Remedy stood firm with her hand perched on her curvaceous hip and a menacing look webbed within her soft brown eyes.
“Why the fuck are you asking?” she hissed while eying him up and down.
His rich sepia skin that contrasted with the solid gold he had wrapped around his neck and wrist always caught her eye.
Being up close and personal allowed her to admire his chiseled features.
As he peered down at her, he clenched his jaw in annoyance, flexing how sharp his jawline was.
He maintained a low cut with deep waves that could make any woman seasick, which went perfectly with his full, lined up beard.
For a second, Remedy caught herself fantasizing about wetting up his beard with her sweet juices, but she quickly snapped out of it.
Absentmindedly, her orbs trailed down to his tender dark lips.
She could see them moving; however, her mind was too busy taking in how fine he was to actually register what he was saying.
Rudely, he snapped his fingers in her face, hoping to bring her back down to earth.
The little mean mug she had etched on her face didn’t faze him a bit.
Seeing her at the shop was an unpleasant surprise.
Kross was beginning to think this chick was everywhere and that she had some sort of vendetta since every time they ran into each other, she was popping her shit.
“Who you supposed to be? Topflight Security or some shit?” Kross slyly let out while towering over her at his staggering height of six-foot-four.
Granted, he looked good fitted in his designer jeans that sagged slightly and Lanvin branded graphic tee that gripped his muscles, but he came in with the wrong energy, almost like he thought he was running shit.
Last time Remedy checked, her father Deno made it real clear wasn’t nobody running shit in his shop after he passed away besides her.
“You walked into my shit with questions about my father. I think you have shit backward, so you can go ahead and see yourself out,” she instructed and pointed to the door.
Kross shook his head as he continued to shoot daggers at her with his eyes.
Before she knew it, he walked straight past her headed toward the back office where he and Deno would talk business.
Appalled by his lack of regard for what she told him, she stood with her arms folded across her chest, watching as he opened the door to the office.
With a smooth head gesture, he motioned for her to make her way inside the office.
The fucking nerve of him!
The entire shop watched anxiously as she stormed over to Kross with a look of sheer fury webbing her eyes.
“See, I done told your ass to see yourself the fuck out. Now you keep testing me. You better get your ass gone before I call up my nigga and have him beat your ass in front of all these people,” she sassed with her lethal tongue.
This was three run-ins with the same nigga who always managed to trigger a bad attitude out of her by acting like he ran shit.
She wasn’t having it then, and she for damn sure wasn’t having it now.
Finding her little threat amusing, Kross threw his head back in laughter.
“Shawty, call whoever you need to fucking call. I promise you I’ll have that nigga laid out before he steps foot in this bitch,” he snarled at her, his demeanor changing as quick as a light switch.
“You’re a lady, so I done let a lot of shit slide, but don’t think you about to be ice skating ‘round this motherfucka’.
I got business with Deno, and me standing here going back and forth with you ain’t making me no fucking paper, so I suggest you get Deno over here now before I shut this shit down. ”
Remedy had tolerated enough disrespect, and it triggered her. Before she could get the chance to think her actions through, her hand went across his face. The collision her palm made with the side of his face evoked a wave of gasps out of everyone who filled the shop.
“Nigga, I don’t know who the fuck you?” Before she could get anything else out, she was interjected by Kross’ massive hand latching tightly around the wrist of the same hand that struck his face.
Once she felt him yank her inside of the office and heard the door slam shut behind her, that was when she came to terms with the fact that she had fucked up.
Kross had so much anger pumping through him that the hinges of the door loosened because of how hard he slammed it.
This bitch had some real issues. At first, she thought he was following her, and now, something clicked in her nutty ass mind to make her think she would live to see another day after smacking him.
With him towering over her, she finally came down in size and felt as small as an atom. His nose flared out as his built chest filled with air. She was close enough to see the pulsating veins that surfaced out of his neck and forehead.
“Bitch, is you fucking crazy?!” He barked down at her with his jaws clenched. “Do you want me to blow your fucking head off in this bitch?!”
He now held both of her wrists above her head and pinned her against the office wall. Her eyes glistened with tears that were threatening to fall, but her pride refused to let them. She knew better than to use her tears to get her out of the hole she dug herself into.
“Every time I cross paths with you, it’s always some shit,” he gritted down at her. “Aside from the fact that I don’t put my hands on women, the only thing that’s sparing you is the fact that I know you getting your ass fucked up already.”
He kept her arms pinned up above her head with one hand and used his other hand to smudge the flawless application of concealer and foundation she had put on to blur out the black eye that was still in the process of healing.
He recalled noticing it when he checked on her after seeing her knocked out in her car.
She left a bad taste in his mouth then, and she was doing the same thing now.
“Fuck you!” Remedy spat while squirming in his hold, desperately trying to free herself. Unfortunately, the strength she held in her five-foot-five frame was no match.
He peered at her through his now dark eyes.
It was taking everything in him not the berate her like he wanted to, but he simply couldn’t.
It just wasn’t in his character to do so.
While watching her struggle to free herself from his grip, his eyes drifted to the left of them, and that was when he noticed the obituary that was framed and mounted on the wall.
He gazed at the photo of Deno before quickly shifting his gaze back to her.
A look of sympathy masked his face just for a brief second before he relinquished her wrist from his grip.
Before she could go wild and send another blow in his direction, Kross gripped her face in his hand and forced her to look up at him.
“You chose the right motherfucka’ to put your hands on today.
If I was anything like that nigga who gave you that black eye, you would’ve got laid the fuck out.
I promise you that,” he spewed down at her venomously.
“Don’t worry about this month ‘cause I’m looking out for Deno, but next month, you better have my fucking paper, and I need it without all that extra shit you got going on.
” He let go of her face then proceeded to the door.
Remedy could feel the anger brewing within her and on the verge of bubbling over.
As furious as she was, what could she really do?
He would turn her every which way but loose in the office.
Plus, just because of the way none of the men in the barbershop intervened, she came to realization that whoever he was, he must’ve carried some weight.
Too bad she didn’t give a fuck about any of that.
“Nigga, you ain’t getting shit out of me!”
Another cold and deep chuckle sounded out of him as he looked over his shoulder at her. “Play with me if you want to, Ms. Remedy.”