Noonie let out a deep sigh as his eyes shifted from Kross to Los. “You know who else out in Pompano?” he asked Los.
“Them Zone 7 niggas.”
“Exactly,” Kross confirmed. “Nothing is off limits. Them niggas leaving Florida in a body bag.”
“Shit, if you rocking, then I’m rolling.” Noonie extended his hand to Kross to conclude the meeting with their handshake.
Noonie was down with whatever, so Kross wasn’t concerned about him the least bit. After dapping his cousin up, he glanced over at Los, who seemed to still be on the fence about bum-rushing these Chi-raq niggas’ territory.
“Nigga, if you scared, go to church,” Kross slyly told him.
“Ain’t no hoe in me. I’m just thinking about where Ezekiel falls into this. This war shit started with him. It needs to end with him too,” Los reminded him.
Another reason why Kross couldn’t stand being around his brother right now was the fact that he knew this war between the Paper Chase Crew and the Zone 7 Disciples could have probably been avoided and Cassie would’ve still been alive. The more he learned about the way his little brother conducted himself while he was away serving time, the more he regretted his decision to entrust him with the throne. The ego, the flashiness, and the recklessness were bound to be Ezekiel’s down fall.
“Nah, it started with him, but now, it’s ending with me. Ain’t nobody lose as much as I did, so I’m coming for blood,” Kross corrected him with a shake of his head. “So, you with me or I gotta make an example out of you too?”
“We family,” Los confirmed before dapping Kross up.
The men discussed the plan and a few more logistics for the move before Kross’ phone went off in his pocket. Upon seeingthat it was his mother Raquel calling, he excused himself from the table and went to the back porch for some privacy.
“What’s up, Ma? ‘Niyis good?”
Raq gulped down the lump that was beginning to close off her throat before responding to her son.
“Kross, baby, you need to get here now. Something is wrong.”
She was in full distress while speaking to him. In the distance, Kross could hear the chaos that was going on in his son’s hospital room. His heart dropped and shattered in the pit of his stomach as the thought of losing his baby boy ran rampant in his head.
“I’m on my way.”
Chapter Nine
Kross always felt like he was born with a bad set of cards dealt to him. Hence the fact that he went through life with a chip on his shoulder. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Since getting out, he’d been the furthest thing from a child of God, but his faith was the only avenue he felt he could turn to when it came to Aniyis. If Aniyis left this world, then so would he. He simply would have no use in living.
Darkness took over the sky as rolls of thunder shook the city. Kross weaved in and out of traffic, prompting blaring sounds of horns to be heard in the distance whenever he cut somebody off. He knew it was going to storm today. What he didn’t expect was the rain to wash away his son’s life. He prayed to God that Aniyis would be fine. However, based on what he heard in the background of the call he had with Raq, Aniyis had his entire medical staff in a panic.
He took a quick turn off the interstate, allowing the glowing red lights of the hospital to shine through his windshield. Since Aniyis had become an established patient in the children’s intensive care unit, he would usually park his vehicle in the parking garage and make his way over to the west wing of the hospital. Due to the circumstances and the urgency of thesituation, he had to get to his baby boy, so he hastily pulled into the emergency triage entrance. Once the car was set into Park, he hopped out and was immediately drenched by the pouring rain.
“Sir, you can’t park there!” he heard security call out from behind him, but he was too focused on getting to Aniyis to pay him any mind.
He cut through the emergency triage area and took the first elevator that was offered. His heart felt like it was pounding outside of his chest, a contrast to the mellow elevator music that sounded through his ears. With every attempt the elevator made to stop on another floor to pick up other guests, Kross slammed the button for the doors to shut, not caring who he left behind to catch the next lift.
Once he got onto the sixth floor, he did the dash on foot over to the west wing so he could get to Aniyis. The hospital was only fifteen minutes away from the trap, and from how heavy he had his foot on the gas pedal, Kross was sure he made it in nine minutes.
His urgency caught the attention of many staff members who were desperate to get him to stop; however, he made it clear that if anyone got in his way, he would bulldoze right through them. Many of the staff on the pediatric intensive care unit knew him as Aniyis’ father. Cassie’s and Aniyis’ story was still making its rounds on the news, and everyone was hoping Aniyis would shake back from the coma he was in.
“Mr. Hunter, please stop!” he heard from behind him as he busted through the double doors that led to the hall of Aniyis’ room.
Right before his eyes, he could see Aniyis’ bed quickly being wheeled out of his room while doctors and nurses surrounded him. Not too far behind Aniyis, Raquel hurried out of the room with tears cascading down her face.
“Aye, what’s going on with my son?!” Kross throated out in distress as he witnessed the compressions that were being done on Aniyis’ chest. He rushed over to be by his son’s side; however, he was blocked by a few nurses who were a part of the team working on Aniyis.
“Mr. Hunter, we are taking him to the operating room. We will be sure to return with an update soon,” Aniyis’ day-nurse, Nurse Moriah, assured him as she sat her hand on his Kross’ chest in an attempt to stop him from interfering with the rush the medical staff was in.
“Operating room for what?! What the fuck happened?!” he roared as Aniyis was rushed out the doors of the intensive care unit.
“Please, Mr. Hunter! We need all hands on deck to ensure Aniyis receives the best treatment right now. We will come out and give you an update soon,” she advised him again.
