“What? You don’t trust me with him or something?”
“I don’t trust nobody right now,” Kross admitted with a shrug, not caring how he came off.
A bitter chuckle streamed out of her as she shook her head. They had only met a handful of times prior to him getting locked up, and most of the time, they were all getting too fucked up from drinking, smoking and partying to actually get to know each other. While locked up, he could recall Cassie mentioning her cousin Amoura a lot. They were best friends, and Cassie even gave her the honor of being Aniyis’ god mom. Granted, she was close with Cassie, but right now, Kross wasn’t putting anything past anyone.
“No disrespect, but that little boy has seen more of me than he’s seen of you,” she hissed.
“That sounded real fucking disrespectful,” he scoffed. “Y’all act like I’m just some deadbeat who dipped out on my lady as soon as I found out she was pregnant. I was sitting in a fucking cell for seven years, and I still did more than a lot of niggas could. My lady and my son were just shot up a couple of days ago, and nobody knows why or who was behind it, so as of right now, nobody can be trusted.”
“I would never do anything to Cassie or Aniyis. I lost my cousin, and that hurt is too heavy for me to face right now, so I would like to sit here and hold her baby boy’s hand ‘cause I know that’s what she would want me to do.”
Kross peered into Amoura’s eyes, seeing nothing but sincerity within them. She also had done a lot of crying and was on her last bit of strength. She was hoping for Aniyis to wake up so she could have someone to hold onto in remembrance of her cousin.
“A’ight. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he finally agreed to leave. “Just call me if anything changes.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out the phone Ezekiel got for him since he refused to leave the hospital to go get one for himself.
Relieved that Kross didn’t turn her away, Amoura nodded before pulling her phone out so they could exchange numbers. “Ezekiel stopped by to drop some keys off for you,” she enlightened him while pointing to the small table in the room that had a set of car keys on them. “You were sleep, and he didn’t want to wake you.”
Even though he wasn’t the biggest fan of handouts, Ezekiel still made sure his brother was straight and didn’t give him the option to turn away anything he was providing. Times were hard right now, so he was making sure Kross didn’t have to stress about the small details in life when he had Aniyis to worry about.
“This nigga.” Kross chuckled with a shake of his head as he grabbed the keys to the Range Rover that were left behind for him.
“If you head to the east side, you should stop by Monroe Funeral Home. Joyce is there now, handling the arrangements for Cassie,” Amoura advised, causing him to snap his head in her direction.
“What?” He screwed his face up. “She told me she wasn’t gonna start planning until next week.”
She pursed her lips once she realized Joyce was moving dirty to keep him out of the plans for Cassie’s funeral. “Look, I don’t know much of what Joyce has going on, but I just thought you should know. You and Cassie ain’t have the most conventional relationship, but I know you loved her. You deserve to play a part in laying her to rest.”
“I appreciate that, Amoura,” he said, expressing his gratitude.
He proceeded to brush his teeth and wash his face before throwing on his hoodie so he could head out. Before leaving, he made his way over to Aniyis and gazed down at him. Amoura could see how much Kross loved his son. She wished Cassie was alive to witness it, but under better circumstances.
“Love you, ‘Niyis. I’ll be back,” he told him before craning down to sit a kiss onto his forehead.
Before Kross could convince himself to stay, he headed out of the room, then exited the hospital. With use of the key fob, he signaled the car and found it with ease before hopping in. The 2022 Range Rover was nice as hell, but Kross knew better than to get too comfortable. He didn’t think his brother would every throw it back in his face, but he just preferred doing things on his own.
Instead of driving in the direction of Cassie’s condo, he followed the navigation system to Monroe’s Funeral Home likeAmoura suggested. He ended up arriving in twenty minutes and snagged a parking spot at the front of the building. A heavy breath exhaled out of him before he got out the car. He dreaded walking inside the funeral home. Once he did, it would make everything feel too real, and he would have to finally come to terms with the fact that his lady was never coming back.
Mustering up as much strength as he could, he stepped out of the car and headed into the building. His hands sank low in his pockets as he trekked over to the front desk. “Hi. I’m here to make arrangements for my lady, Cassie Andrews. Her mother is already here. I’m meeting her,” he told the receptionist.
With Cassie’s death being the talk of the city, the woman didn’t have to do any searching within her system to see whether her funeral proceedings were being handled by them. “Right this way,” she said as she allowed him access to the back so he could join Joyce.
As they bypassed the multiple casket options on display, Kross felt a thick knot form in his throat. In a few days, his eyes would grace his lady for the last time, and she would be in a casket, heading six feet under. That was a hard pill to swallow, but he had no other choice but to hold Cassie down all the way to the end because that was what she did for him. The receptionist ushered him right over to Joyce, who was in the middle of making the selection for Cassie’s casket with the funeral director.
Joyce walked around an oak brown casket, assessing whether it was the right one for Cassie. As soon as she turned around and was faced with Kross, glint and anger flashed in her orbs.
“Cassie wouldn’t like that,” he throated out honestly while referring to the casket.
“What are you doing here?” she gritted out, causing confusion to plaster the faces of the funeral director and the receptionist.
Kross carelessly smacked his lips. “What happened to us making the arrangements together? That’s what we agreed on, and that’s how Cassie would want it.”
She stormed over to him with her finger pointed in his face aggressively. “How dare you tell me what my child would have wanted?”
“Because she’s not here to tell you herself. You trying to backdoor me on planning the funeral is fucked up, Joyce, and you know it,” he seethed through clenched jaws. “You’re making all these decisions knowing damn well Cassie wouldn’t fuck with any of them. I’m not asking for much. Just let me do my part for my lady.”
“You wasted seven years of her life having her long for you while you were in jail! I’m not letting you have a part in anything, Kross!” Joyce hissed as salty tears streamed down her face. Burying her child was hard enough. Now she had to deal with Kross, who returned from prison to be a pain in her side.
He cut his eyes at her as his chest rose in anger. “Fuck you, Joyce. On some real shit. You’re so quick to throw that shit up in my face like I’m some ain’t shit-ass nigga. I was locked up making sure she ain’t want for nothing while your ass was out and only ever called whenever you wanted to down her for having a kid with me. Since she died, you been trying to act like you’ve been this great and supportive mother when really, all you ever did was make her feel like shit.”
