“You’re right about that,” Kross chuckled with a nod of his head as he opened his plate.
“I don’t know if I got your order right, but just be grateful,” she said with a lighthearted shrug.
He assessed the plate as a smirk graced his face. “I mean,” he teased, stretching out the words jokingly. “I do like my wingsfried hard and all flats, but this your first food run, so I ain’t tripping.”
Laughter exhaled out of Amoura as she replied, “Don’t get too comfortable now, nigga. I will make this my first and last food run if you keep on.”
“I’m fucking with you. I appreciate you for remaining steady for Aniyis. Three weeks in, and I’m realizing that I can’t really do all this by myself. You show up whenever I call,” Kross expressed his gratitude for her.
Amoura took a seat across from him and opened her plate so she could eat as well. “It’s nothing,” she denied with a shrug. “My cousin was my best friend, and I know if the shoe was on the other foot, she would do the same for me.”
“Real shit. She was loyal as fuck,” he agreed as he thought about Cassie.
“I miss her. I probably wouldn’t be seeing much of her once you got home, but my bitch always calls if she doesn’t hear from me by the end of the week,” she chuckled reminiscently.
Kross chuckled alongside her. “I miss her too. We definitely would’ve been out the country by now. She had hella trips planned out in advance.”
“Yeah ‘cause my bitch loved a good vacay.” Amoura clapped her hands.
He nodded. “I tried my best to make sure she had the paper to take at least one trip a year. It was the least I could do. She deserved that and more.” Amoura could tell that the topic of Cassie was becoming heavy for him as he leaned back in his seat with his shoulders slouched.
“You went by and visited her grave yet?”
“Nah.” He shook his head.
“Well, you should. That girl used to talk about you every second of the day.My man this, my man that, free my man out the Feds,” she mocked Cassie, pulling some laughter out of himsince he could imagine her saying it. “I’m sure she’ll love for you to visit.”
“Yeah, I’ll get around to it,” Kross mumbled, not sure if he was emotionally ready for it.
Amoura smacked her lips before taking a bite of a fry. “I think you should go today. It’ll lift a lot of that heaviness from your heart.”
He lifted his head from his food and met Amoura’s eye contact. “You think so?”
“I know so. Time goes by fast out there. I was out there for almost two hours yesterday. My girl got all the tea on everything that’s been going on. Even told her that her baby daddy put the paws on her brother.” Amoura threw her head back as she let out an obnoxious cackle.
Kross smacked his lips before letting out some laughter as well. “Yo’ ass play too much.”
“Gotta laugh to keep from crying all the damn time,” she shrugged. “So, you visiting your lady today or what?”
He let out a deep sigh before shrugging his broad shoulders. “Yeah. I’ll go visit.”
After eating his food, Kross ended up having a conversation with Aniyis’ doctor. They were discussing possibly taking him off the ventilator to see how well his lungs held up. Although he was nervous as shit, this was a step in the right direction. Sooner or later, his son would be out of his comatose state, and he was praying it would be sooner.
Eventually, he left the hospital, giving Amoura time alone to sit with Aniyis. Just like Kross, she understood how important it would have been to Cassie for Aniyis to simply have someone hold his hand. He was a baby and needed to know that he wasn’t alone while he fought his way through a tough recovery.
Kross made a quick trip to the condo, where he showered and got dressed. Even though she wasn’t around physically anymore,he knew his lady would appreciate him being fresh for her. Prior to her funeral, Ezekiel dragged him to the mall and encouraged him to blow a bag. Spending as much money as he did didn’t make him feel better like his little brother claimed, but he had to admit, he picked up some nice shit. He was fitted in a short-sleeved olive-green button down from Marni, which he paired with a light wash set of Amiri jeans. He sided on slipping on his leather Pablo sneakers he picked up from Marni as well. He brought everything together with his gold Cuban link chain and bracelet, giving his fit the Miami swag that was in his blood.
He exited the condo, then took the drive to a flower shop that was close to the cemetery where Cassie was buried. When he was younger, he could remember his mother taking him to visit his father’s grave. She made it a bi-weekly routine and was always sure to bring a fresh set of flowers.
It all stopped once she met Ezekiel’s dad, Andres. A part of Kross had some resentment for his stepfather for being the reason his dynamic with his mother changed, but Andres grew on him. Kross was hoping that he never got to the point in life where he forgot about Cassie. He knew eventually he would have to heal and move forward with his life, but Cassie would forever be a part of him, and whoever came in after her would have no choice but to understand that.
A heavy breath exhaled out of him once he arrived at the flower shop and stepped out the car. It was a little overwhelming since he never really bought Cassie flowers before, so he didn’t know which ones to choose. Six months spent together in the outside world just wasn’t enough time, especially when he was on the paper chase, making plays from city to city. They partied and lived it up for the most part, but shit didn’t start getting serious until after he was locked up. Then he was left to learn his lady from letters, video calls and visitations.
Instantly, he was drawn to the roses. All women loved roses. It was the classic choice. There was only one ready-made bouquet left, and before he could grab it, the flowers were snatched up by someone else. His eyes averted to the woman who was making her way to the checkout line so she could have her flowers put into a vase.
“Aye, ain’t no more roses?” he throated out to the cashier with his baritone voice.
As he was checking out the woman who was able to grab the last set of roses, he shook his head. “Sorry. They run out quick.”
