One thing Andres was going to do was get somebody to go to the church. The only person he had yet to convince was Kross. “Tell you what. I’ll take you to go get tailored for a nice suit ‘cause we can’t have you going out bad like this.” He shook his head at Melo.
Kross being in Melo’s life brought him into better spirits. He was still dealing with losing his father and Remedy’sdisappearance, but he finally felt like he had a family unit to lean on. Raquel and Andres welcomed Melo and Ava in with open arms. They were living comfortably at the housing duplex, and Kross did his part by making sure they were good because he knew Remedy would have wanted it that way. Melo was in a pivotal point in his life as a sixteen-year-old boy, so having male figures like Kross, Andres and sometimes even Ezekiel made life a lot easier. With the help of Raquel, Ava was able to get Melo signed up for online school, and he’d been doing good in his classes all while making sure his mother was okay. Kross was just blessed that he was in a position to keep shit from falling apart in Remedy’s absence.
Melo agreed on the plans to get a new suit as he followed Kross to the living room. Ezekiel was hooked up on the game playing with Aniyis, who was giving him a run for his money.
“Let’s go! I told you! You can’t beat me, Uncle Zeek!” Aniyis exclaimed as he jumped up and down on the couch.
Kross laughed since he knew Ezekiel to be a sore loser, even when it came to playing against kids. “Man, whatever. This game weak as hell anyway,” he scoffed while tossing the controller aside.
“Nah, you just sorry and can’t take my son,” Kross teased while high-fiving Aniyis.
Ezekiel cut his eyes at Kross. “Man, shut up. Ain’t you supposed to be moving?”
“I am, but I ain’t trying to deal with all that shit right now, especially when Aniyis said he gone help but all his ass do is kick back and watch me move shit,” Kross scoffed, prompting Aniyis to throw his head back in laughter.
He was grateful that Aniyis managed to have a full recovery. After a few months with his crutches, he managed to excel in physical therapy and returned to walking without any assistance. Physically, his son was back, but mentally, he wasstill struggling. Day by day, it got better, but Kross could tell Aniyis was emotionally scarred, and no matter how much time passed, losing his mother and being shot in the process would forever devastate him.
“I’ll help you,” Melo offered with a light shrug.
“‘Preciate it, man.”
After chopping it up with Melo and Ezekiel, Kross navigated to the kitchen where Raquel and Ava were cooking. He would’ve never thought his mother and Remedy’s mother would have gotten so close, but they did. Raquel was patient with Ava and didn’t consider her mental disorder a burden. She quickly learned that Ava just needed stability whenever she was between her realities, so she tried her best by offering that sense of normality and stability now that Remedy wasn’t around. It really did take a village, and Kross was grateful his family was so open to helping Ava and Melo, despite not knowing them long.
Kross greeted his mother with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Happy Mother’s Day, Ma.”
“Awe, thanks, son. I got the flowers you sent to the church. They were beautiful.”
“I’m glad you liked them. Just wanted to show you some love and let you know I appreciate you and everything you do for me and ‘Niyis.”
Raquel thanked him once more with her vibrant smile. Kross turned to Ava, and they eyed each other. Their interactions were very minimal simply because Ava could never remember him, even if she saw him the day prior. He tried getting her to remember him once, and it just went bad, so he took Melo’s advice and allowed Ava to lead the interaction whichever way she pleased.
“You know, my daughter Remedy is in school in Tallahassee, and she’s single. I think you two would look good together,” Ava laughed. “She should be coming home from campus soon.”
This wasn’t the first time she tried to hook Kross up with Remedy, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. In her reality, the only reason she hadn’t seen Remedy was because Remedy was in school. Melo made it clear to just let her think whatever brought her peace, so Kross just went with it.
“Really? I wouldn’t mind meeting her.” It was hard to stomach the fact that he actually knew what was going on with Remedy while Ava was oblivious to it half the time, but it was just better off this way.
“Oh, she’s amazing. She might kill me for doing this. Oh well.” Ava waved off the notion with a laugh.
Raquel could see the pain that was beginning to set in on her son’s face as he tried to mask it with a weak smile. “Ava, why don’t you help me with snapping these string beans?” Raquel cut in with her soft voice, sitting a bowl of string beans in front of Ava so she could busy herself. Ava smiled with an eager head nod before washing her hands so she could aid Raquel.
“You alright?” Raquel asked her son off to the side of the kitchen so Ava wouldn’t hear.
Kross nodded. “I’m cool.”
“You really did like her. I could tell by the way you vouched for her to get her family to move into the duplex. It’s okay not to be okay, son.”
“Ma, it is what is. Nothing lasts forever in my life I guess,” he shrugged with a bitter chuckle.
Hearing that devastated Raquel. Her son had been through more than most in just a year after coming home from prison. Whenever he thought he was at peace in life, something else came around to knock him down. His resilience was admirable; however, Raquel could see deep in his eyes that he was struggling to cope.
“Don’t say that. God is gonna turn things around for you.”
“‘Preciate it, Ma.”
“Are you staying for dinner?”
“I got a few things to move out the condo. Melo and I should be back in time.”
