Page 18 of This Is Law 3

Chapter Seven

AUTUMN GREENE

After that went down with us, I knew that the two of us would never speak again because there was no way that I would allow someone to disrespect me like that and be able to forgive them.

Even though I felt that way, I didn’t want anything to happen to him.

Kross and I had history. Our relationship was better before he went to prison the last time.

When he came home, he came back with a dark, evil, jealous spirit towards him.

I remember that night I ran into him at the studio, and he spoke so terrible on Law, and from that night, I knew that I was going to have to move from around him because I didn’t want that dark spirit to move over on me.

Just in case he didn’t shake this shit, I wanted to pull up on him, even if it was just to lay my eyes on him one last time.

The check in process was smooth at the hospital, but once I made it off the elevator, and over to Kross’s door, there was a big ass security guard that was posted in front of the door. He had a look to him as if he would tackle anyone that made the slightest of moves.

I walked over to him, and before I could even reach the door, he stood in front of it, blocking me from going in.

“He not accepting any visitors,” his deep voice rumbled, thick like smoke filling up a room.

“I’m not coming to bring any drama down here. I have history with Kross. I heard about the shooting, and I just want to lay eyes on him. I won’t be in here any longer than five minutes,” I let him know, and he stood there, shaking his head no.

“I got orders from Dutch not to let anyone in this room. His mom is inside, and that’s the only person that’s allowed inside. Shit ain’t personal,” that deep voice cut through the air again.

Before I could say anything back to him, the hospital door opened, and there stood a beautiful woman on the other side of the door.

For years, I used to think that Kross looked like his dad, but seeing this woman, and seeing a lot of the features on her that reminded me of Kross, I knew now that Kross looked more like his mom, than he did his dad.

Kross didn’t talk about his mom a lot. The few times that he did bring her up to me, he would always say how she couldn’t handle him anymore, so she washed her hands with him, and handed him over to his dad.

When he would speak on her, there would be a lot of malice in his voice, so I really didn’t know if he loved her, or not.

“Hey, I’m Autumn. I’ve known Kross for years. I’m not coming down here with any bullshit. He was my friend, and I just wanted to see him. If you won’t allow it, I’ll respect that, and leave,” I said, my eyes on her, waiting to see what her response was going to be.

Even in the chill clothes that she was in, I couldn’t help but to take in all her beauty.

She stood up tall, and the long bundles that she had in her hair, she had it pulled up into a high ponytail.

She was dressed in a black sweat suit, but it was clinging onto her body, showing off the curves that she had.

There wasn’t an ounce of make-up on her face, so you stared at her, and really appreciated the nice skin that she had.

“Autumn, the rapper, right?’” she asked me, and I nodded my head.

“You can come in,” she assured me, and the security at the door sucked his teeth, and he looked at her with an annoyed look in his eyes.

“Fuck is you doing? Dutch said not to let anyone in this bitch!” he spat.

“Nigga, do you see Dutch anywhere near this motha fucka? He’s in jail, so therefore, his ass don’t run shit over here.

I said that she can come in, so move out of the way, and allow her to come in!

” she barked at him, matching the same energy that he had given her.

The way she switched, going from 0 to 100, I could see who Kross had gotten his temper from because his ass would do the same shit.

I knew that the last thing the security wanted to do was move out of the way to allow me entry, but he did it anyways. His big ass stepped away from the door, so I was able to walk in.

I just waved at Kross’s mom since I didn’t know her at all, and she waved back.

The second I was inside the room, I could hear the sounds that was coming from the machines in here.

It sounded like a hissing sound, mixed with something clicking.

My heart started beating super-fast because I really didn’t know what I was getting ready to walk into.

His room smelled like that same, dreadful sterile hospital smell that I hated, and that played it’s part in why I didn’t care for hospitals.

The more I walked into the room, it’s almost like the smell got a little stronger. The blinds were half- drawn, giving the room a little light.

I made it to his bedside, and when I saw what was before me, I placed a hand over my mouth, not being able to believe this.

He didn’t look anything remotely like how I once knew him.

Kross has always been so handsome, and his looks had been one of those things that drew me into him in the first place.

Because of the ventilator that was taped to his mouth, helping him breathe, you could see the way that his chest was moving up, and down.

Kross used to have beautiful, caramel colored skin, but right now, I was looking down at pale skin, that didn’t hold any color.

Seeing all the wires that was hooked up to him, being what kept him alive, caused me to get a little choked up, and before I knew it, tears had hit my face, falling, and I didn’t even bother wiping them away.

In this moment, you know I started feeling guilty, wondering if I would have given him the money that he’d asked for, would this still had happened to him? I knew that it wasn’t fair for me to place that blame on myself, but I did so anyways.

I reached down, so that I could lift his hand, and it was pale, just as his face. The tattoos that were on his hands were dry because there’s no telling when the last time lotion was applied to his skin.

I put his hand back down after about five minutes, and then I went for his hair, smoothing it down.

As I was doing that, his mother rounded the corner, coming from the door, where she had been standing, and she went for the chair that was on the other side of the bed, quickly taking a seat.

She crossed her right leg over her left thigh, and I could feel her eyes on me.

They weren’t piercing through me or anything, but she was looking, so that made me look over at her.

“How do you know Kross?” she asked me.

“We went to high school together. He was a junior when I was a freshman. We messed around a few times after I graduated from high school. Before I started rapping, I used to be a dancer, and he would come and support me. We go way back,” I shared with her, and she nodded her head.

“Your such a pretty girl. My son didn’t try to get in a relationship with you?” her question made me laugh.

“It was one of those things where we just knew that a relationship wouldn’t be the best move for us.

I have a temper, and his is even worse. We were liable to fuck around and kill each other.

When he came home from prison, me and him weren’t on that kind of time, you know?

I was focused on my career, and Kross was in a place where he was trying to find himself.

He was in a dark place. The last time that we were around each other, we got into a bad argument.

He asked to borrow a lot of money from me, and I wouldn’t give it to him, so he got disrespectful.

He even pulled a gun out on me, and everything.

I know the kind of guidance that Kross lacked.

You would think that he would have good traits about him, considering who raised him, but he was a hot head, and when he wouldn’t get his way, he would spaz.

Most people wouldn’t have even come down to the hospital to visit someone that pulled a gun out on them, but I genuinely have love for Kross,” I let her know.

“I thought that by sending Kross to Miami to be with his dad, it would clean up his act, and make him a better kid, but I feel like Miami only made his ass worst. I’m not surprised by this happening to him.

Truthfully, I thought that it would happen much sooner.

I’m not saying that in a way like I wanted it to happen, but I knew that my son wasn’t a good person, so it was only so long before someone killed him,” it was a harsh truth, but I agreed with everything that she said.

“How long is he supposed to stay like this? Is there any chance that he’s going to wake up?” I asked her.

“To be honest, the chances are pretty much slim to none that he’ll wake up from this.

Right before Dutch was arrested, they’d already had that tough conversation with him, handing papers over to him if he was ready to go ahead, and let him go.

Dutch didn’t want to make the decision on his own, so he called me, and that’s how I ended up here.

I didn’t have any knowledge of the shooting prior to Dutch calling me because I didn’t have a relationship with Kross.

Our relationship was nonexistent because my son was disrespectful, and he would talk to me as if I was just some random bitch on the street.

There’s this piece of me that’s angry that Dutch even called me to tell me what happened because now that he’s locked up, I have to be the one to make the call.

When I came down here a few days ago, I was ready to wash my hands and tell Dutch that we should just pull the plug, but as I’m sitting here, all I see is my little boy that was once so innocent and loving.

I don’t want to make the call. I’m going to allow God to do His thing, and when He’s ready to allow these machines to no longer be of any service to him, I’ll go ahead, and accept that,” she voiced, and I couldn’t do anything, but respect her answer.

I could tell that even through the rough relationship that she had with her son, she loved him, and that love that she had for him was the reason why she couldn’t so easily go through the decision on having them pull the plug on him.

“Do you know someone named Morgan?” she asked me, after a few moments of silence.

“I know a couple of Morgans. You gotta show me what she looks like,” I let her know.

That’s when she reached over, and there was a small table, and she picked up a black iPhone.

The screen was all shattered, and I wondered if that phone belonged to Kross.

She went ahead, and unlocked it, scrolled, found what she was looking for, and she stood up, so that she could hand the phone to me.

I took one look at the picture, and immediately upon seeing her face, I knew which Morgan she was.

I didn’t have a personal relationship or anything like that with her, but I knew her from passing.

“I know who she is. She’s quiet though. I never known her to be in the middle of anything. What happened?” I asked, handing the phone back to her.

“Her, and Kross were messing around. She was pregnant by him. Before Dutch was locked up, he was able to get in contact with her, and she told Dutch how Kross came to her apartment the same night that he was shot, and when she told him about the pregnancy, he got violent. She sent the footage to Dutch. As he was leaving her apartment, that’s when whoever shot him were already posted out front, waiting for him.

She swears that she doesn’t have anything to do with it, and I believe her.

The camera footage shows him coming in her apartment, you could hear the audio of her telling him that she’s pregnant, and that’s when the attack began.

He couldn’t have been in her apartment for longer than ten minutes.

He was shot right after, so that’s not enough time for her to have told someone what he did to her, and they retaliate.

Kross was in the middle of so much shit, so it could have honestly been anyone,” she confessed, and that’s the same thing that I was thinking.

When I learned about the shooting, and that a killer hadn’t been found yet, I told myself that it could have been anyone that had done it. I wasn’t sure if the truth was going to ever come out. The way Miami liked to bury secrets, and take shit to the grave, it’s a chance that we’ll never know.

I stuck around for no longer than ten minutes, and before leaving, I made sure that I stared at Kross long and hard, and I even kissed him on his forehead because something told me that this would be my last time being able to do it.

I knew that it wouldn’t be long before word got out about his passing.

I’m sure it would hurt because I was one of the ones that really wanted him to get his shit together, but it didn’t happen, and I hated that for him.