by Jade Jones
Cameron ignored Jag as she continued to cry and sniffle in the passenger seat. Her cheeks were beet red, her hair was in disarray, and her mascara was running. She looked a mess, but she felt even worse.
I need to get the fuck away from him. I can’t do this shit anymore, Cam thought. This is torture.
Cameron still hadn’t stopped crying by the time he hopped on the freeway. Jag didn’t appreciate her deliberately disobeying him. He had a headache and he wanted silence.
“Keep on with that crying shit, and I’ma bust ya damn head against that window. I mean it, Cam. Knock it off.”
Hearing her sobs made him think about Eunice crying after he killed her daughter. The shit was slowly driving him crazy. That one job had completely changed his life; it had scarred him. Atlanta had hardened Jag, but now he was just a hollow shell of the man he used to be. Stone should’ve never asked him to carry out such an act. For every cause was an effect.
Cameron kept quiet during the entire drive home. It seemed like they couldn’t get there fast enough. Jag barely had a chance to park before she hopped out and ran to the house.
Cam quickly looked around the home for the baby sitter. She planned on packing her shit and catching a ride with her. Cam also knew her baby sitter would call the police if Jag put his hands on her again.
“She’s not here,” he said walking up behind her. “I sent her home right before I came to get you.”
“Where are my kids?” Cameron frantically asked.
“They’re in their rooms sleeping. Where else would they be?”
Cameron’s mouth practically hit the floor. “You—you left them here?!” she screamed. “By themselves! Are you fucking crazy? They are children! What is wrong with you?”
“You gon’ get enough of calling me crazy,” Jag warned her. The word seared his skin whenever she used it. He hated the way it made him feel. “They were sleeping. It’s not like they would’ve woken up. Besides, I wouldn’t have had to leave them if you weren’t parading all around the got damn city — and half naked at that,” he said, pointing to her outfit.
Cameron turned around and started for Justin’s room — but Jag quickly grabbed her arm. “Wait — what are you doing?”
“What do you fucking think?” Cameron snapped. “I’m taking the kids and I’m leaving your ass—”
WHAM!
Jag punched Cameron dead in the face with a closed fist. The blow was strong enough to drop her instantaneously. Blood gushed from her nose and ran down her mouth and chin. She could also feel her eyes beginning to swell from the assault.
Jag barely gave her time to recuperate as he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her towards the sliding glass doors that led to the pool.
“Jag, no! Stop! Somebody! HELP ME!”
Ignoring her cries, Jag slid the door open and lugged her towards the crystal blue water. She tried to fight and claw at his hands, but she was no match against the 6”4 man.
“Jag, please! No!” Cameron pled. “Don’t do this! Jag, it’s me!”
He had completely blacked out by then. Jag wasn’t in his right state of mind. He was heartless as he dunked her head and upper body in the cold water. In silence, he watched as it turned scarlet red. Right there in the backyard of their home, he proceeded to drown his girlfriend.
Cameron’s arms flailed wildly. The more she fought it the more his grip tightened. “You wanna leave me? Is that what you want?” Jag asked. “You just like everybody else in my life. Always walking out on me. But it’s only one way out of this relationship, Cam.”
31
Cameron’s life flashed before her eyes. She couldn’t believe this was actually how it all would end. All of a sudden, Jude came to mind. She should’ve been thinking about her family and friends — but he was the last person she would ever think about.
Damn. I should’ve tried harder. I should’ve made it work. I should’ve never given up on him.
Cameron’s strength slowly dissipated. She could feel her life slipping away with each painful second. Just when she thought the end was near, Jag lifted her head out of the water.
Cameron greedily sucked in air while coughing violently. She uncontrollably spit up water on the concrete near the pool. She wanted to get up and run from Jag, but she was too weak and afraid to move.
“Cam… I… I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s the meds. I—I stopped taking them.”
Cameron struggled to stand to her feet. When she finally gained her footing, she ran back inside the home and upstairs. She went to Journee’s room first. The minute she reached for the doorknob, Jag grabbed her from behind, whirled her around, and slammed her against the wall.
“She’s mine! Bitch, you will never take her from me!” he screamed. Journee was the last of his bloodline. He couldn’t lose her too. “If you try, I will kill you! Do you hear me?” Jag shook Cameron violently, causing her head to smack against the wall. “Do you fucking hear me?!”
Cameron was suddenly knocked unconscious…
***
The following morning, Jag awoke to sounds coming from the sunroom. When he looked to his left, Cam was sleeping peacefully beside him. Instead of taking her to the hospital after knocking her out cold, he put her ass in bed like it wasn’t shit.
Jag slowly peeled the sheets off and walked out of the room. He knew it wasn’t the kids. Journee couldn’t walk and Justin never ventured through the house alone by himself.
Padding barefoot through the house, Jag slowly made his way towards the source of the noise. From where he was, he could clearly see someone sitting on the wicker rocking chair, staring out at the garden.
The fuck?
Jag thought about grabbing his gun, but reconsidered after noticing it was a young girl.
“Alessia?”
She didn’t look up at her brother when he walked in the room. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
“Alessia, is that you? Shit, you—you’re really here. I thought you were dead… I—I…”
“Would it have mattered if I was?” she asked. “You stopped caring and you know it. The only person you give a fuck about is that bitch. It’s because of her Joaquin and mom are dead.” Alessia finally looked up at Jag. “I thought about putting a bullet in her head while she slept. But I didn’t…”
“Don’t talk like that, Alessia.”
“Why?” she snapped. “It’s her fault, Jag! Everything is her fault!”
“But I love her,” Jag argued. “I love her so much. I’d die without her.”
“You are pathetic, big brother,” Alessia said in her native tongue. “What would our father think? What would Gambino and Joaquin think?”
“I don’t care what they’d think,” Jag argued. “I love her.”
From the hallway, Cameron watched as Jag talked to thin air. She knew then that he really had lost his mind.
32
Cameron quickly rushed back to the bedroom before Jag noticed her watching. Once inside, she grabbed her phone and pulled up the Internet. She struggled with recalling the name of his prescription medication.
“What the hell was it?” Cameron thought long and hard. As soon as she remembered, she pulled up the keyboard and typed it in the keyboard. Quetiapine. It was a drug used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression.
Oh my God.
Cameron covered her mouth. She felt like she really didn’t know Jag. She’d been living with a total stranger. How could he keep something so vital from her? How could he be so selfish and careless?
Cameron quickly ran to the closet and fetched her gun. She was just about to get dressed when he suddenly walked in.
Cameron jumped in alarm. She didn’t even hear Jag walk in the room. As a killer, he was skilled at moving in silence.
“What are you doing?” he asked. He’d just gotten done telling off his sister… or so he thought.
“Jag, I really don’t wanna have to hurt you… but I will. You need help.”
“What a
re you talking about?” Jag started to approach her, but Cam raised the gun and pointed it at his chest.
“Jag, I’m not fucking with you. Enough is enough. I’m serious as a heart attack this time. I’m taking the kids… we’re leaving.”
Jag surprised her when he started laughing. “Go ahead and try, Cameron. We both know how that ended last night,” he said. “Put the gun down, baby. It ain’t like you gon’ really shoot me.” He stepped closer.
“Jag, stop. I’m not going to ask you again. I don’t want to shoot you, but I will if I have to.”
Jag ignored her useless threat as he advanced on her.
Cameron’s shaky finger rested on the tripper. Without hesitation, she squeezed.
Click.
Click.
The gun was empty. Jag had removed the clip from it a while back. He’d also emptied her bank accounts. She would never outsmart him or catch him slipping. “I can’t believe you would’ve shot me,” he said, somewhat disappointed.
Knowing that she was capable of pulling the trigger pissed him off. Once he reached Cam, he slapped the gun out of her hand in anger. She broke down crying because she just knew an ass whooping was coming.
Jag didn’t hit her that time though. He gently grabbed her and pulled her towards the bed.
“No,” Cameron cried.
“Come on. I just wanna lay with you and hold you,” Jag said calmly. “We need to talk.”
Cameron needed to get the fuck away from his crazy ass… but it was harder than just walking out of the door. Why is this happening to me? God, please help me, she prayed.
Jag guided her to the bed and pulled her down onto it with him. He then rested behind her in a spooning position. He either didn’t notice or care that she was still crying.
“I have to be honest with you, Cam,” he said in a low tone. Jag had her thinking he’d been taking care of them with money from his savings and father’s trust. “I’m tired of the lies and keeping this from you. The truth is… I haven’t been going out of town to help my mother with her restaurant. My mother never had a restaurant. I’ve been lying to you for a year straight.”
“I don’t care,” Cameron cried. “I just don’t care.”
“You should,” Jag said. “I want you to know this — no, I need you to,” he stressed. “I’ve been working as a contract killer.”
“Please, just stop,” she begged. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“You need to, Cameron. You need to know how serious I am… and how far I’m willing to go to keep you. You and the kids are all I’ve got left. I cannot let you leave. And you can’t run from me, Cam. I’m paid to find and kill people. And I am really fucking good at what I do — exceptional even. I’m the best there is. There’s not a place on Earth you can flee to without me finding you, Cam,” he said. “My last target was in Shanghai. Shang-fucking-hai. Can you believe that shit? That’s when I stayed away for those two weeks? You remember that? It was the reason I missed Journee’s birth.”
“Just stop. Stop talking. You don’t have to tell me this, Jag. I really don’t wanna hear this shit.”
“You need to,” he told her. “You should know there is no walking away from me. There’s no running. There’s no hiding. There’s no Jude. You’re with me. And if you ever try to leave, I won’t just kill you, Cam. I’ll kill your son too.”
33
Briana expertly glided her tongue along Magyc’s thick, curved dick. He loved the way she sucked and French kissed the tip before deep throating him whole. She multi-tasked between slobbering him down and massaging his scrotum. Her attitude was shit, but she was a beast when it came to that head game. That was the primary reason Magyc couldn’t stay away.
While his heart was with Roxie, he was still a young nigga having fun. Briana sucked his dick every once in a while, and in turn he kept a few of her bills paid. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Briana, of course, hated the terms. She wanted Magyc — all of him, but he was devoted to Roxie. She always cursed him out for staying, and yet his dick ended up in that same mouth. She couldn’t get enough of his ass. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t leave him alone. Magyc had her wrapped around his finger, and he knew it.
“Damn, Bri. You a fuckin’ beast, girl. Swallow that shit.”
Briana gagged, licked, and sucked the nut right out of his dick like he was still hers. Subconsciously, she wanted to outdo Roxie at everything, even oral sex. She would never be enough to fully satisfy a nigga like Magyc. He was insatiable.
“Damn,” he breathed. She knew how to keep a motherfucker coming back. After getting his off, Magyc put away his flaccid penis, and buttoned his jeans.
“That’s it? What about me?” Briana asked, disappointed.
“I ain’t suckin’ ya puss. I don’t know who else you been fuckin’, girl.”
She sucked her teeth. “So it’s cool for me to suck your dick even though you be fucking Roxie? Nigga, you’re a trip. A fucking hypocrite.”
Magyc started to climb out the bed, but she stopped him. “I want some,” Briana smiled. “I can call up my girl, Tara. We could have another threesome like we used to back in the day. You used to love that shit.”
Tara and Briana were best friends that also didn’t mind eating each other out. It sounded fun, but it was really old news. Been there done that, Magyc thought.
Suddenly, his cellphone chimed, indicating an incoming text. The message was from Jude. He needed all his lieutenants to meet him. “I gotta dip real quick,” he told Briana.
“I don’t know why I even keep doing this with you. Next time I’m just not gon’ answer the phone or door for your ass. I swear you’re just a fucking user, Magyc.”
“Don’t start that shit, Bri. I get enough of that at home.”
“I don’t give a fuck. I’m so tired of you, Magyc,” she complained. “If you go back to that black ass bitch I’m done with you!”
Magyc ignored her as he walked to the front door. She was talking that shit now, but the minute he hit her up she’d be back on it. He wasn’t about to pay her threats any mind.
Briana childishly ran in front of Magyc to block him from leaving. Truthfully, she didn’t want him to go. She never did. “I’m not playing, Magyc.”
“I’m not either. Now get the hell out my way.”
When she didn’t get what she wanted, Briana pushed Magyc and hit him in the chest. She could be such a damn brat when she didn’t get her way. He did not believe in hitting women, so he grabbed her little ass and tossed her on the couch. “Chill, man.”
“Magyc, I swear on everything I’m done with you. I’m sick of your routine. You act like you can’t even spend fucking time with me!”
“Is that what you want? Some mufuckin’ time?” he asked. “Look, chill, a'ight. We can watch a movie or some shit. Then afterwards I gotta roll out.”
Briana beamed with joy. She was spoiled.
“Will that calm yo’ ass down?”
“Yes.”
“Fine. Go get the movie.” Magyc watched her ass jiggle as she sashayed to the bedroom to grab a DVD. He was tempted to hit that real quick, but there were more pressing issues at hand.
“You wanna watch a scary movie?” Briana called out from the bedroom. “I got some popcorn in the cabinet.”
Magyc quickly fled the apartment while she was preoccupied. Fuck that movie and fuck her. He’d gotten what he came for, and that was simply to blow off some steam.
Magyc fired up an L when he climbed in his ride. Briana sent him a series of nasty text messages, but he paid that shit no mind. “She’ll be a'ight.”
***
Jude called a few of his close workers to meet him at U-Park in East Point. Business was at an all-time high due to the massive influx of orders from his main connect in West Africa. The sub region was widely known as one of the biggest markets for stolen cars. The demand for black market wheels was extremely high. Jude needed his men to recruit new members in order to keep thos
e demands met.
All eyes were on Jude when he swaggered in the bar; his swag was on a thousand. He looked handsome in a black Givenchy tee, fitted designer jeans, and a fresh pair of Yeezys. He’d grown his dreads back out; they were a few inches past his shoulders. He was finally starting to look and feel like his old self again.
Jude had been clean for over a year. He was on his grown man shit. Stacking chips and calling shots. Even though he was a single man, he hadn’t dated anyone since Cameron left. When she broke things off, it really took a lot out of him. Getting over her wasn’t easy. Hell, he still hadn’t. Nothing was the same, but he had to keep it thugging.
Cameron didn’t know it, but Jude had his cousin Tez checking on her from time to time. He kept Jude updated on what was going on in her life. When he found out she’d gotten pregnant by Jag, he was heartbroken. Unbeknownst to Cam, he paid a few people at the hospital under the table for a mouth swab on the day of her delivery. He knew that Jag wasn’t even present for it, and Jude thought that was fucked up.
At the time, he’d wanted to know so badly if Journee was his… but he froze up when the results finally came in the mail two weeks later. It had been three months and he still hadn’t opened the letter. The envelope sat on the wooden desk in his home’s office, its results a mystery.
Jude didn’t know if he was able to handle the truth. If Journee were Jag’s he’d be devastated. But if she were his, he’d be hurt that Cameron kept her away from him for so long, like she was doing with Justin. It wasn’t fair to him, but he respected her choice.
Magyc, Michael, and a few other main players met him at the bar. After briefly filling everyone in, they drank, ate wings, and shot the breeze about sports. They hung around for about two hours before finally dispersing. Jude was almost out the door when he noticed a new bartender on duty. He would’ve looked right past her, had it not been for him knowing her personally.
Essence.