Cameron 3

by Jade Jones

  Five minutes later, they pulled into the over-capacitated parking lot of Club Lush. It was only 10:30 p.m. and already there was a line that damn near wrapped around the corner. One would’ve thought they were waiting in line to vote.

  Marcus wasn’t worried though. His days of having to wait in line or worst, being denied entrance, had long since come to an end.

  After parking his car, Marcus and Xavier headed to the entry doors of the club, but not before handing out a few flyers for their next upcoming show. Women smiled, winked, and whispered in their girlfriends’ ears about which brother they would love to take home and fuck, and which man they already had the pleasure of doing such a thing with. Men scoffed and hated in the distance, but that was the normal effect for both fellas.

  Marcus tried to call Cameron again before he entered the noisy club to see if she was okay, but her line rang multiple times before sending him to the voicemail. Shrugging it off, he stepped into the crowded club.

  ***

  I am smoking on that gas; life should be on Cinemax…

  Movie, bought my boo bigger tits and a bigger ass…

  Who he's, not I, I smoke strong, that Popeye…

  Louie V's in my archives, black diamonds, apartheid!

  2 Chainz and Drake’s “No Lie” blared through the massive speakers of Club Lush. Marcus maneuvered through the thick crowd as he made his way towards Xavier who was dancing and feeling himself a little extra hard. He and Marcus were the flyest dudes in the club. Chicks were with their men, and still eyeballing the young, flashy guys.

  Xavier wore a $130 black and gold Lichtenberg’s Homie sweater, and a pair of designer jeans. On his size fourteen were a pair of black Chanel boots. Gold chains hung loosely around his neck, and on his wrist was a polished gold Versace watch.

  Marcus looked equally as fly dressed in a limited edition Ron Bass Varsity Jacket and a 40oz NYC Snapback. On his feet was a pair of $700 Maison Martin Margiela sneakers. Before he could even make his way back to his homeboy with their beverages he was suddenly pulled by his arm. It wasn’t an aggressive pull. It was actually soft and feminine if anything.

  Marcus turned to face the woman who was pulling his arm. He was surprised to see the nerdy chick from Pandora’s Box that had given him brain in the dressing room. She wasn’t wearing her glasses tonight and she was scantily dressed in a matte mesh dress that exposed about seventy percent of her body. Marcus immediately knew the eyeglasses were a front. A sly smile tugged at her lips and he knew off rip what she was thinking.

  “Klimaxxx,” she smiled licking her lips. It was obvious that she was slightly intoxicated.

  Marcus grimaced after she sloshed the contents of her wine glass onto his designer sneakers. “Marcus,” he corrected her. “You can call me Marcus,” he forced a smile. Always be cordial to the fans no matter what was his motto. He started to walk off.

  She quickly grabbed his arm again stopping him from leaving. “I like calling you Klimaxx,” she purred. “I was wondering when we can finish what we started last night.”

  Marcus’s thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Aye, who are you here with tonight?” he asked.

  Before she could even respond, a Flo Rida look alike snatched her away from Marcus so aggressively that her neck nearly snapped. “Aye, what the fuck is you doing, Mia?!” he roared. “Bitch, you must be tryin’ to get you and this corny ass nigga fucked up!” he pointed at Marcus.

  Corny? Never that, Marcus thought.

  “I wasn’t doing anything, Damonte!” Mia yelled.

  Instead of feeding into the drama, Marcus decided to let it go. That was their problem now his. He wasn’t in the mood to crack any nigga’s heads, and besides tonight was a night of celebration. Marcus headed back towards Xavier and left Mia and her man to argue with one another in the center of the dance floor.

  “Took yo’ ass so long?” Xavier asked relieving Marcus of one of the beers.

  Marcus took a swig of his beer. Before he could even get a buzz going, two random females approached him and began dancing on him. He was having the time of his life when he noticed Damonte walk up to a few other guys. Seconds later, they were mean-mugging the hell out of Xavier and Marcus. However, Xavier didn’t seem to notice since he was too busy dancing and shaking his dreads like Waka Flocka. He was gone off the Molly he had popped earlier before stepping into the club.

  2 Chainz “I Luv Dem Strippers” was bumping on maximum. Marcus watched as Damonte slowly made his way over towards them with his homeboys in tow.

  Here we fucking go, Marcus thought. I ain’t got time for this bullshit tonight.

  Xavier was too busy dancing to notice the few men approaching them, and he damn sure didn’t notice that he sloshed some of his beer onto Damonte’s t-shirt.

  “Aye man, what the fuck?!” Damonte yelled in anger.

  Xavier finally ceased his wild dancing to survey the minor damage he had unintentionally caused. “My fault, bruh,” he apologized.

  Marcus politely excused himself from the females, and made his presence known just in case they didn’t see him standing right behind Xavier. If any shit were to pop off, he was definitely going to have his boy’s back. That’s just how he and Xavier rolled. You couldn’t have a problem with one without having an issue with the both of them. Their friendship was as strong as two brothers’ bonds.

  Damonte glared at Marcus, and he and his small posse walked away without uttering another word.

  Machine Gun Kelly’s “Est 4 Life” blared through the speakers of the club, and everyone immediately went ham.

  “Fuck they was on?” Xavier asked shaking his head.

  “Fuck them lame ass niggas,” Marcus said waving off the small altercation. It was obvious that the dude just wanted to try to put a little fear in their hearts, but that wasn’t going to happen.

  Okay, I see they hide when we come round…

  Get the fuck down…

  I am from the city from the city where they—BLAOH—love that gun sound!

  I am from the city where they ride til the sun down!

  “WATCH OUT!” a random person screamed.

  Suddenly, Marcus noticed Damonte run up with an empty beer bottle in his hand! He was just about to crack Marcus over the head with the Budweiser bottle—Marcus’s reflexes instantly kicked in, and he lifted his right arm just in the nick of time!

  The glass bottle shattered on Marcus’s forearm and painfully sliced his skin open. He barely even noticed the pain as he and Damonte began throwing punches at one another. Damonte’s posse quickly jumped in, and suddenly there was a full on brawl in the center of the dance floor.

  Xavier jumped in, and fought two guys at once as Marcus tried to hang with Damonte. He fought blow for blow with a bloodied arm and all. Women were screaming and backing away from the altercation, and several onlookers were trying to record the brutal three on two brawl.

  “Worldstar!” someone called out.

  POP!

  POP!

  High pitched screams accompanied the gunshots and people frantically cleared out. Everyone ran in every which direction, and before Marcus was able to realize what the hell was happening he was roughly shoved to the floor.

  The music instantly ceased, and people were screaming, running, and pushing each other to get out the crowded club before they ended up becoming an innocent bystander.

  Marcus struggled to stand to his feet. His clothes were bloodied and torn, and for a moment he wondered if he was actually the one who had been shot. He didn’t bother to look as he searched through the pack of people running towards the exit.

  Suddenly, Marcus noticed Xavier run towards the hallway in the opposite direction. He wiped away the blood trickling from his busted lip, and limped towards the brightly lit hallway after Xavier. The moment Marcus stepped into the narrow hallway that led to the men and women’s restrooms he noticed a few droplets of blood that created a small trail. It was obvious Xavier was bleeding badly.

  Marc
us’s stomach churned as he hesitantly followed after his friend. “X!” he called out. “Yo, Xavier?!”

  But Xavier didn’t bother turning around as he rushed into the men’s restroom. With all the screaming and yelling, Marcus doubted that Xavier had even heard him shouting his name.

  Marcus quickly made his way inside the men’s restroom. Xavier stood in the middle of the floor bending over slightly and holding onto his abdomen. Marcus watched in horror as blood gushed from his wound, and created a small dark red puddle at his feet.

  A couple men who had been hiding in the stalls slowly emerged to see what was going on.

  Suddenly, Xavier collapsed onto the dirty bloodstained floor. Marcus quickly rushed over to his friend’s side.

  “Fuck!” Marcus screamed. “Somebody get some help! He’s been shot!”

  He placed his hands over Xavier’s trembling hands, and tried his best to slow down the bleeding. Blood seeped from the several deep gashes on Marcus’s right forearm, but his own injuries were the last thing on his mind.

  Xavier was sweating profusely, and he was losing blood incredibly fast. His eyes opened and closed several times as he felt himself uncontrollably slipping in and out of consciousness.

  “You gon’ be aight, man. Just hold on,” Marcus told him. He then looked at the two men staring down at Xavier dumbfounded. “Man, what the fuck ya’ll just standin’ there for?!” he barked. “Get some mothafuckin’ help! He’s dying!”

  4

  Cameron drove past The Shakedown for what felt like the tenth time that evening. She had been tempted to go inside and make it do what it do, but she wondered if she still had it in her. They say ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’, and Cameron wondered if the phrase was true in her case.

  She was just about to park her truck, hop out, and go in the strip club to find out when the sudden nearby resonance of sirens snapped her out of her troublesome thoughts.

  “How in the hell did I even end up in downtown Cleveland?” Cameron asked herself.

  Forcing herself back to reality, Cameron finally pulled off. One thing was for certain. She needed money. With fall semester classes beginning and the bills that needed to be paid, Cameron needed a source of income and quickly.

  After reaching the intersection of 55th and Superior Avenue, she pulled her cellphone out to see if she had any missed calls. There were two missed calls from Marcus over an hour ago.

  Marcus, Cameron sighed.

  She always thought about him in the back of her mind even when she knew better. However, her love and loyalty would always remain with Jude

  ***

  The following Monday, Cameron did something she never thought she’d ever have to do. She put in multiple applications at every store that was currently hiring. She didn’t discriminate against any position, even if it was a gig flipping burgers.

  It was crazy how just months ago, Cameron was yelling she was the baddest bitch up in the strip club, and now she was putting in apps at local fast food restaurants. Talk about a twist of fate. Cameron also hit up every clothing retail store she knew was hiring. After all, fashion was her main interest.

  Cameron had promised herself that she was done with the stripping scene after everything she had gone through. The convenient cash would be greatly missed, but she just couldn’t deal with all the extra bullshit accompanied with it.

  ***

  Two days and an extensive surgery later, Xavier was finally recovering from the gunshot wound to his stomach. Marcus hadn’t left his boy’s side since they rushed him to the emergency room aside from when he had to get his own wounds stitched and bandaged.

  He had been totally distraught, blaming himself for what had happened. After all, if Marcus had never stuck his dick in Mia’s mouth at the male revue, her dude wouldn’t have blew down on them at Club Lush.

  Marcus barely got an ounce of sleep, and he didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until Xavier finally opened his eyes that afternoon.

  “What’s up man? How you feelin’?” Marcus asked in a concerned tone.

  “A lil’ sore…”

  There was a brief pause before Marcus finally spoke again. “I um…X…man I’m sorry I even got you in this shit,” he apologized. “If it wasn’t for me takin’ that broad in that dressing room at Pandora’s Box, her nigga would’ve never been sweating me,” he said. “We would’ve never got to fightin’ and you would’ve never got shot…If I could take it back I would—”

  “Man, you ain’t gotta be sorry bruh.” Xavier chuckled. “A nigga just happy he ain’t out the game. You know what I’m sayin’?”

  Marcus chortled and nodded his head. “I feel you…man…I feel you…”

  “Who would’ve thought I would’ve been the one to get shot just ‘cause you decided to get some neck from a broad with a nigga,” Xavier joked. He didn’t sound the least bit bitter, but Marcus still blamed himself for everything.

  He would never feel the same after that shit…

  ***

  A week later, Cameron drove past The Shakedown again. She watched as men filed inside the popular strip club. The Shakedown might have been a hole in the wall strip club, but there was no denying the potential money one could make.

  Cameron missed her loyal clientele. She missed the quick cash. Hell, she even missed the rush and excitement of dancing on stage. Cameron had routinely driven past her old place of employment on several occasions. Each time she was tempted to climb back on the pole, but she had made a promise to herself never to return. Besides, she was pregnant—although not showing—and she couldn’t disrespect herself or her unborn child by exploiting her body. Even if she did plan on aborting it.

  It’s not like anyone will even know you’re pregnant, a voice in the back of Cameron’s mind told her. And you’re not keeping the damn baby anyway. Why not?

  “No. Fuck that,” Cameron quickly said. “I ain’t getting back on the pole. I’ll take any job before I resort to that shit,” she told herself.

  ***

  “Good afternoon. Are you looking for anything in particular?” Cameron cheerfully greeted an older Caucasian woman.

  “No…just browsing for now,” she said nonchalantly.

  “Okay. Well let me know if you need assistance,” Cameron said.

  “Will do.”

  It was Cameron’s second day employed at the Coach store located in Beachwood Place Mall, and she neither liked nor disliked it. For now it was simply a paycheck, and beggars couldn’t be choosers in her case.

  She had been this close to finally giving into her temptation, and climbing back on the pole until she suddenly received a call from the hiring manager at Coach in regards to an open position. Cameron jumped on the opportunity quick, fast and in a hurry. After she got the call she couldn’t wait to tell Jude until she suddenly remembered their last conversation.

  As much as Cameron hated to admit it, she was wrong and she knew she was wrong. At one point or another she would have to apologize and make up to her man. They were each other’s only support systems in this cold, cruel world, and to be honest, she truly was afraid. It wasn’t fair to Jude, but Cameron’s only defense mechanism was to flee whenever she had an issue.

  “You know what? I actually like this wallet,” the Caucasian woman spoke up snapping Cameron from her thoughts. “I would like to know how much this costs.” She handed Cameron the nude wallet that was stationed on the display case.

  Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Cameron noticed a familiar face enter the store. She watched as Pure Seduction and Red entered the store, and immediately Cameron saw red. It seemed like just yesterday when Pure Seduction and Red had jumped her in the dressing room and broke her hand.

  Just seeing the two of them left a bad taste in Cameron’s mouth. Pure Seduction probably wasn’t even planning on purchasing anything. Knowing her, she probably just walked into the store to get some shit started the minute she saw Cameron, and having her girl, Red beside her gave her all the more ammunit
ion to do so.

  Pure Seduction offered a malicious smirk as she tossed her twenty-two inch Malaysian weave over her shoulder for good measure. She looked stunning in a striped Bodycon dress, and a pair of red pointed toe Christian Louboutins. Red looked equally as hot in a pair of $750 Olcay Gulsen pumps and a black Bodycon dress. Her fire engine red hair was pulled into a sleek high top bun.

  Cameron was jealous as hell on the low, but she tried her best not to show it. “Let me go and find out right now,” she told the woman before taking the wallet to the cash register.

  Pure Seduction whispered something in her girl Red’s ear, and they immediately went into a hysterical fit of laughter. Cameron rolled her eyes and tried to pay “Dumb and Dumber” no mind.

  “$129.95,” Cameron said handing the customer the wallet. She made a face and replaced the wallet before leaving the store without as much as a thank you. It was as if she didn’t already know that Coach was semi-high end.

  “Hypnotic,” Pure Seduction sang out. “Long time no see.” She offered a phony smile. “I heard my boo Jude got locked up,” she said in a fake sympathetic tone.

  My boo, Cameron thought. Oh hell no. This chick couldn’t pass up the opportunity to rub in Cameron’s face the fact that she and Jude used to date.

  Red smiled devilishly at Cameron loving every minute of seeing Pure Seduction taunt her.

  “You must be taking it hard,” Pure Seduction said. Her eyes then wandered to Cameron’s hair. “And what’s up with the new haircut?” she asked. “What? You a dyke now that ya man locked up?” she teased.

  She and Red broke into a sadistic fit of laughter, but Cameron didn’t see a damn thing funny. If she bit her tongue any harder, the shit would bleed. It was Cameron’s second day on the job, and she would be damned if she lost it because she had fed into Pure Seduction’s drama and foolishness.