by Twyla T
“I really hate I forced you to marry that clown baby. I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life. I’ll check into it first thing Monday morning. I’ll call my buddy at Southern Alarm Systems and have him check everything out,” he told her, wishing once again that he would have done things differently.
“Thanks so much, dad. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Cameron said while kissing him on the cheek.
When Cameron pulled back into her driveway, Malcolm and Kingston pulled in behind her within the next minute. Cameron waited for them to get out. Kingston ran into her arms. “Mommy, I saw Tee Tee Charlotte,” he told her.
“Where at baby?” She asked.
“At the store,” Malcolm spoke up before Kingston could answer.
“I’m going out with the girls tonight,” Cameron told Malcolm and turned around and headed towards the house. He didn’t protest yet which means his ass is guilty of something, she thought to herself. She went into the room and started pulling out possible outfits for the night. She picked up the phone and called Toya and asked her to come over. She agreed because she already had her clothes laid out. Toya told Cameron she had laid out a leopard print skirt, a black blazer, an orange tank that she had picked up from Charlotte Russe, and some orange Steve Madden pumps she ordered online from DSW.
Toya pulled up about fifteen minutes later. Malcolm kept walking in and out of the room, so they weren’t able to talk about much. “You got a crazy ass husband. If I would have known he was here I wouldn’t have come,” Toya whispered while shaking her head. Once Toya finished helping Cameron finalize an outfit it was about six o’clock. They decided on a black dress she had picked up from Neiman Marcus, and Toya told her she must rock that dress with some heels. Cameron reluctantly agreed. They picked out some accessories to make the outfit pop too. “Girl I’m gonna break you in sooner or later, besides, you wanna wear some anyway. Who buys heels just to let them sit in the closet?” Toya said while laughing. Toya decided that it was time for her to head on back home to start getting ready.
Toya and Cameron arrived at their meeting spot about five minutes ahead of time, and Sonya made it about ten minutes after. “I thought you had backed out on us,” Toya said to Sonya. “Girl naw, I had to get my baby situated,” Sonya replied. After everyone was settled, they left and headed for Shay’s house. They had their own little party before the party on the thirty-five minute drive. When they made it, Shay wasn’t ready just as they expected. “You gonna be late to your own damn funeral,” Toya said.
“I’m almost ready. Sonya, come help me with my make-up and tell me which shoes go better with my outfit,” Shay said.
“Why you pick Sonya? You tryna get her back there to seduce her,” Toya said while laughing and rolling her eyes.
“You never know with me. I’ve always wanted to try a girl,” Shay replied while winking and laughing.
After about another hour and fifteen minutes, Shay was finally dressed and ready in a white jumpsuit with some bad-ass gold Jimmy Choo’s and accessories. “You really are tryna stand out at your boo party I see. Everybody else rocking shades of black and brown since it’s a Chocolate Party,” Toya said.
“Girl you know how I do,” Shay said while posing for probably her hundredth selfie within five minutes. After she finished with her selfies, they all posed for pictures to post on Instagram, and used the hashtag #ChocolateParty, before leaving. Next, they stopped by the liquor store to grab a bottle of Belvedere and Grey Goose and then headed on to the party. Since it was Travis’s party, Shay put them on the VIP list. The line was around the building when they made it, but they didn’t have to wait in it. All eyes were on the four of them as made their entrance. Shay slung her hair and winked at a couple of guys, but made sure not to break her stride because people were always telling Travis her every move.
Once they made it inside, they found their table, started sipping on drinks, and relaxed. The DJ was jamming. Shay’s no-dancing ass was the first one to get up and start dancing when Back That Azz Up by Juvenile started playing.
“Girl you working with some ass yeah, you bad yeah
Make a nigga spend his cash yeah, his last yeah
Hoes frown when you pass yeah, they mad yeah”
“Come on y’all, let’s party,” she yelled over the music. She came to the table and pulled Sonya up. Shortly after, Toya and Cameron got up and joined them.
“Girl you look good, won’t you back that azz up
You’se a fine motherfucker, won’t you back that azz up
Call me Big Daddy when you back that azz up
Hoe, who is you playing wit? Back that azz up”
Cameron was starting to really let loose and enjoy herself, until she looked up and saw a familiar face. The girl was dancing on someone. She assumed it was Keith and got mad, until she got a closer look. It was Phebe, but it certainly wasn’t Keith she grinding on in the corner. Just the sight of that bitch changed Cameron’s mood, but an idea popped into her head. She went back to the table, grabbed her phone, and tried to discreetly walk closer and snap a few pictures. Toya saw her, but didn’t know exactly what she was doing until she walked back over by their table. “What the hell are you doing?” Toya asked.
“Girl, Phebe is over there in the corner grinding on somebody. I went closer to take some pictures of her,” Cameron said.
“Why do you need pictures if you and Keith are done?” Toya asked. Cameron didn’t reply, so Toya just told her to forget about Keith and Malcolm and enjoy herself for the night. Cameron told her she was right and said she would try to do just that. She must have taken those words to heart because within the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Cameron was taking shots and dancing with everyone in sight. She really started feeling herself when the DJ switched to blues and played Side Piece by Pokey. Cameron started singing her heart out.
“I left home ohh to be wit my side piece
I left hoommeee..yeaahhh yeeahh to be with my side piece
I left home ohh to be wit my side piece
I left hoommeee..yeaahhh yeeahh to be with my side piece”
The night almost ended without any drama. “I saw your bitch- ass snapping pictures of me!” The girls all turned around to see Phebe glaring at Cameron. “I sure did and what you gonna do about it you hoe?” Cameron said, as Toya was trying to pull her in the opposite direction. “Let me go Toya! I’m sick of this bitch!” Cameron screamed.
“You the only bitch I see! Matter fact, you a bitch ass hoe who always tryna take somebody man!” Phebe said, holding up her engagement ring, and flashing it. “He’s MINE so leave him alone!” She continued. Cameron smirked at the ring after seeing it in person, realizing her ring looked ten times better. “Look, you dumb ass bitch, you bout to get your motherfuckin’ feelings hurt if you don’t miss me with that bullshit!” Cameron said while flashing the ring Keith had given her. “I’ll always win so take that lil’ Cracker Jack ring and put it back in the box.” Cameron continued. Phebe stared at Cameron with pure hate, thinking about all of the pictures and text messages she had found in Keith’s phone from the bitch. She thought about how humiliated she was when he left her in his own damn mama’s yard and went home with the hoe. Before Toya and Sonya could pull Cameron away, Phebe threw the drink that she was holding at Cameron, but she ducked and it landed in Shay’s eyes and all on her white jumpsuit. “Aw hell naw! This bitch just threw a got dam drink on me!” Shay screamed and started moving towards Phebe. Toya had to let go of Cameron to grab Shay. Due to the distraction, Cameron was able to pull away from Sonya and punched Phebe in the left eye. “Daammnnn, them bitches fighting over there,” someone yelled from the crowd. Everyone started moving towards the fight. Phebe stumbled backwards after she got hit. Cameron started thinking about the pictures that Phebe sent Malcolm, and went wild. She ran towards her and punched her about three more times, but Phebe didn’t just lay there and take it. She grabbed Cameron’s hair, punched her in the face, and was able to flip her over. Cameron scr
atched Phebe in the face, on her neck and arms, and was yelling for her to let her hair go. Cameron was able to maneuver and kick Phebe with the heel of her shoe. This caused Phebe to fall backwards and Cameron jumped up. She wasn’t thinking anything about her injuries from the accident; she only wanted to beat the fuck out of Phebe. Cameron lunged toward her and grabbed her neck. Phebe started hitting her everywhere she could while, scratching her face and arms up. Cameron had the tightest grip she could gather around Phebe’s neck, but four security guards appeared, and two of them grabbed her while the other two reached for Phebe. Both girls tried to remove themselves from the strong grips of the security guards, but even with all of the adrenaline pumping through their veins, there was no use. They weren’t letting them go. “This ain’t over bitch!” Phebe screamed, with tears running down her face and coughing.
Chapter 5
New Year’s Day had come and gone and Cameron was finally back at work. This was her second week back and she was enjoying her return to the work force. Malcolm was gone back to work and that made her even happier. She had been trying to make herself love him the way she once had, but things just weren’t the same. She still blamed him for the drastic change. The day after he left, he called her and told her that he thought something was wrong with the alarm system. She knew exactly what was wrong. Her dad’s friend was able to disconnect that feature that Malcolm had secretly installed. She played dumb like she had no idea what was going on and told him that she would check into it. He told her not to worry about it and he would see what was wrong when he came back home. I’m sure you will, but you won’t be able to do shit, Cameron thought to herself.
Cameron hadn’t seen Keith since Christmas day and she was really missing him like crazy. They had been texting and he had asked her to meet him, but she was scared. She didn’t know if he was still upset about her scratching, hitting, and biting him, or if he really had forgiven her like he said, but she wasn’t willing to take the chance just yet. The fight she had with Phebe didn’t help matters either, but she told him that Phebe started it. When Malcolm saw all of the scratches on her, she had to tell him that some girls tried to jump Toya and they all ended up fighting. There was no way in hell she would tell him that she had been in a fight over another man. That would have been signing her death wish. Cameron had sent Keith the pictures she had taken of Phebe a couple of days after the party and she knew he wanted some answers, but she really didn’t have any. She was trying to hurt him like she was hurting by sending the pictures, and that was how they started back communicating.
The New Year was brought in at church. It had been a family tradition for years that she planned on keeping alive no matter how screwed up she felt her life was. Cameron glanced down at her phone at the text Charlotte had sent her on New Years Day that she never replied to. “I guess she wanted to get it right in the New Year,” Cameron said after reading the message and rolling her eyes. She had her iPhone read receipts on so Charlotte knew that she had viewed the message, but she really didn’t care. I’m really sorry for the things that I have done to you. I have always allowed you being the new baby in the family make me feel some type of way. When you were born it seemed like mom and dad, especially mom, loved you more and I resented you for that. I wished several days that you would just disappear and I regret every single one of those thoughts now. I tried to shake the feelings but I never could. You have the life that I always dreamt of and I was jealous so I did whatever I could to sabotage it. It all backfired on me though. You’ve always tried to be close to me but I’ve always pushed you away. I know that you will probably never try again and I will live with that regret for the rest of my life but I want you to know that I am deeply sorry. If I could change every single thing that I have done I would do so in a heartbeat. You didn’t need for your sister to betray you the way I did. I wanted to talk to you the day mom set up the meeting but after lying so much I really couldn’t face you. You may not believe me but I’m sorry and I love you. Please forgive me. She wanted to reply but couldn’t bring herself to do so. Maybe later, Cameron thought to herself.
When Cameron got off work she headed to her parent’s house since her mom had picked Kingston up. Just as she was pulling in the driveway, her mom started calling her phone. She decided not to answer since she was already outside and would see her in a minute, but something was wrong; she could just feel it. When she walked in, she was immediately alarmed and knew that her feelings were accurate. Something was terribly wrong. Her mom and dad were both crying and it seemed like they had been crying a very long time. “What’s going on?” Cameron asked, but not really wanting to know the answer. “Is Kingston OK?” She asked while beginning to panic. Her mom started crying louder while trying to talk and all Cameron heard her say was, “Fred.” Cameron’s heart dropped to the floor. She didn’t even know the specifics yet, but she knew it wasn’t good. “What happened mom? Dad? My brother is OK, isn’t he?” Cameron asked in a whisper, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her dad came over and wrapped his arms around her. “Fred died in an accident, baby. They told us he got hit by a car,” he told her while trying his best to hold his composure. Cameron hit the floor after the words Fred died hit her ears. Her dad wasn’t able to hold her up. She screamed to the top of her lungs. Kingston came running from the back and wrapped his arms around Cameron. “What’s wrong mommy? What’s wrong? Don’t cry mommy,” He said to her while starting to cry himself. Cameron was unable to answer him. It seemed liked the world stopped to her. “This can’t be happening. I just talked to him last week,” Cameron sobbed. A migraine came upon her suddenly. She cried so much until she got sick. No one could pull her up from the floor for over an hour.
Later, Cameron’s parent’s ended up taking her to the hospital where they gave her a shot to relax her. It took a moment for it to kick in, but once the medicine got into her system, she was able to relax a little. While at the hospital, her mom ended up getting a shot as well and the doctor on duty gave them both a prescription for Xanax. Mr. Miller felt numb, but he knew he had to be strong for his girls. He hated that Charlotte was so far away and alone when he called to break the news to her, but he didn’t want her to find out from anyone else or especially on social media. His heart broke even more when she cried uncontrollably through the phone. He made her stay on the phone until she gathered herself and then got the number to her closest friend there. Mr. Miller felt better once he talked to her friend and she agreed to stay with her until she was in enough shape to leave and come home.
The next call he placed was to Malcolm, because he was going to need as much as support as he could get with the women that he loved, to get through this rough time. Malcolm told him that there was one stop he needed to make and he would be home by tomorrow night. The doctor instructed Mr. Miller to keep a close eye on the women, especially Cameron, before he told them it was OK to leave. Mr. Miller told the doctor that he would do everything in his power to make sure that his girls were alright. After Cameron and her mom were finally free to leave the emergency room, they headed home.
Cameron woke up later in the night and finally grabbed her phone. Her phone was the very last thing on her mind. She hadn’t spoken to anyone, but she knew that the word about her brother had spread, by the number of text messages and missed calls she had. Before she opened them, she got up and left her childhood room and went into Fred’s room. She lay down in his bed, hugged the pillow, and cried some more. She saw her dad still sitting up in the kitchen before she went into Fred’s room, but decided not to bother him at that moment.
Toya: Cam I really don’t have the words to say because no words will comfort you but just know that I’m praying for you, I love you and I’m here for you. I will be by to see you tomorrow but call me at any time
Shay: Toya told us what happened Cam. I love you and you and your family are in my prayers. I’m here for you all and I will see you soon
Sonya: I’m so sorry Cameron. My prayers are with you an
d your family.
Cameron: Thanks ladies. I really don’t know what to say but I love y’all too.
Cameron called Toya and talked to her for about five minutes. She told her she hated to call so late but Toya told her don’t even worry about that, it was no problem at all. Toya let her vent because she felt like that was what she needed; just someone to listen to her. When Cameron hung up the phone with Toya, she read some of other the messages from Keith, her boss, a couple of friends, and church family. Keith was in shock and wanted to hear her from. She wanted to call him back right away, but it was late and she didn’t know if Phebe was home or not. Besides, she really needed to go check on her dad first.
When she walked into the kitchen, he had a cold cup of coffee in front of him and he was staring off into space. “Hey dad, you probably should try to get some rest,” she said to him. He was startled by her voice because he didn’t even notice her walk in. “Can’t sleep, but you should go and lay back down. I will be OK,” he told her.