by Wyatt, Dani
“Yeah, but not forever. God, you’re impossible. You can’t leave out huge, important parts of conversations just because you want to make the decisions yourself, big man. Okay? I’m not your little girl.”
“Uh huh.” Cameron turned the Camaro slowly toward the back entrance of the gym, pulled perpendicular to the door and put the car in park. “Come here.”
Those lips again and Victoria tried but failed to hold in the little moan that came from somewhere in her toes.
He broke the kiss, jumped out the driver's door and opened hers.
“See you at six.” He gave her a rare, glistening white smile, and she came to the realization that she would need to keep extra panties in her bag because her body was out of control.
She could only shake her head, and she took each small, painful step, a secret smile curving her lips as she walked inside the chipped green metal security door and into the world of Southside.
32
Fuck, I need to hit something.
Cameron worked his way from the locker room toward the line of heavy bags that hung like dead soldiers waiting for someone to knock them down one at a time.
His brain vacillated between figuring out how he intended to prevent himself from stomping Roger and Larry into the ground and how he intended to live with the constant hard on that filled his pants.
After nearly two hours of bags and sprints on the treadmill, Cameron headed into the weight room, where Reggie was waiting.
“You feel better?” His old friend could see his head was screwed on as crooked as a mis-threaded bottle cap.
“Not really.”
“Should I ask?”
“Man, there’s so much shit going on. Fucking, my Dad and Roger, they’ve got shit so fucked up over there.”
“Word is they’re in big to Topher. Bad news dude. I’m sorry, that’s fucked up. That dude don’t play.”
“Neither do I.”
“Yeah, but man, it’s not your fight. Remember, that’s why you left. You gotta separate yourself, you’ve got what it takes — but not if you keep letting your head get fucked with that temper of yours. They’re big boys; they got themselves into this, and they’ll have to get themselves out. Or not. What’s the worst that can happen? Huh? Topher wants his money, they gotta figure it out. Come on, you gotta focus man. You asked me to take you back. Well, here I am. But, I’m not going to work with you if your head is only half in the game.”
“It’s more than that.”
“What? What’s more?”
“Fuck man, it’s Vic.”
“What? What’s wrong with Victoria?”
Reggie had been around long enough to know Victoria.
“Nothing man. Nothing’s wrong with her. But, she’s there, she’s got this fucked up loyalty to her old man and the gym.”
“So? She’s a big girl, too. She’s smart, let them figure it out.”
Cameron shook his head, just thinking about her turned his blood on high burn.
“What? Dude, come on, come clean so we can move on. What? Is there more?”
“It’s her, man. She’s not just Roger’s daughter, not just the chick that runs the gym.”
Cameron looked Reggie in the eye, raising one eyebrow and exhaling a long, slow breath.
“NO. No shit? You and Vic? Damn man, when’d that happen? Fuck! Anyone know yet? Roger? Larry? I bet they lost their shit.”
“They don’t know yet. She’s scared as hell to tell them, I don’t give a shit, I want her out of there anyway. There’s more, Topher’s got his eye on her. The fucker.”
“No shit. God damn, Cameron. That is more fucked up than I thought. Topher’s fucked up; I’ve heard shit.” Reggie recoiled like he’d been hit in the gut, a smile without humor spreading over his lips.
“You’re telling me.” Cameron pulled at the loose end of red tape that covered his knuckles.
“Well, dude, I can’t solve that shit storm for you right now. But, we got Joey in the ring waiting, so let’s get to work, okay? We’re going to work on pace, control, CONTROL — that’s going to be a challenge today, huh?”
“A little bit.” Cameron tensed his neck, dropped his chin back, and took a deep breath.
After two sparing rounds, a light cool down and then a rub down, Cameron felt the knots loosen a bit. But, he couldn’t shake the gnawing craving he felt from his skin to his bones to feel her under him, around him, next to him.
The fifteen minutes it took to get from Tyson’s to Southside felt more like a decade. The streets were empty, the sun had just given up and everything in Southwest Detroit took on a post-apocalyptic cast.
But, Victoria lit up everything around him, just the thought of her made the streets seem brighter, the tones of gray warmer.
Any girl or woman that came before faded like an old photo left outside in the sun. Blurred images and muffled echoes of something so far from the way he felt when he touched and tasted her that it wasn’t even in the same universe.
It was already 5:50, and he needed to be there by 6. He was a man of his word, and being away from her this long, even when he was pushing his body to the limit, he felt like she was disappearing.
He needed her like the air, and his chest tightened as he slung open the back metal door and strode like a defiant warrior down the back hall and into the clamor and heat of the gym.
Rodney had worked the desk at Southside for years, he was a mid-level fighter, but everyone knew him as the idiot whose idea one drunken night was to have the name of his ex-wife tattooed on his face. His thought process in that inebriated moment was that at least when he fought, someone would be able to clock her one.
He gave Cameron a nod over his shoulder as he turned out of the back hall and headed toward the office. Thoughts of bending her ass over the desk floated around in his head as the first scream snapped him back into the dark reality of where he was.
“I didn’t get you into this!” Her voice felt like an ice pick jabbed into Cameron’s eye.
In two strides, he covered ten feet of scratched, faded linoleum under his feet, his body hit the office door with such force it hung crooked off the top hinge.
Victoria’s head was in her hands as Roger stood over her desk, the lines in his face deep and his eyes showed no emotion as his daughter cried.
“What the fuck do you want? Get the fuck out!” Roger yelled.
Cameron didn’t even give him a glance.
“You okay? What happened?” He was next to Victoria, every hair on his body standing on end as he felt her body shake.
“Nothing, everything’s fine.” She didn’t even raise her eyes to look at him.
“You fuck. What did you say to her?” Cameron squared off; every muscle turned to lead as Roger’s eyes flicked for one second with fire.
He must have some brain cells left because he quickly took a giant fucking step in retreat and crossed his arms over his chest.
In the world that existed inside Cameron’s head, Roger would be snuffed out and in the dumpster without another thought. He’d learned over the years; the real world was far different from the one inside his head.
“Nothing Cam. Just — let’s go.” Victoria grabbed for her bag and stood behind his massive, charged form.
“Tell him. Here listen — you want to know everything big shot? Come back in town like you’re the big show. Well, here you go — “
“NO!” Victoria screamed.
She wasn’t fast enough, Roger’s finger hit the voice mail button on the desk phone, and a crackling voice echoed around the cinder block walls.
“Well, here we are, gentleman — I’m losing my patience. You know your options. I’ve given you an easy out. One night and the slate is clean. Don’t be foolish. You should feel very fortunate I have given you an alternative. That doesn’t happen often, but you have something I want, and I’m not a man that waits. She may even enjoy herself — You gentleman told me you would do your best to convince the young lady to take this o
pportunity to free you from — “
Cameron’s head exploded, his arm shot out like a cannonball — something like a death rattle came from inside him. He jerked the phone from the desk; the cord snapped, and he flung it like some unholy supersonic demon needing to be exorcised.
The black plastic exploded like shrapnel as Victoria screamed and covered her face as Roger turned away, cowering as Cameron bumped him into the wall with his chest.
“You’re a dead man — she’s your fucking daughter!”
“NO!! CAMERON DON’T!!!” Victoria screamed.
There is a moment when a human or an animal passes into the red zone. Once there, the only relief for them comes from sinking their teeth into the jugular until the beating heart of its victim stops pumping.
Cameron passed that red zone as his fist cracked the side of Roger’s jaw, sending him crumpling into ruin at Cameron’s feet.
A deep grunt left Roger as all the air left his lungs. His eyes closed and instinctively, his arms covered his head. It still wasn’t enough for Cameron, he brought down his lethal weapons in a fury at the cowering, curled up form.
He met the side of his nose with another sickening crack and blood sprayed in a spattering of stripes and round dots onto the bright white of Cameron’s t-shirt as he crouched, still pummeling into Roger.
He could hear her voice, screaming, begging — then like a hand reaching down under the waves to pull a drowning man to the surface, her fingers circled his cocked back arm, her voice withering and pleading and for just a split second, she broke through the black curtain.
“Cameron — God, please, don’t — stop, please — you’re going to kill him!!!”
Time bends, slows, and plays tricks on you when you are lost in a moment so completely you forget your humanity.
Cameron crushed the metal file cabinet above Roger’s head with one final maniacal blow as he growled like a gladiator sinking his final sword strike into the lion.
33
Cameron flew out of metal exit door into the parking lot like a warrior charging the front line. His arms were bowed at his sides and his chest stretched out the t-shirt which pulled with each breath. The usual brilliant white fabric looked like some macabre crimson dot to dot puzzle.
“FUCK!!!!” His roar echoed around the empty parking lot.
Cameron became a demon-possessed mad man, walking in circles breathing fire. Anyone that saw him now would liken him to a murderous-freak ready to dismember the next person that came into range.
His black leather jacket went flying as he threw it against the side of the building. It fell like a lifeless body as he charged toward the Camaro, bellowing into the sky and leaning on the roof with arms locked. His tattoos looked like evil shadows over his arms as each muscle took on life of its own, twitching and hardening with adrenaline.
There are moments when things seem so bad nothing could make them any worse. Then, life teaches you — it is always possible for things to get worse.
Cameron struggled for every breath. He heard the squeal of hinges. He saw the flash of her hair in the dusky light, and every hair follicle on his body stood on end.
From the corner of his eye he saw a sleek, black Lincoln curve down the alley. The viper moved more slowly than a car simply passing by. It came to a stop at the entrance to the parking lot looking like a devil’s messenger sent to put the final nail in Cameron’s coffin.
Are you fucking kidding me right now? This little trip home is damn near going to kill me. Can’t a guy just swoop in, scoop up his girl and make it out alive? I’m really trying, honest to shit balls I am, but if these colossal sized assholes don’t give me a damn break, I’m not going to make it. Someone is fucking going to die. And it’s going to be messy.
The back window on the Lincoln lowered, there sat the voice of the demon on the phone, and even with Victoria’s screams from behind, Cameron took off like a cheetah for the kill.
“You piece of shit!” The heady mist of impending doom suddenly became something far more acute.
“Oh, now, be careful.” Topher grinned.
Another flash of black metal, only this time is was from inside the car, smaller and with a steady hand wrapped around the base, finger at the ready.
Cameron felt himself waver, time bent again, everything slowed as he looked at Topher smiling, the Glock just above the opening of the window.
“Come here.” He jerked his head, encouraging Cameron to step closer. “I take it you got my message? Good. I’ve hoped we would be able to talk. Come here and give me a minute. I’m a reasonable man; maybe we can come up with a solution. Hmmm? What do you say?”
His sardonic smile clenched Cameron’s teeth together so hard he could hear his jaw popping.
“Get back inside. Right fucking now.” Cameron’s head spun back toward the gym door. He waited, making sure she would listen before he took another step toward the Lincoln.
“Cameron, please, come in. Don’t —” Her voice hit him like fingernails down his back drawing blood.
“GET IN THE FUCKING GYM! GO!”
She blinked, and he knew she would do as she was told, but Jesus Christ it took her long enough. That was something that needed to be fixed, she needed to know when it was time to do as you’re told without questions, but Cameron would have to teach that lesson later.
Right now, he had a 9mm pointed at him and, in most situations, that took precedence.
He could see where stripes of tears shone on her cheeks. But she moved behind the chipped green metal door, and Cameron heard the heavy ‘klunk’ as it closed behind her.
Thank Jesus. Fuck me. Now, let’s see if I can hold my shit together and not wipe my ass with this fuck’s face. I’ve just about reached the end of my damn rope with all this fuckery.
In three strides, he was close enough to the car to smell the cigar smoke. His jaw snapped looking down into the face of the man that had some fucked up idea that he could treat his girl like some worthless fuck-hole for his pleasure.
That unfortunate thought sent bile bubbling up in the back of Cameron’s throat. He steadied himself, fists clenched, and locked eyes with the creature inside the car.
“Your family is in quite the predicament.”
His shining bald head would look better on top of a spike. Maybe I’ll go all medieval on his ass.
“What the fuck do you want? You have anything new to tell me? Otherwise, fuck off.”
“So impolite. You never did know how to be civilized Cameron. Such a shame, you were so talented, but you could never control your temper.”
“Why don’t you put that gun down and step out and we can figure this shit out, just you and me? Or, maybe you need a minute to find your balls first. I can wait.”
“Oh, well, you and I both know that isn’t going to happen. You’re a study in unfulfilled potential, Cameron. But, honestly, I don’t give a shit about you, or your family. What I do care about — very much — is money. More importantly, my money. The money your father and his partner owe me.”
Cameron watched the Glock shake slightly, this piece of shit understood just how close Cameron was to reaching inside that car and snapping his fat fucking neck.
“So, what’s your fucking offer? Because, your other option is off the fucking table. That shit will never fucking happen. In fact, it is in your best goddamn interest to pretend like she doesn’t exist. So, unless you have something new to say, we’re done here.”
Cameron drew breath as Topher’s eyes blinked, and he curled his lips back over nicotine yellow teeth.
“I’ve got ears. I know you’re taking the Jake Rashney fight. That’s my fight, my place down there. All the bets go through me. Money is on you. Word is, you’re in the best shape of your life. Colorado taught you something, maybe.”
“So? You don’t want me to take the fight? So what, how does that solve anything?”
“Oh, no, I do want you to take that fight. But you won’t win that fight. You want to clear up
this little mess the boys have gotten themselves into? Lose the fight, Cameron. Make it look good, go at least to the third round, then — just make sure you make it look good. Do this right, keep your mouth shut, I’ll consider your marker cleared and your little band of misfits here will go on to live another day.”
The sun retreated and settled behind the crumbling brick buildings, the one flickering security light in the parking lot struggled to come to life as Cameron stood square, his eyes still dancing between Topher’s dead black eyes and the steel that he held in his hand.
“Don’t even think about it, Cameron. You won’t win. Even if you get to me, Lloyd up there has a shiny new AK across his lap. We’re not here to play; we’re here to do business. That is what this is Cameron, business. Your family’s been around a long time. Anyone else, I would have called this in a long time ago. Your Dad and I go way back; he’s certainly done his part to line my pockets and put fights just where I needed on occasion.
Only now, he doesn’t have any big names to throw at this problem like in the old days. But, the time is here. There are lots of ways to pay. I’m offering you one just like I offered her one. If you decide none of my offers are suitable, then so be it. Just remember, my pound of flesh can come from many places. Maybe your brother finds himself up against someone that doesn’t stop at a concussion.
I have people everywhere, you know. A couple compound fractures can certainly stop a promising career. I’m bored, I’m not waiting. I’ll take the gym, I’ll take Victoria, or I’ll take you falling in the third round, or I’ll take my pound of flesh from where it suits me. You decide.”
Cameron heard the sound of the humming engine, his heart as it beat in his ears and the low pulse of a police siren a few blocks over.
“Just nod, Cameron. I can see you are not in the mood to talk. Just nod and I’ll put my money where it needs to be to get this whole unfortunate matter settled. It’s just one fight. One fight and you get to save that little girl from the big bad wolf.”
Cameron could see the gold fillings in the back of his mouth as he lurched, filling the space between them with a sickening laugh.