by Cortney Gee
"I don't know; I was thinking we could go to your place, lay up and watched some movies. Or maybe go there and get drunk or better yet just go there, strip down and make love," I flirted.
"How about we do all you mentioned," she replied as we zipped off to her Lake Marin lair.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
"What do you mean you aren't going to take the writing job?" Lisa asked me after swallowing down the food she had in her mouth.
We were dining at one of my favorite little haunts in Glendale enjoying Beef Bowls.
"Exactly what I said. Lisa, I've worked my ass off to get to the point where folks recognize my face and want to see me. I can wait until I'm old to be behind the scenes. If you're worried about your commission, I got that faded."
"So, you are going to pay me fifteen percent for some work I didn't do? Cameron, that has to be the dumbest shit I've ever heard of."
Nothing intrigued and confused me more than white people. You would never find a nigga complaining about free money, not ever. Free might be the African-American collective culture's favorite word in the dictionary. Here I was offering to compensate my manager for some shit she knew she hadn't earned and Lisa was calling me a damn fool. I was dumbfounded, but I saw no reason to flip on her. My reasoning wasn't as simple as me wanting to be in front of cameras and crowds. I was trying to stay in front of the game and from behind bars. My collective of entertainers who didn't frown at making some sitcom cash without actually being on a TV show had been putting in serious work, busting down all that Kwan supplied us with. TMB had been cool enough to secure us flights to destinations that found us breaking down the bad paper at malls, amusement parks and strip clubs. The way we flooded the economy with Kwan's product, I wouldn't have been surprised if we didn't have to do something with all the talk of inflation of the dollar. I could have cared less about that shit; the economy had been dicking around my people since we arrived over here on that boat trip we didn't ask for. As far as I was concerned, it was time for some get back.
There was no way I would have been able to capitalize this opportunity while being bogged down in an office punching up lame gags some non-comedic bastard (who was getting more loot than I was) handed off to me to turn into a gem.
We had already had successful dates in San Diego and Phoenix with the comedy tour; it just seemed to be the chance to seize the moment.
Much to my surprise, Lisa wasn't giving me the blues about the meeting at BET.
"I know what Curtis was intending to offer you. I'm starting to see how you maneuver, so I let you think it was you who sealed the deal," she said.
"Yeah, my business partners agreed to it. Now all that's left is to read the fine print and sign the contract," I replied between bites of my tenderloin beef bowl.
“I'm glad you trusted me to handle that," I said.
"I trusted you to do as you always do."
"And what exactly is that?"
"Handle my job and get me a larger commission than I'm supposed to."
Our afternoon meeting at Yoshinowa Beef Bowl wasn't just about my deal at BET. Lisa had some news to tell me and she wasn't sure how I would react. A good friend of hers, over at CBS Studios, was very interested in buying my script Barely Standing. The only problem was that they wanted someone else to star in the role I'd written for myself.
"If they don't want me, they can't have my story," I spat.
"Cameron, if you write and produce it, you'll find it quite profitable," Lisa replied trying to reason with me.
I thought she understood that writing and producing wasn't part of my plan. I wanted and needed to be in front of the camera. "So is CBS our only option?"
"No, not at all. There's ABC, NBC, and if all fails, FOX and UPN are big on sitcoms driven by African-American stars."
"I guess no matter what I do, it's a deal with the devil, huh?"
"I wouldn't call executives the lords of the underworld. Maybe they're more like vampires. They suck the life out of you."
I thought over the comparison that Lisa had made about the industry I was interested in being a part of. "So what do you suggest I do?" I questioned after washing down my food with a gulp of Diet Coke.
"Out of respect to my friend over at CBS, at least hear them out and see what their offer is."
"But I thought you said they were set on using someone else as the lead character?"
"They are, but they haven't sat down with my dynamic client. I'm willing to bet once they see and talk with you, the casting executives will see the double threat they'll have in you."
"Lisa, if I didn't know better, I would swear you just gave me a compliment."
She flashed a smile as she winked at me. "I did and it's not costing you my normal managerial fee."
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
The aroma of simmering onions greeted me as I entered my home. Karen was in the dining room preparing the twins' meal. Though the scent was pleasant, the knowledge of what was for dinner appalled me.
"Is that fried liver and Brussel sprouts?" I asked, already knowing the answer to my question.
The boys were elated with her choice, but I knew there was a method to Karen's madness.
"Yes!"
The meal from my own personal hell was purposely planned as a prerequisite to a war.
"Damn, Karen, you know good and damn well I don't eat that shit."
"Well, maybe you can get whoever you spend your time with in Oakland to fix you something you like," she spat, causing the boys to grab their plates and take them to their room.
If she had made something we all could have enjoyed I would have done the same and followed them. But she hadn't, so instead, I stood there preparing for her verbal assault.
As she was gearing up for an all-out confrontation, I found myself trying to figure out just how much she knew and how much she was going to try to pry out of me. I knew that Jessica didn't have my address and the fact that there wasn't blood all over the walls meant she hadn't come by.
"Cameron, don't I cook and clean for you? Didn't I bear your children, suck and fuck you whenever you wanted?"
I couldn't answer the barrage of questions. Not because it was complicated, but moreso because no matter what I said, it was going to change the course of the conversation. The most I could muster was a nod of my head.
"Then why the fuck can’t you respect me enough to make an effort to hide your infidelity?”
I so wanted to tell her at what great lengths I took to keep my extracurricular activities as far from home as possible. I had always gone to Oakland on legitimate business. The fact I was doing extra shit while on those trips was a whole 'nother something.
Because there wasn’t anything I could say, I just stood there with a dumb ass look on my face.
"So what you want me to say?" I finally asked, walking toward her -- though I was mindful of the sharp objects on the dining table.
"I believe your actions and flight destinations says it all, Cameron. You've outgrown us and I can't try to hold on to you any longer," she said smoothly. Her nonchalant delivery frightened me.
I couldn't tell if Karen was giving me a way out or setting me up for something sinister. What I did know was that she was probing and I wasn’t about to confess to shit.
I had been in relationships before but this one was different than the others I had ended or forced to come to a halt. Karen had my children and knew the truth of my crimes. At this very moment, I was glad I hadn't confessed to her about my involvement in Gwen's disappearance and Lance's flight. What she could have done with that information caused a chill to race down my spine.
Instead of trying to comfort her by holding her in my arms, I sat down at the dining room table.
There was an uncomfortable quiet that existed between us. I wasn't sure if Karen was considering making our kids fatherless by quitting or killing me, but I knew I didn't have a leg to stand on in any argument that might erupt from her.
"I need you to leave. I ne
ed you to leave enough money so that we don't have to involve the authorities about supporting our children and I need you to do that shit now."
It was too late at night for me to hire a moving company or try to get approved at an apartment rental office, so I hoped she didn't expect me to leave and not come back.
"It's too late and I'm too hungry for all this shit, Karen. Be mad with me, hell you can be through with me, but be adult about this," I pleaded with her, already deciding to let Pacino eat that shit she cooked. I was going to grab me something to eat and then, return to retire in our guest room.
"Don't you dare question my maturity, Cameron. If I wasn't mature and of my right motherfucking mind, I would have made your favorite meal tonight instead of the one you hated most."
Her threat registered, but again I cautioned myself on reacting to it. Karen wasn't about to talk me into a DV case just because she didn’t know how to leave well enough alone.
I rose up slowly from the chair, grabbed my keys off the table, and headed out the door sparing my kids from witnessing the brutality that could have occurred had I stayed.
Walking out the door, I heard her sobbing, but there was nothing I could do to ease her pain or calm her anger. So I didn't make any attempts to do so.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Two weeks of complete silence from Karen had me on edge. Though I had refused to leave the house and had permanently moved into the guest room, I was sleeping with both eyes opened, one to make sure she didn’t stab me in my sleep and the other to make sure she didn’t fleece me.
When I received a phone call from an unfamiliar 510 area code I was hesitant to answer.
"You have a collect phone call from Jessica, an inmate in Marin County Jail. To accept this call, press or say one. To block inmate phone calls press zero. Thank you."
I immediately pressed one. "Hey Carrot, is everything okay?" I asked, knowing if all was good I wouldn't be getting a call from jail.
"Reesie, they have me and Kwan on charges of forgery and counterfeiting. Our bail is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars apiece. Can you help us out?"
Of course I had the loot to make the bars before her a memory. Springing my favorite redhead from incarceration was nothing. Helping Kwan was a whole 'nother something. I mean, didn't he have someone he was fucking good enough to bail him out like Jessica had in me?
"Cameron, did you hear me? We need five hundred thousand dollars. Are you going to come get us out?" she questioned again as I was having my inner conversation.
"Yeah, baby, of course I am. I just need to gather up the cash and hop on a flight."
The reality was that I couldn't afford to have either one of them feeling betrayed by me. Nothing made a motherfucker start giving up names like abandonment.
Not only did I have concerns about my own freedom if that happened, Jessica knew my entire crew. If not handled properly, she and Kwan could easily serve us up as part of a conspiracy.
"Thank you, Reesie. Thank you, thank you. I told Kwan we could depend on you."
Her response confirmed what I'd been thinking.
"You're very welcome, sweetie. Like I said, don't worry I got you," I replied as Pacino finally found a spot he deemed suitable for his refuge.
"You have sixty seconds left on this call," prompted the automated operator.
"I love you, Reesie," Jessica said hurriedly before the call was disconnected.
I was caught off guard by her statement of endearment. I probably was only questioning its validity because of the circumstance surrounding its utterance.
"I love you too, " I replied. I wasn't forced to make that response and I was comfortable doing so. I really meant it and not only did I love Jessica, I trusted her as well. Shit, I had to trust her. I was about to part with the equivalent of Michael Jordan's rookie salary to have her and Kwan released. If that ain't love, I didn't know what was.
"Don't worry, I'm on it and will be on my way," I told her not knowing if the call dropped before I could finish my sentence.
When the call ended, I played the good neighbor and picked up Pacino's poop. Doing so was good practice; soon I would be in Oakland cleaning up more shit.
If I was going to be traveling that flush with cash doing so dolo wasn't a good idea. While I was still outside walking Pacino, I called Marc and enlisted him in joining me on the road trip up north. I thought he would have seen it as an opportunity to hangout and have some fun with Ebony. I saw it as a chance for someone whose ass I was saving from the grinder to watch my back.
"Cameron, I have a question for you and you'll probably be pissed with me for asking it."
I braced myself for his inquiry.
"Have you ever thought about how easy your life would be if you just had Karen and the boys?"
"I would probably be so boring you would find it difficult to be my friend. I mean who else would you be able to live your life vicariously through if I was that dude?"
He chuckled at my response.
I told him to get ready and I ended the call.
By now Pacino had tired of sniffing around and was whimpering to go back to the house. I was ready to get home as well seeing there was nothing sexy about walking around with a plastic bag filled with dookie.
Two days later, the look on the clerk's face when I emptied out a half million dollars on her made me smile. The youthful Mexican lady's eyes widened and her hands trembled as she counted the bail money. The quivering of her thin lips told me that she contemplated what her life could be like if she just bolted out of the door and never turned back with that vast amount of cash in her possession.
"It's all here, sir. There are some documents I need you to sign, then there will be about a two-hour wait. Both parties have to clear our nationwide search. After that matter is verified, they will be released," she said.
"You would think that kinda money would speed up the process," Marc stated as we waited by a vending machine that was devoid of any snack I desired.
"If it wasn't being held in trust maybe it would quicken the process. But I'm expecting every red cent of that dough back," I replied, finally settling on a Snickers bar though I actually craved a Milky Way.
Marc looked at me in complete silence.
I knew he had a question and his silence told me he was weighing whether or not to go forward with it.
"Don't just sit there and stare at me. Whatever the fuck is on your mind is better spoken than kept to yourself," I said making the decision for him.
"Are you sure about this, Cameron? I mean are you absolutely sure that Kwan and Jessica are going to see the entire trial process through so you can recoup your cash?"
I took a bite of the candy bar, not so much to satisfy my hunger but to temper my response and to think over the situation in my head. "I'm sure of one thing and that's if I hadn't brought that loot, I was going to lose the woman that I love and I would have been jeopardizing all of our freedom."
The validity of my statement hit Marc dead on.
"Well, instead of sitting here judging you, I guess I should say thank you."
"Man, it ain't shit. I'm sure you would have done the same for me."
"I'm glad you're sure about that. With a half a million at my disposal I might have dipped off to a country with no extradition laws."
I couldn't even be mad with him for speaking his truth.
Marc hadn't missed my declaration about Jessica.
"So Jessica is the love of your life? What about Karen and the boys?"
It was obvious that no amount of explanation would make my friend understand the spell I was under. Jessica wasn't some minor flirtation. What she and I shared was not an infatuation that had me blind. This was a meeting of two souls who were made for one another.
"My sons will always own my heart and Karen will always be a part of my life because of their existence. What the two of us shared was all about the old me. I was young trying to find my way to the man I am now. To be honest, I'm not sure th
at Karen cares much for the man I've become. I think she has remained with me only because of how comfortable the money has made things."
"So are you saying you've outgrown Karen, is that it?"
"No, what I'm trying to tell you is the me that needed Karen's love lives no more. The person I've become craves the energy that only Jessica can provide." I finished off the last bit of caramel, peanuts and chocolate I had in my mouth.
Marc digested my long diatribe and for the next hour we sat there in silence.
Maybe he didn't know what to say or maybe it was because my response had left him no room for rebuttal.
I guess the quiet between us made Marc uncomfortable because instead of basking in it like I was, he chose to call Beijing for white noise.
I overheard the two talking about her moving from Las Vegas to LA and residing with him. Now it made sense to me why he wasn't pressed to get in contact with Ebony as soon as we touched down.
I was bubbling over with the thought of harassing him about the hazards of trying to tame a hoe into being a housewife.
Luckily for our friendship, Jessica and Kwan entered the corridor before I could begin chiding Marc. Two days in lockup had knocked some of the luster off Jessica, but she still radiated as she walked out of confinement from the Marin County jail. Kwan, on the other hand, looked like he had been in a fight for his life.
"You should see the other guy," he said in response to the looks on our faces.
"Reesie, I knew you wouldn't let me down. Those screws and bitches in lock-up tried to convince me otherwise. I kept telling them that you weren't about to let me be locked up," she exclaimed, running into my arms and showering me with kisses.
She was right. There was no way I was going to be without her in my life and since I had no intention on loving her through Plexiglas, this was the only choice to be made. Even if it meant spending a healthy portion of all the illicitly earned money I had. She might not have realized it, though because I hadn't taken the time to discuss my real feelings for her yet. I guess I was hoping that Jessica saw that I not only brought the monies to get her released but this move was also as my promise of commitment.