by Twyla T
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea for me to stay. There’s a lot going on, but I do wish you the best,” he said and left before she could try to convince him to stay.
“Let’s go,” he said when he walked up to where Cameron was sitting. She was more than ready to get out of the hospital. While Keith was in the room, Cameron had called Toya and filled her in on everything that had occurred. Toya was speechless, to say the least. When she finally found her voice, she told Cameron since Kingston was over packed anyway, she would keep him for a few days because there was no telling what else might happen. Cameron thanked her tremendously and talked to Kingston for a few minutes. He was watching a movie and eating ice cream, so he was barely paying attention anyway.
Chapter 21
“We’re about to start our roundups in a few more days; the video that we have on suspect KE isn’t really clear, but we just might be able to make it work. You were able to get enough evidence on all of the others to send them down the river, but you will have to try to get this asshole KE one more time, so we can ship his ass away too. I don’t wanna take any chances and slip up,” the DA said.
“It was hard for me to catch him slipping that one time; I’ll never be able to get him again,” Francis, the female informant, said.
“YOU WILL TRY ONE MORE TIME OR THE DEAL IS OFF!! THIS ISN’T A SUGGESTION, IT’S A DEMAND!!” the DA screamed while banging his head on the table and rattling it. “It seemed like you had a nice little time at that BBQ anyway, so you’ll be fine. We will find out what’s going on within the next day or so,” he continued.
Francis sat there shivering on the inside. She had sold her soul to the devil and, deep down, she knew that she would never be free. Turning her back on her family and even people she didn’t know, she felt like it was worth her freedom, so she said fuck it and did what she felt like she had to do. They would do the same shit to me, she thought to herself. Getting raided and the cops finding two hundred thousand in cash, a street value of eighty-five thousand in cocaine, and double the value in marijuana led Francis to singing like a bird. Her boyfriend was on the run and honestly, she had no idea where he was so she was on her own.
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Mrs. Edwards knew that the things she had done had pushed her husband into the arms of another woman. Swallowing her pride, she decided that she would take the high road by admitting her faults, apologizing, and trying to move forward. Arguing, fussing, and fighting were only going to drive Stanley further away. While sitting there preparing a candle light dinner, anticipating her husband’s return, her cellphone started ringing. She was pretty much done with the roasted spiced leg of lamb, roasted potatoes, Caesar salad, and his favorite dessert, chocolate cake. He would truly be shocked because he was so use to her arguing and jumping down his throat whenever he walked through the door.
Breaking away from the kitchen to answer her cellphone, she noticed that she had missed her son’s call. Before she could call him back, Keith was calling again. “Hey baby,” she said sweetly when she answered. He was silent for a moment on the other end, trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. Always being protective of his mother, he thought about telling her about his dad, but decided to tell her about his issues with Phebe. She stood there and held the phone in disbelief, thinking of all of the times she had taken up for Phebe, the time they had spent together bonding and everything, and it pissed her off. She knew that sharing her thoughts, at the moment, would not help her son’s feelings or mood, so she kept them to herself.
Stanley walked in while she was still on the phone with Keith and was surprised to smell the aroma of a delicious meal and such a romantic atmosphere. After she hung up the phone, he walked over and hugged her. Keith’s phone call had changed the initial approach she planned to take with her husband, so Phebe became the topic of discussion over dinner. Stanley was just as shocked as his wife, but knew he couldn’t say too much because of his own actions. He made a mental note to call his son as soon as they finished up because the two of them needed to talk. When they finished with dinner, the only thing Mrs. Edwards said was, “Everything that’s happened before now is in the past. I forgive you for the wrong you’ve done, and I hope you forgive me as well. I love you.”
Chapter 22
When Mrs. Miller was alone in her car, she had so many thoughts. Cameron and Keith catching her led her mind back to this morning before they left the room, which would be her last rendezvous with Stanley because she made up her mind to really stop before someone got hurt.
I woke up to the best morning sex that I had ever had in my life. On all of our other trips, I usually wake up first and take him on a ride, but he beat me to it this morning. I guess he was hungry, hungry for me. I’ve heard the expression climbing the walls and that’s exactly what he had me doing. I’m gonna miss him, but I must move on.
Breaking away from thoughts of Stanley, she started to wonder if she had ever really forgiven her sister for what she had done. Thinking about the fact that she stayed with Charles and not forgiving her sister had her feeling pretty bad. I know that it’s way past time that she and I talk, alone, Carla whispered to herself.
As she was pulling up at home, a car had its signal on to turn into her driveway as well. It wasn’t a car that she had seen before, but after taking a closer look, she noticed that it was Charlotte. And it looked like Crystal was in the passenger’s seat. “Well, I sure wasn’t expecting to have a conversation with her today,” Carla mumbled to herself. She picked up her phone and called Charles when she noticed that his truck was gone, and he didn’t answer. Next, she placed a call to Cameron to see exactly where she was. Cameron informed her that she was pretty close to her house and planned on stopping by before going home.
Carla knew she had just told herself that she needed to forgive her sister and talk to her, but she just wasn’t expecting to do it today, which was why she had yet to get out of the car. Charlotte came and opened the door, which snapped her out of her feelings. “Hi mom,” Charlotte said while bending down to hug her mother and crying immediately.
“Don’t cry baby. It’s okay. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?” Mrs. Miller asked.
“I wanted to surprise you. I hope you don’t mind me bringing Crystal. I mean mom, well, I really don’t know what to call her,” Charlotte said.
“No, I don’t mind. It’s actually time that she and I had a civilized conversation,” Mrs. Miller said while looking at her sister, who was standing off in the distance. “Hello Crystal, how are you?” she asked. “Hi Carla, I’m just trying to make it,” Crystal replied.
“Come on and let’s go in the house. We all need to talk. Cameron should be here shortly, so I suppose this was meant to be,” Mrs. Miller said while motioning with her hands for them to follow her inside.
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Cameron was headed to her parent’s house. She had just gotten in her car after Keith dropped her off. She knew it was dangerous, but she agreed to let Keith come and spend the night with her. Malcolm hadn’t called anymore, but she was still scared. Silence always means something, is what she kept repeating to herself. She just felt that he was about to do something crazy. She pulled out her phone to text her friends.
Cameron: I called Toya and filled her in on this, but y’all…things just keep getting crazier by the minute.
Shay: Oh lawd, what happened now?
Sonya: I’m scared already!
Toya: Brace yourselves.
Cameron: Where do I start? Phebe been fucking Luke, and she’s pregnant. By him. Phebe and Luke were in an accident together and they both are at the University Medical Center. We caught my mama and Mr. Edwards at the same hotel as us.
Shay: OMG!!!! NOOOOO
Sonya: What in the fuck??!
Cameron: Malcolm called and Keith answered. I’m really kinda scared to go home because he called about twenty something more
times after that while we was at the hospital.
Sonya: Wait. You went to the hospital? To see Phebe them? (confused face)
Shay: Girl…OMG!! OMG!!!!
Toya: I told y’all!!
Cameron: Yes. We went straight from Memphis to Jackson. I’m pulling up to my mama’s house now. Some other car is here. Ain’t no telling who this is. Shit!
Shay: Mrs. Miller and Mr. Edwards tho…lawd!
Sonya: Cam…this shit is beyond crazy girl!!
Cameron: I just walked into my parent’s house and Charlotte and Crystal are here. Smh…y’all just pray for everybody.
When Cameron walked in the house, everyone seemed to be in deep conversation, but they stopped upon her entrance. Looking into Charlotte’s face, she really didn’t know how to feel. “Hello sweetheart,” her mom spoke.
“Hi mom, where’s dad?” Cameron replied.
“He wasn’t here when I made it, but I’m glad you’re here. Come have a seat, we need to talk,” Mrs. Miller said. The conversation had been going quite well, and Mrs. Miller was hoping that they could continue it in a civilized manner with Cameron there.
“Give me one minute please,” Cameron said while walking to the back. Noticing there wasn’t any tissue in the hallway bathroom and too lazy to go to the hall closet where the tissue is usually kept to get a new roll, she went into her parent’s room to use the restroom. Walking into the room, she noticed her dad’s cellphone lying on the bed and wondered why he had left without taking it with him. Noticing an opened letter on the bed as well and being curious, Cameron picked it up and began reading it. After only a few sentences in, Cameron told herself that had to be some type of joke, so she threw the letter back on the bed and proceeded to the bathroom. While washing her hands, she told herself to pick the letter back up and look for a return address. Finding no return address or name, she flipped it back over and started back reading. Halfway through the letter, she started hyperventilating. “OMG! NOOOOO!!” she screamed.
Within seconds, her mom ran to the back and found her in their bedroom holding a letter with tears streaming down her face. “What’s wrong sweetheart?” her mom asked.
Cameron fell to the floor crying uncontrollably. “He killed Fred,” she said through sobs. It was hard for her mom to understand what she had said, and she stood there thinking that Cameron had gone crazy, so she asked her to repeat herself. As Cameron repeated herself, Charlotte and Crystal were making their way down the hall, and they heard her.
“Fred’s death was an accident honey; what are you talking about?” her mom asked while becoming emotional herself.
“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked. Mrs. Miller bent down and took the letter from Cameron’s hand and started reading it herself. Before she could finish, Cameron’s sadness had turned into anger and she hopped up. “I’m gonna kill that motherfucker!” she said.
“What is going on?” Charlotte asked again. Cameron wasn’t really trying to ignore her; she was just pissed the fuck off, so she headed towards the front of the house to pick up her keys and cellphone off the table. Hearing her mother cry out from the back, she wanted to go and comfort her, but she only had one thing on her mind and that was killing Malcolm. As she was walking out of the door, her dad was walking in. He knew that she had read the letter when she tried to walk by him without speaking.
“Wait a minute darling, calm down,” he said while grabbing her.
“No, I’m gonna kill that sick bastard. He’s not getting away with killing my brother,” Cameron told her dad as tears started back rolling down her cheeks.
“No, you’re not. I can’t have you going to jail. I’m gonna kill him myself,” her dad told her, meaning every word. “I’ve already been looking for him, but I can’t find him, so we’re gonna have to play this smart. I’m gonna come up with the perfect plan,” he continued. While they were talking, Mrs. Miller had walked back to the front with Charlotte and Crystal walking closely behind, still not knowing exactly what was going on.
“Is this real?” Mrs. Miller asked her husband sadly while holding the letter in the air.
“I’m afraid so. Did you see the check as well?” he replied. Neither of them noticed the enclosed cashier’s check that was on the bed beside the letter and his phone. She dropped the letter and grabbed her chest. Mr. Miller got up and ran to her side. He was still upset, but thankful that he had found out this information before them. It made him better prepared to help them.
“Are you guys saying that someone killed Fred?” Charlotte asked as tears started to roll down her face. None of her previous questions had been answered, but she was trying to put everything together.
“Malcolm!” Cameron said.
Charlotte gasped and said, “Oh My God!”
“I need everyone to come and sit at the kitchen table. We have a lot that needs to be discussed,” Mr. Miller said while walking his wife to the table to take a seat. Everyone slowly made their way to kitchen and sat down.
The room was eerily quiet. Each one of them was lost in their own individual thoughts. I’m killing that motherfucker on visual. I could take everything else he has done, but to kill my brother, nah. He ain’t getting away with that shit, and if his bitch ass mama wanna jump stupid, she can get it too, Cameron deliberated to herself.
Everything just keeps getting crazier. There’s no way I can keep this baby now. Maybe, I’m just not to supposed to have kids anyway. Malcolm must die, Charlotte consciously thought.
I can’t believe he killed my baby. I’ve never wanted to kill anybody in my life, not even Crystal, but he must pay for this, Mrs. Miller contemplated.
Lord, Charlotte is already in a mess and now she’s pregnant by not only her sister’s husband, but also the man who killed her brother, Crystal thought to herself.
“I know everyone has all types of emotions flowing through them right now, but we have to stop and think. We also have other issues that need our attention and to be dealt with,” Mr. Miller said, breaking everyone away from their reverie. Everyone looked at him as he began talking. “Being interrupted is something I won’t tolerate at the moment, so everyone please remain quiet and hear me out until I finish talking. I went looking for Malcolm, but he was nowhere to be found. I hate that he wasn’t at his mother’s house, but I know it’s good he was gone because more than one person would be dead right now. While I was there, his mother seemed to think I was there pissed off because Malcolm got you pregnant Charlotte.”
Looking at Charlotte, Charles asked her, “Is this true Charlotte? Are you really pregnant by Malcolm?”
Charlotte dropped her head and responded with a “yes” in a voice so low that they could barely hear. Overflowing like a river, tears quickly stained her face as she tried to comprehend the magnitude of Malcolm’s deception towards her and her family. Sitting directly across from Charlotte, Cameron gasped loudly while jumping up from her seat.
“Sit down Cameron!” Mr. Miller said in a firm voice. Sitting back down right away, Cameron just stared at Charlotte. She was so over Malcolm, but that didn’t stop the hurt and pain that she felt from her sister’s betrayal. “When we’re done, I need you two to talk to each other with no distractions,” Mr. Miller said to his daughters while pointing a finger back and forth at them. They both silently nodded in agreement. Thinking about his wife’s cheating, he made the comment. “I heard you were in Memphis this weekend,” Mr. Miller turned and said to his wife.
Looking very surprised, Carla tried to open her mouth to speak, but he held up his hand and declared that they would have an in-depth discussion about her trip later. He warned her that right now wasn’t the time to get into that conversation. Turning his focus to Crystal, he told her that she needed to tell her sister everything that has been going on with her before she left.
“Cameron, I will never be able to tell you how truly sorry I am for making you marry Malcolm. If I would have come clean about what he… and I, for that matter…had done, none of us would be i
n this situation because he wouldn’t even be around. I take full responsibility for every single thing. Because of the relationship I shared with Crystal in the past, he photoshopped some pictures and threatened to give them to Carla one day when Crystal popped up. I really did think he was a good guy, but I never should have forced you to marry him,” Mr. Miller confessed, while trying to keep his composure and staying strong. “I did a great deal of thinking earlier after I couldn’t find Malcolm, and Cameron, hear me out, but I need you to take him back,” he said.
“Have you lost your mind dad? Do you want him to kill me next?” Cameron asked, as she jumped out of her seat again.
“Trust me and hear me out,” he said before telling them about the plan he had come up with and making them all promise not to tell anyone who wasn’t in the room with them anything. Everyone agreed except Cameron because she was upset on the inside just thinking about having to be in Malcolm’s presence, but her dad continued to tell them about his bright idea.
Chapter 23
The next day at work, Cameron really couldn’t focus for shit. If it had not been for her paranoia, she would have called in sick. Sitting at home all jumpy waiting on Malcolm to pop up at any minute just wasn’t the business, so she went on to work. Keith came over as he promised, but both of them were so occupied with their own thoughts, it was like they were just there. Dreaming about Fred led Cameron to waking up crying, which is why her eyes were still red and puffy.
She wanted to tell Keith about what was going on last night, but she honestly couldn’t put the words together. It was still a hard pill for her to swallow. Knowing how Keith felt about Fred would have only added to his problems and that was something she just didn’t want to do. But she knew she would have to tell him soon because Malcolm would be around again if she agreed to her dad’s proposition. Why is all of this shit happening in my family? she asked herself for the millionth time that morning.