Cameron 2 Page 3

  My tear ducts stung as I felt the oncoming tears approaching. Blinking them away, I looked over at Silk in resentment. The most fucked up thing out of the whole situation was that Pocahontas was Silk’s baby mother.

  “So you tellin’ me you don’t miss me at all?” Silk asked.

  “No. I don’t,” I answered through gritted teeth.

  Silk leaned over in the passenger seat towards me and I quickly jumped back afraid of what his next move might be. You never knew when it came to him. The back of my head collided with the window and I realized there was nowhere to go.

  “So you don’t miss the way I used to beat that shit up?” Silk whispered. “You don’t miss the way I used to suck on that pussy?”

  Playing the sex card was usually my weakness when it came to Silk but it damn sure wouldn’t work now. “Silk, don’t do that,” I told him.

  “That nigga hit it how I used to?” Silk licked his full lips for good measure.

  “Silk—”

  Tap! Tap! Tap!

  Silk and I quickly turned our attention towards the figure standing at the driver door.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Silk smiled.

  Jude tugged on the door handle but it wouldn’t budge since the doors were locked.

  “Open the damn door, Cameron. Get out the car!” he yelled.

  I had never seen Jude this upset before but then again who could blame him? He had just caught me in the parking lot of a male strip club, in the car with my ex, of all people.

  Silk wasted no time as he hit the door unlock button from his side. He climbed out before me, obviously welcoming an altercation. I took my time climbing out because I wasn’t sure I even had an excuse already thought out.

  The minute my foot touched the gravel, Jude went ham on me. “You know what?! I knew it was gon’ be some funny shit goin’ on between you and this nigga. You up here in my shit—the shit that I brought you with this mothafucka?!” Jude yelled. “I can’t believe you, Cam. I really thought you were different.” Jude’s tone was laced with pain.

  “Believe it, my nigga,” Silk arrogantly chimed in.

  Jude took one look at Silk and immediately lost it! Without warning, Jude charged at Silk full speed and shoved the hell out of him. Silk instantly lost his footing, stumbled, but quickly regained his balance.

  “Jude, stop!” I screamed.

  But it was no use, they were already posted up. Silk threw the first punch but Jude quickly ducked the blow. They grabbed one another and began scuffling right there in the parking lot. After wrestling for several seconds, Silk managed to get in a quick jab that connected with Jude’s jaw and sent him to the ground.

  Silk charged at Jude while he was down, but Jude quickly jumped off the ground and scooped Silk up by his legs in an attempt to drop him. He effortlessly lifted Silk off the ground and slammed him into a nearby Hyundai Sonata.

  Suddenly, the bouncer ran over towards the altercation, with a few male dancers in tow. Jude managed to get in a good few blows that caused Silk to stagger and fall to the ground. The bouncer grabbed Jude before he was able to get at Silk again.

  “Aye! Aye! Chill!” the bouncer ordered.

  Jude violently snatched away from the bouncer. “Fuck off me!” he yelled. He stormed over towards his black 2012 Fisker Karma.

  I quickly walked over towards him. “Jude?” My voice cracked.

  He held his hand up in a dismissive way. Obviously, he didn’t want to be bothered but I couldn’t be mad at him. I watched in silence as he climbed into his car and peeled off.

  Silk’s fellow male dancers helped him to his feet and made sure he was okay but his health was the last thing on his mind. His gaze connected with mine, but I quickly looked away and headed towards my truck.

  “Cameron?!” Silk called out. “Cameron, don’t fuckin’ walk away from me!”

  I ignored Silk as I hopped into my truck and pulled off.

  ***

  I barely got a chance to stick my key into the keyhole before the front door swung open.

  “Yo, I can’t fuckin’ believe you, dude!” Jude yelled.

  “You didn’t even give me a chance to explain.” I walked around him into our condo.

  “It ain’t shit to explain! You went from supposed to be going to kick it with ya girl but instead I find you in the car with this nigga! You know what?! I don’t understand ya’ll fuckin’ women.” Jude shook his head. “You bitch and complain about how it ain’t no good niggas, but when you finally get one, you fuck it up!”

  I whirled around and faced Jude. “Hold up. Let’s talk about you for a minute, Jude!” I countered.

  “What about me?!”

  “When were you ever gonna tell me the truth about your business?” I made air quotes using my fingers.

  “What are you talking about?” Jude asked.

  I walked up to him and looked him dead in the eye. “The little car scheme you got going on,” I clarified. “When were you ever going to tell me the truth?”

  Jude’s cheeks turned beet red. His jaw muscles tensed. “I ain’t think I owed you an explanation,” he simply said. “Shit, whatever I’m doing is my damn business. I’m taking care of me and mine and that’s all that matters. The details ain’t important.”

  “What do you mean they’re not important?” I argued.

  “I’m sayin,’ what I’m doin’ shouldn’t even matter to you. I take care of you. You ain’t strippin’ no more. Fuck it matter how I’m getting’ money?!”

  I almost didn’t even recognize Jude from the way he was talking. Silk was absolutely right about one thing. I was laid up with a man I seemingly knew nothing about.

  “And besides, how the hell you know all this?” Jude asked.

  I folded my arms. “It doesn’t matter,” I mocked him.

  “I mean shit, I ain’t perfect if that’s what you been thinking all this time,” Jude said. “I’m sorry to fuckin’ disappoint you, baby girl.”

  “You could’ve been upfront and honest with me from day one,” I told him. “So what was it that you were doing? Scamming people? Selling busted up cars? Giving people phony titles?” I was just throwing accusations out there while hoping for the truth to eventually surface.

  “Man, it ain’t none of ya business.” Jude walked around me and it was clear that I was obviously frustrating him. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. “And instead of askin’ me all these damn questions why don’t you just try supportin’ me and holdin’ me down for whatever might happen. That’s what a real woman would do, Cam. Not runnin’ to her ex whenever—”

  “I didn’t run to him!”

  “Well why the hell did I catch ya ass in the car with him?!” he asked.” I mean seriously, Cameron, do you understand the dynamics of what we have? Why would you wanna fuck that up?”

  My tone instantly softened. “Jude—”

  “Why the hell would you put us in this situation?”

  “I didn’t mean to, baby. I was just trying to—”

  “You shouldn’t be trying anything when it comes to that nigga! He doesn’t mean you any good, Cameron. You saw what happened last time when he popped up and hear you go again! Do you even want something different from that no good ass nigga?” he asked. “Because right now you showin’ me that you ain’t ready,” he said. “Do you wanna keep running back to that nigga? Is that what you want?”

  I quickly opened my mouth to defend myself but Jude however cut me off. “Man, whatever. I don’t even wanna know. I can’t even talk to you right now. I’m finna go outside and smoke.”

  I watched as he walked out the condo and slammed the front door behind him. I was just about to follow him out the door when suddenly his cell phone rang on the end table. Disregarding my better judgment to not answer his phone, I picked it up.

  The caller ID indicated that it was his cousin, Tez. “Hello,” I answered on the second ring.

  “Cameron? What’s up, is Jude around? I gotta holla at him ab
out some important shit.”

  “Is everything okay?” I asked concerned.

  “Hell naw. I just found out that Jerrell got indicted. Nigga been locked up all week and his bond got denied,” Tez explained. “I’m just now hearing about this shit. I think they might’ve put a warrant out for Jude’s arrest too.”

  Wow, I thought. That explained why I couldn’t get in touch with Jerrell the night Jude had been arrested.

  “One second,” I said. “Let me go get Jude.”

  I quickly headed outside, where I found Jude sitting on the bottom step freaking a Black and Mild.

  “Baby—” My sentence was instantly cut short as I watched Silk’s white Denali pull hastily into our parking lot.

  “The fuck?” Jude quickly stood to his feet.

  Jude’s cell phone slipped from my fingers and crashed into the ground, breaking upon impact.

  Silk instantly hopped out his truck, not bothering to put it in park. His truck continued to roll along, with no one behind the wheel, before it crashed into a neighbor’s red Ford F-150.

  Suddenly, everything happened all at once. Silk snatched the silver glock from his waistband and took aim at me!

  It was right then and there that I saw my life flash before my very eyes…

  Chapter 4

  Pop! Pop! Pop!

  The loud gunshots rang throughout the night air. One bullet shattered our living room window—Jude quickly turned around and grabbed me before taking two bullets to the back! Together we both fell to the pavement, with Jude’s limp body landing on top of me.

  The next thing that happened surprised the hell out of me. Silk brought the loaded Glock to his temple. His gaze never faltered…Suddenly, he pulled the trigger!

  Pop!

  I screamed at the exact same moment that Silk’s body dropped to the pavement. His cold eyes were wide open as he stared at me from several feet away. A large pool of dark red blood slowly formed beneath his head.

  Tears streamed from my eyes before I quickly turned away. I gently rolled Jude over onto his back. I checked his pulse and was relieved to see that he was still alive.

  “Somebody help me!” I screamed. “Somebody?!”

  ***

  Jude was unresponsive as he was rushed into the hospital on an EMT stretcher. I tried to follow him to wherever they were taking him but instead I was stopped by a nurse and informed to wait in the waiting room until further notice.

  Not being able to be by his side was killing me. Suddenly, I felt bad that our last moments together had been filled with arguing and bickering. If Jude didn’t make it out of this okay, I didn’t know if or how I would ever be able to forgive myself.

  After speaking with the police and providing a statement, I was finally greeted in the waiting room by Jude’s doctor. He informed me that Jude’s bullets were removed but that he was currently in critical condition and I would not be able to visit him as of now.

  Choking back tears, I accepted what he had said and hesitantly made my way home. Alone.

  Yellow caution tape outlined the perimeter of the Clifton Pointe Condos, and served as a painful reminder of what had just taken place. There were even a few officers still on the scene, gathering statements from the residents. As I headed to my loft, I made a mental note to have our window replaced first thing in the morning.

  I didn’t bother showering or even removing my bloodied clothes as I climbed into the queen size bed and pulled the sheets over me. After crying for what felt like hours, I finally managed to doze off for a brief period. However, I didn’t get much sleep. After waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat after having a nightmare about Silk’s suicide, I tossed and turned until the sun rose. When it finally did I took a quick shower and called the window repair service. After throwing on some comfortable clothes, I headed to the hospital to see if Jude’s condition had finally stabilized.

  It only took about ten minutes to get to the Cleveland Clinic in Lakewood. To my dismay, the entire parking lot was packed to capacity. Taking my chances, I decided to park on the street. There were a few other cars parked there also and I didn’t see a ticket on any of them so I figured I was cool.

  After speaking with the employee at the front desk, I headed upstairs to Jude’s room which was located on the tenth floor. He was no longer in the Intensive Care Unit and had been moved into his own room. Fortunately, his condition was now stable and he was finally allowed visitors.

  I said a silent prayer to myself as I waited for the elevator to come down. After all, I could only hope and pray for the best as far as his health and recovery.

  None of this shit would have even happened if I didn’t take my ass up there to see Silk, I cursed myself. I couldn’t help but feel that everything that had happened was my fault.

  The elevator chimed before the doors slowly opened. In less than six months, I had gone from visiting Silk in the hospital to visiting Jude in the hospital. Talk about an unfortunate turn of unexpected events.

  When I finally made it to Jude’s room, I noticed that I was not his only visitor. His mother—along with some young light skinned female—was situated on either side of Jude’s hospital bed.

  I had met Jude’s mother only once during a family reunion a couple months ago. She was pretty sweet then but I doubted her take on me would ever be the same considering it was mostly my fault that her son was even in the hospital to begin with. If I hadn’t taken my ass up to Silk’s job in the first place, none of this crazy shit would have ever happened.

  Besides the consistent beeps from the heart monitor, the room was completely silent as they sat beside a sleeping Jude.

  I didn’t know if it was my place to intrude or not but I was Jude’s girlfriend after all and I felt I had every right to see him as well. Clearing my throat softly, I tapped on the door and politely made my presence known.

  They both looked over in my direction. Jude didn’t have any sisters so I couldn’t help but wonder who this chick was. Her light skin tone hinted that she was obviously biracial. Black and Caucasian if I had to guess. She had pouty pink lips, beautiful gray eyes, and her curly sandy brown hair was piled to the top of her head in a wild but cute bun.

  Who is she, I thought.

  “Hey, I—I’m Cameron,” I stammered. “…Jude’s girlfriend.”

  “I know who you are,” Jude’s mother’s voice was cold and emotionless as she spoke. “But if you don’t mind, we’d like to have some privacy. Why don’t you come back later,” she suggested in a nasty tone.

  I was slightly taken back by her demeanor but I could not blame her nonetheless. I only wished she understood that I cared about Jude just as much as she did and I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.

  “I…um…okay,” I stuttered before backing up out of the room. She wanted her privacy and I had no choice but to grant her request.

  I was making my way back towards the elevators when suddenly I felt an arm gently grab my shoulder.

  “Um, excuse me?”

  I turned on my heel and was surprisingly met with the same pair of wide gray eyes from only moments ago. “Yes?” I asked as politely as I could even though I was irritated as hell.

  “Hello, my name is Ericka. I’m a good friend of the family,” she explained in a syrupy sweet voice that almost made me sick. “I’m also Jude’s ex-girlfriend.”

  My heart instantly sank into the pit of my stomach. Here we go, I thought.

  “See, I just came back home from the Air Force,” she explained. “And um…well…I’ll just get straight to the point,” she said. “Um…about what Mrs. Patterson said about coming back later…” Her voice suddenly took on a threatening tone. “How about you just not come back at all?”

  I propped a hand on my hip and looked this yellow bitch up and down. “Excuse me?”

  Ericka took a few steps closer to me. She towered over me by at least five or six inches but I did not feel intimidated in the least. “You heard me,” she said. “Stay. Away.
From. Jude.” She paused between each and every word she said to ensure that I heard her loud and clear. “He doesn’t need a troubled bitch like you in his life. Hell, look where he’s ended up.” She gestured towards our surroundings.

  She smirked a little and I really wanted to slap it off her face. I didn’t know who the hell she thought she was.

  “Hold up. Look—”

  “No, you look and listen,” she said nastily. “Keep your ass away from Jude. Or else I’d hate to see you end up in the room beside him,” she threatened.

  Oh hell no, I thought. No this bitch didn’t just go there!

  I quickly opened my mouth to say something. Suddenly Mrs. Patterson peered into the hallway and stopped me from saying a mouthful. “Hurry, Ericka! Jude’s waking up!”

  Ericka looked over her shoulder. “Coming, mama!” she said in that phony sweet voice of hers.

  Mama?

  She turned back to face me, gave me one last threatening glance and headed back towards Jude’s room.

  I had a feeling I would run into her ignorant ass on more than one occasion. She had another thing coming if she thought I was going to stay away from my man.

  ***

  My day only went downhill after my brief but tense encounter with Ericka. The moment I reached my car, I noticed a bright yellow ticket shoved underneath my windshield wiper. Me and every other person parked on the street had just received a parking ticket.

  After snatching the ticket from underneath the windshield wipers, I climbed into the truck and left. Ericka had a lot of damn nerve, and I couldn’t help but to harp on her threatening words. She seriously had no damn right telling me to stay away from Jude. I couldn’t wait to get some alone time with him so I could ask him about him and Ericka’s past.

  Chapter 5

  Two days later.

  The sounds of soft cries and whimpers sent an unsettling chill up my spine as I made my way down the narrow church aisle that led to Silk’s black steel casket. Two funerals in less than six months—the first being my girl X-Rated’s. She was an innocent bystander who was killed during a fatal shooting at the after hour spot known as Smoove’s. Pocahontas would’ve been the third but her mother simply had her cremated. There wasn’t even a memorial service held for her. Truthfully, I couldn’t blame her mother. I honestly didn’t think too many people—if anyone at all—would have shown up to Pocahontas’ funeral. She had done so many people grimy.