by Jade Jones
Jude sat up in his seat, and folded his toned arms across his chest. Written in big, bold cursive on his left forearm was the word ‘Loyalty’, and on his right forearm was the word ‘Respect’. Two things he stood firmly by in life.
“Enlighten me,” he said.
Larry sat upright in bed, and glanced at their closed door as if he were expecting a correctional officer to be sneakily looming around. “I can tell you how,” he said. “But I gotta admit…I’d hate to see you caught up in some illegal shit. Especially when you only lookin’ at five years…Shit, that may as well be a slap on the wrist.”
Jude stared intensely at his roommate. “I don’t give a fuck what I gotta do when it comes to takin’ care of my girl…”
***
I’ll beat the pussy up, up, up, up, up, up, up…
I’ll beat the pussy up, up, up, up, up, up, up…
Marcus pulled his duffel bag from over his shoulder and dapped up a few fellow dancers as he stepped inside Pandora’s Box. LoveRance and 50 Cent’s single “Up” blared through the massive speakers in the club.
Pandora’s Box wasn’t as crowded as it was the night of Punisher’s birthday bash, but it was still enough women in the club to clean up if you were on your A game, and Marcus always brought his A game. However, he was feeling a little out of sync tonight since his homeboy was still in the hospital. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t feeling much like himself at all, but he tried to push the shit to the back of his mind for the sake of making money. After all, a nigga had to eat.
“Hey ladies, how’re you doing this evening?” he greeted several women seated at a nearby table.
“Better now that you’re here,” one responded.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the customers, Marcus headed to the dressing room. There were several male dancers inside preparing for their upcoming performances. A few were busy getting dressed while one jacked his dick off to an Issue of VIBE magazine with Kelly Rowland covering her bare breasts on the cover.
Everyone had their own means of preparing for their show. Marcus took a seat next to Pleasure who was snorting a line of cocaine off the vanity’s countertop. Marcus dropped his duffel bag beside the empty chair, took a seat, and prepared to pull out his pills.
“Aye, nigga, you tryin’ to do a line with me?” Pleasure asked before wiping away the residue from beneath his nose.
He offered the drug much like he was offering a cup of coffee or a peppermint. One would never know he was actually a coke head just by looking at him. He resembled actor Omari Hardwick. Ttribal tattoos adorned both his muscular arms from his shoulders down to his elbows.
Marcus’s eyes focused on the white powder sitting temptingly on the counter. He had promised himself that he would never fuck with that shit saying that he was perfectly content with popping. However, he was extremely stressed about his homeboy…He needed something a little stronger than an ecstasy pill to ease his mind. Hell, why not?
“Fuck it,” Marcus shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll do a line.”
6
Jude had told Cameron to sell his car, but she had no intentions of doing that. As a matter of fact, it would be her last resort. With three days left before Fall Semester classes began, Cameron needed a part time gig and fast…something that would pay well.
On a whim, Cameron found herself applying for a position as a bartender at the 216 Lounge located on the east side of Cleveland. She had stumbled across the opening via an ad on Craigslist. Never bartending a day in her life, she had no experience whatsoever but she prayed that fact wouldn’t hinder her.
Dressing up for the first time in a long time, Cameron looked mature and sexy in a nude Lanvin cashmere dress, and brown leather over-the-knee boots. There were only a few customers inside the bar during happy hour, but all the men inside made it their mission to eyeball the young, curvaceous woman strutting inside. Mouths watered as they watched her hips and ass sway through the fabric of the cashmere dress.
After speaking briefly to the manager, she was given an application that she wasted no time in filling out in the farthest corner of the lounge. Cameron tried to ignore the penetrating stares of the men eyeing her from the bar. Hell, they were just being men. However, she felt as if someone was staring a lot harder than the rest.
Lifting her gaze briefly from the job application, Cameron slyly looked over at the bar. One face immediately stood out…
Cameron’s face flushed in shock and anger as she stared at the pair of dark, cold eyes glaring at her. It felt as if she had just seen a ghost as she watched her worst enemy’s thick lips curl into a sadistic smile.
The motherfucker then actually had the nerve to wave at her. He raised his Corona in the air.
“Fat bastard,” Cameron mumbled under her breath.
She then refocused her attention back on the application, and tried to pay the son of a bitch no mind. The blue Papermate pen shook in Cameron’s trembling fingers as she scribbled in the fields.
So many painful memories invaded her thoughts. Images of her being punched in the face and pinned down to a stiff bed suddenly came to mind. Picturing a scratchy tongue being forced into her mouth while she was brutally raped nearly caused Cameron to vomit.
“Here you go,” a female bartender spoke up interrupting Cameron’s painful memories. She placed a glass of white wine in front Cameron. “Complements from the gentleman at the bar.” She pointed in Wallace’s direction. He was smiling his ass off knowing that he’d gotten under Cameron’s skin.
Gentleman my ass, Cameron thought. “Thank you,” she forced out.
The bartender walked off, and Cameron hurriedly finished her application. She then made her way towards the bar having not touched the drink Wallace had brought her. “I’m all done,” Cameron said handing her application to the manager. She could feel Wallace’s no good ass watching her every move.
The manager quickly scanned over Cameron’s application, asked her a few standard questions, and surprised her when he asked when’s the soonest she could start. Of course her response was as soon as possible, and he promised that he would give her a call at his earliest convenience.
Feeling satisfied, Cameron made her out of the bar trying her hardest not to look in Wallace’s direction even though everything in her wanted to grab a wine glass, smash it against the bar, and slit his throat with the sharpest shard. He had made her life a living hell, and he only seemed to take pride in the mental damage he had caused.
Cameron’s heels click-clacked against the asphalt as she made her way across the street towards her Audi q7 parked alongside the curb. A swift breeze blew, and for the first time she actually missed her hair, and the fact that it kept her head warm.
Pulling out her car keys, she unlocked and opened the driver’s door—
THUNK!
A dark hand suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and quickly slammed the car door shut in her face!
Cameron slowly turned around and faced Wallace. He looked surprisingly calm, but irritated nonetheless. He effortlessly pinned her body against her truck with his own.
“So that’s how you gon’ do a nigga?” Wallace asked with a slight smirk. “I bought ya ass a drink, and you act like you ain’t even see the shit,” he said.
Cameron forced a smile just to spite him. “I barely saw you,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Bullshit,” Wallace said in a low tone. “I bet ya clit got to jumpin’ the minute you saw me.” He suddenly reached down and grabbed Cameron’s crotch through the thin fabric of her cashmere dress.
Cameron quickly slapped his hand away feeling violated. “Nigga, don’t you ever fucking touch me!” she yelled in anger.
Wallace pressed his body firmly against Cameron’s so that she could clearly feel his erection through his True Religion jeans. He found her anger amusing, and it was actually turning him on even more.
“How many times we gon’ do this?” Wallace asked with a sly grin. “I mean, shit,” he sh
rugged. “We keep runnin’ into each other…must be meant to be, right?”
“Get away from me Wallace…” There was actually a hint of fear in Cameron’s shaky tone.
“Or what?” Wallace spat. “Fuck you gon’ do to me? Gimme a lap dance?” He chuckled at his own crude humor. He then peered into her car and then glanced around at their surroundings.
There wasn’t another person in sight, and Cameron could only imagine the evil things running through Wallace’s fiendish, perverted mind.
“The man ain’t around, huh?” Wallace asked referring to Jude. A sneaky smile then formed on his lips.
Suddenly, Cameron raised her hand to slap the shit out of Wallace, but he caught her arm in mid-strike.
Cameron winced in pain as Wallace squeezed firmly on her forearm, threatening to snap her bone in two. “Aaahh!” she yelped pain.
“Bitch, you gon’ quit playin’ and gimme what the fuck I want!” he yelled. Spit splattered onto her face as he shouted.
“You already got what all you gon’ get out of me!” Cameron said through gritted teeth. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she just knew Wallace was on the verge of breaking her arm.
SCREEEEEECCCHHHH!
Suddenly, the tires of a custom gunmetal black Chrysler 300 burned the asphalt as the passing driver brought his car to an immediate stop.
Cameron never thought she’d be so happy to see Marcus. He quickly hopped out the driver’s side, leaving his car parked crookedly in the middle of the street.
He walked hastily around his car and towards Cameron and Wallace. “Is it a mothafuckin’ problem?!” he asked looking at Wallace specifically. His fists were clenched tightly, and he was ready to go for a round two with Wallace if need be.
“Nah…none of that,” Wallace answered dumbfounded.
“Then I suggest you get ya damn hands off my girl before I knock ya mothafuckin’ fronts out, nigga!”
Whoa! My girl, Cameron thought. A smile involuntarily tugged at her lips. She was so grateful for his presence.
Wallace hesitantly released Cameron’s arm. He didn’t want it with Marcus, especially after he had gotten his shit rocked the last time they bumped heads.
Without another word, he walked towards his car parked a few cars down from Cameron’s, hopped in, and skirted off. He was actually childish enough to flip Cameron and Marcus off as he drove past them.
“Fucking pathetic,” Cameron muttered before wiping her tears away.
Marcus didn’t give a damn about his car still parked in the middle of the street as he walked over towards Cameron. She appeared visibly upset and shaken up.
“You aight?” Marcus asked in a concerned tone.
Cameron nodded her head as she held onto her sore arm.
“What are you doin’ here?” he asked her.
“I was just seeing about getting a job here—”
“A job?!” Marcus cut her off. “Cameron, you don’t wanna work in this hood ass bar—”
“I have bills to pay,” she interrupted him. “And I have to take care of myself. I danced for a year,” she reminded him. “I’m sure I can handle any job now…”
Marcus stepped uncomfortably closer to her. “Cameron, you know if you ever need anything, I told you, all you gotta do is gimme the word. I don’t even know why you’re runnin’ and hidin’ from me,” he said. “I’m not like these other niggas out here. I don’t want shit from you. You know that…” Marcus then looked down to see Cameron cradling her arm. He carefully lifted her arm to examine the damage, and frowned at the sight of the reddish-bluish bruise left after Wallace grabbed her. Even his handprints were still clearly visible.
“Dude, next time I see this nigga, I’m breakin’ my foot off in his ass,” Marcus said. “What is it with you and that dude anyway?” he asked in an irritated tone.
Cameron snatched her arm away from Marcus obviously offended by the question. “Nothing,” she said flatly. “Not a damn thing.”
Marcus saw her irritation and decided to change the subject. “Cameron, why do you be avoidin’ me and ignorin’ my calls?” he asked.
“I’m going through some shit,” she said.
“Oh yeah…with ya man bein’ locked up, right?” he asked.
Cameron stared at Marcus in disbelief. It seemed like the entire city knew about Jude’s imprisonment. She didn’t know if Marcus had said that to purposely throw up in her face the fact that her man was in jail or if he was being genuine, but either way the comment rubbed her the wrong way.
Without another word, Cameron opened the door of her truck.
“Cameron—bay, I wasn’t tryin’ to say the shit like that. Damn. Why you so cold to a nigga?” he asked.
Cameron turned around to face Marcus. His arms were outstretched, and he actually looked disappointed.
“I’m not your bay and I’m not your girl,” she corrected him. “Get that through your head, aight? That kiss…,” she shook her head. “That shit was a mistake and it’ll never happen ag—”
Before she could even finish her sentence, Marcus suddenly crushed his lips against hers. She didn’t see it coming at all, and as much as she wanted to push him away and slap him for his impulsiveness, she didn’t.
His kiss was gentle, but captivating as their lips pressed together and their tongues danced in unison. Marcus wrapped his hands around Cameron’s tiny waist and pulled her closer as he nibbled on her bottom lip.
Suddenly, a soft moan involuntarily escaped through Cameron’s lips, and she quickly snapped back to reality. Pulling away from Marcus, she quickly hopped into her truck, started the ignition and peeled off. Marcus stood in the street breathing raggedly and feeling confused as ever.
“The hell is this chick on?” he asked himself.
7
“If you would like to accept the charges, press one.”
Cameron pressed 1 and held the phone to her ear. Seconds later, she heard Jude’s deep melodic voice fill the receiver. “Hello? Cameron?”
“Hey, babe. I’m here.”
“What’s up?” he asked. “You sound tired…or frustrated…” He wasn’t sure which one it was.
“Ran into that idiot today while I was putting in applications.” Cameron didn’t want to come outright and say that she had applied for a bartending position. She wasn’t quite sure how Jude would take that.
“What idiot?” Jude asked in a serious tone.
Cameron suddenly felt foolish for even mentioning it to Jude. The last thing she wanted to do was to get him worked up. Especially when there was nothing he could do about it.
“Never mind,” she quickly told him.
“Nah, never mind nothin’,” Jude said. “What idiot? What happened?”
Cameron sighed into the mouthpiece. “Jude…it’s not a big deal. Really,” she added.
“Well if it’s not a big deal then tell me the shit,” he said in irritation. He then sighed in frustration not meaning to sound so pushy. “You can tell me. For real,” he said in a more comforting tone.
Cameron blew air into the mouthpiece of the phone, and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “Wallace…,” she said in a low tone. She hated even saying the son of a bitch’s name. “I ran into him today…”
“Wallace?!” Jude repeated. “The mothafucka I almost had to kill when he came to our house on that trash?!”
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you,” she said. “I didn’t want you flipping out—”
“Flippin’ out?!” Jude repeated in disbelief. “Hell yeah, I’m flippin’ out! I’m on lockdown and I can’t do shit to protect you!”
“Jude—”
“You need a gun, Cameron.” It was more a statement than an actual question.
“Jude, you know I don’t know anything about any damn guns.”
“Well, you’d better get to learning,” he told her. “There’s a gun in my fire safe. The combination is—”
“Jude, I don’t want a gun—”
“C
ameron, would you just listen to me?! Dammit!” he lashed out. “You can be so fuckin’ bullheaded sometimes, man! Now look, I ain’t gon’ be there to protect you if this mothafucka ever step crazy to you again!” he said. “And you gotta be able to protect ya own self. Not just from him, but from any mothafucka,” he added. “You hear me?!”
Cameron nodded her head absentmindedly.
“Cameron, I said do you hear me?” Jude repeated.
“Yes…I hear you.”
“I hope you do. And I hope you listen,” he said. “Man, I don’t know what the fuck I’d do if something happened to you or the baby,” he said in a calm tone.
Cameron’s heart felt like it had dropped to the pit of her stomach. Unbeknownst to Jude, she had scheduled an abortion that was to take place in two days. She needed to go ahead and get it done now, because the further along she got the more costly the procedure could get. The last thing she wanted was to have a baby scraped out of her at five months.
Jude interrupted Cameron’s thoughts as he rattled off the combination to his fire safe located on the upper shelf in the walk-in closet.
“Jude, I don’t even know how to shoot a damn gun,” Cameron said matter-of-factly.
“It’s not hard,” he told her. “You just cock the Glock and pull the trigger. It’s already a full clip in there.”
Cameron didn’t even know what the hell “cock the Glock” meant, and she didn’t want to tell Jude that, and risk him flying off the handle.
“Look, babe, I gotta go,” Jude said. “Know that I love you…and take care of my baby,” he reminded her before disconnecting the call.
Cameron hung up the phone and lightly touched her flat tummy. “Oh…I’ma take care of the baby, alright,” she told herself.
***
Cameron walked past the walk-in closet in her bedroom several times, before finally mustering up enough courage to step inside, and retrieve Jude’s fire safe. After inputting his combination code, she slowly opened the safe…
